Archaeology - ROMANIA
Project Information for Volunter Archaeology in Romania - Poiana Brasov

Archaeological Volunteering Projects in Poiana Brasov

Poiana Brasov, founded in 1895, first served as a tourist district for Brasov. The first hut ever built here was around the year 1904. In 1906, Poiana was designated as a winter resort, and three years later the first Ski competition in Romania took place in Poiana. In 1951 Poiana hosted The International Winter Games for students. Nowadays Poiana Brasov is a modern ski resort with luxurious hotels, mansions and villas, apartments, restaurants, clubs and bars.

Poiana lies on a plateau at the foot of Postavarul Mountain, which is part of the Meridional Carpathian Mountains. Due to its natural beauty, Poiana Brasov is sometimes called Poiana Soarelui (Sunny Glade). It is located only 12 kilometres from the medieval town of Brasov, at an altitude of over 1020 metres.

In September 2004 two doctors (Lucian Comsa and Vlad Totoianu) discovered an archaeological site close to the road that links Poiana Brasov to Rasnov. The surface of the entire site is around 30 hectares, and archaeologists have confirmed that there are a series of rock walls, earth walls and quadrangle earth precincts. Some pottery has already been discovered and is confirmed as coming from 14th to 16th centuries.

There are a series of furnaces that were probably used for making lime. Pottery was also found at what was most likely a worship place.

The first evaluation of the site by archaeologists revealed that it could be a system of fortifications. One hypothesis is that it is a settlement from the Bronze Age or the start of the Iron Age. It could also be Dacian fortification which is supported by the close proximity of the Roman Castrum at Rasnov.

The site is currently extremely large and it is very possible that there are still numerous structures yet to be uncovered. In the Spring of 2005, Projects Abroad volunteers did the first field walk here to try to establish the real perimeter of the site. Their job was to try to establish the limit of the settlement and to try to construct a plan of the entire system of walls.

As part of the ongoing study Projects Abroad have been invited to continue working on the Poiana site, and during the Spring of 2006, when excavation is not possible because of the prevailing weather conditions, field walking will resume for approximately 4 weeks.

Daily timetable:

09:00 Field walking starts
13:00 Lunch
13:30 Afternoon session begins
15:00 End of working day
Saturday and Sunday are free.