EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS - Institutul de Arheologie şi Istoria Artei

EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS
XXII
2012

ROMANIAN ACADEMY
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF ART CLUJ-NAPOCA
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor: Coriolan Horaţiu Opreanu
Members: Sorin Cociş, Vlad-Andrei Lăzărescu, Ioan Stanciu
ADVISORY BOARD
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Poland); Falko Daim (Mainz, Germany); Andreas Lippert (Vienna, Austria); Bernd Päffgen (Munich,
Germany); Marius Porumb (Cluj-Napoca, Romania); Alexander Rubel (Iași, Romania); Peter Scherrer
(Graz, Austria); Alexandru Vulpe (Bucharest, Romania).
Responsible of the volume: Ioan Stanciu
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EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS
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ACADEMIA ROMÂNĂ
INSTITUTUL DE ARHEOLOGIE ŞI ISTORIA ARTEI
EPHEMERIS
NAPOCENSIS
XXII
2012
EDITURA ACADEMIEI ROMÂNE

SOMMAIRE – CONTENTS – INHALT
STUDIES
FLORIN GOGÂLTAN
Ritual Aspects of the Bronze Age Tell-Settlements in the Carpathian Basin.
A Methodological Approach .............................................7
ALEXANDRA GĂVAN
Metallurgy and Bronze Age Tell-Settlements from Western Romania (I) ............57
DÁVID PETRUŢ
Everyday Life in the Research Concerning the Roman Army in the Western European
Part of the Empire and the Province of Dacia .................................91
CORIOLAN HORAŢIU OPREANU
From “στρατόπεδον” to Colonia Dacica Sarmizegetusa. A File of the Problem ........113
CĂLIN COSMA
Ethnische und politische Gegebenheiten im Westen und Nordwesten Rumäniens
im 8.–10. Jh. n.Chr. ...................................................137
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHICAL NOTES
AUREL RUSTOIU
Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I) .................................159
VITALIE BÂRCĂ
Some Remarks on Metal Cups with Zoomorphic Handles
in the Sarmatian Environment ............................................185
FLORIN FODOREAN
“Spa” Vignettes in Tabula Peutingeriana. Travelling Ad Aquas: thermal Water Resources
in Roman Dacia .......................................................211
DAN AUGUSTIN DEAC
Note on Apis Bull Representations in Roman Dacia ...........................223
SILVIA MUSTAŢĂ, SORIN COCIŞ, VALENTIN VOIŞIAN
Instrumentum Balnei from Roman Napoca. Two Iron Vessels Discovered on the Site
from Victor Deleu Street ................................................235
IOAN STANCIU
About the Use of the So-Called Clay “Breadcakes” in the Milieu of the Early Slav
Settlements (6 th –7 th Centuries) ............................................253

DAN BĂCUEŢ-CRIŞAN
Contributions to the Study of Elites and Power Centers in Transylvania during the second
Half of the 9 th – first Half of the 10 th Centuries. Proposal of Identification Criteria Based
on archaeological Discoveries .............................................279
ADRIANA ISAC, ERWIN GÁLL, SZILÁRD GÁL
A 12 th Century Cemetery Fragment from Gilău (Cluj County) (Germ.: Julmarkt;
Hung.: Gyalu) ........................................................301
ADRIAN ANDREI RUSU
Stove Tiles with the Royal Coat of Arms of King Matthias I Corvinus ..............313
REVIEWS
IULIAN MOGA, Culte solare şi lunare în Asia Mică în timpul Principatului/Solar and Lunar Cults in
Asia Minor in the Age of the Principate, Editura Universităţii “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Iaşi (Iaşi
2011), 752 p. (Szabó Csaba) .............................................327
DAN GH. TEODOR, Un centru meşteşugăresc din evul mediu timpuriu. Cercetările arheologice de la
Lozna-Botoşani/An Artisan centre from the Early Middle Ages. The archaeological research from
Lozna-Botoşani, Bibliotheca Archaeologica Moldaviae XV, Academia Română – Filiala Iaşi,
Institutul de Arheologie, Editura Istros (Brăila 2011), 200 p. (including 118 figures), abstract
and list of figures in French (Ioan Stanciu) ...................................331
CĂLIN COSMA, Funerary Pottery in Transylvania of the 7 th –10 th Centuries, Series Ethnic and
Cultural Interferences in the 1 st Millenium B.C. to the 1 st Millenium AD. 18, Romanian
Academy – Institute of Archaeology and Art History Cluj‐Napoca, Mega Publishing House
(Cluj-Napoca 2011), 183 p., 49 plates (Aurel Dragotă) .........................339
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Crossing the Boundaries. Remodeling Cultural Identities at the End of Antiquity in Central and Eastern
Europe. A Case Study (Coriolan H. Oprean, Vlad-Andrei Lăzărescu) ...............343
Warriors and military retainers in Transylvania of the 7 th –9 th centuries (Călin Cosma) .........349
Seeing the Unseen. Landscape Archaeology on the Northern Frontier of the Roman Empire at Porolissvm
(Romania) (Coriolan H. Oprean, Vlad-Andrei Lăzărescu) .......................352
Abbreviations that can not be found in Bericht der Römisch-Germanische Kommission .....363
Guidelines for “Ephemeris Napocensis” .........................................366

