Several years ago, within Limes Transalutanus Project (2014-2017), we dealt with several segments of the Roman limes in Teleorman County. Briefly, that meant aerial and terrestrial survey, geologic sampling and geophysics, in most of the cases. The old renditions of the frontier line, as being a rampart without a ditch, were intriguing and unusual, thus they had to be checked in the field, including by test digging. One spot chosen for a complex investigation was located several kilometres south of Roşiorii de Vede, along Mocanului Valley, where the most common traits of a Roman border (a tower, the frontier palisade and segments of the road) were present and relatively well preserved. The test excavation confirmed the fact that the frontier obstacle was made by a large palisade and the defensive ditch was missing. The Roman road has been also sectioned, having the expected width and bulgy shape, being made, however, entirely of clay, as the stone is absent in the plain. The watchtower is rather large, relatively far from the palisade, and had been strongly burned, as well as the palisade. Such objectives, located in a close range, illustrate the typical parts of a late frontier setup.
teliţa-Celic dere, kompleks osadniczy z Vi-iii w. p.n.e. w północnej dobrudży. wyniki badań rumuńsko-polskiej misji archeologicznej za lata 2008-2015 Teliţa-Celic Dere -a settlement complex from the sixth -third century BC in the northern Dobrogea. The research results of Romanian-Polish archaeological mission conducted in the years 2008-2015In the northern Dobrogea, about 80 km from the former Greek colony Orgamé and about 20 km from the Danube river crossing, near today's town Isaccea, close to the ford on the Celic river, there is a settlement complex Teliţa-Celic Dere, dated to the sixth -third century BC. It includes a biritual cemetery with barrows and flat graves as well as a settlement located in the immediate vicinity. Another settlement was situated at a distance of about 4 km from the ford, near the place where today there is a monastery Celic Dere. According to G. Simion (a discoverer of that site), the discussed settlement complex included also a fortified village situated on the Edirlen hill (about 2 km from the complex), on the south bank of the Celic river. The Teliţa-Celic Dere settlement complex is a complex of special significance for the northern Dobrogea, where local elements overlap i.e. the remains of the Babadag culture, the traces of the population identified with the Thracians / Getae, the Scythian impact and the impulses of the Greek colonies located at the Black Sea.
e authors are dealing in the first part of this study with their latest archaeological excavations in the Roman fort at Porolissum (Dacia Porolissensis). Between 2010 and 2012, a building situated on the northern side of the fort, very close to the porta praetoria, was uncovered. It is a 25 × 10 meters construction having no interior subdivisions and no heating system. Its inner stratigraphy revealed five main habitation layers each of them having a precise chronology. e analysis of the small finds and coins recovered during the excavations illustrates that the building was erected around AD 140 – 160 and functioned between AD 160 – 180/190. Around AD 200 it seems that this building collapsed and was never reconstructed. On top of the former structures, the Romans used this area for other purposes unknown to us. e destination of the building was established based on the archaeological finds recorded from the main habitation layer. Among the military equipment fittings, weapons, pottery, glass and bone objects, the most significant category of artefacts were approximately 90 rounded stone artillery projectiles having an average diameter of 9 centimetres. Taking into consideration the analogies coming from other auxiliary forts in Britain, war machines were also used by auxiliary troops positioned in conflict zones of the Roman frontier. In time of peace, these machines were sealed in special buildings called ballistaria as mentioned in the inscriptions from the auxiliary fort at High Rochester. We can conclude that the building we have researched at Porolissum had as its main destination the storing of artillery projectiles, war machines and other weapons, being a ballistarium. is identification is strengthened by its position behind the defence wall and near the main gate of the fort. A second part of the study deals with the civilian habitation at Porolissum. Around the fort, several areas having traces of stone buildings were identified. e main part was occupied by the Roman town municipium Septimium Porolissensis as several inscriptions prove such a fact. A new research project granted by the Romanian National Research Authority in 2012 entitled „Seeing the Unseen. Landscape archaeology on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire at Porolissum” (Director of the project – Dr. Coriolan H. Opreanu) allowed for extensive geophysical surveys which revealed numerous new stone structures. e most important results obtained in sectors XZ and AH refer to a series of large stone buildings and numerous dwellings unknown so far.
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