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Four gold coins were found during the 2008 excavations in the Roman fort at Răcari (Oltenia), in latus dextrum, allegedly used as praetorium. As they were minted in the time of Vespasian, the fact could cast doubts for the chronology of the first phase of the fort, as stated before.The paper is resuming the basics known about the phases of the fortification and their date, giving some details about the conditions of the discovery. The coins themselves are depicted as they were before cleaning, but missing a proper catalogue, as the numismatist left the publication project.The work is concluded by some commentaries about the type of the enclosure of the first phase, compared with the most common traits of a marching camp, as well as some historical remarks, as, for instance, the value of that lost deposit.
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The cemetery of Borova is situated in the region of Kolonja in south-east Albania. The cemeteryhad around 49 graves which contained rich inventories of pottery, jewelry , weapons, etc. The artifacts date the cemetery mainly in the late Iron Age, i.e., around 6th-5th centuries BC, and attest to intensive exchange of a part of the local productions with northern Greece. The typology of the tombs is closely associated to the princely graves of the Balkans as attested by the richness of the inventory.The discovery of a bronze olpe, two phiales and a bronze cylix demonstrates the presence of Greek Archaic and classical imports of bronze vases in the Illyrian territory. The geographical vicinity enabled an active trade in the region, probably between the pastoral societies which did not trade very valuable goods, as was the case of the tombs of Trebenishte and Novi Pazar, but more modest finds in bronze. These artifacts indicate an Iron Age society in transition to the Archaic and classical period, with the use of valuable bronze vases by the Illyrian chiefs as the first signs of their ‘Hellenization’.Keywords: bronze vessels, funerary, Iron Age, archaic period, Illyria.
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The subject of this paper is related with some solar and celestial representation discovered in the intra-Carpathian space dated from the Late Iron Age. The paper will focus on water-birds protomes discovered at Sarmizegetusa Regia and Costești-„Cetățuie”, water-birds shaped handles on some situlae and other birds representation. As well the study will focus on the association of this water-bird representation with wheels or chariots and some vessels. The research is not concerned only on discussion of the symbolism of this group of representation, but as well on understanding the origins and how the idea travelled from one community to other and finally reach the space lived by Dacian communities.
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The present paper deals with the identification and interpretation of the archeozoological material harvested from the archaeological campaign in 2008 under the supervision of specialists from the National History Museum Alba-Iulia in the area of the Olympic Swimming Pool. The Iron Age settlement (pit no 401) revealed the existence of a grave of a horse, buried along a series of artefacts.The material presented was in a very poor state of conservation, allowing, in most cases, only partial measurements. Most of the material belonged to one single horse (Equus caballus) which was evaluated from an anatomical perspective and an osteometrical as well. According to the concluded data, the bones belonged to a young individual, no more than 3-3.5 years old, with an average height calculated, based on the measured long bones, of 139 cm.
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We present in the following four interesting unpublished artifacts found during archaeological excavations (2012-2018) in the legionary fortress and the canabae of legio V Macedonica in Potaissa (today Turda, Cluj County, Romania). All are military lead sealings. Two of them have the print in negative of LVM, placed in a cartridge. We extended the discussion by analyzing some analogies from the Roman Empire. We end our short contribution trying to explain the presence of such artifacts in Potaissa.
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Abstract: Why is it important to document the provenance of cultural heritage assets?The antiquities’ market has been confronted lately with important problems generated by the accusations, scandals and controversies regarding the suspicions of the illegal origin of the artifacts in the collections of museums or private collections attested. Global antique trading is estimated at billions of dollars annually, so ensuringthe legality of origin plays a vital role in guaranteeing ownership for a potential new buyer, which can be in good faith. It is not surprising that this type of trade has been the object of the interest of terrorist organizations or organized crime groups, interested in obtaining important revenues for the financing of illegal activities. The sale and purchase of artifacts continues to represent from this perspective a continuous risk for museums, art dealers, auction houses and collectors.The phenomenon of illegal trafficking of cultural heritage assets is not new, for thousands of years the plundering of antiquities has been a problem of all civilizations. When artifacts are stolen, they are first and foremost lost in value, often eliminating the connection with the context in which they were discovered. The theft of the artifacts would not be possible and would not have the current magnitude if there was no sales market on which significant revenues could be obtained. The robbers, thieves and smugglers of artifacts are connected to the antiquities market through intermediaries, which creates the appearance of legality in order to facilitate the illegal export by producing fake documents, attesting the provenance and allowing the sale / purchase on the antiques market at high prices. The intermediaries are the most important link and they come from: art dealers, curators and museum staff, art collectors, businessmen, civil servants.
