Romania - European Association of Archaeologists

The European Archaeologist – Issue No. 44: Spring 2015
From our Correspondents
Romania
Nona Palincaş (Institutul de Arheologie, Bucuresti - palincas@gmail.com)
Institutions
A new research institute, The Romanian Institute of Archaeology in Athens, has been
recently founded (autumn of 2014) by the Bucharest University, the Alexandru Ioan Cuza
University (Iaşi), the Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca) and the Western University
(Timişoara). Its aims are to provide support for Romanian institutions and specialists organizing
archaeological excavations in Greece; to organize scientific events centred on archaeology and
connected domains; cooperation with similar institutions in Athens; and the public dissemination
of research results.
Current adresses (provisional): str. Dimitrie Brândză, nr.1, sala subsol, sector 6, Bucharest
and 62 Omirou St., Kolonaki, Ahtens. socrate71119@yahoo.com.
Archaeometry: A Centre for the study of cultural heritage and its conservation is currently being
organized as a distributed institution uniting specialists from various domains (physicists,
chemists, biologists, architects, archaeologists, restorers). It aims at the more efficient use of the
available laboratory facilities; and the dissemination of the analytic methods that can be applied
in the aforementioned laboratories (mainly through seminars and handbooks). This centre is
being launched at the initiative of the Horia Hulubei Institute of Nuclear Physics and Engineering
(IFIN−HH) in Bucharest-Măgurele, which already has a certain experience in the domains of
archaeometry (e.g., analyses of metal), and restoration (e.g., disinfestation through gamma
radiation of archives, historic artefacts, etc., consolidation of porous structures), and where a
laboratory for 14C dating (with a last generation AMS) is being set up (presently, the laboratory
is awaiting certification).
Conferences
ARA – Architecture. Restoration. Archaeology is an annual conference (traditionally held in
April) organized at the headquarters of the Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology in Bucharest
by the ARA Association. Aims: to discuss recent case studies with integrated approaches in
architecture, restoration and archaeology as well as theoretical and legal issues concerning
these domains. Theme of this year (April 23-25): ‘Who does heritage belong to?’
(http://www.simpara.ro/simpozionul/). After peer revision, papers held at this conference are
published in ‘Caietele ARA’ (http://www.simpara.ro/caiete-ARA-116.htm).
Annual conference in Târgu Mureş (traditionally held towards mid-October) organized by the
County Museum in Târgu Mureş, with Bronze Age themes alternating with Iron Age themes; the
2015 conference is devoted to an Iron Age theme. The museum publishes a volume each year
based on these papers (see: http://edituramega.ro/colectie.php?idColectie=20). For this year’s
invitation and further links, see:
http://www.muzeumures.ro/main.php?object=staticpage&id=20&event_id=341.
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The European Archaeologist – Issue No. 44: Spring 2015
International Colloquium Troesmis – A changing landscape. Romans and the Others in
the Lower Danube Region in the first century BC to second century AD. Venue: Museum of
History and Archaeology of the Gavrilă Simion Eco-Museum Research Institute in Tulcea
(Tulcea Co.), 7−11 October 2015.
Pontica, an annual conference traditionally held in early October, is organized by the Museum
of National History and Archaeology in Constanţa, addressed to those working in the
archaeology of the Lower Danube and the Back Sea Basin. While participation is based
primarily on invitation, there is also some place for newcomers, who should contact the
organizers via email (contact@minac.ro) with a paper abstract proposal attached to it.
Small finds and their significance, 3rd edition. Theme: ‘Homo ludens. Games and toys’.
Venue: Museum of the Dacian and Roman Civilisation in Deva, 16−18 April 2015. This is part of
a series of annual symposia organized by this museum in March or April, on various themes.
The 4th Balkan Early Metallurgy Symposium, 12–14 October 2015, to be held in Târgu Jiu.
Organizers are the Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, London (UK), the Gorj County
Council through Alexandru Ştefulescu Museum in Târgu Jiu and the Vasile Pârvan Institute of
Archaeology, Bucharest (Romania). Aims: to review the archaeological evidence on early
metallurgy (c. 5000–2000 BCE) in the Balkans, and discuss the technical and methodological
approaches used to date, as well as the possibilities of future progress.
Current projects
The Cornești project is centred on the largest Late Bronze Age settlement known to date in
Europe. Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), an international project studies its
four (defensive) banks and interior settlement, covering an area of ca. 17.2 km2 – see:
http://www.smb.museum/museen-und-einrichtungen/museum-fuer-vor-undfruehgeschichte/forschung.html.
Re-constructing identities: facts, places, peoples, animals and objects of the invisible
past (2011−2015) is a project of the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest.
Funded by: UEFISCDI−MEC (The Executive Unit for the Funding of Higher Education,
Research, Development and Innovation – Ministry of Education and Research). Aims: The
identification of biological and social aspects regarding the identity of human communities from
the Chalcolithic (c.5000-3700 BCE) in terms of a pluridisciplinary approach.
