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 inclu<strong>de</strong>d 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 <strong>de</strong>position. As concerning the chronological aspect, M. Rusu consi<strong>de</strong>red 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 <strong>de</strong>piction of a similar helmet on the ‘weapons frieze’ from Pergamon. Megaw also ma<strong>de</strong> 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, ad<strong>de</strong>d 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 <strong>de</strong>pictions from the temple of Athena Nikephoros from Pergamon 5 . Later discoveries confirmed the distribution of such helmets towards the Balkans, for example the finds i<strong>de</strong>ntified in Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia (FYROM) 6 . Still, the grave from Ciumeşti was not an isolated <strong>de</strong>position, 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 consi<strong>de</strong>red 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 consi<strong>de</strong>red that <strong>de</strong>spite 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 inclu<strong>de</strong>d 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).
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