From the analyses of the table pottery sample found in the X research area on the archaeological site Slava Rusă, it result that the pottery centre with the most vessels (23 fragments of pottery) is represented by the Phocaean workshops from western Asia Minor. This situation is not surprising, being encountered on the other research areas in Ibida but also in other Roman-Byzantine sites in Dobrudja. Noteworthy in the X research area is that all the Phocaean pottery can be framed in a time interval not exceeding a century (second half of the 5th century and first half of the 6th century). The identified forms are only two: Hayes Form 3 with some of the versions and Hayes Form 8. We can notice that the first forms of Phocaean workshops are absent (Hayes Form 1, 2 and the A version of the 3rd Hayes Form); that would be covered the second half of the 4th century and the first half of the 5th century. The Phocaean bowls (Hayes 10 Form); specific to the second half of the 6th and the beginning of the next century are absent, too. The African workshops are certified by the presence of five pieces, each belonging to a different form. Beside the forms already attested in Dobrudja (Hayes 82, 87, 91 and 104), this research area offered another two forms: Hayes 70 and 71, for which there are no analogies in the West-Pontic area. These forms date from the late 4th century and the first half of the 6th century (Hayes 104 Form, version C). In terms of quantity, North-African tableware ranges within the limits already known for the contemporary sites within the region. As for the pottery produced in the Black Sea basin—identified by four ceramic fragments—it also ranges within the limits known at Ibida from the analyses of the Extra Muros Vest III research area. The identified forms have analogies in settlements in both the North Black Sea basin and the North of modern Turkey. Unidentified pottery, probably belonging to other subsequent ages (like the medieval ceramic fragment), may mean that the existing archaeological situation was disrupted by other subsequent interventions after the abandonment of the fortification system at Slava Rusă. Besides the modern intervention, a medieval settlement may have also existed, also certified in the Curtina G research area. Further analysis of other material categories from the X research Area, plus comparing data with those obtained by studying the table ware sample, will provide more complete information about the chronology and functionality of the archaeological complex identified in the mentioned research area from (L) Ibida.
Articles
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and the Archaeological Research Carried Out between 1881 and 1893
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Suspending Light Devices from Scythia Minor
The authors present a series of suspended light devices discovered in Early Byzantine settlements from the province of Scythia. The finds were discovered in Halmyris/Murighiol, Beroe/Piatra Frecăței, (L)Ibida/Slava Rusă, Tomis/Constanța, Capidava, Ulmetum/Pantelimonul de Sus, and Tropaeum Traiani/Adamclisi. The archaeological contexts of these finds are mostly unclear, but we believe that were used for illuminating civilian houses, military barracks, warehouses and religious places.
Greek and Latin Authors on the Carpathian-Dniestrian Territory: An Anthropology of Perceptions
The paper focuses on the lexemes and expressions emphasized by the concepts of autopsía, akoé and autopátheia. Our research analyse these concepts in the works produced by historians, geographers and poets and the way that their perception on certain events is influenced.
A Cucuteni A3 settlement at Pocreaca, Iaşi
Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 19(1): 297-316 Constantin Iconomu, Iași Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy – Iași branch, ABSTRACT We present the results of the archaeological investigations carried out in the Neolithic Cucuteni A3 settlement from Pocreaca–Cetăţuia site, Schitu Duca commune, Iaşi county. The excavations unearthed a house platform of fired clay, alongside flint and polished stone tools, tri-chromatic painted and unpainted pottery, and anthropomorphic and zoomorphic idols. Sunt prezentate rezultatele cercetărilor arheologice din așezarea neolitică Cucuteni A 3 de la Pocreaca, punctul „Cetățuia”, comuna Schitu Duca, județul Iași. În cursul săpăturilor a fost descoperită o platformă de locuință din lut ars, unelete de silex și piatră șlefuită, ceramică pictată tricromă și nepictată, idoli antropomorfi și zoomorfi. FULL ARTICLE Download PDF (free)
Oswald Spengler und der Streitwagen: ein Plädoyer für Universalgeschichte
Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) was one of the most influential philosophers of history between WW I and WW II. His book “The Decline of the West” (1918) made him famous. In this book Spengler attested that the phase of the West as a productive culture is over and that the phase of civilization has started. In the years after the publication of his main work Spengler started to get more and more interested in Ancient History in its broadest sense. He argued against a Eurocentric view of history and suggested to reconsider our common understanding of history and its epochs. In the last part of the paper I try to show how Spengler conceptualized his universal history by the example of a lecture given by him on the war chariot and its influence on world history..
Some Noua settlements without ash-mounds from the Eastern part of Romania (with emphasis on the region of the Bârlad basin)
The aim of this paper is to draw the attention to some Noua settlements for which no ash-mounds were revealed during the excavations. Though, I focus in the first place on the Basin of the Bârlad River, I will also look for parallels in the Eastern part of Romania. A small number of excavations were performed in Late Bronze Age settlements from the Bârlad Basin; in three cases, the small scale soundings revealed levels without ash-mounds. The comparison between layers with and without ash-mounds allowed some preliminary observations to be made, though further reinforcement is needed. I intend to present those particular cases and to bring into discussion some of the remarks the researchers made. Also, an objective of this approach is to establish a starting point of a discussion about Noua settlements without ash-mounds.
Preliminary notes concerning Middle Bronze Ages pottery analysis from Costişa-Cetățuia, Neamț County
The Costișa archaeological culture has been known for more than half a century and it has been categorized as belonging to the Middle Bronze Age in the Eastern Carpathian area. From the very beginning it was supposed to be the result of local connections with southern Monteoru-type elements and northern ones such as Komariw-Bialy-Potik. This assessment was made on the basis of a comparative analysis of the known archaeological investigation methods (stratigraphy and pottery typology). The present contribution employs another type of analysis of the pottery from the eponymous site. Thus, starting from the archaeological database consisting of seven pottery shards, the following scientific investigations were performed: SEM-EDS analysis, optical spectroscopy, and chemical modules analysis. The aim was to cover all the steps followed during modern pottery investigation, from the archaeological description of the artefacts and the initial macroscopic evaluation, to the integration by the archaeologist of the data obtained from the other types of analysis. The results of these analyses could provide multiple coherent answers regarding the history of a site, the ceramic technology, the relations between the local community and the Monteoru ones.