The Pietrele project (2002−). Participants: Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology, EurasienAbteilung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Berlin, Teoharie Antonescu County Museum
in Giurgiu, Nov Bîlgarski Universitet, Sofia, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, RuhrUniversität, Bochum, Institut für Physische Geographie, Universität Frankfurt a.M., Institut für
Prähistorische Archäologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Universität Tübingen, Irma Berdzenisvili
(Tbilisi), Jorrit Kelder (Amsterdam). Aims: A state of the art excavation of a Chalcolithic tell
settlement (spot ‘Măgura Gorgana’), the understanding of the life on a tell and comparison with
other
similar
contemporaneous
sites
from
Bulgaria,
Greece,
Turkey,
etc.
(http://cronica.cimec.ro/detail.asp?k=4577&d=Pietrele-Baneasa-Giurgiu-Gorgana-2010;
https://www.topoi.org/person/hansen-svend).
Habitat, Environment and Natural Resources in the Lower Danube Area during Pre- and
Protohistory (2014–2016). Participants: Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Bio- and
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The European Archaeologist – Issue No. 44: Spring 2015
Nano-Sciences in Cluj-Napoca, Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology in Bucharest, SIVECO (IT
firm). Funded by: UEFISCDI – MEC (The Executive Unit for the Funding of Higher Education,
Research, Development and Innovation – Ministry of Education and Research). Aims: The
reconstruction of the habitat dynamic during pre- and protohistory, the analysis of human
environment interactions and the use of raw materials.
Living in Bronze Age Tell Settlements. A Study in Settlement Archaeology at the Eastern
Frontier of the Carpathian Basin. Aims: The reconstruction of everyday life in the Bronze Age
tell-settlements from Western Romania and the integration of the results into a macro-regional
perspective, in order to provide a better understanding of the complex structure of the Bronze Age
landscape in the Carpathian Basin. Focus on: the recovery of older unpublished information from
the collections of the museums in Satu Mare, Carei, Oradea and Arad, and their crosschecking
with data from the museums in Eastern Hungary; the collection of relevant samples for 14C
analyses; non-destructive investigations of the tell-settlements (www.bronzeagetells.ro).
Archaeological Survey of the Transylvanian Plain (2009−). Participants: Eötvös Loránd
University in Budapest (Hungary), County Museum Mureş, The National Museum of the Union in
Alba Iulia. Aims: the setting up of a complete database of the sites from the Transylvanian Plain,
based on aerial photography combined with GPS supported field surveys
(http://www.muzeumures.ro/main.php?object=staticpage&id=112&research_id=54).
For preliminary results see: Zoltán Czajlik, Sándor Berecki and László Rupnik in
http://dissarch.elte.hu/pdf.js/web/viewer.html?file=http://dissarch.elte.hu/index.php/dissarch/articl
e/download/233/214 as well as a catalogue (in Romanian, Hungarian and English) on
http://edituramega.ro/carte.php?idCarte=29.
The Troesmis-Project: From the legionary fortress to the Roman-Byzantine fortifications
(2010−). Participants: Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology (Romanian Academy), Institut für
Kulturgeschichte der Antike (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften), Institute for
Ecological and Museum Research in Tulcea (Romania), Institut für Archäologien der Universität
Innsbruck (Austria), and others. Aims: Because Troesmis (presently Turcoaia, Tulcea County,
on the Măcin Branch of the Lower Danube) was known from several written sources ranging
from the Roman Empire through to the Byzantine period, but was very poorly researched
archaeologically, this project aims to gain basic archaeological information. It is focused on
establishing the location of the legionary camp and the civil settlements mentioned in the
inscriptions. After analysis of aerial and satellite photographs, and archive materials, the project
continued with geomagnetic prospection (over 70 ha) and field walks in order to locate different
settlement cores. Among other research, an analysis of the provenance of the stones of various
uses (fortifications, sculptures, inscriptions) was carried out (www.troesmis.arheomedia.ro).
Genesis – in extenso: Genetic Evolution: New Evidences for the Study of Interconnected
Structures. A Biomolecular Journey around the Carpathians from Ancient to Medieval
Times. Funded by: UEFISCDI− MEC (The Executive Unit for the Funding of Higher Education,
Research, Development and Innovation – The Ministry of Education and Research). For
objectives and preliminary results see: http://www.ibiol.ro/proiecte/PNII/GENESIS/index.htm.
Serious criticism has been levelled against this project for various reasons, the main being
probably triggered by one of its objectives: ‘to illustrate the genetic population structure at
different moments in time, in a geographic space with dynamic demographics (population
movement, diverse ethnic interactions, layered societies, etc.)’, which means that the
participants assume the existence of a link between ethnicity and genetics – an obviously long
out-dated theory (for criticism see: http://www.romaniacurata.ro/basarab-plagiatorii-si-cumanii;
http://www.medievistica.ro/pagini/tribuna/diverse/ADN.html).
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