Arheologie și entomologie. Cuiburi de viespi (hymenoptera: sphecidae, sceliphron sp.) descoperite în așezarea aparținând culturii Noua de la Zoltan, jud. Covasna
Archaeology and entomology. Mud dauber wasps’ nests (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae, Sceliphron sp.) discovered at the Noua culture settlement in Zoltan, Covasna County

Summary/Abstract: In this paper fragments of mud dauber wasps’ nests dating from the Bronze Age (Noua culture, about 1500-1200 BC) from a Romanian archaeological site are described. The present discovery represents, to our knowledge, the first reported fragments of mud dauber nests recovered from an archaeological site in Romania and probably among the rare ones from Europe. The archaeological site called Zoltan-Nisipărie is placed in the Covasna County, south-eastern Transylvania. The five fragments belong to two nests made by Sceliphron sp. wasps genus and they were described in terms of general and detailed morphology and morphometry. Two nest fragments preserve in situ secondary cells, showing evidence of nester occupation by other insects. Another important aspect of this discovery is the opportunity to extract and analyse a whole secondary cell from the original nest fragment. Various impressions of vegetal material (grass, straws etc.) and a seed on the nest fragments’ surface were observed using microscopic techniques. The preserved pieces recovered from archaeological investigations provide important data regarding the local environmental conditions during the recent period of Bronze Age in an entropized environment of the Noua culture.

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