Archaeological evidence on land farming in the Someș river Plain – north-western Romania (1st century BC?)
Archaeological evidence on land farming in the Someș river Plain – north-western Romania (1st century BC?)

Summary/Abstract: We discuss here a ploughshare (iron-made) discovered in the settlement of Lazuri–Lubi-tag, a site inhabited over the course of different periods, the Middle and Late La Tène included. Accurate parallel cultural artefacts from the Celtic milieu of Western Europe yet also within the Celt-colonised territories of Central Europe were chronologically framed to LT D and particularly, LT D1. Connected to the Late La Tène horizon of Lazuri was also identified a silver Celtic coin, Simmering type, hence based on the short time span during which such coins were minted (more likely 70–40 BC) and the date when the Lazuri specimen might have been buried, the LT D inhabitancy may be reasonably established to mid 1st century BC, with a somewhat extension around such date. Unfortunately, the ploughshare cannot be directly associated with other materials, pottery or different artefacts, therefore its connection to one of the two stages of the La Tène inhabitancy remains problematical. The LT C1 dating cannot be excluded, yet if one bears in mind the chronological positions suggested for its parallels, the symmetrical plough metal component of the sort being better represented in the Late La Tène, the northern Carpathian area included, then it is more likely that such dating also suits the discussed exemplar, namely around the landmark provided by mid 1st century BC, somewhat extending bi-directionally.

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