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHICAL NOTES
COMMENTARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA ET HISTORICA (I)
Aurel Rustoiu 1
Abstract: The first note is discussing the Celtic grave with a helmet from Ciumeşti and the significance of
the Greek bronze greaves which belong to this burial. During the 50 years which passed since its discovery,
the aforementioned grave generated numerous comments, interpretations and scientific debates. The note
is a synthesis of the information regarding its context of discovery, the stages of publication of the inventory
and the successive theories concerning the chronology and interpretation of the grave. A recent analysis has
demonstrated that the burial can be dated to the LT B2-C1 (or more likely only to the LT C1) and very
probably belonged to a Celtic warrior from the Carpathian Basin who was a mercenary in the eastern
Mediterranean region in the second half of the 3 rd century BC. Starting from these aspects, the Greek bronze
greaves belonging to the funerary inventory, alongside other items of LT military equipment, are analysed
in detail. The artefacts played an important role in defining a particular warlike identity in comparison
with the military elites of the eastern Mediterranean.
The second note comprises an evaluation of the older or more recent Transylvanian discoveries belonging
to the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group: funerary contexts or isolated finds including specific weaponry or
harness fittings. They illustrate a concentration of the burials of Padea-Panagjurski kolonii type in southwestern
Transylvania, more precisely in an area related to the centre of power of the Dacian kingdom
prior to and during the rule of Burebista. At the same time, some burials point to an extension of this
phenomenon in farther areas from central or northern Transylvania, up to the upper Tisza, these regions
being very probably taken over and controlled by Dacian kings. Chronologically, most of these discoveries
can be dated to the LT D1, the latest dated burials belonging to the Augustan period.
Keywords: Ciumeşti, graves, greaves, helmets, sica, Padea-Panagjurski kolonii
1. The grave with a helmet from Ciumeşti – 50 years from its discovery.
Comments on the greaves 2
The well-known grave from Ciumeşti (Satu Mare County, Romania), containing an
iron helmet having a realistic-made bronze bird of prey fitted on the calotte, was discovered 50
years ago, on 10 August 1961. The helmet is a unique artefact amongst the La Tène finds from
Europe due to its outstanding features. As a consequence it was included in numerous exhibitions
and catalogues, as well as in syntheses concerning Celtic art and civilization. Unfortunately
the burial was incidentally discovered and its inventory was recovered and published in successive
stages. This situation led to the appearance and perpetuation of several confusions regarding the
1
Institute of Archaeology and History of Art Cluj‐Napoca, Romanian Academy Cluj Branch, M. Kogălniceanu
str. 12–14, 400084, Cluj‐Napoca, Cluj county, RO; e-mail: aurelrustoiu@yahoo.com.
2
This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS –
UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0278.
Ephemeris Napocensis, XXII, 2012, p. 159–183

160 Aurel Rustoiu
interpretation of the grave from Ciumeşti. The main stages in the recovering of archaeological
information and the subsequent chronological and cultural interpretation of this outstanding
discovery are presented below.
The first group of finds recovered from the inventory arrived in the Museum of Baia
Mare, being later published by M. Rusu 3 . It included the iron helmet with the bronze bird, two
bronze greaves, an iron javelin head and an iron chainmail (Fig. 1). M. Rusu noted that all of
these artefacts lacked burning traces and, according to the information collected from discoverers,
burnt remains or human bones (cremated or not) were not seen in the burial pit (having
a circular shape and a diameter of about 1.2–1.5 m). The context suggested a symbolic burial
(cenotaph), or a ritual deposition. As concerning the chronological aspect, M. Rusu considered
that the inventory could be dated towards the end of the 4 th century BC (La Tène B).
Shortly after the publication J. V. S. Megaw remarked the typological resemblance of
the helmet from Ciumeşti with the one from Batina, as well as the depiction of a similar helmet
on the ‘weapons frieze’ from Pergamon. Megaw also made some pertinent observations about
the entire inventory 4 , but these were ignored by Romanian specialist literature. A few years
later U. Schaaff, analysing Celtic iron helmets, added the find from Ciumeşti to a type specific
to the eastern Celts (Helme mit verstärkte Kalotte), known in the area between Slovenia and
Transylvania, although some examples reached Asia Minor, according to the depictions from
the temple of Athena Nikephoros from Pergamon 5 . Later discoveries confirmed the distribution
of such helmets towards the Balkans, for example the finds identified in Bulgaria, Albania and
Macedonia (FYROM) 6 .
Still, the grave from Ciumeşti was not an isolated deposition, but a part of a larger
La Tène cemetery. Thus its discovery led to the investigation of this site. Systematic archaeological
excavations were carried out on the entire area of the cemetery (Fig. 3/1), as well as in the
contemporaneous settlement from its vicinity (Fig. 3/2–4). The investigations were done in the
following years (1962, 1964–1965), being published by V. Zirra 7 . In total were uncovered 32
graves – seven of inhumation, 21 of cremation in pit and four of cremation in urn. Other three
cremation graves in urn, initially considered as belonging to the La Tène cemetery, being ascribed
to the indigenous population 8 , are earlier dated and belong to the Early Iron Age 9 . V. Zirra
considered that despite some early artefacts the cemetery should be dated only in the La Tène
C, with an absolute date-range from around 230 to 130 BC 10 . At the same time I. H. Crişan 11
continued to sustain an earlier dating in the La Tène B2. K. Horedt 12 also remarked that the
Ciumeşti cemetery began in the La Tène B2 (after 275 BC), but most of the burials belonged
to the La Tène C1 sub-phase. Today it is accepted that in general the entire cemetery can be
3
RUSU 1969; RUSU/BANDULA 1970.
4
MEGAW 1970, 133–134.
5
SCHAAFF 1974, 171–173, Fig. 25 (distribution map); SCHAAFF 1988, 300–301, Fig. 14 (distribution map).
6
RUSTOIU 2006, 48–49, Fig. 4; RUSTOIU 2008, 21–25, Fig. 7 (distribution map); GUŠTIN 2011,
123–124, Fig. 2 (the most recent distribution map). GUŠTIN/KUZMAN/MALENKO 2011 published a grave
belonging to a Celtic mercenary from Ohrid, dated to the La Tène C1, and having in inventory a helmet of the same
type to the one from Ciumeşti, again confirming the dating of the Transylvanian burial (I am grateful to M. Guštin
for allowing me to read the manuscript before publication). See below.
7
ZIRRA 1967 (cemetery); ZIRRA 1980 (settlement). The research team also included M. Rusu (1962), I. Németi
and M. Zdroba for the cemetery, while I. H. Crişan participated in the investigations from the settlement (1964–1965).
8
CRIŞAN 1966, 5–22; ZIRRA 1967, 48–52.
9
NÉMETI 2000–2001, 62; NÉMETI 2003, 164.
10
ZIRRA 1967, 114. See also ZIRRA 1991, 382, this time providing a date-range between 240 and 130 BC.
11
CRIŞAN 1966, 41; CRIŞAN 1971, 70.
12
HOREDT 1973, 299–303.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
161
1
2
3
4
Fig. 1. Ciumeşti grave with helmet. The finds published by M. Rusu (after RUSU 1969).

