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Casemate foundation platforms appeared in Egypt in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC during the 2nd Intermediate period. As they are similar in nature to palace-citadel structures from the capital of Egypt under the Hyksos, Avaris, the possibility of their being Asiatic in origin has been considered. Recently, however, similar structures from Deir el-Ballas have been associated with Nubian funerary architecture. Yet making a choice between these two hypotheses means forgetting about the achievements of Egyptian brick architecture. The link between casemate foundation platforms and high Nile floods, as well as their structural features, unquestionably suggest Egyptian origin. Over the course of this paper, I would like to consider if the appearance of casemate platforms in the 2nd Intermediate period and the beginning of the New Kingdom could be related to mastaba burials and the local development of foundation laying methods.
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Based on the changes that have occurred in the political-military context of the Lower Danube, at the beginning of the 5th century, the Roman-Byzantine authorities resorted to restoring the naval power of the empire on the Danube border of the provinces of Moesia Secunda and Scythia Minor. For this purpose, through an edict issued by Emperor Theodosios II, on January 28, 412, the war fleets of the two provinces were constituted / reconstituted. Classis Moesica and Classis Scythica were thus born. According to the imperial edict, the composition of the two fleets included, first of all, warships, naves lusoriae, but also transport vessels, naves iudiciariae and naves agrarienses. The process of setting up the two fleets was to last seven years. At the end of this interval, the Classis Moesica was to count 114 vessels, of which 100 naves lusoriae, 10 naves agrarienses and four naves iudiciariae, and the Classis Scythica of 142 vessels, respectively 125 naves lusoriae, five naves iudiciariae and 12 naves agrarienses. The combined fleets of the two provinces were to total 266 ships, of which 225 naves lusoriae, nine naves iudiciariae and 22 naves agrarienses.
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Pamfil I. Polonic was a topographer engineer, draughtsman, Head of works on archaeological site, amateur cartographer and close collaborator of Grigore G. Tocilescu. In a short period of time, barely exceeding a decade, Pamfil Polonic managed to carry out an impressive number of excavations carried out according to the methods of the time, in resorts with a sometimes difficult and complex stratigraphy and to carry out periegetic research totaling hundreds of kilometers regarding Roman roads, waves, etc. Pamfil Polonic's notes about the archaeological heritage of Dobrogea are extensive, and his entire scientific activity materialized in a number of 1587 pages. Unfortunately, most of Pamfil Polonic's notes, despite being a real help for researchers, have not seen the light of print to this day.
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Three photographs of different years have fixed the same sightseeing located in the vicinity of the Sudak Fortress — the fountain in the territory of the former German colony in the village Uyutnoe. They are an eloquent demonstration of the metamorphoses this structure has been exposed to during over 150 years of its existence, and what’ s more, how the children’s entertainment and home duties have strikingly transformed over this time. All three shots exhibit one permanent feature, i.e. a carved architectural detail of unknown origin, reutilized by the builders as a decorative element of masonry in the fountain. The spolia is a well preserved fragment of a 215 cm high door framing. Its frame exceeded the plane of the wall just by 2 cm. The item can be dated within the third quarter of the 14th century, although some wider chronological span is also possible, partly extending into the 15th century. It would be challenging to identify the donor building with any degree of certainty, yet it is quite likely that it was the Mosque of the Sudak Fortress.
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The known fact of the resumption of the issue of full-weight coins (with Demeter) in 340—330 BC in Olbia was also accompanied by the issue of its fractions. It is the first series of minted copper (subgr. Iв (Ма), Iг (Мо), IIб (Ро)). The renewal of issue of full-weight copper and its fractions was a consequence of the failure of the decimal reform by the Aristocratids; the population did not accept the reduced “obol series” (gr. 2), apparently, due to insufficient silver coins. In 333 BC, the Aristocratids tried unsuccessfully to legitimize the new monetary system by means of Canob’s decree; the copper and silver of the decree (… τὸν χαλκὸν καὶ τὸ ἀργύριο[ν]…) are “obol series” (ΑΡΙΣ, ΘΕΥ, ΦΙΛΙ, ΜΟΣΧ, ΠΑ, etc.) and silver (ΑΡΙΣ, ΜΟΣΧ). Thus, the traditional hypothesis about the mention of the full-weight copper in Canob’s decree is refuted. Subsequent episodic emission of the “obol series” (gr. 1) in 330—317 BC probably had no effect on monetary circulation; the coins were used to mint the “borysthenes” of gr. 1 until 309 BC.
