1st century BCE to 1st century CE
The Gaeto-Dacians are the oldest population in the space
between the river Danube and the Carpathian mountains.
Their existance and the participation to the events of the time is
mentioned historical sources from antiquity.
In the 5th centure BCE even the father of history, Herodotus, wrote with
admiration about hte population from the North part of the Danube, considering
them "the most brave and the most honnest Thracians.
From archaeological point of view, the Gaeto-Dacians are
mentioned on the present history of our country long before (many centuries
before) we have the first written information about them.
According to the great number of material eveidence, discovered by
systematic excavation (diggings) it was revealed that in the bronze age, in
North of Danube lived a population of considerable density which proved to be
the kernel for the Gaeto-Dacian tribes.
S the archaeology confirms that when appeared the first
written information for the historians of that time, the Gaeto-Dacians
represented the native population.
Despite being known as Dacian or Gaete, there is a unique
population, testified by the perfect unity of their material and spritual
cultures. Found in historical
written sources, the two appelatives are collective names, designating the same
population, organised in tribes and unions of tribes. They, used, with local variations, the same language.
By the way, this information is also found in the works of
geographer Stabo (63BCE - 19AD) "the Dacians and the Gaete speak the same
language." When the utilisation of iron in the process of production at
Gaeto-Dacians, generalised the whole economical and social life improved.
In a gradual and irreversible process, in local tribal
society had appeared the conditions of the development in complex political
structures. In the last century
before Christ, the first state of Dacians crystalised under the command of
Burebista [Burebista's command], personnality called in an ancient document
"the first and the greatest king from Thracia." Having an area of almost 200 km2 in the first centure AD,
Orastie Mountains was the base for the big, political, ecnomical and cultural
centre, Sarmizegetusa Regia.
On the only way to the fortress, the road near river
Gradiste, defence works with durable walls like Costesti, Blidaru, Piatra Rosie,
Banita. Capalna formed an
extraordinary defence system which represented the base (the nucleus) of the
centralised, Dacian state. Due to
an ingenious construction, Dacians' fortresses lasted through centuries until so
far nowadays, and they are the evidence of a constuctive effort that only a
great, well organised people who know the technique and the art of constuction,
could have done them. The
fortresses around Sarmizegetusa are not the only Dacian buildings knew on the
area of Hunedoara. Investigated in
last years the civilian buildings and the defence works identified on middle
streams of Mures, clearly prove, that in Hunedoara, the Dacian civilisation
crossed the borders of Orastie Mountains.
In the forst room of the exhibition, in a brief text, are
mentioned the most important fortresses and the Dacian settlements discovered so
far in Hunedoara, it is also made a brief presentation of economical, social
environment of that age.
In the right side of the entrance, in two glass cases are
exhibited parts of materials used in construction at Costesti, and they are
blocks of earthen mixture and pieces of tile for the roof.
Nails of different dimensions and forms, the clamps, iron spike prove not
only the processing of iron but also the massive utilisation of wood at Dacian
settlements.
Agricultural tools made of iron (an archaic plough,
typical of 1st century AD, and one coulter, scythes, sickles, hoes, rakes and
axes) presented permanently in
three glass cases, clearly prove the high level that Dacian agriculture had
reached. Come from main fortress
Sarmizegetusa (Gradistea Museulului) carbonised grains and peas are exhibited in
three glass jars.
[26 -
first sentence]
Prelucrarea
fierului, mes,tes,ug de mare important,a( pentru producerea uneltelor, este
atestata( printr-o gama( bogata( de exponate din epoca dacica(.
The
glass case which contains two anvils, a tripod which sustains the tongs and an
iron raw magnifying glass, tries to render, by and large, the image of a forge.
In other four class cases are exposed large size tongs, one of them being
decorated with geometrical motifs, printed on the body of the piece, a group of
sledges, hammers, fishing taps, rivetters, knifes of different shapes and sizes,
pieces of harness, scissors, cleats for walking on slippery ground, crow bars,
rods, hinges, iron rings, clamps and so on.
In this way the visitor can get a panoramic view of the instruments and
of the products made by the Dacian craftsmen, products so necessary, not only
for the peaceful occupations (farming, housing and so on) but also for war.
The
processing of wood, is documented on the exhibition by different kinds of tools,
placed in two glass cases (axes for shaping the wood, adzes, grooveled stanza,
wedges, "raftsmen's picks", and so on.
In the
middle of the room there are glass cases and stands with exhibits that certify,
among others, also forms of cultural life in Dacian society.
Ceramics made from fine paste, painted with decorative motifs, vegetal
and zoomorphic ones, discovered at Sarmizegetusa Regia, the grey bowl-pot, and
the Dacian decanter decorated with floral motifs, underline not only the
development of Dacian pottery, but also some occupations in the field of
decorative art.
