Arheologie Medievală

Articol de popularizare în presa locală, a elementului identitar care a creat orașul Câmpina din județul Prahova: instituția vamală, cu comerțul dezvoltat în jurul ei până în epoca modernă.
Este publicată în premieră fotografia color a unui obiect de patrimoniu muzeal unicat: sigiliul vămii Câmpina din epoca ei de apogeu.

Im Laufe der archäologischen Ausgrabungsarbeiten in der Brooser Burg, konnten Bewohnungsspuren aus dem 8.-9. Jh. festgestellt werden, über die, im 10.-11. Jh. eine Burg mit Erdwall und Palisade errichtet wurde. In der ersten Hälfte des 12. Jh., wurde diese  Burg durch einen Rechteckigen Steinturm (Bergfried) verstärkt. In derselben Zeitspanne hatte man auf dem Erdwall eine Steinkapelle mit kreisförmigem Grundriss (Rotunde) errichtet. Die Kapelle war mit einer kreisförmigen Krypta versehen. Um die mitte des 12. jh., wird der Bau erweitert, und im 14. Jh. als Wehrturm umgebaut. Die Krypta wird nach dem Bau der gotischen Kirche als Beinhaus, (Karner) benutzt. Im 19. Jh., wurde der zu Ruine verfallener Bau als Kalkgrube und schlieslich als Schuttgrube genutzt.

Early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni -"Petruca"
in Codrii Orheiului


The settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is located in the central part of the Prut-Dniester area, in the point „Petruca” near Păhărniceni village, Orhei district, Republic of Moldova, at a distance of 40 km North of Chișinău, in the historical-geographical area Codrii Orhei (=The Orhei Forest) (Fig. 1, 2). It has a length of about 800 m on the East-West axis and about 500 m on the South-North axis (Fig. 5-6). It is located on a smooth plateau with northern orientation, at an altitude of 185-190 m, exceeding by about 158-160 m the water level of the river Răut, located 4 km north (Fig. 4-6).
The early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni–„Petruca” is a remarkable example of continuity of an agricultural community for over a thousand years in a small geographical area at the eastern extremity of the Romanian world. Located in the heart of the Orhei Codri, this settlement went through all the known historical stages of the Middle Ages in the Romanian space (Fig. 1, 2). The settlement is one of the few multilayered archeological sites which also has representative houses from most of the known historical epochs in the Carpathian-Dniester area. As a multi-layered archaeological site, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement has 12 phases, which belong to five major historical periods, including: I. The prehistoric period: a) the Cucuteni-Tripillia culture phase – 5th – 4th millennia BC, b) Multi-cordoned ware culture (Mnogovalikovaya) phase – 22th – 18th centuries BC, c) the phase of the Noua culture – 15th –13th centuries BC; II. Early Bronze Age: a) Chișinău-Corlăteni culture phase – 12th – 10th centuries BC, b) the phase of the Poienești-Lucașeuca culture – end of the 3rd – 1st centuries BC; III. Late Ancient period: the phase of the Sântana de Mureș-Cerneahov culture – 3rd – 4th centuries; IV. Early Medieval Age – a) the phase of the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca culture (5th – 7th centuries), b) the Lozna-Dodești type culture phase (8th – 9th centuries), c) the Dridu culture phase (10th – 11th centuries), d) the Brănești type culture phase (12th – 13th centuries) and e) Lozova-Vorniceni type culture phase (first half of the 14th century) and V. Late Middle Ages: the phase of the Moldavian medieval culture (15th – 16th centuries). The medieval habitat within the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement compared to other historical periods is the most representative, summing up over 78.0% of the total identified archaeological materials.
The Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement was discovered in 1957. After a control survey from 1958 (P. Bârnea), the settlement had been studied through systematic archaeological excavations in 1961-1963 – on an area of 376 m2 (I. Hîncu) and in 1988 – on a surface of 860 m2 (Gh. Postică and V. Kavruk). The cultural layer of the settlement has a thickness varying from 0.80-1.10 m to 1.20-1.40 m. Compared to other sites of the same period in the eastern Carpathian area, the early medieval settlement from Păhărniceni is notable for the intensity of the archaeological material. Within the site, on an area of 1236 m2 were discovered: 28 constructions (dwellings, outbuildings, autonomous fire constructions, metallurgical installations, ditches from fencing, household pits) (Tab. 2), 27351 fragments of medieval pottery (Tab. 3-23), 242 pieces of inventory (Tab. 25), 636 pieces of iron ore (= 51.1 kg), 1331 pieces of iron slag (= 149.2 kg), 1427 pieces of burnt clay, 359 fragments of burnt clay trays, 92 fragments of burnt clay nozzles from metallurgical furnaces (Tab. 24) and 5506 animal bones (Tab. 26).
The analysis of the archeological material, denotes a predominance of the vestiges from the 10th – 14th centuries – 21760 ceramic fragments (79.6% of the total number of medieval ceramics), followed by the period of the 5th – 9th centuries – 3519 fragments (12.9%) and the 15th – 16th centuries – 2072 fragments (7.5%).
Within the medieval settlement from Păhărniceni, there are six phases of inhabitation, which correspond to the cultural aspects of the Prut-Dniester area: a) the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca type phase (5th – 7th centuries), b) the Lozna-Dodești type (8th – 9th centuries), c) the Dridu type (9th – 11th centuries), d) the Brănești type (12th – 13th centuries), e) the Lozova-Vorniceni type (14th century) and f) the Moldavian medieval type (15th – 16th centuries).
In the settlement were discovered 13 medieval houses, including 3 – from the 5th – 7th centuries, 5 – from the 8th – 9th centuries and another 5 – from the 10th – 13th centuries. Among them, there are two categories of dwellings: a) terrestrial, represented by a construction from the 5th – 7th centuries (no. 26) and b) deep, represented by 12 constructions (Fig. 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 36), including, 2 from the 5th – 7th centuries (no. 32, no. 44), 5 from the 8th – 9th centuries (no. 1-B, no. 1-C, no. 4, no. 25, no. 33) and another 5 from the 10 – 13th centuries (no. 1-A, no. 2, no. 3, no. 30, no. 31). The houses are divided into two types by their building method: a) houses with overlapping beam structure (“Blockbautechnik” type) - documented in 7 cases: no. 44 (5th – 7th centuries), no. 1-B, no. 1-C, no. 25, no. 33 (8th – 9th centuries) and no. 1-A, no. 2 (10th – 13th centuries) and b) dwellings with a structure built on pillars – documented in 5 cases: no. 32 (5th – 7th centuries), no. 4 (8th – 9th centuries) and no. 3, no. 30 and no. 31 (11th – 14th centuries). The fire constructions in the houses include 18 installations, represented by stone ovens (11 constructions), clay ovens (one construction) and open hearths (6 constructions).
The discovered auxiliary and production constructions are represented by 13 complexes, including an outbuilding from the 8th – 9th centuries (no. 39-A), 5 household pits – from the 8th –9th centuries (no. 1, no. 43) and the 10th – 14th centuries (no. 4, no. 38, no. 35), a stone oven from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1), 3 hearths of fruit drying from the 10th – 13th centuries (no. 1, no. 27, no. 34), 3 furnaces for reducing iron ore from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1, no. 2, no. 29) and an ore enrichment furnace from the 10th – 12th centuries (no. 1).
Paleobotanic analyzes showed that in the early medieval period in the settlement of Păhărniceni, soft wheat, rye, barley, oats and millet corn were grown. At the same time, archaeozoological analyzes showed the following composition of the herd of domestic animals in the early medieval period: cattle – 41.5%, ovicaprine – 19.1%, pig – 24.5% and horse – 14.9%.
Out of a total of 242 pieces of inventory, 212 pieces represent household tools (household tools – 68 pieces, textile tools – 87 pieces, leather tools - one piece, agricultural tools – 4 pieces, metallurgy and blacksmith tools – 28 pieces, tools for construction works – 6 pieces), 1 piece of clothing, 20 ornaments, 6 pieces of worship and 3 pieces of armament. Among them are 2 pieces made of silver, 5 of bronze, 6 of copper, 78 of iron, 1 of lead, 5 of glass, 14 of shale, 3 of sandstone, 93 of burnt clay, 30 of bone and 5 of ceramics. Most of the listed objects date from the 10th – 14th centuries – 223 units, followed by the 8th – 9th centuries – 15 pieces and the 5th – 7th centuries – 4 pieces. Among the most common are the following pieces: 49 iron knives, 80 clay / shale / ceramic spindles, 19 bone awls, clay nozzles from metallurgical furnaces, 6 beads of bass or burnt clay, 4 bronze / glass bracelets, 3 bone amulets, 3 iron arrows and 2 bronze pendants.
The Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement is organically part of the territorial group of early medieval settlements in the historical-geographical region of Codrii Orheiului. This territorial group includes 41 archeological sites, which in proportion of 80% have structures made up of 2-4 levels of early medieval habitation, the settlements with a single cultural horizon being rare (Fig. 2, Tab. 27). This group of settlements are located in the lower part of the Răut river basin, occupying an area of about 40x40 km. Within this group of settlements, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” location occupies the central place. Through a complex multi-layered structure, the Păhărniceni–„Petruca” settlement presents itself as a unique archaeological phenomenon, a model of early medieval habitation in the Codrii Orheiului area, which at the same time has a special historical and cultural significance for the entire Romanian space.