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In this work, the compositional structure of the textile heritage is analyzed. Another aspect addressed with regard to textiles, is how its state of conservation was or can be due to the environment of storage, use, handling, transport, namely the changes that occur at the fiber level. The way the fibers were dyed and with what, techniques for identifying dyes and fibers that provide information on dating, were also scored. The steps taken to address the needs of a textile piece after restoration, namely active and preventive conservation according to conservation norms, have benefited from a detailed approach.
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The present paper discusses 46 key-rings from the province of Dacia. The key-ring is a type of artefact that could be used as jewellery with an utilitarian role in operating closing mechanisms. They objects could be worn either on the finger or on a chain. The analysed artefacts were sourced from various publications, studies and site monographs, mostly providing a general overview with brief details on typologies, dating, or functionality of the key-rings. The aims of the study include the analysis of the artefacts, their typological and chronological classification of the artefacts, the identification of analogies and the functionality of the artefacts. Additionally, the study aims to identify the types of locking mechanisms operated by key-rings, to identify production centres, and examine the distribution of key-rings in the province of Dacia. The study examines this category of artefacts from a broader point of view and offers new opportunities for debate on this topic.
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The study focuses on the factors affecting visitor numbers to archaeological sites in Turkey. The aim is to investigate the geographical, economic, and demographic factors underlying the visits using statistical methods. The study covers 117 archaeological site visits in 2019. Although existing studies analysed determinants of visits to archaeological sites of different countries, the evidence needs to be explicit. Methodologically, the classical linear regression models are primarily applied in the literature, whereas the incorporation of spatial dependence has largely been ignored. This study contributes to the literature by employing demographic, economic, and climatic factors and spatial relations between the sites. Therefore, spatial autoregressive (SAR) and spatial error models (SEM) are developed in the analyses. According to the results, WHL inscription and distance to the city centre are crucial factors for the visits. In addition, the study emphasizes the significant negative effect of spatial dependence on visitor numbers of archaeological sites near each other.
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Being an easy pass over the Carpathians, in the Middle Ages in times of peace, the valley of the river Olt was the most important trade route of Sibiu with Wallachia and further along with the Balkans. But it was also an easy access towards Sibiu in case of war, for which reason, besides a border point (the fortress from Turnu Roșu), the area was fortified with other fortresses as well, such as Landskrone in Tălmaciu, the strongholds in Tălmăcel and Lotrioara and a tower at the confluence of the Megieș brook and the Olt river. The current national road DN 7, going through the pass today, was the object of enlargement works in 2015, which gave us the opportunity to research the tower in the valley of the Megieș brook. The site is better known today as Turnul Spart [Broken Tower] and it stands on a narrow strip of sand and gravel between the river Olt and the national road DN 7. The tower was an outpost of the custom point from Turnu Roșu. According to old documents, it was built in the summer of 1503. The ensemble also included a stone wall which closed the valley. It started on the slope of the mountain and ended up near the water and had an arched opening where the road was. Half of the tower fell down in 1533 during a high flood of the Olt river, but the other half still stands, as well as a fragment of the wall closing the valley. Old images of the area (paintings and photographs) show these ruins and their slight alterations and decays over the last two centuries. The archaeological research in 2015 led to the discovery of the fallen half of the tower and also of a circular enclosure contemporary with the tower. The fallen half is overlapped by the foundation of the ruined house of the road caretaker. The enclosure made out of stone possibly supported an earth bank (which could not be observed during the research). In the debris of the tower two harquebuses were found dating from the second half of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th. A bronze mortar was also found wearing the year 1516 embossed. Smaller iron items were also found.The research found no traces of burning linked to the tower and no materials dating after the 16th century. The abandonment of valuable items of the era and the later impossibility of recovering them as well as the lack of human remains suggest that the old documents were accurate and that the tower was indeed destroyed by the waters of the river, which also covered the debris in alluviums.
