Andre Gonciar

The biological milestones of childhood and infancy are often underrepresented in bioarchaeological discourse. This study answers questions about the period of breastfeeding and weaning in Medieval and early Modern Transylvania. Medieval literature in Europe recommended total weaning to occur by the age of three with supplementation of cereal grains or flours sweetened with animal’s milk and/or honey. Using nitrogen stable isotope analysis of dentine from both deciduous and permanent teeth, the present study explored the diet of 16 non-adult individuals from the Reformed Church cemetery in Bögöz, Székelyland, Transylvania, dating between the 12th to 19th centuries AD.

The δ15N values obtained from  infants (13‰ average) were found to be statistically higher (U=4.50, p=0.001) than the average δ15N values of the adult females (10.7‰). This difference is to be expected when infants are consuming breast milk. Additionally, an average trophic decline indicative of the weaning process is observable when investigating average δ15N values of teeth that form at different ages, with a steady decrease seen in the nitrogen values over time.  Deciduous incisors have the highest average δ15N at 14.5‰, and the permanent first molars represent the lowest at 11.7‰. The results of this analysis support Medieval literature in Europe, where the cessation of weaning was recommended to occur by age three. Results show that these non-adults were obtaining breast milk, to some degree, up to this point. This research serves as the first study of infant weaning in Medieval Székelyland.

The archaeological site Rapoltu Mare-La Vie is located in the western part of Dacia
Province, on a high terrace, situated on the right side of the Mureş River, the main road to the west
of the Roman Empire. The systematic archaeological research undertaken here from the summer of
2013 revealed a series of traces of anthropogenic activities from prehistory to modern times. Of these,
the Roman period was the most extensive, thanks to a villa which once stood on this terrace, built
during the second and the third centuries AD, having passed through several phases of construction.
The archaeological sections excavated so far have focused on a complex of buildings associatedwith
the gate on the southern side of the villa, as well as one of the central buildings of this settlement.
Among the artefacts discovered within the Roman levels are six fibulae, their typology and
peculiarities being important elements for determining the chronological evolution of the settlement.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AT RAPOLTU MARE-LA
VIE, CAMPAIGNS 2013–2015. PRELIMINARY REPORT
Abstract
The archaeological research on the terrace at Rapoltu Mare-La Vie, in 2013–2015
brought into relief dwelling complexes and artifacts belonging to more historical periods,
beginning with the Early Neolithic, going away through the Eneolithic period, the Bronze
Age, the First Iron Age, Roman and Post-Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the modern
age.
The most intensive anthropic activity developed during the 2nd and the 3rd c. AD, with
the existence of a pile limited by a precincts wall; the results of the archaeological invasive
and non-invasive research show so far the presence of a villa with two great functioning
phases. The excavated archeological sections or the ones in process have detected a precincts
wall and buildings belonging to the entrance on the southern part of the whole complex; at
the same time they found a series of archaeological pieces, some of them being chronologically
important to date the phases of the Roman villa building.

PRELIMINARY REPORT REGARDING THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES FROM RAPOLTU MARE-LA VIE, 2017 CAMPAIGN Abstract
The archaeological campaign from 2017 was held from May 22 to August 12, and between October 20 to November 10, with the main purpose of continuing the research of the previous years in the area SpI and opening a new research unit toward the center of the terrace from Rapoltu Mare-La Vie, where the noninvasive investigations indicated the presence of important buildings. They were identified parts of buildings belonging to the second and third centuries AD, and also prehistoric structures from Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age.

Une statuette romaine en bronze de Mercure – Hermès-Thot découverte dans la villa de Rapoltu Mare, Département de Hunedoara Résumé