Medieval mace heads have often been ignored by scholars and many artefacts of this type lay unpublished and sometimes unknown in various museums even today. In some countries, such as present-day Hungary, Poland or the former USSR, archaeological research into these weapons has been undertaken to understand their use and their origin. Currently there are two typo-chronologies in use, but both limited to certain geographical areas. A survey of research conducted into maces held in Transylvanian museums revealed that scholarship on this topic is scarce and mace heads are often left in collections with incorrect or no dating.
In the present thesis I created a new typo-chronology for Transylvania, based on existing scholarship and analogies, comparing the results with research from other regions. I conclude that Transylvania was among the few regions with a high number of mace heads which, at least after the twelfth century, includes types that are rare elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. Aside from the importance of the typo-chronology in dating new artefacts, the thesis’s main contribution to scholarship is the compilation of the first catalogue of almost all presently known mace heads now held in Transylvanian museums.

Our research has strived to follow the re-emergence and evolution of laying down coins inside graves, seen as
a phenomenon, resulted after registering and analyzing the coins discovered both in row cemeteries and church
cemeteries, located in Transylvania, inside the Carpathian arch. How come does this particular phenomenon of
depositing coins inside graves had suddenly emerged in 11th century Transylvanian cemeteries and why did it
disappear – just as suddenly – during the 13th century? The first half of the 11th century still marks a period of
few conclusive proofs regarding a wide spread Christianity in Transylvania. Furthermore, there is no room for a
discussion about an ecclesiastic structure. (see map no. 1)
The only Transylvanian location with clear archaeological proofs regarding a simultaneous presence of both
churches and segments of Christian cemeteries is Alba Iulia, even though Dăbâca is also seen in the field literature
as a religious center. Within the Transylvanian cemeteries, one might observe, during the 11th century, a gradual
and radical modification process of the burial ritual. This process is divided into a first stage, when the coin laid as
an obolus (in or on the mouth) is observed inside row cemeteries. It is at this point, that we ask ourselves whether
the emergence of the coin as an obolus and its spread across row cemeteries as an element of funeral ritual emerged
in the context of Christianity diffusion might be seen as a habit introduced and supported by the Church? The
second stage of this process started during the second half of the 11th century and continued up until the 12th one.
This phase was characterized by the emergence of cemeteries disposed around churches, by the disappearance of
row cemeteries and through poorer grave goods. At the same time, the percentage of coins inside cemeteries went
under 10%. In the 13th century, during a third stage, the process of modification culminates in the spread of
cemeteries around churches and in the disappearance of both coins and other grave goods elements from the graves.
The last two stages might be seen as a consequence of the Church defining the burial ritual. If we are to take into
account the spread of church cemeteries during the second half of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th one,
we might finally be able to reflect upon the first signs of a parish system in Transylvania, because the 13th century
was a period when the institution of the Church was still organizing and constructing itself.

