Necropola feudal-timpurie de la Blandiana, jud. Alba / The early middle-ages cemetery from Blandiana, Alba County

Ciugudean Horia, Anghel Gheorghe. Necropola feudal-timpurie de la Blandiana, jud. Alba / The early middle-ages cemetery from Blandiana, Alba County. In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice, N°17 1993. A XVII-A sesiune anuală de rapoarte, Ploiești 1983 (Partea a II-a) pp. 361-364

Settlement Placement and Socio-Economic Priorities: Dynamic Landscapes in Bronze Age Transylvania

The Bronze Age was a period of significant socio-economic transformation that gave rise to the first complex regional polities with institutionalized inequality in Europe. Communities in southwest Transylvania, a major source of gold, copper, and salt, played a critical role in this transformation. This article examines how socio-economic changes affected how people situated settlements in resource procurement zones during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700–1500 cal. BCE). Taking advantage of the heterogeneous distribution of natural resources across the landscape, a GIS catchment analysis of the orientation of settlements toward particular constellations of resources is presented. Our results show increased preference for access to high quality agricultural land and access to interregional trade through the Mureș River corridor over the course of the Bronze Age. Despite the increased importance of metal within Bronze Age economies, there is no evidence that Transylvanian communities placed their settlements to maximize their ability to contest or secure access to the metal ore sources in the Apuseni Mountains. The organization of settlement systems in the Bronze Age demonstrates that Transylvanian communities prioritized socio-economic institutions beyond metal procurement. This study demonstrates that tracing how humans situate themselves in variable landscapes can provide new insights into the conditions and mechanisms of social change

Săpăturile arheologice de la Ghirbom (Campania 1978). Raport preliminar

Aldea Ioan Al., Moga Vasile, Ciugudean Horia. Săpăturile arheologice de la Ghirbom (Campania 1978). Raport preliminar. In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice, N°13 1979. A XIII - A sesiune anuală de rapoarte. pp. 257-261

Cercetări în aşezarea fortificată din prima vîrstă a fierului de la Teleac (jud. Alba) / Recherches dans l’établissement fortifié du premier âge du fer de Teleac (dép. d’Alba)

Vasiliev Valentin, Aldea Ioan Al., Ciugudean Horia. Cercetări în aşezarea fortificată din prima vîrstă a fierului de la Teleac (jud. Alba) / Recherches dans l’établissement fortifié du premier âge du fer de Teleac (dép. d’Alba). In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice, N°15 1983. A XV-A sesiune anuală de rapoarte, Muzeul jedeţean Braşov – 1981. pp. 155-158

The Politics of Placing the Dead in Bronze Age Transylvania

Where people bury their dead is a critical part of mortuary rituals. This paper examines the relationship between the placement of the dead within a landscape and the social roles of the dead in the lives of the living. We examine the distribution of mortuary sites in southwest Transylvania during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700–1500 BCE), a period of significant socioeconomic transformation. We document a shift in the locations of cemeteries that is linked to the changing roles of the dead within society. During the Early Bronze Age, people placed their dead in highly visible tomb cemeteries in upland landscapes with access to metal and highland pasture. We argue that the living used mortuary practices to contest access to resources. During the Middle Bronze Age, however, people were primarily cremated and buried in flat urn cemeteries in similar contexts as settlements. We argue that this transition signifies changing institutions of metal procurement as well as a shift in the roles of the dead in the lives of the living. The analysis of cemetery placement has significant potential for revealing the organization and evolution of how bodies are used for political purposes in a broad range of geographic and chronological contexts

Bioarchaeology and Mountain Landscapes in Transylvania’s Golden Quadrangle

The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and copper deposits in Europe, key resources that fueled the development of social complexity during the Bronze Age (ca. 2700–800 B.C.E.). This landscape encompasses a significant amount of topographic and ecological diversity, with upland landscapes incorporating major mineral deposits, forests, pastures, and salt springs, and lowland agropastoral landscapes abutting the major interregional Mureș River corridor. Local Early Bronze Age (ca. 2700–2000 B.C.E.) communities typically buried their dead in stone-covered tumuli in the uplands, though there are also examples of burial in lowland settlements. The relationship between upland and lowland mortuary contexts is an enduring question within the regional archaeological record. In this paper we present a case study that compares individuals from two sites: the lowland settlement of Alba Iulia-Pârâul Iovului and the upland cemetery of Meteș-La Meteșel. We ask whether there were differences between the uplands and the lowlands in terms of mortuary practices and eligibility for burial, or differences in the lived experience of pathology or trauma. Our results show that there are few significant differences between the two samples. Adults and subadults, as well as males and females, are represented at both sites, and levels of skeletal pathology are low, while dental insults are more frequent. We conclude by outlining a strategy for developing a regional bioarchaeology that will incorporate multiple lines of archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence and enhance our understanding of the biocultural dynamics of the region

Rethinking Time, Culture, and Socioeconomic Organisation in Bronze Age Transylvania

South-west Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Age Europe, helping to facilitate the development of increasingly hierarchical societies. The absence of a radiocarbon-based chronology for Transylvania, however, has impeded understanding of the region\u27s role within broader socioeconomic networks. Here, the presentation of the first radiocarbon chronology for the Wietenberg Culture in south-west Transylvania allows the authors to highlight the importance of interregional exchange and reliable access to metal for Bronze Age European societies, and emphasise that resource-procurement zones follow unique trajectories of socioeconomic organisation

Siedlungsstruktur und Demographie in Teleac: eine spätbronzezeitliche – früheisenzeitliche Befestigung in Siebenbürgen

Recent investigations at the Teleac hillfort in south-western Transylvania have generated new data on the spatial organisation and history of the settlement. A combination of excavations and geophysical prospection revealed that Teleac was a dense and well organised settlement with a substantial population, and that some sections of the hillfort likely were used for different activities. It is also argued that Teleac likely dominated the open settlements and acted as a hub for transportation and trade throughout the region.Jüngste Untersuchungen in der befestigten Höhensiedlung von Teleac im südwestlichen Siebenbürgen haben neue Daten zur räumlichen Organisation und Siedlungsgeschichte erbracht. Ausgrabungen in Kombination mit geophysikalischer Prospektion konnten zeigen, dass Teleac eine dichte und gut organisierte Siedlung mit einer erheblichen Bevölkerung war und dass einige Bereiche der befestigten Höhensiedlung für unterschiedliche Aktivitäten genutzt wurden. Es wird auch argumentiert, dass Teleac wahrscheinlich die offenen Siedlungen beherrschte und als Drehkreuz für Transport und Handel in der Region fungierte

The Teleac hillfort in Southwestern Transylvania: the role of the settlement, war and the destruction of the fortification system

Geophysical prospection and excavations show that the heavily fortified Teleac hillfort was densely occupied with a population reaching the low thousands. In this article it is argued that Teleac was a local political centre that acted as a hub for transportation and trade in a region that is rich in mineral resources. Recent investigations also reveal that Teleac was attacked in the late 10th century in an event that breached and destroyed the formidable northern defensive system. This attack suggests that the level of military threat was quite severe in the eastern Carpathian Basin. The attacking forces must have had significant offensive capabilities in order to tackle Teleac’s defences. It is also a strong indication that not only Teleac, but contemporary fortified settlements in the surrounding region were at least in part erected to resist serious military threats