Archaeology - ROMANIA
History - Ancient

Antique Settlements in Transylvania

Case studies

Sarmizegetusa

Sarmizegetusa was the capital of Dacia, the main political and religious centre of the Dacian kingdom. An entire system of fortifications was built around the city and Sarmizegetusa and was then split into three parts, a civil area, the sacred area, and the fortification itself.

The Dacian kings and a number of nobles resided within the capital along with various tradesmen, builders, doctors and other workers. Also, because of its importance within the kingdom, the city contained the most important workshops.

The Fortification

Access into the capital from the Mures Valley was protected and controlled by fortifications at Costesti and Blidaru and also by several solitary towers situated close to the road. The fortifications from Cucuis-Golu and from Hulpe Top, along with several other towers, protected the way to the capital from two valleys, Cucuis and Sibisel. From the west it was protected by the Piatra Rosie fortifications, and the Linear fortifications from Cioclovina-Ponorici. In addition to these the capital was protected by fortifications at Capalna, Banita and Tilisca.

The Dacian capital was built upon the most practical vantage point in the Gradiste Mountains at a height of around 1000 metres. The walls of the fortification surrounded the mountain according to the configuration of the terrain and were built in the classical style that was called "murus dacicus". As with Costesti and Bildaru, they built bunkers at the highest point of the west side. Archaeologists cannot be certain if the fortress had a bulwark because of the later devastation and subsequent rebuilding by the Romans. In the interior, wooden barracks for the soldiers were discovered. A part of the wall was destroyed because of the agreement made between the Romans and the Dacians from the wars of 101AD and 102AD and rebuilt before the war of 105AD. The fortress suffered heavy damage in the last siege, and the Roman reconstructions didn't use the Dacian techniques, nor respect the original plan. The new Roman plan increased the area to twice the size.

The Civil Settlement

Whilst rebuilding the wall the Romans used large blocks of stone from the civil buildings of Sarmizegetusa which suggest the original constructions were of a considerable size. The civil settlement was made up of houses, workshops, drainage facilities, and fresh water sources. In the house of one Dacian noble, a water supply was discovered that still functions today. The majority of the terraces have not yet been researched. The archaeologists know that the entire area was excavated and terraced by the Dacians and the artificial terraces were reinforced by thick walls. The civil buildings were constructed from wooden and clay materials however, there are few remains of these due to decay over time. The archaeologists found only rocks from the base of the buildings, remains of the walls, carbonised pillars, clay floors and fireplaces.

The Houses

The houses can be grouped into three categories: single room dwellings, multi-roomed dwellings, and multi-sided buildings (for example, octagonal). The single rooms were built directly on to the ground and were few in number. The houses with two or more rooms were constructed around supporting pillars, dug into the ground or a rock base. The majority of the dwellings were multi-roomed. The circular and multi-sided dwellings usually had one room though some consisted of one or two levels of equal dimensions. In one of the houses that was excavated a wooden box with two iron handles containing medical equipment was found. Included in the box were five small pottery phials which probably contained ointment, one scalpel and a pumice stone with astringent properties. Close to the houses were several outbuildings, including granaries. The wealthiest households were built close to the fortifications and water sources, or 'Tau', thus creating a neighbourhood of aristocrats. A terrace was constructed close to these buildings on which was probably built the town square.

Workshops and Utilities

Workshops were probably only built of wood and therefore it has been difficult to exactly determine a detailed plan of the buildings. We do however know that three large and several other smaller workshops were constructed inside the settlement. From archaeological evidence we can see that one of these larger workshops was used as an iron foundry and the others were used to make iron goods. In the iron foundry they have found a total of eight ovens, used for extracting iron from iron ore. In one of the ovens two drawknives (wood working tools) were discovered, bearing the mark 'Herreni' from Aquileia, Northern Italy. (It has still not been ascertained how they got there).

The sites at Sarmizegetsua, Fetele Albe and Fata Cetei are probably the most important civil settlements from the Orastie Mountains. They were all built on a large scale and some distance from the nearest water source. The water supply at Sarmizegetsua was taken from three springs and transported through terracotta pipes to storage tanks and from there further pipes distributed the water to some of the houses, workshops and religious buildings. Drainage systems, both open and buried, were built in order to effect the removal of rainwater from the buildings. In the sacred areas the drains were cut into the limestone to ensure that rain water from the mountains was also diverted away.

Society

Dacians were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (tarabostes) and the common people (comati). The aristocracy alone had the right to cover their heads and wore felt hats (hence pileati, their Latin name). They formed a privileged class, and it is supposed they were the predecessors of the Romanian boyars.

The second class, who comprised the rank and file of the army, the peasants and artisans, might have been called capillati (in Latin). Their appearance and clothing can be seen on Trajan's Column.

Sacred Areas

All of the sacred buildings were constructed on large man-made terraces. There are two types of sanctuaries, circular and rectangular. All were built between the reigns of Burebista and Decebal (circa 86BC - 106AD).

At Samizegetusa the first constructions were built using limestone and later buildings employed andesite. In the large circular sanctuary, wooden posts were placed within the walls during the Communist era to give a more impressive look. However there is no evidence to suggest that they should actually be there.

There are also three rectangular sanctuaries, one of which is much larger than the other two. Close to the smaller of these sanctuaries and the circular sanctuary mentioned above, sits the small circular disc, called the 'Andesite Sun', which is a very important site. Within its centre sits yet another smaller disc which has a radius of 1.46 metres. The 'Sun' is divided by ten spokes, creating arcs at its circumference measuring 2.76 metres. Protruding from the edge of the 'Sun' is a line made from rock pointing north.

See http://www.dacia.nemuritoare.go.ro.

Prehistory | Ancient | Medieval Times