A
limestone block well squared and two scultures in limestone, elements which
embellish the parapet of the grandiose fortress from Gradistea Muncelului, which
bring out into bold relief bird heads, in this way bringing evidence about the
skill of stone processing and preocupations in art.
Testimonies
of the Dacian knowledge and using of writing are the two limestone blocks
discovered int he sacred zone from Sarmizegetusa. It contains groups of three,
respectively two letters from the Greek alphabet. The two parallelipipedic stones, with vestiges of writing
together with other similar samples were built in such a way that the groups of
letters formed inteligible words which mentioned names of gods, kings, preists
or important magistrates of the Dacian world. The presence of the letters cut
into stone (like the inscription on a clay pot: DECEBALUS PER SCORILO) emphasize
the connections between the Dacian society and comptorary civilisations, from
the south of the continent.
The
tubes made of burnt clay which formed a water pipe placed into a wood sewer,
together with the hollowed tree trunk, used as a water collecting basin, shows
the preoccupation but also the knowledge and masterliness of the Daco-Getas, to
ensure some comfort to the Dacian settlements.
From this system of water supply, using the pipes placed in the ground
under the level of trampling, corresponded in a large measure also to the
strategic needs: the necessary
water supply for the defenders in the fortress.
The
exhibitions from room IV are accompanied by slides and pictures, by which the
visitors can get a lot of information which complete the image created by the
vestiges.
The
warehouse of iron tools, discovered at Luncani, composed from axes (3 pieces), a
pair of tongs, a hoe a wedge and a raftsman's pick, fromthe two glass cases
placed on the right side of the door, opens the series of Dacian exhibits from
the fifth room.
Beginning
with this room, are presented the Dacian vestiges discovered in Hunedoara, by
the archaeological researches undertaken in the last decade by the Deva museum.
Among the discoveries the fortres from Campuri-Surduc is the oldest
dating from the first period of the 1st century B.C.
Today's
locality Campuri-Surduc, situated ont he valley of the Mures, in front of Dobra
mountain pass, is the place where they found the vestiges of two fortresses.
On the two tips of a hill, situated at approximately 1 kilometre one
from another, were identified the ruins of a watch tower (on Cetateaua)
and a defence work of considerable sizes, on the promontory "La manastire"
(At the Monastery). The
archaeological diggings made in these places between the years 1963-1964, led to
the discovery of the walls made from unshaped stone, but also pottery, and iron
tools.
The
silver coins issued fromthe towns situated at the Adriatic sea, Dyrrhachium,
Apollonia, found on the plateau of the peek
Cetateaua, make up a precious sign in dating the whole complex of
vestiges: 1st century BCE.
All the materials taken from Campuri-Surduc plead for the existence of a
Dacian fortress especially inthe place called "La Manastire".
The pots made from burnt clay, by their typological and decorative
characteristics, belong to the Dacian ceramic from the first century BCE, period
in which Burebista realised the first political alliance of the Dacians.
The
materials from two glass cases situated on the left side ofthe entrance, in this
room (an axe with a curved blade, nails and iron spikes, fragments from
grinders, pieces of adobe, wieghts of clay used at the loom), reveal the fact
that settlement from Campuri-Surduc had a pronounced civilian character.
The three silver coins which came from the polis [polisurile] of the
Adriatic sea coast, confirm the chronoligical dating, revealed by the study of
ceramics, also indicating the first falk of the 1st century BCE.
The
decanters in the shape of a truncated cone, created manually, many fragments of
cups int he shape of bitruncated cone, also made manually, likewise parts of
some pots of big capacity (ewers [chiupuri]) from the next two glass cases
testify, the civilian character of that settlement. The decoration of the ceramic, being made up of cell-like
(alveolar) belts and lines incised with the aspect of waves, are part of the
scale of Dacian decorative motifs from the first half of the last century BCE.
The masterliness of the autochthonous potters, is underlined by the
quality and elegant shapes of some ofthe pot samples from Campuri-Surduc.
Among them we can distinguish, by their artistic qualities; fruit dishes
with a lithe, high peg, made at the wheel, from high quality paste.
Undoubtedly, these fruit dishes which clearly differ from pottery used in
households, mainly rought, belong to the luxury ceramic made for the Dacian
aristocracy.
Among
the settlements situated onthe upper course of the Mures, there were discovered
archaeological vestiges, belonging to the Dacians, include today's foundation of
Deva. If the testimonies of the
presence of Dacians throughout the contemporary city weren't revealed by special
diggings, they notify themselves by variety and their considerable extension.
