EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS - Institutul de Arheologie şi Istoria Artei

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