Șanțul Mare

Şanţul Mare (The Big Ditch) is an important archaeological site located 9 km west of Pecica, Arad County, Romania (previously named Rovine), near the border with Semlac commune[1] and 600 m from the river Mureș.

Multiple archaeological layers have been discovered, including the Bronze Age Pecica culture and a large Dacian town, most likely Ziridava.

Because of this unique location, the mound is heavily fortified, but it is not yet known whether it was naturally separated from the rest of the terrace by an older arm of the river or this type of fortification was done by people, artificially.

[citation needed] The amateur archaeologist Lazlo Dömötör continued with digs in 1898–1900, 1901 and 1902, and the majority of known Dacian artifacts came from these efforts (until new excavations started in the 1960s).

The new excavations have identified the Dacian and Late Bronze Age layers, and charred remains of grains, animal bones and parts from a metal workshop have been recovered.