Considerații privind răspândirea bolurilor geto-dacice cu decor în relief
Considerations on the diffusion of Geto-Dacian bowls with relief decoration

Summary/Abstract: The production of bowls with relief decoration represented one of the most elaborate manifestations of the imitation of Hellenistic vessels by the Geto-Dacians, alongside other ceramic forms such as amphorae, pithoi, kraters, kantharoi, or skyphoi. The Geto-Dacians adopted the technology for producing these bowls, adding a remarkable variety of decoration to beautify these vessels. Chronologically, bowls with relief decoration were produced and circulated over the course of a century, between 150 BC and 50 BC. Currently, the minimum number of discovered specimens is 934, originating from 85 different sites. Regionally, the first place is occupied, by a large margin, by Greater Wallachia with at least 794 specimens, representing 85% of the total discoveries. In second place is northern Bulgaria, with 57 pieces representing 6.10%, and in third place, with a percentage of 4.07%, is Transylvania, where at least 38 specimens have been discovered. In the rest of the regions, the number of discovered specimens is much smaller, not exceeding 2.78% in Lesser Wallachia, 1.71% in Moldavia, and 0.32% in Dobruja. Over 68% of the total number of bowls are discovered only in 5 sites, four in Greater Wallachia (Popești, Piscu Crăsani, Cârlomănești and Zimnicea) and one in Bulgaria (Ruse). The dava from Popești ranks first by far with 370 specimens, a number representing 44% of the discoveries in Wallachia and 37% of the total discoveries in pre-Roman Dacia. Taking into account that half of the total number of moulds discovered were found here, we can conclude that the settlement from Popești was the main production center. The second center in terms of discoveries is the settlement from Piscu Crăsani (village of Crăsanii de Jos), located about 80 km northeast of the settlement from Popești. The minimum number of discovered specimens is 100, representing over 10% of the total number of bowls discovered in Wallachia. In third place is the site from Cârlomănești, where 82 specimens were discovered during archaeological research, amounting to 8.78% of the total number of bowls discovered in pre-Roman Dacia. In fourth place is the settlement from Zimnicea, with 54 discovered specimens, comprising 5.78% of the total discoveries. Outside of Wallachia, the most important collection of bowls was found in Ruse. The 31 identified fragments represent 3.31% of the total number of discoveries. A global analysis of this phenomenon reveals that the main region that produced and distributed bowls with relief decoration was Wallachia, with a massive concentration in the areas of the settlements from Popești, Piscu Crăsani, and Radovanu, where the most numerous moulds also appeared.

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