LIDAR VIEWS OF BRONZE AND IRON AGE HILL-TOP SITES IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN CARPATHIANS

Abstract

The article offers a glimpse into the potential of a series of recent LiDAR based explorations, in cases combined with geophysical prospections, pin-pointed excavation and radiocarbon dating of enclosures, to contribute to the better understanding of the anthropic modified relief morphology and layout of several hill-top sites from South-Eastern Transylvania dated in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The study area, which is mostly forested, gathers one of the largest concentrations of Late Prehistory and Protohistory earthworks known on the territory of modern Romania. The presented data opens the pathway for the further exploration of relevant themes such as: diversity of the functions played by enclosures, the sites’ level of interconnectivity and the existence of hierarchies. It also points out the general need for establishing more accurately the earthworks’ chronology, topography and occupation intensity.