Gornea. Din arheologia unui sat medieval din Clisura Dunării
Gornea. From the archaeology of a medieval village in the Clisura Dunării

Author(s): Dumitru Ţeicu, Gheorghe Lazarovici
Subject(s): History, Archaeology, General Reference Works, Local History / Microhistory, Source Material, Prehistory
Published by: Editura Mega Print SRL
Keywords: Gornea; medieval archaeology; Banat; archaeological research; rural settlements;
Summary/Abstract: Archaeological research at Gornea began in 1967 through a collaboration between the Caraș‑Severin County Museum of History, the Museum of Transylvanian History, and the Institute of Archaeology in Cluj‑Napoca. In retrospect, this moment marked the beginning of a new stage in the archaeological investigation of Banat, a region previously marginalized within Romanian archaeology. The terraces of the Danube at Gornea preserved an exceptional concentration of material remains from the Paleolithic to the Early Iron Age, and from the Roman period to the early Middle Ages, creating a uniquely complex archaeological landscape. The publication of two major monographs in 1977, dedicated to prehistoric and Roman discoveries, consolidated decades of research. The identification of medieval habitation layers beginning in 1969 inaugurated medieval archaeology in Banat, with Gornea and Ilidia becoming key reference sites for the study of medieval rural settlements. Extensive excavations between 1973 and 1979 uncovered early medieval settlements, medieval cemeteries (12th–15th centuries), and structural remains of the medieval village along the Camenița stream. Because the results remained scattered across reports, many unpublished, the present work aims to reunite, systematize, and reinterpret the archaeological documentation of the medieval settlement at Gornea. Beyond its scientific contribution, the study reflects the formative stages of medieval archaeology in Banat and serves as an act of restitution, reinventory, and scholarly consolidation of a foundational research tradition.

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