ASp-ICUB conducted a series of research to evaluate the archaeological potential of Eneolithic settlements around Bucharest within the BETS project

Between 14-16 April 2025, the University of Bucharest, through the ArchaeoSciences Platform (ASp) within the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), conducted a series of field research near Bucharest, within the project “A multidisciplinary approach to evaluating the archaeological potential of Eneolithic tells around Bucharest” (BETS).

The BETS project focuses on five Eneolithic sites (5000-3800 BC) located near Bucharest, insufficiently researched and strongly affected mainly by anthropogenic factors, including the accelerated urban expansion. Two primary objectives of the project are the evaluation of the geographical distribution of the settlements and the way they relate to the landscape and local resources, and the reconstruction of a relative and absolute chronological framing. Based on these parameters, the spatial and temporal relationships between the sites will be determined. Additionally, the internal organization of the settlements will be explored in order to compare them with the typologies of Eneolithic habitation. Last, but not least, the project aims to prevent the further degradation or the destruction of the aforementioned sites by assessing the state of conservation and quantifying the results of multidisciplinary research in a database accessible to the general public.

The first stage of the research consisted of investigating the archaeological points of interest Glina tell and Chitila-Fermă, in Ilfov County, using non-intrusive methods. Both settlements were strongly affected by anthropogenic interventions. The Glina tell was excavated to a significant extent, while the Chitila-Fermă tell was levelled in the 1970s to make room for a large-scale land improvement project, with the vast majority of the settlement’s stratigraphy being permanently destroyed. In order to precisely locate the prehistoric habitation and recover the remaining stratigraphy, geophysical investigations were carried out using magnetometry and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT).

The team involved in this project is made up of archaeologists and researchers from ASp-ICUB (Cristina-Ioana Covătaru, Bogdan-Radu Manea, Adrian Șerbănescu), the Bucharest Municipality Museum (Theodor-Aurelian Ignat, Vasile-Octavian Opriș) and HOGENT, Belgium (Cornelis Stal).

The BETS project is implemented within the ASp-ICUB and runs for a period of 2 years (2025-2026), with the objective of reducing the negative impact of hasty rescue interventions, imposed by the accelerated pace of construction works and the requirements of the authorities. An essential objective is the conservation of these sites by transforming them into archaeological parks, thus facilitating future projects and their integration into the cultural tourism circuit. The expected results aim at a complete archaeological research: assessment, excavations, laboratory analyses and dissemination of conclusions, with a strong emphasis on availability to the general public. Therefore, this integrated approach aims not only to obtain relevant scientific data, but also to sustainably valorise the archaeological heritage for the benefit of the community.