Books by Agnieszka Tomas
This monograph presents the civil settlements at four legionary camps located in the Roman provin... more This monograph presents the civil settlements at four legionary camps located in the Roman province of Lower Moesia: Novae, Oescus, Durostorum and Troesmis. Based on archaeological and epigraphic evidence, the book presents in detail the remains and proof of extramural settlement at Novae as a case study, as compared to three other Lower Moesian sites. In each case, the topography, the current state of research, the unearthed remains in the vicinity of these fortresses, as well as various written evidence on the subject are presented and critically evaluated. This book is a first attempt at the evaluation of the extramural settlement in the area of the Lower Danubian provinces. A number of issues related to these settlements are discussed against the backdrop of the problems of extramural settlements near Roman military bases in general. The publication includes 60 figures, maps and plans, 4 charts and 17 tables.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Roman legionary base at Novae in Lower Moesia is one of the most important sites in the Lower... more The Roman legionary base at Novae in Lower Moesia is one of the most important sites in the Lower Danubian provinces. Towards late Antiquity, the military camp was transformed into a civil town with Episcopal residence and survived until the beginning of the 7th century. The Polish-Bulgarian excavations carried out for more than 55 years revealed remains dated from the mid-1st up to the early Byzantine periods and more than 300 inscriptions on stone. The rural hinterland of Novae is exceptional and fascinating for the historian and archaeologist, not only due to the importance of the site itself, but also due to its location. The legionary camp at Novae was located halfway between the outlets of two rivers – the Osăm and Jantra, flowing nearly parallel to each other. This part of the Danubian Plain was inhabited by Geto-Thracians and tribes influenced by the Celts. The special position of the lands between the Osăm and Jantra rivers is well-expressed by a series of boundary stones set up in AD 136 by Emperor Hadrian, who divided the tribal territories of Moesos and Thraces. This special geopolitical situation must have caused considerable difficulties in administering the area by the Romans. At present this poses a challenge for scholars, who search for answers to various questions concerning the universal solutions applied in borderlands in the past.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In 2015 Professor Tadeusz Sarnowski celebrates his 45th anniversary of scientific work. The Insti... more In 2015 Professor Tadeusz Sarnowski celebrates his 45th anniversary of scientific work. The Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw decided to honour him with a special book dedicated to Him by his friends, colleagues and former students. Our aim was to publish a book with the articles dealing with the subjects close to his scientific interests. The book contains 39 papers authors from Poland, as well as from other countries.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Papers by Agnieszka Tomas
Analele Banatului, 2021
Tibiscum is one of the biggest Roman auxiliary forts in Dacia and one of the most interesting sit... more Tibiscum is one of the biggest Roman auxiliary forts in Dacia and one of the most interesting sites of this kind. It comprises a military fort with its civil settlement and the remains of other structures related to them. The environment around Tibiscum makes it interesting also from the geological point of view. The Timiş River flowing along the fort changed its riverbed regularly in the past, causing troubles to the inhabitants and now to the archaeologists. The broader area around Tibiscum has been only partly researched and still awaits further investigations. The goal of our two-year research was a better understanding of the ancient landscape around Tibiscum and a spatial allocation of settlements and infrastructure. A set of various methods has been implemented to cover the largest area available for the surveys without using excavation methods. Non-destructive survey allowed to collect data which led to the new conclusions about the settlement complex. Following the analysed surveys, new roads were discovered, the necropolis area of the municipium Septimium Tibiscensium, new areas inhabited around the fortification, and especially the parts of the archaeological site that were destroyed by the floods and fluctuations of the river Timiş could be established.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Nunc decet caput impedire myrto.Studies Presented to Professor Piotr Dyczek on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday, T. Płóciennik, K. Narloch, J. Żelazowski (eds.), , 2022
The discovery of four graves made in 2016–¬2019 to the east of the legionary camp of Novae shed n... more The discovery of four graves made in 2016–¬2019 to the east of the legionary camp of Novae shed new light on the funerary rites practiced by the inhabitants in the 2nd century AD. Anthropological analysis shows that two deceased were men, whose bone features may be related to a soldier’s activities and diet. The graves where the remains of bones were found contained, among others, shoe hobnails. The cremains identified in the third grave belonged to a woman, while the only skeletal burial was that of a child. The graves were furnished with pottery and some other small finds, such as terracotta lamp and bronze and iron objects. The adults’ graves were provided with bronze coins.
