Later prehistoric and Roman rural settlement and land-use in western Transylvania

The present study analyses Roman-native interaction from a landscape perspective in a core territory of both Iron Age and Roman Dacia. The study are includes the royal Dacian heartland (the Orastie Mountains) and its surrounding lowlands, and also the hinterlands of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and Apulum, the two most important Roman towns in the province. The research considers the nature and distribution of lower-order settlements in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, human impact on the local landscape and the changes which occurred as a result of the Roman occupation. Also, it addresses previous biases of interpretation through re-evaluation of earlier data and consideration of new datasets provided by the interpretation and mapping of recent oblique aerial photographs. New detailed plans of the sites discovered through aerial photography have been integrated within a significant amount of scattered published data (excavation and field walking reports; gazetteers) and relevant information from historical maps. Al the material has been analysed utilising a relational database linked to a GIS. The results provide a complex reconsideration on a more realistic and up-to-date basis of previous theories regarding the native settlement pattern and the impact of Roman colonisation in the chronological and geographical context specified. Also, through the resulting database and GIS, it provides a methodological framework and a customised tool for further analysis of the landscape and of the evolution of the settlement pattern which can be extended throughout the province of Dacia and into the neighbouring areas. Finally, it creates a useful source of analogy or contrast for Empire-wide studies of Romanisation and Roman-native interaction

Host plants preferred by tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) larvae for pupation

Tuta absoluta also known as the leafminer of tomatoes is an invasive pest able to destroy an entire field or greenhouse with tomato plants in a few days. With this study we intend to prove the preference of larvae for pupation. For the study we have used leaves from five plant species: tomato, eggplant, pepper, fig, and Solanum nigrum. Three randomly chosen types of leaves were placed in Petri dish. The most prevalent preference of larvae was for the tomato leaves, followed by Solanum nigrum while the eggplant showed little attraction for the larvae and pepper leaves were untouched. From this study we can conclude that tomato leaves were the most preferred by T. absoluta larvae for their pupation

Reassessing Roman military activity through an interdisciplinary approach: Myth and archaeology in Laboreiro Mountain (Northwestern Iberia)

The present work aims at the archaeological characterisation and historical contextualisation of two large enclosures recently located through remote sensing in the Laboreiro Mountain on the border between Portugal and Galicia: Lomba do Mouro and Chaira da Maza. Ancient written sources, remote sensing, archaeological survey, and absolute dating will be combined in order to shed new light on these enclosures. Given the specificity of the archaeological structures and contexts under study, the need to use complementary absolute dating methods will be discussed, including luminescence and radiocarbon dating. The results in the case of the Lomba do Mouro enclosure point to it possibly being a Roman military camp of late-Republican chronology.JF was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship “Finisterrae: Negotiating and contesting marginal landscapes on the Western fringes of the Roman Empire” funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 794048. C2TN/IST authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT (Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation) support through the UID/Multi/04349/2020 and post-doctoral grant SFRH/BPD/114986/2016 of A. L. Rodrigues. Part of this research was also funded by FEDER through the COMPETE 2020 Programme, Lisboa Regional Programme and European Regional Development Fund (FEEI), and National Funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) under the scope of the Iberian Tin project (PTDC/HAR-ARQ/32290/2017).Peer reviewe

GIS Analysis and Spatial Networking Patterns in Upland Ancient Warfare: The Roman Conquest of Dacia

Generally seen as natural peripheries, upland landscapes present particular challenges both in terms of living, and of recording past human activity within. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology has now brought considerable improvement in our ability to record and map surviving archaeological features, but not necessarily increased our appreciation of local agency. Though the iconic landscape around the Iron Age Dacian capital of Sarmizegetusa Regia (Romania) and its Roman conquest have long caught the attention of specialists and the wider public, both previous research and more recent results from an airborne LiDAR survey leave considerable gaps in our understanding of networking potential across this challenging landscape. Based on LiDAR and satellite-generated high- and mid-resolution topographic data, our paper employs an innovative combination of GIS (geographic information system) spatial analysis tools to examine the spatial relationships between Roman military bases, Dacian targets, and the wider landscape as an integral part of a wider interdisciplinary archaeological research. This helped us formulate and test spatial and historical hypotheses, according to which all known and potential Roman military bases in the study area functioned as part of a system where each contributed individual advantages in securing their domination across the landscape. Our research highlighted the advantages and challenges for Comărnicelu as one of the key Roman logistical nodes, and for the attackers at Şesului and Muncelu working in tandem to besiege and subdue Sarmizegetusa Regia. Our study raises doubts with respect of the fall and destruction of the hillfort at Vârfu lui Hulpe as a result of a Roman siege, making space for alternative political narratives. Ultimately, our findings help build a better understanding of this iconic world heritage landscape and its Roman conquest

Archaeological Aerial Archive of Romania

This web site seeks to make the basic reconnaissance data from various aerial surveys available to a wider audience with potentially different research interests from those of the authors. Accordingly, it presents a selection of aerial photographs of archaeological sites, whether previously known or newly discovered, and of potential sites. In the first instance these derive from the multi-season programmes of survey in south Dobrogea and south-western Transylvania. In due course material from the shorter survey programmes will be added. The photographic data may be searched by map location or by site name. In addition, by using the generic search function, it can be interrogated for more specific characteristics such as site type (e.g. fort, tumulus), attributed date (e.g. Iron age, Roman), the nature of the remains (e.g. extant, cropmark), or even a particular RAN number

Archaeology from Historical Aerial and Satellite Archives

XXIV, 341 p. 113 illus., 28 illus. in color.onlin

Myelodysplastic syndrome with myelofibrosis in a 12-year-old patient – A case report

Myelodysplastic syndromes are a heterogeneous group of clonal disorders characterized by peripheral blood cytopenia and normal or hypercellular bone marrow with dysplasia in more than one blood cell lineage, unfavorable prognosis, and lack of response to treatment. We present the case of a 12-year-old male patient who was referred to the Hematology and Oncology Department of Pediatric Clinic I Târgu- Mures in May 2016, with splenomegaly and pancytopenia. The osteomedullary biopsy revealed myelofibrosis, discrete dysplasia of the myeloid series and megakaryocytes, blasts CD34+ approximately 10%, which led to the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome with myelofibrosis. The myeloid precursors indicated a high risk of transformation into acute myeloid leukemia, so chemotherapy associated with corticosteroids was started, leading to slight improvements. Although myelodysplastic syndrome associated with myelofibrosis is rare at this age, despite the treatment and favorable progression in the case presented, in the absence of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation the prognosis remains unfavorable