U tekstu su analizirani objavljeni rezultati nedavnih iskapanja starokršćanskoga bazilikalnog kompleksa i ranosrednjovjekovnih grobova u tumulima kod Ljupča pored Nina. Originalna interpretacija pripisuje uništenje kompleksa i ranosrednjovjekovne grobove doseljenim Slavenima. Analizirajući postojeće informacije u širem kontekstu, tekst nudi alternativnu interpretaciju nalaza, kojom se ukazuje na metodološke probleme s kojima se često u hrvatskoj arheologiji susreću pokušaji identificiranja ranosrednjovjekovnih Slavena u Dalmaciji.

In this paper are analysed published results of recent excavations of early Christian complex and early medieval graves in burial mounds in the area of Ljubač near Nin. The original interpretation ascribed the destruction of the early Christian basilical complex and the appearance of early medieval graves to recently migrated Slavic groups. By analysing the existing information in a wider context, this paper offers alternative interpretation of the finds, discussing methodological problems encountered by the Croatian archaeologists attempting to identify early medieval Slavs in Dalmatia.

The Discovery, Prelevation, Conservation and Restauration of a Medieval Sword from Șeica Mare
The Sword was discovered during a metal detection act in October 2017. due to the fact that its discovery was declared to the public authorities, it was later properly researched by a team of archaeologists. The sword was dated in the first half of the 13.th century and its restauration were performed by specialists from the Brukenthal Museum of Sibiu.

In the summer of 2014, in the area of Crăciunești, in the Mureș County, a bronze spiked mace head has been found in an accidental discovery. Due to the lack of an archaeological context dating the artefact must be based on a typological categorization and in accordance to relevant analogies. The mace head comprises a row of four large pyramidal knobs, placed radial in the central part of the artefact, and a row of four smaller tetrahedral knobs, placed radial on the upper part of the mace head, in between the larger spikes. Certainly the latter were doubled by an identical row below the large median spikes and most probably a lower element. Unfortunately we can only presume, based on analogies, that this lower element must have been a cone trunk or a handle socket.
When it entered the inventory of the County Museum Mureș the mace head presented a high corrosion degree, so that any possible decorative element had been lost. I analysed the artefact based on analogies, given the absence of any archaeological context, classifying it in accordance to the typologies offered by Anatoli N. Kirpichnikov and László Kovács. In accordance to this, I proposed as a dating the period of the thirteenth century until the middle of the fourteenth century. The wide chronological span is due to the lack of the inferior part of the mace head, along with any archaeological information.

Stone vessels discovered in the medieval site of Costești-Gârlea (Ialoveni district)
The present paper addresses the problem of the spreading of stone vessels in the urban settlements east of the Carpathians, controlled by the Golden Horde in the 14th century. Two artefacts discovered in the well-known archaeological site at Costești-Gârlea (Ialoveni district) are studied as an example. The purpose of the paper is to provide new data on this category of vessels recovered during the archaeological excavations in the perimeter of the important Djuchid settlement from Botna Valley in the autumn of 2017.
The presented vestiges were found in the filling of a lightly deepened in the ground dwelling, located on a platform on the left side of the Botna river valley, strongly affected by the landslides. The assemblage was represented, along with the fragmentary stone containers, by the numerous and various categories of findings, such as various types of clay vessels, fragments of glass vessels, numerous faunistic remains, items made of iron, bronze, stone, burnt clay and bone, as well as 10 Djuchid copper coins, dated back to the 14th century. The vessels discussed here were made of gray stone (steatite), with the surface decorated in several levels with straight, zigzag and oblique incisions. The information obtained as a result of studying these original discoveries for our territory will complement the database on the morphology and provenance of the stone vessels, the territorial limits of spreading of this category of artefacts, as well as certain views regarding the economic life in the western part of the area subjected to the Gold Horde in the 14th century.