162 Aurel Rustoiu
dated to the La Tène B2b–C1 sub-phases 13 , being contemporaneous with the horizons III–IV
of the cemetery from Pişcolt, in the same region 14 . The mentioned chronological limits raised
some doubts about the too early dating of the rich grave that belonged to a Celtic warrior.
The chronological problem came again into discussion during the following years.
Another part of the grave’s inventory remained in the possession of a local man who participated
in the works of 1961 leading to the discovery of the grave. The artefacts were recovered
in 1973 by T. Bader (from the Museum of Satu Mare on that time) and published two years
later by I. Németi 15 . The remaining inventory includes an iron belt with lanceolated buckle,
the spring of an iron brooch, fragments from the chainmail, and another fragment of a cheekpiece
belonging to the iron helmet, a large bi-truncated vessel and a bowl (Fig. 2). Some finds
have burning traces, whereas the person who had them affirmed that in the pit were also
cremated human bones. These new data demonstrate that the grave was of cremation in a
pit. I. Németi opted for a dating in the La Tène B2b–C1 sub-phases, similar to the one of
the entire cemetery.
4
1
2
5
3
Fig. 2. Ciumeşti grave with helmet. The finds published by I. Németi (after KULL 1997).
13
In Transylvania the absolute dating for the LT B2b is around 280/277–250 BC, while that of the LT C1
is around 250–175 BC. See HOREDT 1973, 302; RUSTOIU 2000, 182–184; RUSTOIU/EGRI 2010, 218;
RUSTOIU/EGRI 2011, 18.
14
According to NÉMETI 1975, 244–245; NÉMETI 1992b, 110.
15
NÈMETI 1975, 243–245.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
163
2
1
3 4
Fig. 3. 1 – The plan of the cemetery from Ciumeşti (after RUSU 1969) (1 limits of the excavations; 2 limit of the
sand dune; 3 limit of the area destroyed before the beginning of systematic excavations; 4 modern constructions;
5 grave with helmet; 6 La Tène cremation graves; 7 La Tène inhumation graves; 8 cremation graves of the Early Iron
Age). 2 – The plan of the settlement from Ciumeşti (after ZIRRA 1980). 3, 4 – Dwellings from the settlement from
Ciumeşti (after ZIRRA 1980).
In 1984 T. Bader published another piece found on the area of the cemetery – an
iron horse-bit belonging to a common type from the northern Balkans 16 . However, there is
no evidence that the piece belonged to this grave 17 , as B. Kull has suggested 18 . The horse-bit is
nevertheless important as evidence of the connections between the Celts from Ciumeşti and the
northern Balkans. Lastly, while re-drawing the finds from the Museum of Satu Mare, B. Kull
added another fragmentary iron object, probably a scissors 19 . Still the artefact is not belonging
to the grave with helmet 20 .
16
BADER 1984.
17
NÈMETI 1992a, 139 affirmed that the horse-bit was found on the cemetery’s area after the end of the excavations.
18
KULL 1997, Fig. 38/8. The horse-bit is also included in the inventory by TELEAGĂ 2008, 15, no. 49.
19
KULL 1997, 280–281, Fig. 38.
20
I. Németi made me aware that the mentioned scissors was placed in the permanent exhibition of the Museum
of Satu Mare in the same showcase with other artefacts from the grave with helmet from Ciumeşti. For this reason
the German specialist got the impression that all of the artefacts from the showcase belonged to the same grave, but
the scissors has a different provenance.

164 Aurel Rustoiu
Recently I have comprehensively discussed the problem of the grave with helmet
from Ciumeşti 21 . After analysing the entire ‘archaeological dossier’ my conclusion was that
the burial is quite clearly of cremation in a pit. The burnt traces are missing on several objects
(helmet, greaves and javelin head), while the chainmail was folded before being placed in the
pit. These observations suggest that some of the grave goods did not accompany the deceased
on the pyre, being laid in the pit separately from the cinerary remains. Chronologically an
early dating in the 4 th century BC cannot be sustained anymore. The analysis of the funerary
inventory indicates that the dating should be placed in the La Tène B2b–C1 sub-phases,
or more likely only in the La Tène C1. At the same time, the presence of the iron chainbelt
made of eight-shaped segments, commonly encountered in feminine graves from the
Carpathian Basin, suggests a double burial.
Another important aspect concerns the ‘identity’ of the warrior interred at Ciumeşti.
The rich funerary inventory indicates that the deceased was an important person in
the local community, a representative of the warlike Celtic elites from the Carpathian Basin
of the second half of the 3 rd century BC. More than that, the mentioned recent analysis
suggests that the warrior from Ciumeşti was a mercenary on the battlefields from the eastern
Mediterranean in a period in which the recruitment of Celtic troops by various Hellenistic
rulers became a habit.
In this context the presence of the bronze greaves in the assemblage of military equipment
is relevant. These pieces were each made from a single sheet of bronze (with a high percentage
of tin). They were carefully hammered to copy the anatomic details of the legs 22 (Fig. 4). Similar
items, made according to the anatomic characteristics of the owner, appeared in Greece at the
end of the Archaic period, and were used during the Classical period 23 and occasionally later in
the Hellenistic times 24 . The right greave from Ciumeşti, better preserved, has a length of 46 cm 25 ,
which suggest a tall owner of about 1.80–1.90 m. For example the greaves from Olympia (dated
to the Classical period) have lengths of about 39–41 cm 26 , pointing to some anthropological
differences between the two mentioned regions.
These greaves were not simple ‘imported’ goods. J. V. S. Megaw noted four decades ago
that they have a Hellenistic origin and seem to be ‘the prize of some foray into the southern
Balkans’ 27 . Still, their manufacturing required the precise measurements of the dimensions
and anatomic characteristics of the owners, and this could have only been done by specialised
craftsmen. The two gilded greaves from the so-called grave of Philip II from Vergina, which have
21
RUSTOIU 2006; RUSTOIU 2008, 13–63.
22
RUSU 1969, 278–279, Fig. 6; RUSU/BANDULA 1970, 8, 13, Pl. 13.
23
KUNZE 1991, 76–80 (gr. IV); JARVA 1995, 96–97 (the anatomy group).
24
See for example the finds from the northern Black Sea region: GALANINA 1965.
25
RUSU 1969, 279, Fig. 6; RUSU/BANDULA 1970, 8, Pl: II; XIII. TELEAGĂ 2008, 442, no. 953, lists a
length of 42 cm and 42.5 cm respectively (!?). I am wondering if these differences are resulting from the way in
which the artefacts were restored in the laboratory and preserved in the stores of the Museum of Baia Mare during
the last decades (some differences can be observed between the images published by M. Rusu and the more recent
ones). Still, even if the new dimensions are taken into consideration, the greaves from Ciumeşti are amongst those
which exceed the upper limit of the size of similar artefacts from the Mediterranean region.
26
KUNZE 1991, 117–120. Some pairs of greaves which exceed the size of the commonly found ones in
the Greek region are also known from graves from the northern Pontic region, dated to the 4 th –3 rd centuries BC.
For example in different graves from Pervomaevka they have a length of 46–46.5 cm, while in another grave from
Kertch they reach a length of 47 cm. On the other hand there are also pairs of greaves which are well below the limit.
For example a pair of greaves from Aksjutincy has a length of only 33 cm (ČERNENKO 2006, 102–103, no. 649,
666–667, 681). All these variations demonstrate a wide range of anthropological dimensions which had to be taken
into consideration by the craftsmen who made such objects.
27
MEGAW 1970, 133 no. 211.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
165
Fig. 4. Greaves from Ciumeşti. County Museum of History and Archaeology, Baia Mare
(photos Zamfir Şomcutean Baia Mare).