L’article introduit dans le circuit scientifique une statuette romaine en bronze représentant Mercure – Hermès-Thot (Pl. II/3). La pièce a été découverte lors de recherches archéologiques sur le site de Rapoltu Mare – La Vie (Département de Hunedoara), en Roumanie, à 12 km à l’est de la ville de Deva, sur une terrasse élevée sur le bord droite de la rivière Mureș, à 1,6 km au nord du cours actuel de la rivière (Pl. I/1-2, II/1-3). L’établissement rural en question est donc situé dans la partie occidentale de la province de Dacie, sur l’ancienne route romaine qui relie l’important centre politique, économique et culturel de Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa et Apulum/Alba Iulia. L’artefact a été exceptionnellement bien conservé. Obtenu par la méthode de la cire perdue, il s’agit d’un moule plein de 11,8 cm de longueur maximale et 190,65 g. Confectionné en alliage de cuivre, l’artefact est couvert d’une patine noble gris-vert. La statuette représente un homme jeune et imberbe, en hypostase semi-nue. Sa tête est légèrement tournée vers la droite. Les traits faciaux sont très bien rendus ainsi que les cheveux frisés. Deux petits ailerons sortent directement des cheveux du personnage de part et d’autre de la tête et on retrouve une feuille de lotus, plus proéminente, entre les deux ailerons, centrée au-dessus du front. Dans la main droite, presque complètement tendue vers l’avant droite, le personnage tient par le col une bourse allongée en forme d’outre. Le bras gauche est détaché du corps et tient le caducée, autour duquel s’enroulent deux serpents rendus schématiquement par des hachures et des points incisés. Ces caractéristiques permettent d’identifier ce personnage comme une représentation du dieu Mercure – Hermès-Thot (Pl. II/3, III).  Chronologiquement, le contexte de la découverte permet de situer la statuette avant le milieu du troisième siècle après J.C. On peut affirmer que cette statuette de Mercure – Hermès-Thot faisait partie du lararium de la villa au moment de son développement maximal dans la première moitié du troisième siècle.

The archaeological site at Şoimuş–Lângă Sat was discovered following the archaeological diagnosis conducted within the Motorway 2011 project. The preventive investigations revealed here a succession of habitations, from the Copper Age to the medieval period.
The research conducted in the Middle Bronze Age settlement, although limited to its southern part, yielded very interesting features and artefacts. The present article is focused on an unusual funerary context, namely a collective grave comprising four individuals.
The pit was identified inside a slightly dug dwelling structure, close to one of its side, and it was a component of the internal arrangement of the house. On the bottom of the shallow pit, towards the edge, a ceramic bowl with four lobes was found, with a kantharos vessel carefully positioned inside. The bodies of four mature individuals were placed inside it. The filling of the funerary pit contained only a few pottery fragments. However, numerous pottery fragments were recovered from inside the dwelling structure, representing storage vessels, small amphorae, shallow bowls (some with four lobes), and large bowls. A complete reconstruction was only possible for a bowl with one handle. According to the shapes and decoration elements of ceramic ware, the feature can be assigned to phases II-III of the Wietenberg culture. Elements characteristic to second phase are predominant, while the third phase is represented by a bowl with for lobes, decorated with meandered bands, filled with simultaneous stitches (Zahnstampelung).
The observations gathered during the archaeological investigations indicated that the individuals were successively discarded inside the pit, without any special care regarding the position of their bodies. The skeletal remains belonged to two male young adults and two male older adults. The young adults were found in the central part of the grave, almost entirely overlapped, while the older individuals were closer to the western side of the pit, only partially overlapped. Regarding grave goods, a small stone pendant was found on one of the bodies and several bronze saltaleoni on another one. The preliminary anthropological examination of the skeletons did not reveal any traces of physical trauma. However, a violent demise cannot be excluded, possibly provoked by strangulation, suffocation, poison, virulent diseases, etc.
Considering the traditional Wietenberg funerary practices - burial of cremated remains deposited inside funerary urns, in flat, open-air cemeteries – the multiple grave from Şoimuş–Lângă Sat acquires an exceptional character. A few individual inhumation graves inside settlements are known, but in such rare cases a special care towards the position of the bodies was noticed. The discovery from Voivodeni – La Școală remains our closest analogy. However, in the latter case, seven individuals of different genders and ages were carefully arranged before inhumation, while the associated archaeological finds indicate a later phase of the Wietenberg culture. On a broader view, collective burials were found in sites attributed to neighbouring contemporaneous cultures – Otomani and Monteoru – but even in these cases, the differences are substantial in comparison to the grave from Șoimuș.
All possible interpretations regarding this discovery are, for now, difficult and uncertain. For this reason, we limit ourselves, at the moment, to present only the facts derived directly from field investigations. Hypothetically, the four individuals were the victims of a short violent event and were hastily discarded inside the pit. Their burial inside a dwelling structure is still puzzling and raises obvious questions regarding the abandonment of the house before or after the event. Also on a hypothetical level, this event can be connected to the end of the Wietenberg habitation.