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Review of: Radu Harhoiu, Nikolaus Boroffka, Rodica Boroffka, Erwin Gáll, Adrian Ioniță, Daniel Spânu, Schäßburg – Weinberg / Sighișoara – Dealul Viilor. II. Archäologische Grabungen bei der Fundstelle ,,Gräberfeld“ / ,,Necropolă“ (Archaeologia Romanica, VI), Târgoviște: Cetatea de Scaun, 2020, 577 S., 226 Abbildungen, 1 Tafel,
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In 2019 and then in 2020, an early Byzantine church was at first probed and afterwards fully explored in the location of Grad in Gaj, Gradojević village, in the municipality of Koceljeva. The remains of the church are located on a flat section of a slope that descends to the river Tamnava. The church was a one-nave building, with two annexes on the sides, which gave the temple a cross-shaped appearance with total dimensions of 17 m x 15.9 m. The main entrance to the church was located on the west wall, and via two side passages there was communication from the nave with the annexes, which, on the other hand, had direct entrances from the outside on the west side. Along the inner face of the apse there was a sinthronos with a central extension for the Upper Place, and in its central part a rectangular opening for the pedestal of the venerable table. The altar was separated from the rest of the church by a brick groove for the altar partition. The church was built of broken and pressed stone of light gray or whitish color, bound with whitish lime mortar. The findings of imbrexes and tegules indicate that the apse, as well as the rest of the church, was covered with this type of roof covering. The roof structure was wooden, built on two pitches, which was supported by the side walls, over transversely placed wooden beams. For the construction of the church, a well-studied geometrical floor plan with well-placed proportions was used, which would suggest that the designer was a trained architect or someone who had enviable knowledge of geometry. The basic elements for dating the church are provided by the characteristics of its architecture, the method of construction and existing analogies, which is why it is dated to the 6th century. And the movable archaeological material found (finds of glass, stone mortar, ancient pottery and building ceramics) supports this dating. The church was destroyed in an invasion, after which it was never rebuilt. The absence of stone plastic and church furniture indicates the fact that the stone plastic was taken from the church or that most of the church furniture was made of wood.
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The present article features the preliminary data obtained following the analyzes related to the use of hard animal materials to obtain objects by the prehistoric communities of Parţa. This analysis is part of the extended archaeozoological research carried out for the osteological fragments obtained from the numerous campaigns of archaeological research carried out by Gheorghe Lazarovici within the Neo‑Eneolithic settlement from Parţa. Starting from the description of the types, sources and methods of selection of the hard animal material, the paper presents the results of the analyzes obtained for the 50 objects made of animal bone, found so far in the archaeozoological research of the Parţa settlement. Although it is a small number of objects, the sample is diversified, the pieces can be classified into several groups: tools, objects of daily use (spoons), objects of clothing and personal ornament (pendants, clothing items etc.), as well as scraps debit.
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The article presents the results of the morpho‑dimensional analysis of the species of domestic mamales inside the Hallstattian settlement (Gáva culture) at Teleac. In the case of bovines and little ruminants the metric data are numerous, a large part of the remains coming from specimens with finished corporal growing; but they are deficitary in the case of Suina as the large part of their samples came from young and subadult animals. Generally speaking, the bovine population exploited at Teleac stays on a large value heterogeinity dominated by the small and average values. The corporal conformation is not too robust too. For the withers high, we estimated a variation of 104.5–114.6 cm for the female animals, of 110.14–134.31 cm for male ones, and 121.6–124.12 cm for the castrated specimens. The exploited bovines in the low Banat during the early Hallstatt era are not significantly different from those exploited in Transylvania, in what concerns the corporal parameters. For the sheep conformation at Teleac and other chronological similar sites, it is a gracile one, much smaller if related to the Bronze Age. The size of the remains discovered at Teleac was estimated to 53.1–65.04 cm, with an average size of 57.3 cm. It seems that the ovine specimens in Gáva and Basarabi sites were small, with a gracile corporal conformation. The whiters high varies between 63.8 and 66.7 cm, with an average size of 65 cm. The Suina exploited in the Hallstattian communities seem as massive as the ones in the Bonze Age, with no tendency to diminish the corporal parameters. There were identified horses with the withers high of 139.73 cm, 141.57 cm, and 138.31 cm, and indices of gracility of 14.85 (semi‑gracile), 13.7 (gracile), and 10.98 (gracile). The three bodies were relative high, with semi‑thin and thin extremities, closer to riding horses. For the Canidae, the withers high was estimated to 47.75–55.76 cm (average = 50.4 cm), signifying animals of sub‑mid and mid size. The dental analysis suggests massive dentition even the size of those animals did not exceed 55 cm. It was probably a local type, well adapted for shielding and hunting. They presume that the Canidae from the first Iron Age in Romania were of mid or sub‑mid sizes, with few big individuals as those indentified in the Dacian Age.