The analysis of the grave inventories allows to reproduce funeral rites practiced in Novae. In accordance with the information available from the earlier publications compared with the acquired data, at least part of the eastern side of the legionary fortress was surrounded by the biritual necropolis used in the 2nd and the mid-3rd century AD. The necropolis ceased to function after the Gothic invasions in the 260s and 270s, and the funerary monuments were reused in the internal buildings and the new fortifications which surrounded this the whole area to the east of the camp. The same fate was met by other cemeteries, as it is well-shown by the so-called “via inscriptionum” built on the ruins of the military hospital.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Zeitschrif fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 223, 2022
In 2004, during the fieldwork carried out by the University of Warsaw Institute of Archaeology mi... more In 2004, during the fieldwork carried out by the University of Warsaw Institute of Archaeology mission, a fragment of a limestone block inscribed with a honorary inscription in Latin was discovered accidentally to the west of a building in the left retentura. The inscription has an exact parallel in another inscription from Novae, discovered by Bulgarian archaeologists in 1979.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Traian and the Danubian Provinces. The Political, Economic, and Religious Life in the Danubian Provinces. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces Zagreb, 15th–17th November 2017, 2021
The reign of Trajan in the Lower Danubian lands was the time of significant changes, not only in ... more The reign of Trajan in the Lower Danubian lands was the time of significant changes, not only in administration and military issues on a regional scale, but also in local communities which witnessed intensified building activity, the movements of large groups of people, increase of production as a respond to growing demand and many other economic and social aspects. The extramural settlements near legionary bases were involved in all these events directly. This paper presents the evidence of the extramural settlements and their inhabitants who lived along the Lower Danube at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries and tries to answer the question what changes to these settlements were brought by Trajan’s rule.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Antiquitas Aeterna. Essays on Ancient Archaeology and History Dedicated to Leszek Mrozewicz on his 70th Birthday, 2021
The excavations in the eastern extension (annex) of Novae revealed the remains of a necropolis, i... more The excavations in the eastern extension (annex) of Novae revealed the remains of a necropolis, including three graves covered with stamped military building materials. The grave inventory compared with the date of the imprints makes it possible to date the latter to the period between the early 2nd and the late 2nd century AD. Apart from the finds from the graves, four stamps were found in the layers superposing the cemetery, including a very unique consular stamp of L. Cossonius Eggius Marullus.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Ad ripam fluminis Danuvi. Papers of the 3rd International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces Vienna, 11th-14th November 2015, Tyche Suppl. 11, 2021
Inscribed monuments may provide more extensive evidence concerning the character of a settlement ... more Inscribed monuments may provide more extensive evidence concerning the character of a settlement than only about the social and ethnic composition of its inhabitants. Collected data may allow for reproducing, at least partly, other ele-ments such as the landscape, topography, religious life, and the nature of the set-tlement itself. A statistical approach provides further information concerning the development and prosperity of such a settlement. The civilian population of the canabae at Novae was multicultural and consisted of a mixture of various social strata.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
SAMAI, 2020
Many ancient writers have written about feeding the Roman army, including Vegetius, Appian, Cassi... more Many ancient writers have written about feeding the Roman army, including Vegetius, Appian, Cassius Dio, Tacitus and Suetonius. Archaeological sources provide interesting data on the ways of army provisioning, food supply, the soldier's diet, but also the consequences of eating certain types of foods. Analyzing the remains of consumption and waste, we can reconstruct the diet of soldiers in various corners of the empire and look at their everyday life "from the kitchen". This contribution is an attempt at an introduction on the nature of literary and archaeological sources concerning the food supply and diet of soldiers stationed in several selected places in the empire.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archaeologia Bulgarica, 2020
The excavations carried out in 2016–¬2019 (supported by the Polish National Science Centre) to th... more The excavations carried out in 2016–¬2019 (supported by the Polish National Science Centre) to the east of the legionary camp of Novae shed new light on the function of this place before it was surrounded by new fortifications and became part of the Late Roman town. This paper combines the newly acquired data with the available information from earlier research in order to analyse the eastern necropolis of Novae, a so far little-known burial ground identified in the studied area. Reconstruction of its location, chronology, burial rites and history is offered, illuminating an obscure aspect of the history of Novae, especially the changes that occurred in the 3rd century.
