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During the excavations in the courtyard of the Târgu-Mureş Fortress, traces of several prehistoric settlements were documented. The earliest of these dates from the early Neolithic. The majority of the ceramic material dated to the IIIB phase of the Criş Culture comes from the layer, only a few archaeological features from this period were researched.
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The rescue surveys carried out in 2015 at Ernei–Köles-kert resulted in the discovery and unearthing of a large archaeological site, inhabited over several millennia, from the Neolithic to the Migration Period. The traces of the Neolithic settlement, consisting of shallow pits and stone and pottery platforms were found in the southern part of the site, on the first terrace of Mureş River. The finds comprise mainly pottery fragments and it can be assigned entirely to the Early Neolithic Criş culture, most probably to its IIIrd or IVth phase.
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During the last 20 years, the phenomenon of poaching the archaeological sites has been developed in Romania, in order to obtain artefacts, which can be later capitalized through the illegal trade on the black market of antiques. Many decontextualized archaeological pieces - some of them of inestimable value – now belong to unauthorized collections some of which have been the subject of judicial investigations for the purpose of recovery of the artefacts but also the information regarding their discovery. The present study discusses two sculptural pieces, ‘discovered’ in a so called: ‘private collection’ of a citizen from Alba Iulia. The data obtained through the judicial investigations, corroborated with the typological-stylistic and functional analy-ses, concludes for the origin of artefacts in the area of Bucerdea Grânoasă village (Búzásbocsárd, Alba County) and in the roman antique city of Apulum.
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The small number of animal remains (60 fragments) discovered at the Neolithic site of Târgu Mureș have a kitchen midden aspect and except for one pig vertebra all come from wild and domestic individuals of Bos sp. (cattle and aurochs). The material outlines a population with a balanced maintenance based on both hunting and animal husbandry, possibly in the midst of domestication.
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Recently the Mureș County Museum acquired a full‑hilted sword. Due to the lack of any archaeological context the paper focuses primarily on technological and metallurgical aspects, thus trying to decipher a very particular biography of the artefact. It is a low‑quality but good looking weapon which despite visible casting faults was neatly worked and decorated and seemingly never used. The adornment of the hilt points towards Central European connections being a remote representative of the eastern Alpine metallurgical center.
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The ancient Egyptian collection of the Mureș County Museum consists of five objects, all of them having belonged to the former Collection of Count Domokos Teleki from Gornești (HU: Gernyeszeg), Mureş County. The two wooden coffin fragments and the ushabti head fragment have a sepulchral character; the two sand‑ stone relief fragments could have belonged to a tomb but also to a temple building. This article shall briefly present the artefacts and categorize them.
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In the vicus of Călugăreni / Mikháza, a Roman military site on the Eastern Limes of Dacia, excavations are taking place since 2011. Wooden building structures could be identified by postholes and beams beds. Between the buildings, adjacent areas and paths were gravelled. Several pottery and forging slag fragments point towards the processing of clay and metal within the settlement, and recently the probable location of a Roman forge could be recorded, due to forging slag and technical ceramics.
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The Band‑Vereșmort group, with its row‑grave cemeteries is associated with Gepidic communities who lived under Avar rule. This paper is an attempt to present the pottery made after Germanic traditions from this cemetery, using Tivadar Vida’s typology, analogies and grave inventories as a starting point to differentiate phases of the cemetery.
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During a rescue excavation near Sâncrăieni (Hungarian Csíkszentkirály, Harghita County, Romania) a pottery deposit was discovered. The feature was made of a large tripartite storage vessel placed into a pit. Several other objects were put inside the vessel, but a few ceramic fragments were also found below the vessel, in a burnt layer with a lot of charcoal. The objects inside the vessel were made of several fragments of one plate, fragments of four clay weights and of grinding stones. Based on analogies the vessel and the vessel fragments can be attributed to the Late Bronze Age Gáva culture, to its classical (Gáva II) phase, which in terms of Central-European chronology is the Ha A2-B1 period. The paper discusses the occurrence of tripartite vessels of the Gáva period. Similar vessels appear in various contexts: in burials (Reci–Telek), in pottery depositions (Reci–Telek, Sâncrăieni–Kőoldal) or in settlements in fragmented state (Reci–Telek, Cernat–Hegyes). For a better understanding of Gáva pottery deposits with selected objects we had to rely on a somewhat wider chronological span, like the period of the Suciu de Sus culture, the pre- respectively the proto-Gáva period. Selective depositions are mostly known from the begin-ning of the Late Bronze Age. The storage vessels sometimes occur alone, or associated with different objects. Many times the number of these objects differ to one place to another, but a main pattern of selection can be traced. The ritual activity, which led to the hiding of the vessels and other clay objects is hard to reconstruct. In everyday life these recipients could have been used for storage, fermentation or other purposes, but later received a role in ritual activities: as accessories for food or drink sacrifice and were not used anymore in everyday life.
