Earthenware rim sherds. Middle Bronze Age, 1900–1500 BC. Pecica Şantul Mare, Romania. European Archaeology, UMMAA Expedition. Left to right: UMMAA 2004-18-21, 2004-19-15, 2004-19-20.

Curator John O’Shea’s research ranges from underwater archaeology in Lake Huron, where he documents Michigan’s first inhabitants, to studies of sociopolitical and economic transformations during the Eastern European Bronze Age. A multi-year field project led by O’Shea and his colleagues at the large fortified mound site of Pecica Şantul Mare in Romania’s Carpathian Basin has refined the chronology of this important Bronze Age site. Research has examined community organization, subsistence, craft production, and social and political transformations that happened as Pecica became the center of a hierarchical Bronze Age polity and the dominant site in the region. The three hand-built Middle Bronze Age earthenware sherds shown here were collected from the surface of the site in 2004. They are part of the Museum’s small type collection of materials from the site.

Back to Day 192 or continue to Day 194.

In honor of the University of Michigan’s 2017 bicentennial, we are celebrating the remarkable archaeological and ethnographic collections and rich legacy of research and teaching at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology by posting one entry a day for 200 days. The entries will highlight objects from the collections, museum personalities, and UMMAA expeditions. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is also posting each day for 200 days on Twitter and Facebook (follow along at #KMA200). After the last post, an exhibition on two centuries of archaeology at U-M opens at the Kelsey. Visit the exhibit—a joint project of the UMMAA and the Kelsey—from October 18, 2017 to May 27, 2018.