166 Aurel Rustoiu
different dimensions, being made for a crippled man, are a significant example 28 (Fig. 5/1).
At the same time the dimensional variations of the greaves discovered in different geo-cultural
areas, previously mentioned, also support their made-to-order manufacturing. It is less probable
that a Greek artisan could have made such objects in the Carpathian Basin to orders of some
local aristocrats, since the greaves from Ciumeşti are unique not only in this region but across
the whole Celtic area. The activity of such a specialised Greek artisan would have left more
archaeological traces in the region. Thus it is almost sure that the warrior from Ciumeşti ordered
and got the greaves from a Greek workshop in the Mediterranean area. This was possible only
because the warrior himself travelled in the mentioned region. In the 3 rd century BC the mobility
of certain groups from temperate Europe was often related to the mercenary activities. Due to
this reason my presumption is that the warrior from Ciumeşti went to the Mediterranean as
mercenary and this happened in the second half of the 3 rd century BC 29 .
Recently E. Teleagă has published a vast work regarding the Greek imports recovered
from cemeteries of the 6 th –3 rd centuries BC in the lower Danube basin. The author
catalogued and classified numerous artefacts discovered in funerary contexts, also bringing
into discussion the finds from other archaeological contexts (settlements, depositions etc)
and from outside the mentioned area, for example those found in graves from Transylvania 30 .
The book, despite some errors regarding the cultural identification and chronology probably
resulting from the huge quantity of data collected 31 , will remain a reference work for this
subject. Writing about the grave with helmet from Ciumeşti, E. Teleagă has suggested a
dating around 300 BC, despite the general dating of the cemetery at the end of the La Tène
B2 and in the La Tène C1 32 . This dating is leading to an earlier dating of the funerary
inventory and implicitly of the greaves, which are dated after 450 BC 33 . Thus the proposed
dating is wrong, as it will be shown below.
The presence of some Greek artefacts in contexts which are later dated than their regular
period of use is theoretically possible. An episode from 274 BC is relevant in this context. During
the campaign of Pyrrhus in Macedonia against Antigonos Gonatas, Celtic mercenaries of the king
of Epirus pillaged the royal Macedonian cemetery from Aegae (Plutarch, Pyrrhus 26. 6) 34 . Through
such actions a Celtic mercenary could have gained some older prestige objects, brought afterwards
home. Still, as previously demonstrated, the grave from Ciumeşti belongs to the second half of the
3 rd century BC and the greaves were made in the same period by a Greek artisan who measured
the anatomic characteristics of the person who ordered the objects. Thus the dating proposed by
E. Teleagă is incorrect, so the interpretation has to turn to another direction.
28
ANDRONICOS 1984, 186–189, Fig. 150.
29
RUSTOIU 2006; RUSTOIU 2008, 36–49.
30
TELEAGĂ 2008.
31
For example TELEAGĂ 2008, 256–257 no. 2, Karte 45, wrongly localizes Bene (nowadays Dobroselie in
Trans-Carpathian Ukraine) in Transdanubia (in Hungary). More than that, probably the bronze vessel discovered
at Bene, which arrived in the Museum of Cluj at the beginning of the 20 th century, was found in a funerary context
(see POPOVICH 1995–1996, 86). At the same time, while the funerary inventories from the Carpathian Basin are
discussed, a series of important discoveries are missing, for example the oenochoe dated to the end of the 4 th century
BC and coming from a grave from Pećine cemetery (PAROVIĆ–PEŠIKAN 1993, 1243, Fig.: 1/4; 3/23) etc.
32
TELEAGĂ 2008, 15 no. 49.
33
TELEAGĂ 2008, 249, 442 no. 953, Pl. 133/1–4.
34
“… And after getting Aegae into his power, besides other seventies exercised upon its inhabitants he left as a
garrison in the city some of the Gauls who were making the campaign with him. But the Gauls, a race insatiable of
wealth, set themselves to digging up the tombs of the kings who had been buried there; the treasure they plundered,
the bones they insolently cast to the four winds.” (Translation PERRIN 1920). Plutarch. Plutarch’s Lives. with an
English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann
Ltd. 1920. See also GRIFFITH 1968, 63.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
167
1
2
3 4 5
Fig. 5. 1 – Greaves from the ‘grave of Philip II’ from Vergina (after ANDRONICOS 1984). 2 – Silver plaque
from Letnica. 3, 4 – Greaves from Agighiol. 5 – Greave from Vraca (all after KULL 1997). 6 – Greave from
Malomirovo (after SÎRBU 2006).