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This paper presents and comments on a manuscript, written by count József Kemény in 1847 about a few Roman finds from Călugăreni (HU: Mikháza, Mureș County). Even if most of the information present in this manuscript were already published by Johann Ferdinand Neigebaur, it does bring some clarifications regarding the inscription of the collegium utriclariorum (CIL III, 944 = IDR III/4, 215), the four coins and other objects found in the summer of 1847 at Călugăreni. In addition, this paper also touches upon the scientific networking present around the count in this period, as well as the background of the manuscript.
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The article analyses some of the stove tile lots discovered in excavations in Cluj. An unexpectedly rich range of representations can be reconstructed, with no analogues (yet?) in the province. At the moment, the collection of authentically medieval pieces (excluding pre‑modern ones) found in Cluj‑Napoca includes representations of the pelican, the lion, Samson and the lion, David and Goliath, the Annunciation, the Good Samaritan, St. Ladislaus battling the Cuman, St. Jerome, St. Michael the Archangel, a twin‑tailed siren, a griffin, an unidentified beast, the illustration of a medieval epic poem (?), knights, dismounted knights, stove tiles with the coat of arms of King Matthias Corvinus. The conclusion is natural: in terms of stove tiles, Cluj‑Napoca is, to date, the richest town in the whole of Transylvania. The exceptional situation of the town in producing stove tiles seems to be linked the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. Besides the remains and individuality of the archaeologically discovered workshop, there are grounds for the identification of at least two other craftsmen. For the time being, the most fragments of glazed tiles in the entire provincial area are located in the same place, some of them polychrome, which is also a rarity. The artistic value of the mould makers is well worth emphasising.
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The article discusses the history and archaeological evidence related to the property that houses ruins in Văcărești. Based on historical sources we presented the possible owners of the plot during the time of the Transylvanian Principality. Excavations revealed in 2012 a large stone building with a cellar that was deepened during communism for storing crops, and in 2013 sections were opened around the cellar. This contributed to the dating of the building, and also determined its exact floor plan. The finds and the surveys also reveal that the property was relatively well‑developed, implying the existence of several buildings.
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In ancient Rome, peacocks were kept for aesthetic, religious and consump- tion reasons. The meat and eggs of these birds, despite the low dietary value attributed to them, were considered a luxury product. The aesthetic qualities of these birds and the demand for their meat influenced the profitability of breeding. The increased interest in keeping these birds has influenced breeders’ interest in information on housing construction, flocking rules, breeding andfeeding. Undoubtedly, the Romans had a great understanding of the needs of peacocks and were able to adapt the methods of keeping these birds to the cha- racteristics of specific farms; in addition, their preferred natural method of ho- using and feeding peacocks not only reduced the costs of breeding, but also had a positive effect on the health of the birds.
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The aim of this paper is to illustrate how Greek symposion in the Archaic and early Classical period developed the educational function. The author argues that young men could learn cultural habits and moral values important for the Greeks by observing behaviour of the participants of symposion and iconography of wine drinking vessels, by listening to sympotic poetry, as well as establishing homoerotic relations with adult men.
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Article provides archaeological context for gladiators in Cyrenaica. Terracotta lamps, amphitheatres in Kyrene and Ptolemais, gladiatorial stelae found in the last of mentioned cities, provide a base for general conclusion about social and cultural conditions that made Greek cities of Pentapolis want this particular carrier of Romanization that munera gladiatoria were.
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The article discusses the Latin terminology on games and ways of spending free time from the 1 st century B.C. to the turn of the 6 th and 7 th century A.D. An analysis of terms and iconographic evidence serves as the basis for an attempt at the reconstruction of the rules of games such as duodecim scripta, ludus latrunculorum and alea.
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In Roman Africa of the second c. AD, especially in the province Africa Proconsularis, a special form of provincial Roman art appeared: figural mosaic. These mosaics, depicting mythological or everyday life scenes, were displayed either in the context of public buildings, such as amphitheatres, or private estates (villae) of influential land owners. Those with representations of land owners and their wives draw particular attention. These people were shown mostly at leisure. The paper aims to show that the way African land owners and their wives are represented alludes to the imperial, heroic and even divine iconography (Venus) through the choice of topics, poses or costumes.
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Albania is a country of rich cultural-historic heritage, home to many archaeological sites from various periods – Greek, Roman, Venetian, Albanian, etc. Apollonia Archaeological Park is one of Albania’s sites with a significant value; the ancient Illyrian city was the biggest and most important one amongst 30 cities in the whole ancient world, which were named in honor of the God Apollo, originally founded in the territories of Illyrians Taulantis about 620 BC. The monuments of this city have 1000 years of history. These monuments are scattered around the park, making Apollonia the largest archaeological park in Albania.
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