Pamfil Polonic şi cercetarea „troianelor” din sudul Moldovei
Pamfil Polonic and his researches on the South Moldavian “trojans”

Summary/Abstract: In this article we approach some problems regarding two mud linear fortifications that cross the territory of Galatzi county. The study deals with two manuscripts left from Pamfil Polonic, which are preserved in the Library of the Romanian Academy. They refer to the following objectives: 1. The Trajan-Tuluceşti vallum or the “Galaţi wave” having a length of 23 Kms. This defensive construction has its Western end located near the village of Şerbeştii Vechi, at about 200 meters away from the elbow of the Siret River (Hierasus), while its Eastern end is situated at the outskirts of Tuluceşti (village of Braniştea), near the Pruth river (Pyretus). The archaeological research proved the existence of two building stages, separated by a gap of several centuries distance and the fact that the fortification was fit with a wooden palisade, which was destroyed by a fire. 2. The “wave of Athanaric” or the “wave of the Lower Moldavia”, which stretches between the localities of Ploscuţeni (on the Siret River) and Stoicani (on the Pruth River), along a distance of 90 Kms; the wave of the Lower Moldavia separated the Romanian field from the Moldavian plateau. Archaeological research revealed the existence of several wooden palisades, destroyed by a fire and of some traps in front of the dig, consisting of thick holes in the ground, most probably fit with cippi. A new element revealed by the Stoicani-Ploscuţeni wave is the position of the dig, oriented not towards North, but towards South. This observation raised many suppositions regarding the ethnic origin of his builders.Born in 1858, P. Polonic graduated from several military schools, having topography as specialization. Because of his skills, in 1892, he was appointed as a drawer at the National Museum of Antiquities. For eleven years, P. Polonic was the most important “technical” collaborator of Grigore Tocilescu, the director of the institution. On his behalf, Polonic conducted many archaeological researches, as the one from Tropaeum Traiani, for example. For the Romanian archaeology, Pamfil Polonic remains the first to introduce the topographical methods of locating the archaeological objectives. His main interest was the investigation of the linear fortifications. His notebooks, which are preserved mainly in the Library of the Romanian Academy, contain many notes, drawings and details, precisely put into written, after an accurate field observation and measurements. In spite of being a pioneer of the researches on the Roman fortifications, his notes are still in manuscript, so far nobody having tried to publish his laborious work.

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