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The author examines the inscription from Montepulciano, outskirts of Clusium (today Chiusi) (cippus Bucellius), where the Greek Dorian term was mentioned, which means a military colonist. Taking in consideration previous researches, the author tries to prove prescription of cippus Bucellius as a boundary; explain earlier date of the inscription (earlier 3rd, not 2nd centuries BC); represent own explanation of discussion terms, namely, ser is considered as reduction of the praenomen servei; hilar is determined as a plot of land; claruχieś is seen as a genitive case of term which means a military colonist-mercenary, created like the personal Etruscan names.
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New insights about the previously unpublished inscription of cohors III Alpinorum, located in the Archaeological Museum in Zadar, are brought to light. Previously documented as an inscription from an unknown site, calling upon the diaries of a Friar Lujo Marun, it is now identified as an inscription from Petrovo polje; more precisely from the Cecela hilltop in the village of Siverić near the city of Drniš. So far, eight inscriptions with the record of Roman auxiliary units were found in the area of Petrovo polje, thus the inscription from Cecela should not be considered as an isolated case, but rather as a part of a relatively larger group of epigraphic records of Roman auxiliary units. The inscriptions were found in several locations (Tepljuh, Otavice, Kadina Glavica, Umljanovići) and as such, they represent the foundation of a hypothesis for the existence of several Roman auxiliary forts in Petrovo polje. On the other hand, it has recently been suggested that only one fort should be located in Petrovo polje, i.e. in the wider area of Kadina Glavica. The proposed location for the auxiliary fort is found at the slope below the place name "Glavičina" in the area of the village of Parčić near Kadina Glavica. From that point, several scholars are often mentioning ‘the auxiliary fort in Kadina Glavica’, sometimes even as a proven and undoubted fact. The authors hereby disregard such interpretation and give a new perspective on the presence of Roman soldiers in the area of Petrovo Polje.
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This paper explores new approaches to epigraphic evidence from the Antonine Wall that, in some respects, depart significantly from perceived wisdom. Addressing the inscriptions from alternative perspectives and incorporating attribute analysis, material mapping and a review of historical sources has revealed previously unexplored dimensions to a significant category of inscriptions here referred to as Distance Stones. The results cast new light onto these enigmatic ancient artefacts, exposing potential inconsistencies relating to units of measure and challenging hypotheses that have endured for more than two centuries. Critical review has uncovered patterns of difference and similarities that alter our perception of these unique frontier sculptures and lend credence to the proposal that they may have originally been placed, not along the Wall as has been traditionally accepted, but along the Military Way where passers-by could more meaningfully engage with them.
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Knowledge of the number and location of mines of the ancient periods has been the subject of common research between archaeologists and archaeo-mineralogists. The scientific significance of the subject becomes apparent when the direct relation between the power of the ancient rulers and number of the mines they owned is perceived. The gold and silver mines, like today, were accounted as the main economic credit and backing of the ancient states. Although mixing silver with other metals was used to produce diverse metal artefacts, silver on its own was most popular for minting coins. Since coin was a symbol of the sovereignty of rulers and an indicator of the economic power of ancient civilizations, silver mining was probably one of the main activities of the ancient craftsmen. The main aim of this research is to investigate the conditions surrounding, and the techniques used for, extraction of silver from different mines during the reign of Alexander of Macedon, Seleucid rulers (336-129 BC), and Parthian kings (247 BC-224 AD). The kings, whose coins are studied in this research, ruled in Iran from 4th -1st BC. This research is focused on the laboratory results obtained from XRF tests on 24 coins belonging to the mentioned kings.The analysis of the results revealed that despite the advanced technology used for recovering silver from zinc and lead mines in the Seleucid era, the Parthian craftsmen were not highly skilled in this field. In other words, the silver recovery technology was more advanced in the Seleucid era than the Parthian period
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This article presents a case study of three different coin series (RRC 468-RRC 470) minted near contemporaneously in Hispania during the latter stages of the civil war, which present strikingly different representations of foreign peoples and places. While Caesar’s coin series (RRC 468) displays an image of submissive Gallic captives and a military trophy, Cnaeus Pompey Jr’s two series (RRC 469=470) feature personifications of the region and local cities and depicts them working together with their Pompeian counterpart in the pursuit of victory in the area. The article incorporates hoard evidence to further develop our understanding of how a contemporary viewer might have experienced these contrasting images of foreign peoples and places. It demonstrates which would have been the more common image in circulation and provides evidence for potential audience targeting with the Pompeian coin series. In light of recent scrutiny of Pompeian patronage networks in Spain, this hoard evidence for potential audience targeting allows a new interpretation of the Pompeian coin series as targeting a potentially wavering host community to be put forward.