One inhumation and three cremation burials have been unearthed, as well as a structure which is identified as a funeral pyre (ustrinum) or a monumental grave. The single inhumation grave was that of a child. The excavation results combined with anthropological analysis of the cremains suggest that two individuals were cremated within the grave structures (bustum-type burials), while the third burial was an ustrinum type, the body cremated elsewhere, the remains collected and transferred to the grave. The two individuals in the bustum-type burials were men, whose bone features and pathologies may be related to a soldier’s activities and diet. The furnishing of the graves was not expensive, but the deceased were provided with coins and clay vessels used for eating and drinking, some of them placed on the funeral pyre before cremation, and some used during a sacrificial feast. Combined with the earlier finds, it is possible to state that the eastern necropolis was biritual and the burials mostly followed typical Roman burial customs. It is possible that some of the gravestones found reused in various parts of Novae could have originally come from this area.
The unearthed part of the necropolis is dated by the small finds (coins and pottery) as well as its stratigraphy to the 2nd and the middle of the 3rd century AD. The final period of the eastern necropolis could have taken place in the 260s and 270s, after several Gothic invasions devastated the region. After the cemetery ceased to function, an unusual change of function took place, as it was included in the area protected by the new fortifications of the so-called “annex” and started to be used for habitation and manufacturing, even though it was still recognizable as a former graveyard.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Donum Cordis. Księga dedykowana Jerzemu Kolendo, 2019
W marcu 2013 roku podczas prac terenowych związanych z budową wizualizacji budynku komendantury (... more W marcu 2013 roku podczas prac terenowych związanych z budową wizualizacji budynku komendantury (principia) na terenie Parku Archeologicznego Novae zadokumentowano kilkadziesiąt zabytków ruchomych, kilka inskrypcji, a także pochówek szkieletowy. Wśród kilkudziesięciu zabytków metalowych znalezionych na terenie dziedzińca budynku komendantury znajdował się niewielki zabytek z brązu pokryty warstwą skorodowanego żelaza i gliny. Przedmiot został znaleziony około 10 cm poniżej powierzchni, z której wcześniej zdjęto ziemię koparką podczas prac budowlanych, na poziomie gruntu z okresu użytkowania budowli. Po dokładnym oczyszczeniu przedmiotu okazało się, że omawiany zabytek jest rodzajem niewielkiej, dość unikatowej kłódki określanej w literaturze niemieckojęzycznej jako Vorhängenschloss mit Maskendeckel, a w anglojęzycznej jako "mask puzzle padlock". W sumie dotychczas odkryto bądź opisano 157 egzemplarzy kłódek tego rodzaju. Jest to pierwszy tego rodzaju zabytek znaleziony w Novae.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
AOR, 2019
The fortifications of the eastern extension in Novae were subject of archaeological investigation... more The fortifications of the eastern extension in Novae were subject of archaeological investigations carried out by the Bulgarian Archaeological Expedition in 1960–70. Since 2016 the excavations the extension are carried out by the Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw.
Three graves dated to the 2nd c. were unearthed in the area of the annex of Novae. All graves were covered by a roof-like covering of roof tiles and ceramic plates bearing LEG I ITAL stamps, and contained cremation burials. The graves were provided with tableware and metal objects which were heavily burned. The fourth feature in a form of a square construction may have been used as a funearal pyre.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archeologia, 2016
The present interim report covers three years (2013-15) of various archaeological activities in N... more The present interim report covers three years (2013-15) of various archaeological activities in Novae and its surroundings, including not only three systematic summer excavation campaigns (defences of the legionary fortress) and two spring prospection campaigns (2013-14; extramural settlements-vicus at Ostrite Mogili and canabae including the mithraeum) but also emergency excavations associated with earthworks preceding the opening of an archaeological park in the central part of the site (2013) and with repairing the broken modern water supply pipe Vardim-Svištov in the rear part of the fortress (2014).