Стаття присвячена одному з різновидів холодної зброї ударно-роздроблювальної дії – булаві, а саме зіркоподібним навершям, які паралельно демонструють високий художній рівень давньоруських майстрів. Розглянуто відомі на цей час типологічні схеми, здійснена спроба систематизації декору зіркоподібних навершь, картографовано та створено каталог аналогічних знахідок.

In monographies new materials of archeological excavations for the first time are published and entered into a wide scientific turn on a complex of archaeological settlements Toropovo-4 which represents object of a historical and cultural heritage of the ancient and medieval population which lived in a valley of the river of Kasmy in territory of the Kuznetsk hollow. Materials from elevating gathering and field archeological excavations 1996 and on this unique monument are described 1999-2002 in chapter 1 and presented in the appendix. The information on results of excavation by a total area of 1254 sq. m, collections of artifacts of material culture (1843 copies), about the revealed objects of ability to live of people (12 centers, 4 housing foundation ditches and 29 soil holes) is resulted. New materials have been subjected analytical research. At a primary stage of the analysis classification of the found artifacts and the objects of ability to live opened on a monument has been spent. Therefore their big typological variety has been revealed. The comparative analysis of all set of this data has allowed to investigate a question on their chronology and a cultural accessory and to allocate steady cultural-chronological complexes of archaeological materials on a studied monument. In total it has been revealed six culturalchronological complexes: epoch of a eneolith, the early and developed bronze; epoch of late bronze; transitive time from bronze to iron and the early Iron Age; the early Middle Ages (V - first half VIII centuries AD); the early Middle Ages (second half VIII-X centuries AD); the developed Middle Ages (or first half II thousand AD). Dating of an occupation layer occurring at different times on Toropovo-4 and an arrangement of cultural-chronological complexes have allowed to interpret a monument as a complex of settlements occurring at different times. Research of quantitative characteristics of cultural-chronological complexes has allowed to draw a conclusion that the monument has the specific cyclic dynamics of functioning. Peaks of cultural cycles have been fixed for an epoch of late bronze and the developed Middle Ages.
The question on a place which occupies a complex of settlements Toropovo-4 in micro and macro cultural space, within Kasminsky archaeological microdistrict, the Kuznetsk hollow, the Western and Average Siberia, during the various historical periods of functioning has undergone to special studying. Communications of the cultural-chronological groups allocated for Toropovo-4 with such cultural formations, as have been investigated: andronovskay (fedorovskay) culture or andronovskay a cultural-historical generality of the developed bronze; korhagskinskay and irmenskay archaeological culture or irmenskay a cultural-historical generality of late bronze; monuments of transitive time from bronze to the early Iron Age; the fominskay archaeological culture; the saratovsray archaeological culture verhneobskoj a cultural-historical generality of the early Middle Ages; the handinskay archaeological culture basandajskoj a cultural-historical generality of the developed Middle Ages. On the basis of historiographic studying of a wide range of archaeological materials of different historical epoch and the periods of Kasminsky archaeological microdistrict, the Kuznetsk hollow, the Western and Average Siberia, having on Toropovo-4, the place was possible to designate analogies it is a monument on cultural-chronological schemes of different level As a whole, estimating special value of new materials entered into a wide scientific turn, it is necessary to notice that they allow to observe cultural changes passing in a wide chronological interval on the same place. Thus quantitative characteristics of archaeological materials allow to study questions of cultural dynamics, its sources and factors.