168 Aurel Rustoiu
The greaves were very popular in Greece during the Archaic and Classical periods, being
part of the hoplites’ equipment 35 . They are discovered in archaeological contexts (graves or sanctuaries),
but are also depicted on numerous monuments or painted vessels, underlining the role and
significance of these artefacts in the assemblages of defensive military equipment. In the same
period, and also in the 4 th –3 rd centuries BC, the anatomic variants of the Greek greaves became
popular amongst Thracian populations from the Balkans or Scythian tribes from the northern
Black Sea region 36 (in the latter area the latest dated examples belong to the 2 nd century BC 37 ).
In the lower Danube basin, at Agighiol and Vraca, and more recently at Malomirovo in Bulgaria,
were found local variants made of silver and richly decorated 38 (Fig. 5/3–6). Aside from that on an
appliqué from the Letnica hoard (Bulgaria) is shown a hunting scene in which a rider wears such
greaves 39 (Fig. 5/2), pointing to the role of status symbol of these objects for the aristocracy of the
northern Balkans, together with the remaining elements of the military equipment.
In Greece, greaves continued to be used in the Hellenistic period, but their symbolic role
was modified. A grave with funerary chamber discovered at Lefkadia in Macedonia, and built around
200 BC or slightly later, is relevant from this point of view. The burial belonged to the brothers Lyson
and Kallikles, but it was designed to also hold the funerary urns of an entire series of descendants.
On one of the walls is painted a panoply of arms having a Macedonian shield in the middle, flanked
by two swords (a Macedonian one and another of ‘western’ type), while two helmets and a pair of
greaves are depicted below (Fig. 6). On the opposite wall the shield and the two swords are accompanied
by two body armours and two helmets 40 . The images of weapons on funerary monuments
from Greece originate from earlier traditions of displaying real objects 41 . Their painting in a realistic
manner, as in the case of the grave from Lefkadia, indicates that the intention was to present the real
panoplies of arms of the deceased 42 . They belonged to a class of lower local warlike aristocrats who
increased their status, accumulated fortunes through military activities and expressed their social
position and identity a few generations after the death of Alexander the Great 43 . The panoplies of
arms consisting of defensive items (including the greaves) and offensive weapons were true emblems
of their status within the society. More than that, the weapons depicted in the grave also played a
symbolic role for their descendants, as they reiterated the right to inherit the same privileged status.
The greaves, together with other weapons, were also shown on a series of public monuments.
Probably the best known example is the ‘weapons frieze’ from the stoa of the temple of Athena
Nikephoros from Pergamon (Fig. 6). The relief was probably made during the reign of Eumenes II
(after the defeat of Antiochus III at Magnesia in 190 BC) and shows the weapons captured from
the enemy, both the Hellenistic ones and the weapons of Celtic mercenaries hired by the Seleucid
king 44 . They were represented in a realistic manner, the military equipment being easily recognizable
in detail. Amongst the well known and most relevant examples belonging to the La Tène panoply
of arms can be mentioned: a helmet having a morphology similar to the one from Batina and
belonging to the same type as the helmet from Ciumeşti; the typical Celtic oval shields with iron
bosses; the chainmails with a closing system identical to those discovered in the Balkans (Fig. 7) etc.
35
SNODGRASS 1964, 88; SNODGRASS 1967, 58.
36
TELEAGĂ 2008, 249–251, Karte 43; ČERNENKO 2006, 98–105.
37
ČERNENKO 2006, 105 no. 694.
38
See for example BERCIU 1974, 52–55, Fig. 8–9; KULL 1997, 291–292,Fig. 46/1–3; TORBOV 2005, 59,
167, 193, Pl. 8, 21; SÎRBU 2006, 89 Fig. 59/2.
39
KULL 1997, 291 Fig. 4/12; SÎRBU 2006, Fig. 53/1.
40
SAKELLARIOU 1983, 150–151 Fig. 96–97; POLITO 1998, 75–76 Fig. 3–4.
41
POLITO 1998, 97.
42
POLITO 1998, 76.
43
It is significant that in the royal cemetery from Vergina such images are missing, and real weapons were placed
in graves. See also POLITO 1998, 77.
44
A synthesis of the current debates regarding the dating of the monument from Pergamon in POLITO 1998,
91–95.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
169
In comparison with the frequency of other types of weapons shown on the ‘weapons frieze’ from
Pergamon, the greaves were seldom depicted (Fig. 6). This difference may suggest a selective use
of them, only by certain individuals, probably high rank officers. A similar phenomenon has been
noted in the Republican Roman army when only centurions and superior officers worn greaves 45 .
Fig. 6. Detail of the painting on the wall of the grave belonging to brothers Lyson and Kallikles from Lefkadia
above (after SAKELLARIOU 1983); fragment of the ‘weapons frieze’ from Pergamon, on which a pair of greaves is
depicted bellow (after BOHN 1885).
45
FEUGÈRE 2002, 76.

170 Aurel Rustoiu
1
5
2
6
3
4
Fig. 7. Pieces of military equipment and their representation on the ‘weapons frieze’ from Pergamon. 1 – Helmet
from Batina, Croatia (after SCHAAFF 1988). 2 – Shield-boss from Fântânele-Dealul Popii, Transylvania
(after RUSTOIU 2008). 3, 4 – Closing systems of some chainmails from Smochan (3) and Tărnava (4), Bulgaria
(after TORBOV 2004). 5, 6 – Pergamon (after BOHN 1885).

