widespread in Gutthiudasuch as fine wares and weaponsare dated to the period ending around 430. According to Coriolan H. Opreanu, the same period is characterized by "population shifts" which caused the abandonment of many villages and the appearance of new settlements. Botoşana, Dodeşti, and other sites east of the Carpathians demonstrate the simplification of pottery forms and a decline in the use of the fast potter's wheel from the 450s. Around the same time, semi-sunken huts with stone or clay ovens appeared in Moldavia and Wallachia, forming ephemeral settlements with an area smaller than . The locals practiced an "itinerant form of agriculture", instead of manuring the soil. Differences in local pottery indicate the coexistence of communities isolated from each other by marshes, forests or hills. For instance, contemporary Cândeşti produced a significant quantity of wheel-made pottery, Târgşor was characterized by crushed-shard tempered vessels, and a sample of the most common "Kolochin" vessels was found in the Budureasca Valley. There are few known cemeteries from the second half of the 5th century, pointing to common use of cremation without the use of urns or pits. On the other hand, a huge biritual necropolis at Sărata-Monteoru produced more than 1,600 cremation burials, either in wheel-made urns or in pits without urns. Small cemeteries with inhumation graves have been found at Nichiteni and Secuieni. Jordanes, Procopius and other 6th-century authors used the terms "Sclavenes" and "Antes" to refer to the peoples inhabiting the territory north of the Lower Danube. The Antes launched their first campaign over the Lower Danube in 518. After they concluded a treaty with the Eastern Roman Empire in 545, the Sclavenes started to plunder the Balkan provinces. Both ethnic groups seized many prisoners of wars during their raids, but they were ready to integrate them "as free men and friends". The names of early 6th-century leaders of the Sclavenes or Antes are unknown. This supports ancient authors' claims that both ethnic groups lived "under a democracy". The same conclusion can be drawn from Procopius's report of the "phoney Chilbudius"a young Antian serf who "spoke the Latin tongue"who was dispatched by his fellow tribesmen to negotiate with the Eastern Roman Empire in 545. The disappearance of bronze and gold coins from sites north of the Lower Danube demonstrates an "economic closure of the frontier" of the Eastern Roman Empire between 545 and 565. The same period is characterized by