В монографии публикуются и исследуются материалы раскопок Кузнецкой комплексной археолого-этнографической экспедиции на уникальном объекте историко-культурного наследия Кузбасса - комплексе разновременных археологических поселений Торопово-4, который расположен на территории Кузнецкой котловины в долине среднего течения р. Касьмы в ЛенинскеКузнецком районе Кемеровской области. Полевые исследования этого памятника осуществлялись в конце XX - начале XXI вв. Исследование позволило установить, что комплекс археологических поселений Торопово-4 формировался на разных берегах р. Касьмы, на протяжении нескольких тысячелетий, начиная с эпохи энеолита до позднего средневековья. В книге опубликованы материалы раскопок, являющиеся ценным источником по древней и средневековой истории Кузнецкой котловины, Верхнего Приобья, Западной и Средней Сибири.

This paper brings forward a solitary case in Romania when the discoverer of a sword (found with the aid of a metal detector) chose to prese it "in situ", and to report it to local authorities. Following the report an archaeological diagnosis was run to salvage the item, wich is a knightly weapon from the first half of the 13th century.

Complexes funéraires des peuples nomades médiévaux près du village de Balabani, département de Taraclia, République de Moldavie. Auprès du village de Balabani, sur la rivière Ialpug, ont été fouillés 25 tumulus qui datent de l'époque énéolithique jusqu'au Moyen Âge. Dans cette étude les auteurs présentent sept sépultures découvertes en 19842"3 (tumulus nos 18, 22, 25, et 27), tout en intégrant également dans leur analyse les données sur neuf sépultures fouillées en 1971. Les sépultures des nomades touraniens occupent les zones centrales et méridionales des tumulus à dimensions réduites (0,60-1,50 m de hauteur, 25-40 m diamètre). L'orientation des squelettes est: O (6), NO (4), NE (2) et S (4). Dix sépultures ont été munies d'inventaire (dont deux avec des squelettes de chevaux): armes, parures, pièces de vêtement, qui ont permis leur classement parmi les types A-I, D-I, G-VIII. J-I, V-IV et Z-I de la typologie de Fjodorov-Davydov ou bien parmi les types 1, 3, 8 et 17 de celle de Dobroljubskij. Six sépultures sont datées d'un intervalle plus large (Xe-XIVe siècles), alors que les autres peuvent être datées d'une manière plus précise des XIIIe - XIVe siècles.

Во время археологических раскопок поселения скифского времени у хутора Титчиха было обнаружено семилучевое украшение с псевдозерненым орнаментом.  Результаты рентгеноспектрального исследования показали, что оно выполнено из сплава серебра и меди, и, вероятно, была покрыта сверху тонким слоем серебра. Авторы связывают обнаруженную находку с расположенным неподалеку городищем Титчиха, и на основании типологического сходства с другими изделиями этого круга славянских древностей, датируют данное украшение концом IX ‒ X вв.

Das mittelalterliche Schwert von Bucova.

Das Schwert wird aufgrund der Form und der Gestaltung seiner Teile in die Gruppe der schweren einhandigen Hiebschwerter, d.h., Typus XII-H (R.E. Oakeshott), und in der Zeitspanne vom ende des 13. bis anfang des 14. Jh., eingereiht, wobei eine langere Verwendungszeit nicht ausgeschlossen ist.

In 2018, members of the archaeological expedition of the Institute of Cultural Heritage carried out archaeological surveys at three sites located near the Cărbuna village, Ialoveni district. In the settlement of Cărbuna-La Rădi/Rădi, medieval pottery of the 8th-9th centuries, as well as from the late Middle Ages, was found. During the earthworks in the southwestern part of the village, a multilayer settlement (Cărbuna-Negrub) was discovered. An expressive collection of ceramics of the Precucuteni III phase, as well as fragments of vessels of the Late Antiquity and Middle Ages. Hand-made pottery and the fragments of Greek amphorae also come from Cărbuna-Rădiul Babei site, preliminaty attributed to the Getian culture.