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The cult of Moirai/ Moerae, their iconography, and the popular faith concerning the goddesses of destiny in the Greek colonies on the western shore of the Pontus Euxinus make the subject of the present study. Our research is based on the study of epigraphic, literary, and archeaological (votive bas‑reliefs) documents. The cult of the Moirai is certainly certificated in Naulochos (the modern Obzor, in Bulgaria) and at Istros where two dedications to the goddesses of destiny were found out. A votive aedicula in the temple of Aphrodite at Istros proves the relations between the Moirai and the cult of Aphrodite. The association of the Moirai with Aphrodite is confirmed by the two reliefs discovered at Panticapaion and Tyras, which present a similar composition with the one on the votive relief at Istros. The funeral epitaphs found out along the western shore of the Pontus Euxinus underline the Greeks’popular creeds related to the goddesses of destiny.
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The auxiliary Roman castrum of Hoghiz (Braşov county) has stirred the interest of researchers and antiquities enthusiasts since the mid–18th century, being represented in cartographic sources of the period as Alte Schloʃs Rudera or Pons Vetus. Over time, based on the analysis of tegular material, it is believed that Ala I Asturum, Cohors III Gallorum, Numerus Illyricorum and troops from Legio XIII Gemina were stationed here, making it the most important auxiliary castrum in Eastern Dacia. During surface investigations in 2023, 12 fragments of glass vessels were recovered from the area of the Roman baths adjacent to the castrum. They belong mainly to beakers and cups, prismatic bottles or window panes, as well as a dark‑red facetted bead. By analogy, the identified fragments can be dated to the 2nd century AD while the bead is specific to the 4th century AD with good similarities in the area of the Sântana de Mureş – Cerneahov culture.
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The author brings into discussion an aspect of an anthropic intervention on the relief resulting a relief of excavation. Namely, he presents a large canal of 1,622 m length, 23 m width, and 2 – 3.5 m depth today. It began from the south‑eastern part of the village of Cicir, from the village common near by the Mureş River, from the place named „Movila lui Nicoli” [Nicoli’s Hillock]; after a rectilineal way, it went to north‑east falling down in the curvature of an old branch of the Mureş River. That one came from the western area of the localities of Păuliş and Ghioroc, toward the west, with a loop at the north‑west of Cicir to stream away to the main river by the east part of the village pf Sâmbăteni. On the basis of actual data and reasons the author tries to give an answer to some quesions concerning the period it was digged, the aim it was digged for, and the people who ordered such a large work known as „Iarc” in the local speech (a word of a Slavic origin = ditch). He excludes the ditch setting during the Hapsburgs’ period of the Mureş River regularizing (the first half of the 19th century). Some opinions on the aim are emitted. The first one should be related to a process of drainig of swampy terrains given the presence of a minor branch of the Mureş, probably during the Middle Age. Another explanation is related to the possibility that the canal should have been set for navigation of small ships, from the loop directly to the Mureş without caming back. It seems that there were some points‑of‑sale for goods transported by rafts (?), namely some stone‑worked landing places. Another function may be related to the distructive effect on the Mureş bank, the canal setting having directed the flow to another area – namely the minor branch at the north‑eastern part of Cicir. Less probably but not excluded, the canal could have been one for the floating mills if taking into consideration that the wheal of such a mill was the seal of the village of Cicir (1837). The archaeological repertory of the village might favorably puts in light the problems that objective raises.
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The archaeological surveys started in 2014 in the administrative boundary of the commune of Sânmihaiu Român, more precisely in the vicinity of Sânmihaiu Român and Utvin, revealed the existence of numerous human settlements. From the point of view of chronological classification, the first settlements can be dated to the Neolithic period. These are followed by Eneolithic, Bronze Age and Early Iron Age sites. The Second Iron Age is also well represented with settlements from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. Medieval finds are also well represented, especially those dating to the middle and later Middle Ages.
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Field research in the spring of 2023 led to the identification of new sites with material that can be chronologically assigned to the Late Bronze Age‑Early Iron Age. From the point of view of cultural classification, we consider that the pottery discovered can be attributed to the Balta Sărată cultural group. The pottery fragments collected from the surface are characterized by the fine sand or large‑grained sand mixed with the clay. The decorations found are grooves, horizontal incisions or incisions in the form of semicircles.
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Review of: Cătălin Pavel, Animalele care ne fac oameni. Blană, cozi şi pene în arheologie, Editura Humanitas, București, 2021, 392 p.
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