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The paper is a summary of my PhD thesis
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Światowit XXII/A, 79-86., 2015
In 2013, within the framework of non-invasive investigations in the vicinity of the legionary for... more In 2013, within the framework of non-invasive investigations in the vicinity of the legionary fortress at Novae (Moesia Inferior), geophysical prospection was carried out in the area of an archaeological site located about 2.5 km to the east of the fortress, in a place known as Ostrite Mogili. In one of illegal robbery trenches, a fragment of a wall (about 0.60 m thick) could be seen. After cleaning it turned out that some elements are fragments of a broken inscription.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Brief report from the last season of non-destructive investigations near the legionary fortress a... more Brief report from the last season of non-destructive investigations near the legionary fortress at Novae in Moesia inferior. The field surveys were carried out on the vicus Ostrite Mogili situated ca 2.5 km to the east of the fortress and on two other sites.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The present interim report covers three years (2013 – 15) of various archaeological activities in... more The present interim report covers three years (2013 – 15) of various archaeological activities in Novae and its surroundings, including not only three systematic summer excavation campaigns (defences of the legionary fortress) and two spring prospection campaigns (2013–14: extramural settlements – vicus at Ostrite Mogili and canabae including the mithraeum) but also emergency excavations associated with earthworks preceding the opening of an archaeological park in the central part of the site (2013) and with repairing the broken modern water supply pipe Vardim – Svištov in the rear part of the fortress (2014).
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
AOR prez 2018 g., 2019
A 3-year excavation project in the eastern part of the Late Roman Novae (so called annex or Novae... more A 3-year excavation project in the eastern part of the Late Roman Novae (so called annex or Novae II) started in 2017. The area adjacent to the legionary fortress from the east was a part of the canabae legionis in the early Roman period, and during the Late Antiquity became part of the fortified town. The Late Roman fortifications were excavated by the Bulgarian archaeologists in 1961-1969, and in 2012-2014 non-destructive surveys were made in the annex.
Based on the previous archaeological surveys, four places were chosen for further investigations. Sector 1 was excavated in 2016, in the place where the remains of walls were unearthed by illegal trenching. Three other sectors were located in places which were chosen as potentially not destroyed.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archaeological Prospection, 2020
The Roman military fort Tibiscum existing from the beginning of the 2nd up to the third quarter o... more The Roman military fort Tibiscum existing from the beginning of the 2nd up to the third quarter of the 3rd century AD has an irregular shape, relatively big surface, and not entirely clear settlement structures on both sides of the Timiş River. The non-destructive research project carried out in 2014–16 allowed to reassess the ancient landscape around the fort. An integrated archaeological prospection methods combined with the use of new surveying tools resulted in establishing the accurate position of the known extramural remains and the location of a dozen of new sites and features within the radius of ca. 3 km around the fort. The results of the surveys compared with the old maps and previous excavations led to the new conclusions concerning the topography of Roman Tibiscum and the development of the civilian settlement in its vicinity.
The publication is available online under the link.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/arp.1767
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Books by Agnieszka Tomas
Papers by Agnieszka Tomas
The analysis of the grave inventories allows to reproduce funeral rites practiced in Novae. In accordance with the information available from the earlier publications compared with the acquired data, at least part of the eastern side of the legionary fortress was surrounded by the biritual necropolis used in the 2nd and the mid-3rd century AD. The necropolis ceased to function after the Gothic invasions in the 260s and 270s, and the funerary monuments were reused in the internal buildings and the new fortifications which surrounded this the whole area to the east of the camp. The same fate was met by other cemeteries, as it is well-shown by the so-called “via inscriptionum” built on the ruins of the military hospital.
