Not quite sure if this is a newspaper, blog, or just a webpage, but it’s an interesting read:
Category: Romania
Intact Roman Sarcophagus from Alba Julia
From Agerpres:
A more than 1,800-year old sealed sarcophagus was discovered by archaeologists in Alba Iulia (394 km north-west of Bucharest) at the site where the city’s water treatment plant will be built.
Spokesperson for the Alba Iulia National Museum of the Union Liviu Zgarciu said that “this is the only intact sarcophagus discovered in the area, since most of them were broken by treasure hunters.”
The sarcophagus was unsealed and a man’s skeleton was found inside. The archaeologists will research to see if it also contains a funerary inventory.
Works on the archaeological site kicked off half a year ago, and two marble sarcophagi dating from the second or third centuries, the only of the kind found on the territory of former Roman Dacia, were very soon uncovered. Another eight sarcophagi were found near the one sealed with lime mortar, but they had all been robbed.
“The site is one of Alba Iulia’s most important in recent years, both by the constructions uncovered: structures, walls, buildings, and by the large amount of tiny pieces found, their numbers running into the hundreds, which will enter the heritage of the National Museum of the Union,” said archaeologist George Bounegru.
The findings date mainly from the third century.
Two necropolises were so far discovered in the former city of Apulum; the one at the site of the treatment plant suggests this is where the cemetery of the Aurelia Apulensis colony might have been.
The Roman fortress of Apulum was the largest city in Roman Dacia; its construction started under Emperor Hadrian, probably in 125 AD. For over one century without interruption Apulum served as headquarters for Legion XIII Gemina.
- via: Intact 1,800-year old Roman sarcophagus uncovered at Alba Iulia (Agerpres)
The article includes a strange sort of photo … there’s a better one here: Intact 1,800-year old Roman sarcophagus uncovered at Alba Iulia but it’s still not close enough to see any details (if any) that might be carved into the sarcophagus.
Latest from Rosia Montana
The controversial mining site is the subject of a Euronews extended video report … starting at 1:18 we hear of plans from Gold Corp. to turn the Roman galleries (or at least part of them) into an underground museum. They talk to some archaeologists too … then talk about other controversial aspects of the venture (there’s an ‘almost-mr-burns’ scene too):
Our most recent coverage of the Rosia Montana thing is here (with links to previous coverage):
Celtic, Greek, and Roman Finds from Romania
This one is from Romania Business Insider and is kind of short on specifics, but we should probably get it ‘on record’:
Several metal archeological objects and over 280 silver coins were discovered by archeologists on the track of the future Sibiu – Nadlac highway in Romania. One of the discoveries, a small iron replica of a chariot was deemed unique in the region. The objects discovered in the nine archeological sites, dating from the early Neolithic to the Medieval Ages, will most likely be restored within a year. A first exhibition including some of the objects will be open in May 2013.
A team of 40 Romanian and foreign archeologists searched around 40 kilometers on the future highway track in three counties, Sibiu, Alba and Hunedoara. This was one of the biggest archeological digs ever undertaken in Romania, according to Sabin Luca, director of the Brukenthal National Museum.
Researchers discovered a Bronze age settlement and “the first level of colonization which could be connected to our ancestors dates from the Celtic era, in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC,” according to Sabin Luca. The small iron chariot discovered will most likely be unique, he went on to say. In Celtic areas, the iron chariot is usually buried with the full size chariot, but in this case it was buried separately. The piece was in 80 pieces and its restoration took three weeks.
The archeologists found weapons, tools, weapon tips, heels and a stash of 280 silver coins, including Ancient Greek and Roman examples. “There are hundreds of this kind of silver hoard from that period, but they are rarely found in archeological sites by researchers. Discoveries are usually accidental,” the Brukenthal museum director explained.
- via: Archeologists unearth Celtic artifacts, plus ancient Roman and Greek silver coins on future track of Romanian highway (Romanian Business Insider)
… the only photo that accompanies this one is of construction equipment. This Romanian coverage appears to include a photo of the reconstructed iron ‘chariot’, but I can’t be sure of that:
… especially since the photo accompanying this one seems to suggest the piece is about the size of a projector:
… this one has a grotty looking pot; not sure if the coins were in this one:
This appears to be a Romanian piece published when the dig commenced:
- Arheologii sibieni “descarcă” autostrada (Tribuna)
Trajan’s Palace in Romania?
This one appears to be only in English on Xinhua:
Romanian archaeologists has discovered, in southeastern county of Caras-Severin, a complex structure estimated to be 2,000 years old belonging to the Roman culture, local media reported on Thursday. The archaeological discovery has a special importance because it was built very early, probably in the autumn of 101 during the first Dacian-Roman War of 101-102, before the actual Roman conquest of Dacia, the Carpathian-Danube region, modern day Romania. The discovery will bring the village of Zavoi in Caras-Severin County to the attention of history researchers and archaeologists from around the world following the digging up of the ruins of a Roman palace with well-preserved structures, which is expected to offer so far unknown precious information about the Daco-Roman culture, according to the official Agerpres news agency. The archaeological style of the building is unique in Romania, as it fully meets the Roman tradition for towering structures, according to local experts. The Roman vestiges of Zavoi will be recovered, conserved and displayed to their real value with support from the local and central government and is expected to bring about the tourist development of the entire area. The salvaging diggings so far will become systematic, and the entire location will turn into an archaeological site, according to the archaeological team headed by researcher Adrian Ardet of the Caransebes County Museum of Ethnography.
I can’t help but wonder whether we’re seeing some sort of ‘competition’ between archaeologists a la what once prevailed in Bulgaria (and perhaps still does) … last week this same region was in the news for another reason (facial reconstruction of the ‘first European’).
rogueclassicism 