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A paper is devoted to a rare find of a Roman bronze openwork belt plate with the preserved skin residues found in a mountain sanctuary Gurzufskoe Sedlo together with the items of the Roman military equipment principally dated by the Late Republican – Early Principate periods. It’s finding in a barbarian sanctuary along with the items of Roman Republican equipment is associated with the participation of Tauri tribes in the military actions against Rome in the Black Sea region during the first half of a 1st century BC. It is possible to study the features of the construction and decor elements of an item due to a good state of its preserve.
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The article is specifically tackling the Constantinople Hayes 8 type of clay lamps, dating from the second half of the 5th century to early 7th century AD. Our analysis pinpoints the sites where such lighting devices have been found in the Balkans, along the Lower Danube and in the Black Sea basin, as well as their specific clustering (namely at Constantinople, in association to the Church of St. Polyeuktos at Saraçhane, at Halmyris in the Lower Danube province of Scythia, as well as at Tauric Chersonesos in Northern Pontus). The keywords for understanding these lamps are urban sites, maritime or river distribution, the connection to pilgrims and pilgrimage sites, Eastern Mediterranean and Pontic trade network, not to forget the annona maritime route within the Quaestura Iustiniana exercitus. Considering the uncommon canopy on the discus and based upon known archaeological evidence and contexts, our clay lamps are arguably embodying concurrent plebeian iconic ways and profound symbolic multiplications of the Holy City with the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre
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We are continuing our series of studies regarding the topography of Roman Dacia with this short note regarding the route of the Roman road which connected the valley of the Mureș River with the fort from Călugăreni, located on the Eastern frontier of Roman Dacia. New cartographic data, combined with terrain observations, lead to some important information which allows us to reconstruct the route of this road. It crosses through several current villages, namely Livezeni, Ivănești, Veța, Moșuni, Vărgata, Grâușorul, Dămieni and it reaches the Roman fort in Călugăreni (Mureș County). Our study will detail all the discoveries registered within the area of the settlements mentioned above. By accurately mapping the route of the roman road, we can offer tools for the protection of this important Roman landscape element.
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The study of Roman Dacia in the last two centuries produced thousands of articles, studies, monographs and proceedings and revealed at least 3800 archaeological sites from the short period of existence of the province between 106-270 AD. The large quantity of material evidence – epigraphic, figurative, ceramic, architectural and numismatic – is constantly growing due to the numerous rescue excavations in the last two decades. The emergence of digital humanities and the possibilities of digital era created new perspectives in cataloguing, collecting and presenting archaeological big data. The article presents some of the major results of digital humanities focusing on the digitization of the materiality of Roman Dacia.
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Jörg Rüpke, Pantheon. A new history of Roman religion. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2018, 551 p. 64 photos, ISBN 9780691156835.
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The topic of my research is the archaeological examination of the religion and the beliefs of the Lombard population in the 6th century AD, in the western part of the Carpathian Basin, which was the former province of Pannonia. My main purpose was to identify and collect the amulet types. I have collected the finds from twenty-four cemeteries, including two hundred thirty-four women and children graves of Western Hungary and Northeast Austria. Although they were probably baptized in the 6th century, their amulets show the existence of pagan habits. These pagan amulets are usually worn as necklaces, or on their pendant-belts, but there are some types which are found in their bags hanging on their belt. Among the necklaces, there is a special amulet type, called bracteat. These bracteats are one-sided gold or silver coins with attached loops. On their upper side, the gods and figures of the Scandinavian mythology were depicted. To determine the function of the finds which are located on the pendant-belt was not easy, because they might have been worn for representational purposes, and they also might have had only practical function. In addition, they might have had personal content. In my research, I have collected those object types that admittedly had apotropaic character based on the opinion the archaeology of the Merovingian period and the written sources. I formed four groups of amulet types. The pearls which might have had apotropaic character due to their material belong to the first group. The second group contains the metal amulets. The zoolite type of amulets are collected in the third group and the last group consists of the finds from ancient times. I tried to determine which age-category used the mentioned object types the most.
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The horse has had an important place in Turkish society since ancient times. In Central Asia, the findings from archaeological excavations and horse depictions in rock paintings have been remarkable in terms of showing the place of the horse in the lives of steppe nomads from time immemorial. It is known that the culture of horse riding and horse husbandry spread to different parts of the world from the Central Asian steppes. In the light of today’s information, the domestication process of the horse goes back about a thousand years. The horse was domesticated at a time dated to 2500 BC around the Botai culture in northern Kazakhstan. Horse breeding is extremely important in Kazakhstan, where horse is one of the main food sources. This article encompasses a bibliography of the studies carried out in Kazakhstan on horse breeding and horse culture. Besides the studies mainly in Kazakh language, the pertinent studies in Russian were also included in the study in order to guide researchers for further readings. The bibliography is listed alphabetically by authors’ surname. The article is aimed to guide researchers who will work on issues such as horse culture, horse breeding and horse training in Kazakhstan.
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