One inhumation and three cremation burials have been unearthed, as well as a structure which is identified as a funeral pyre (ustrinum) or a monumental grave. The single inhumation grave was that of a child. The excavation results combined with anthropological analysis of the cremains suggest that two individuals were cremated within the grave structures (bustum-type burials), while the third burial was an ustrinum type, the body cremated elsewhere, the remains collected and transferred to the grave. The two individuals in the bustum-type burials were men, whose bone features and pathologies may be related to a soldier’s activities and diet. The furnishing of the graves was not expensive, but the deceased were provided with coins and clay vessels used for eating and drinking, some of them placed on the funeral pyre before cremation, and some used during a sacrificial feast. Combined with the earlier finds, it is possible to state that the eastern necropolis was biritual and the burials mostly followed typical Roman burial customs. It is possible that some of the gravestones found reused in various parts of Novae could have originally come from this area.
The unearthed part of the necropolis is dated by the small finds (coins and pottery) as well as its stratigraphy to the 2nd and the middle of the 3rd century AD. The final period of the eastern necropolis could have taken place in the 260s and 270s, after several Gothic invasions devastated the region. After the cemetery ceased to function, an unusual change of function took place, as it was included in the area protected by the new fortifications of the so-called “annex” and started to be used for habitation and manufacturing, even though it was still recognizable as a former graveyard.
Three graves dated to the 2nd c. were unearthed in the area of the annex of Novae. All graves were covered by a roof-like covering of roof tiles and ceramic plates bearing LEG I ITAL stamps, and contained cremation burials. The graves were provided with tableware and metal objects which were heavily burned. The fourth feature in a form of a square construction may have been used as a funearal pyre.
Based on the previous archaeological surveys, four places were chosen for further investigations. Sector 1 was excavated in 2016, in the place where the remains of walls were unearthed by illegal trenching. Three other sectors were located in places which were chosen as potentially not destroyed.
The publication is available online under the link.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/arp.1767
The analysis of the grave inventories allows to reproduce funeral rites practiced in Novae. In accordance with the information available from the earlier publications compared with the acquired data, at least part of the eastern side of the legionary fortress was surrounded by the biritual necropolis used in the 2nd and the mid-3rd century AD. The necropolis ceased to function after the Gothic invasions in the 260s and 270s, and the funerary monuments were reused in the internal buildings and the new fortifications which surrounded this the whole area to the east of the camp. The same fate was met by other cemeteries, as it is well-shown by the so-called “via inscriptionum” built on the ruins of the military hospital.
One inhumation and three cremation burials have been unearthed, as well as a structure which is identified as a funeral pyre (ustrinum) or a monumental grave. The single inhumation grave was that of a child. The excavation results combined with anthropological analysis of the cremains suggest that two individuals were cremated within the grave structures (bustum-type burials), while the third burial was an ustrinum type, the body cremated elsewhere, the remains collected and transferred to the grave. The two individuals in the bustum-type burials were men, whose bone features and pathologies may be related to a soldier’s activities and diet. The furnishing of the graves was not expensive, but the deceased were provided with coins and clay vessels used for eating and drinking, some of them placed on the funeral pyre before cremation, and some used during a sacrificial feast. Combined with the earlier finds, it is possible to state that the eastern necropolis was biritual and the burials mostly followed typical Roman burial customs. It is possible that some of the gravestones found reused in various parts of Novae could have originally come from this area.
The unearthed part of the necropolis is dated by the small finds (coins and pottery) as well as its stratigraphy to the 2nd and the middle of the 3rd century AD. The final period of the eastern necropolis could have taken place in the 260s and 270s, after several Gothic invasions devastated the region. After the cemetery ceased to function, an unusual change of function took place, as it was included in the area protected by the new fortifications of the so-called “annex” and started to be used for habitation and manufacturing, even though it was still recognizable as a former graveyard.
Three graves dated to the 2nd c. were unearthed in the area of the annex of Novae. All graves were covered by a roof-like covering of roof tiles and ceramic plates bearing LEG I ITAL stamps, and contained cremation burials. The graves were provided with tableware and metal objects which were heavily burned. The fourth feature in a form of a square construction may have been used as a funearal pyre.
Based on the previous archaeological surveys, four places were chosen for further investigations. Sector 1 was excavated in 2016, in the place where the remains of walls were unearthed by illegal trenching. Three other sectors were located in places which were chosen as potentially not destroyed.
The publication is available online under the link.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/arp.1767