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
171
The monument from Pergamon is also important for the chronological aspect of this
discussion. Its decorative panels illustrate a large range of weapons and military equipment,
Hellenistic and ‘Barbarian’, some of them older but still in use at the beginning of the
2 nd century BC, others new and archaeologically documented up to the end of the 2 nd century
or the beginning of the 1 st century BC.
In conclusion, returning to the warrior buried at Ciumeşti, it has to be noted that the
funerary inventory points to his belonging to a warlike elite displaying well defined and visible
signs of status. Still, these have to be interpreted from two different perspectives.
The chainmail and the helmet decorated with a bird of prey were symbolic elements
designed to set him apart within the group of warriors from both its own community and on a
wider area in the Carpathian Basin. The remaining graves with weapons from Ciumeşti (no. 9
and 12) contain ‘standard’ panoplies of weapons of the period, commonly encountered in other
cemeteries from the Carpathian Basin or other areas in temperate Europe: sword (sometimes
with the chain-belt), spear head and shield 46 . For this reason the military equipment of the
mentioned deceased can be considered insignia of a chieftain having a significant authority in
his community, and perhaps even on a larger area.
On the other hand the greaves were also symbols of his rank, but of different nature
than the local traditional equipment. It may be presumed that during his peregrinations in the
eastern Mediterranean, and the military actions in which he was involved, the warrior from
Ciumeşti, as head of a unit of mercenaries, must have compared himself with the Greek officers
fighting alongside him. Aiming to be perceived as equal to these officers (perhaps also mercenaries
hired by the same master), he adopted the insignia of the prominent military function
which were comprehended and acknowledged as such by his Greek colleagues.
Lastly, it has to be noted that in the 50 years which passed since the discovery, the grave
with helmet from Ciumeşti continues to determine numerous scientific debates and to attract
the public interest whenever it is presented in exhibitions, catalogues or books of general interest,
due to its spectacular inventory.
2. The Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group in Transylvania. Old and new discoveries
Nearly four decades ago Z. Woźniak noted the spread of some cremation graves containing
panoplies of weapons consisting of swords of La Tène type, spears, shields and curved daggers
(sometimes decorated) on the territory of today Bulgaria (mainly in the north and north-west) and
Romania (mainly in Oltenia). In many cases the inventories also contained horse-bits of local type,
indicating that the graves belonged to riders. The entire phenomenon was named ‘Padea-Panagjurski
kolonii’ and was dated mainly to the 2 nd –1 st centuries BC 47 . Still it was noted that during this period
some elements of the funerary rite and ritual were different from a zone to another (tumuli in
north-western Bulgaria, cremation graves in pit, sometimes with the burnt remains placed in urns in
Oltenia etc), suggesting the existence of different traditions and ethnic origins of the members of the
warlike elites which used an otherwise unitary, typologically and functionally, military equipment.
Later discoveries revealed that the mentioned phenomenon was extended over a wider
area, including both banks of the Danube in the Iron Gates region, areas in western and southern
Muntenia, and south-western Transylvania 48 .
46
ZIRRA 1967, 24–28 (Grave 9 – complete panoply), 29–32 (Grave 12 – only a sword).
47
WOŹNIAK 1974, 74–138; WOŹNIAK 1976, 388–394. It was later noted that sometimes the military
equipment also contained helmets and chainmails: RUSTOIU 1994a, 34–35; RUSTOIU 1996, 36, 147–150 etc.
48
RUSTOIU 1994a; RUSTOIU 1994b; SÎRBU/RUSTOIU 1999 (with bibliography); RUSTOIU 2002,
11–23; RUSTOIU 2005, 110 Fig. 1; RUSTOIU 2008, 147 Fig. 73 (distribution map).

172 Aurel Rustoiu
1
2
0 7 cm
(1, 2)
3
Fig. 8. 1 – Curved dagger from Deva (after BAJUSZ 2005). 2 – Curved dagger from Berghin
(drawing A. Rustoiu). 3 – Iron horse-bit from Mediaş (photos S. Berecki).
As concerning the finds from Transylvania, they consist of several burials identified on
the middle Mureş basin: cremation graves in pit at Teleac 49 , Blandiana 50 and Tărtăria 51 , to which
49
MOGA 1982; RUSTOIU 2005, 112–113 Fig. 6–8.
50
CIUGUDEAN 1980.
51
CIUGUDEAN D./CIUGUDEAN H. 1993.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
173
were recently added those from Hunedoara 52 , or tumuli at Cugir 53 and Călan 54 . During the last two
decades I have shown that these burials concentrated in south-western Transylvania are later dated
than the Celtic horizon (La Tène B2–C1) in the region. This fact may indicate a northward migration
of a warlike elite from areas south of the Carpathians, which replaced the Celtic domination in
Transylvania and later led to the appearance of the Dacian Kingdom. These burials are located in
the vicinity of some Dacian settlements, sometimes fortified, and the ceramic inventories are local 55 .
The publication of certain older and previously unpublished discoveries, as well as the graves
more recently uncovered across the entire area of the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group, enriched
the ‘archaeological dossier’ and led to the appearance of some new contributions to this subject 56 .
Archaeological repertoire of Transylvania can be also enlarged through an analysis of the information
concerning older discoveries and a re-evaluation of the recent ones, which are further discussed.
The recent publication of the archaeological notes of István Téglás, a collector from
Turda who worked in the second half of the 19 th century and at the beginning of the 20 th century,
facilitated the recovery of some important scientific data. The Turda collector assembled a repertoire
and drew numerous sketches of many artefacts from various Transylvanian collections or
collected by himself from some archaeological sites. A part of these finds ended in some of the
modern museums, but others were lost forever 57 .
Amongst the finds which in the last quarter of the 19 th century were in the collection of
Gábor Téglás from Deva (a gymnasium teacher, historian, archaeologist and collector of antiquities;
despite the similar surname the two collectors were unrelated) 58 was a curved dagger discovered in
the same locality and having the morphological characteristics of a sica 59 (Fig. 8/1). The presumably
lost dagger (perhaps it still exist in the older collections of the Museum of Deva?) preserved a part
of the scabbard (on about 20 cm of the blade). The total length of the artefact was of 50 cm, being
amongst the largest daggers of this type. The piece from Deva has numerous analogies inthe area of
the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group. The shape of the hilt is also encountered on other examples
discovered in graves from Cetate 60 in Oltenia, Târnava 61 and Vinograd 62 in Bulgaria, all of them being
dated to the LT D1. The perfect state of conservation, according to the drawing made by I. Téglás,
as well as the presence of the scabbard, suggests that the dagger probably belonged to a funerary
52
SÎRBU/LUCA/ROMAN 2007.
53
CRIŞAN 1980; RUSTOIU 2008, 161–162, Fig. 81.
54
RUSTOIU/SÎRBU/FERENCZ 2001–2002.
55
RUSTOIU 1994a, 35; RUSTOIU 1994b; RUSTOIU 2002, 25–40; RUSTOIU 2005; RUSTOIU 2008,
142–163 etc.
56
ŞERBĂNESCU 2006, 168–171; TORBOV/ANASTASSOV 2008; ANASTASSOV 2011, 230–231 Fig. 11–12;
BONDOC 2008; BONDOC 2008–2009 etc. See mostly ŁUCZKIEWICZ/SCHÖNFELDER 2008, with important
comments regarding the entire phenomenon. The recently recovered artefacts coming from destroyed graves from
Hrtkovci, in the vicinity of the Scordiscian settlement at Gomolava (a sword, a curved dagger decorated with face-to-face
birds of prey on the blade, spear heads, a ‘Thracian’ horse-bit, chariot parts similar to those discovered in tumulus 2 from
Cugir, late Republican bronze vessels etc), can be ascribed to the Padea – Panagjurski kolonii group. They illustrate the
westward extension of the authority of the Dacian Kingdom under Burebista. See DAUTOVA RUŠEVLJAN/VUJOVIĆ
2006, Fig.: 24; 29; 50; 52–53; 54; 63 etc, with numerous errors regarding the dating and cultural identification.
57
BAJUSZ 1980; BAJUSZ 2005.
58
See WOLLMANN 1983, 262; RUSTOIU 1991.
59
BAJUSZ 2005, 134 no. 69, Fig. 18/141/3. During the last years several curved knifes from pre-Roman Dacia
were published, completing the repertoire of discoveries. Still, some of these pieces are not curved daggers from a
morphological and functional point of view. For example amongst the artefacts coming from Sălaj, and published by
POP/BORANGIC 2009, only the piece from Şimleu Silvaniei (op. cit., Fig. 2/1) is a true sica. For the morphology
and functionality of the curved daggers see RUSTOIU 2007a.
60
NICOLĂESCU-PLOPŞOR 1945–1947, 19, Pl. 3/6.
61
THEODOSSIEV/TORBOV 1995, Fig. 21.
62
ŁUCZKIEWICZ/SCHÖNFELDER 2008, Fig. 24.

