Trescovăț
| Trescovăț | |
|---|---|
 The distinctive Trescovăț peak seen from Lepenski Vir on the opposite side of the Danube | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 679 m (2,228 ft) |
| Coordinates | 44°33′51″N 22°03′22″E / 44.5642°N 22.0562°E |
| Geography | |
  Trescovăț Southwestern Romania | |
Trescovăț (Romanian: Vârful Trescovăț; Serbian: Трескавац / Treskavac) is a peak in Romania with an elevation of 679 m (2,228 ft). Located in the Iron Gates on the left bank of the Danube river, it may have been important to the prehistoric site of Lepenski Vir located on the opposite Serbian river bank.[1]
Geology[edit]
Trescovăț is a Lower Permian porphyry bare volcanic neck in the Iron Gates Natural Park. The peak, well visible from both shores of the Danube, is categorized as a geosite due to its geomorphological feature and trapezoidal shape.[2]
Archaeoastronomy[edit]
Trescovăț rises on the left bank of the Danube like a giant rock sentinel of the prehistoric site of Lepenski Vir on the opposite right bank. The peculiar trapezoidal shape of the Mesolithic Lepenski Vir houses are mimicking the monumental rock.[3]
Based on archaeoastronomical surveys, scholars concluded, that the Mesolithic Lepenians used a solar calendar and that the place was planned according to this phenomenon even determining the shape of their houses. The starting point of their calendar was therefore the "double sunrise" i.e. the Sun appears above Trescovăț, then goes behind its outcropping and reappears again. From that day, the Lepenians observed how the dawn point shifts to the right and shortens the day, until the winter solstice.[4][5] Others claimed that Lepenski Vir was an ancient Sun and Pleiades constellation observatory with Trescovăț as a natural marker.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ The Trescovăț peak Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ Mihai E. Popa, Geological heritage Values in the Iron Gates Natural Park, Romania; in: Proceeedings of the First International Conference on Environment Research and Assessment, Bucharest, Romania, March 23–27, 2003.
- ^ Jubinka Babović: Sanctuaries of Lepenski vir: Location, position and function, Archaeological monographs 17, National museum, Belgrade, 2006.
- ^ Milan S. Dimitrijević, Archaeoastronomy and Examples of Research in Serbia; Publ. Astron. Obs. Belgrade nº. 100 (2021), pp. 225-232.
- ^ The Culture of Lepenski Vir in Prehistoric Siberia Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ Vladan Panković, Milan Mrdjen, Miodrag Krmar, Was Lepenski Vir an Ancient Sun or Pleiades Observatory?, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad, 2015.