The biggest house from the first phase of the pre-Cucuteni period, 5200-5100 BC, which was discovered last year in Baia, Suceava county in Northern Romania, will become a protected settlement so it can open its doors to the public, reports local Mediafax. A German team will also conduct geomagnetic research in the area next year, to discover all other settlements.

The house, which covers some 92 sqm, is the biggest ever found from the pre-Cucuteni culture, as large homes appeared a thousand years later, in the Cucuteni period, according to Emil Ursu, director of Bucovina Museum.

Thiis discovery also reveals living continuity on this territory between the Carpathian Mountains and the Dniester River, said Catalin Nechifor, president of the Suceava County Council.

The house discovered in Baia is well preserved. Besides ceramic pots, the archaeologists also discovered several tools and unique items such as a stone pendant or a complete fireplace. The objects discovered in the archaeological site have already been sent to the Bucovina museum.

The site has attracted some international researchers, including a team from Cambridge, led by Martin Kenneth Jones, who studies cereal bio-molecular archeology and the way cereal trade was done in ancient times.

Romanian researchers, together with Moldovan and Russian counterparts, will work on creating an encyclopedia of the local civilization during the 6th century BC. The project would involve specialists from  Germany, Russia, UK and US.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com