174 Aurel Rustoiu
inventory. Around Deva were documented numerous traces of habitation from the same period of
the 2 nd –1 st centuries BC (the fortress from Cozia – Piatra Coziei and probably the one from Deva
– Cetate are the most significant) 63 which may sustain this hypothesis.
Another curved dagger (sica) comes from Berghin (Alba County). The piece was
identified in the Museum of Sighişoara and belonged to the old collections accumulated in the
19 th century 64 (Fig. 8/2). The blade is fragmentary and has blood channels 65 . The hilt was broken
in ancient times, but a part of the guard is still preserved. The preserved length of the piece is
of 20 cm. This dagger probably was also part of a funerary inventory. The hilt might have been
damaged when the weapon was ritually bent before being placed in grave, as it is the case of
the finds from Rast 66 in Oltenia. From Berghin are known, from various plots, Dacian ceramic
fragments, a Greek coin, a Roman Republican denarius and an attachment of a situla of E 18
type, which may suggest the existence of some settlements from the 1 st century BC 67 .
From Mediaş comes an assemblage of iron objects discovered in 1891, which could have
belonged to some funerary inventories. They are preserved in the Brukenthal Museum Sibiu 68 .
Amongst them is a ‘Thracian’ horse-bit and fragments belonging to another similar piece 69
(Fig. 8/3). The horse-bit was first published by V. Zirra 70 and then by W. M. Werner 71 , whereas
the fragments of the second piece remained unknown. W. M. Werner included the horse-bit from
Mediaş in the XVI type (Hebelstangentrensen mit zweiteilingen Mundstück), variant 3 (birnenförmiges
Seitenteil). The lateral rings were decorated with incised lines, similarly to some pieces from
Bulgaria 72 . The examples belonging to this type are the most frequent in funerary inventories from
the area of the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group 73 . The artefacts from Mediaş might have come
from different graves, or from a single one. In certain situations, for example in the tumulus 2 from
Cugir or in the tumulus from Călan, in the same grave were placed horse-bits from many horses 74 .
The older or more recent discoveries from Piatra Craivii (Craiva, Cricău commune, Alba
County) indicate the existence of a small familial cemetery, similar to the one from Cugir, close to
the well-known Dacian fortress. Some finds belonging to a burial were recovered at the end of the
19 th century. The inventory included, according the reconstruction recently provided by C. I. Popa,
a long sword and two spear heads 75 . Very probably from the same grave comes a curved dagger
having an intricate decoration on the blade 76 (Fig. 9/1). The decoration has close analogies on a
curved dagger discovered in a grave from Mala Vrbica-Ajmana 77 (Fig. 9/2), on the right bank of the
Danube, in the Iron Gates region, and on another coming from Popitsa 78 in north-western Bulgaria
(Fig. 9/3). The structure of ornamentation indicates the distribution across a wider area of an elaborated
iconographic repertoire, having symbolic and ideological meanings specific to the mentioned
warlike elites. The widespread distribution of these symbols was determined by the mobility which
63
GHEORGHIU 2005, 33 no. 33, 36–37 no. 43.
64
Unpublished. Museum of Sighişoara, inv. no. 598.
65
Multiple blood channels, although rarely encountered, can be also seen on other daggers, for example on a
piece from Komarevo, in Bulgaria: TORBOV 2005, 693–694, Pl. 1/2.
66
TUDOR 1968.
67
GHEORGHIU 2005, 26 no. 8.
68
An iron bridle and a disk published by NESTOR 1937–1940, 177–178, Fig. 7/1–2.
69
Brukenthal Museum Sibiu. Information and drawings by S. Berecki to whom I would like to thank.
70
ZIRRA 1981, 128 Fig. 5/3.
71
WERNER 1988, 91–92 no. 297, Pl. 46/297.
72
TORBOV 2005, 696 Pl. 3/1.
73
RUSTOIU 2002, 51–53, Fig. 36 (distribution).
74
RUSTOIU 2002, 52.
75
POPA 2008.
76
RUSTOIU 2007b, 83–84, Fig. 1/1.
77
STALIO 1986, 33, Fig. 42.
78
TORBOV 1997, Pl. 3/1; TORBOV 2005, 695 Pl. 2/3.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
175
characterised this group, but also by the mobility of the craftsmen who followed the aristocratic
‘courts’ and created the entire panoply of arms and the prestige insignia of the military elite.
0 5 cm
(1-3)
1
2
3
4
0 5 cm
(4)
Fig. 9. Curved daggers with decorated blade from Craiva Piatra Craivii (1), Mala Vrbica-Ajmana (2) and
Popitsa (3); iron brooch from Craiva Piatra Craivii (4) (1 – after RUSTOIU 2007b; 2 – after STALIO 1986;
3 – after TORBOV 1997; 4 – after RUSTOIU/GHEORGHIU 2009).
The older or more recent discoveries from Piatra Craivii (Craiva, Cricău commune, Alba
County) indicate the existence of a small familial cemetery, similar to the one from Cugir, close to
the well-known Dacian fortress. Some finds belonging to a burial were recovered at the end of the
19 th century. The inventory included, according the reconstruction recently provided by C. I. Popa,

176 Aurel Rustoiu
a long sword and two spear heads 79 . Very probably from the same grave comes a curved dagger
having an intricate decoration on the blade 80 (Fig. 9/1). The decoration has close analogies on a
curved dagger discovered in a grave from Mala Vrbica-Ajmana 81 (Fig. 9/2), on the right bank of the
Danube, in the Iron Gates region, and on another coming from Popitsa 82 in north-western Bulgaria
(Fig. 9/3). The structure of ornamentation indicates the distribution across a wider area of an elaborated
iconographic repertoire, having symbolic and ideological meanings specific to the mentioned
warlike elites. The widespread distribution of these symbols was determined by the mobility which
characterised this group, but also by the mobility of the craftsmen who followed the aristocratic
‘courts’ and created the entire panoply of arms and the prestige insignia of the military elite.
Recently another funerary inventory was also recovered from Piatra Craivii. The assemblage
consists of a spear head, a curved dagger, a late La Tène (Vincovci type 83 ) brooch and a hybrid
brooch, all of them made of iron. The inventory might have included a long sword of La Tène
type, probably lost 84 . The hybrid brooch is chronologically very important (Fig. 9/4). The spring
and the bow are morphologically similar to those of the Jezerine brooches, whereas the shape of
the foot and catch-plate is encountered on the late La Tène brooches. Due to these morphological
characteristics the brooch from Piatra Craivii cam be dated to the end of the 1 st century BC, the
respective grave being one of the latest dated funerary discoveries of this kind, thus representing a
chronological reference point for the end of the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group in Transylvania.
Lastly, the recent discoveries from Malaja Kopanja in Trans-Carpathian Ukraine have to
be mentioned. A series of cremation burials in pit, many of them destroyed, have been found in
the close vicinity of the Dacian fortified settlement, on Cellenitza site. Their inventories (Fig. 10)
consist of weaponry and military equipment (La Tène swords, spear heads, curved daggers, shield
bosses, a fragment of a chainmail etc), riding equipment (‘Thracian’ and ‘Getic’ horse-bits, buckles,
rings, spurs etc) and garment accessories (the brooches of middle La Tène scheme being important
for dating), which can be ascribed to the first half of the 1 st century BC (Fig. 10). Graves containing
artefacts belonging to the feminine costume were also found 85 . In another closely located find-spot
(Seredni Grunok) were discovered other cremation graves in pit, containing goods of local origin
and others specific to the Przeworsk culture (including typical weaponry: shield bosses, swords
etc). These graves are dated to the second half of the 1 st century AD and the first half of the
following century 86 . Thus, despite the summarily published archaeological reports, it can be noted
that the cemetery from Malaja Kopanja began in the first half of the 1 st century BC. The oldest
graves belonged to individuals who used panoplies of arms resembling those from the area of the
Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group. This fact may suggest that the appearance of the Dacian fortress
from Malaja Kopanja was determined by the northward expansion of the military elites during
the reign of Burebista. Still, unlike the situation from the rest of Dacia, as it is known today, a
significant number of graves containing feminine inventories appear here, pointing to a regional
feature of this cultural phenomenon characterising the northern extremity of the area of the Padea
Panagjurski kolonii group. Later in the 1 st century AD, in the same region arrived groups of
Germanic populations, bringing artefacts belonging to the Przeworsk culture, and interring their
deceased in the close vicinity of the older cemetery. From this point of view the situation is similar
to the one encountered in the cemetery at Zemplin 87 .
79
POPA 2008.
80
RUSTOIU 2007b, 83–84, Fig. 1/1.
81
STALIO 1986, 33, Fig. 42.
82
TORBOV 1997, Pl. 3/1; TORBOV 2005, 695 Pl. 2/3.
83
For the type see MAJNARIĆ-PANDŽIĆ 2009, 238–240 and DIZDAR 2003.
84
RUSTOIU/GHEORGHIU 2009; RUSTOIU/GHEORGHIU 2010.
85
KOTIGOROŠKO 2007; KOTIGOROŠKO 2011.
86
KOTIGOROŠKO ET AL. 2000–2004; KOTIGOROŠKO ET AL. 2006–2007.
87
BUDINSKÝ-KRIČKA/LAMIOVÁ-SCHMIEDLOVÁ 1990; SÎRBU/RUSTOIU 2006, 205, Fig. 13–15.

Commentaria Archaeologica et Historica (I)
177
5a
2
1
0 5 cm
(1)
5b
3 0 5
cm
4
(3)
Fig. 10. Weapons and horse-bits from the cemetery at Malaja Kopanja (after KOTIGOROŠKO 2011).

178 Aurel Rustoiu
In conclusion, the re-evaluation of the older or more recent discoveries illustrates a concentration
of the funerary contexts of Padea-Panagjurski kolonii type in south-western Transylvania,
more precisely in the surroundings of the centre of power of the Dacian Kingdom prior to and
during the reign of Burebista (Fig. 11). At the same time a series of graves indicates the extension
of the phenomenon on distant territories in central or northern Transylvania, up to the upper Tisza
basin, these regions probably being brought under the authority of the Dacian kings.
Chronologically, these
burials probably appeared in
the LT C2, succeeding the
Celtic horizon in Transylvania.
The majority of the discoveries
belong to the La Tène D1
sub-phase (from the end of the
2 nd century to the first half of
the 1 st century BC). The grave
from Piatra Craivii dated to
the Augustan period marks
the end of this phenomenon.
The military elites from the
northern Balkans, having
different ethnic origins and
funerary traditions, created in
the 2 nd –1 st centuries BC sets
Fig. 11. Map of the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii funerary discoveries
from Transylvania: 1 – Berghin (?). 2 Blandiana. 3 Călan. 4 – Craiva–
Piatra Craivii. 5 Cugir. 6 – Deva (?). 7 – Hunedoara–“Grădina Castelului”.
8 – Malaja Kopanja. 9 – Mediaş (?). 10 Tărtăria. 11 – Teleac.
of symbolic elements seeking
to express a privileged status
within their communities.
Amongst these sets the military
panoply, having a typologically
and functionally unitary character, played an important role. In the 1 st century AD these
elements were modified. The elites abandoned the traditional funerary practices and some of
the weapons included in the usual panoply, but continued to use the curved daggers which
probably had an important symbolic role within the local practices. The later modifications were
maintained until the conquest of Dacia by the Romans.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Dan Pop and Z. Şomcutean (Baia Mare) for
providing information and images of the greaves from Ciumesti, S. Berecki (Târgu-Mureş) for
information and photos of the finds from Mediaş, Florin Gogâltan (Cluj-Napoca), Liviu Marta
(Sat Mare), J. Emilov (Sofia) and M. Guštin (Koper) for bibliographic information.
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