The decanter in the shape of bitruncated cone well preserved, from Dealul
Paiului; the great variety of fragments of vessels, recuperated in the same time
with the fortuitous discovery, of a Dacian oven used to burn ceramic, on the
street Petru Maior, testify the presence of people on today's foundation of Deva,
in the first century CE.
A rich
collection of Dacian vestiges was gathered in the course of many decades, from
the slopes of the well-known historical objective from Deva, that is Dealul
Cetatii. The iron made objects
(chisel, scissors) together with the ceramic made manually or at the potter's
wheel, gives a clear test of the presence, in a longer period of time of a
Dacian settlement at this altitude. All
these vestiges thoughout Deva, displayed in two glass cases, are not the last of
the objects belonging to Dacian art, from this room. In a group of seven glass cases from the middle, are
exhibited big vessels, achievements which testify the high technical level
attained by the Dacian craftsmen. Among these, one may distinguish the vase
ornamented with the typical Dacian alveolary middle, which was discovered at
"Bretea Muresana". This
sample, dating back to the former half of the 1st century BCE is followed by the
glass case the contains a dark-grey pot, discovered on "Dealul Cetatii"
("Citadel's Hill), and an elegant recipient, manufactured on the pottery
wheel made from smooth paste, that was burnt to get the shade of russet red,
found at "Costest". The other four pots (three jugs of middle size and
an open-mouthed recipient with the side-handles stuck tothe shoulder) also come
fromthe well-known Dacian settlement.
The
Dacian fortress at "Banita", a citadel that used to control the
passing into and out of the Jiu River's Gorge, is represented inthe 6th hall of
the exhibition. The fort onthe hill
at "Piatra Cetatii" (Citadel Cliff), (height of 904), a peak with
steep slopes, that lies at 6 km to the north of the city of Petrosani, was
searched into during two archaeological campaigns.
In the time of 1960 and 1961 diggings it was established that the
fortress consisted of a system of buildings with a defensive character inner
walls within the premises built from curved lime blocks, a tossed ground wave,
impressive by its massivity and height, fight platforms, situated in the weak
areas in case of attacks. This
fortress lying on the top of the hill, was built from rectangular blocks of
limestone.
The
inner yard is dominated by a control tower, made from wood beams, that was a
place of observation, from its height for all fight platforms being watched.
Taking into account an overall view of the structural elemetns of "Banita
Citadel", we realise that this stern lime peak was turned into a real
fortress by the Dacians in the mountains with precipes (castella rupibus indita),
mentioned in Tacitus writings.
Two
adjacent glass cases, on the left of the entrnace to the 6th hall contain clay,
hand-made ceramics and a set of tools and iron pieces.
Among those exhibits, stands into relief, as unique, a pair of compasses
made of iron, and several fragments of burnt-clay objects, endowed with a
drilled conical part put into bold relief.
Grey burnt-clay pots were taken out from the dwellings identified inthe
inner yard at Banita Citadel, samples that belong to the category of fine
ceramics. A glass case near the
entrance tothe 6th hall contains upper parts of pots and side-handles of jugs,
high quality ceramics, which was most widespread amongthe Dacian settlements in
the 1st century BCE.
Other
works of the Dacian potters date back to the same century, such as large size
pots (barrels) adorned with lines cut in waves, usually surrounding the
shoulders and the part that gets most into relief in the pots.
The
pot that was assembled completely (a scarlet barrel) of large dimensions,
exhibited in the middle glass case, having ornaments with traditional Celtic
elements, confirms the fact that there were exchange relationships between the
Dacians andthe Celtic world.
The
exhibits fromthe lower glass case in the middle of the hall are clay moulds for
manufacturing bronze circles and rings, sandstone for sharpening, and clay
pieces witness the household activiities of the population living in the
neighbourhood of the citadel dominating the gorge crossed bu the Banita stream.
The
treasure of the Dacian silver jewelry is exhibited in the 7th hall, which was
dug out in Sarascau settlement. The fibulae with knots, the bracelets, the
necklaces and the hair curl rings are living proofs for hte Dacian's skills in
manufacturing silver pieces. This
craftsmanship reached a remarkable technical level between the 1st century BCE
and the 1st century CE. The
silversmiths' artistic abilities, their skills and at the same time, their
originality of the models they created are reflected in the decorative motifs on
these jewelery pieces which were manufactured with gentelness, and obviously
stand for the Dacians' aestetic taste.
The
manufacture of body adornments made of nable metals and bronze by the craftsmen
on these territories can be proven not only by the originality of their models,
but also by the discovery of tools especially designed for practising this
activity. Within the glass case
next to the treasure from Saracsau there is anvil, other tools made from bronze,
as well as a set of bracelets of various sizes, a fibula with an arch-shaped
basis, typical for the 1st century BCE, several bracelets of various sizes, all
of which were discovered in Ardeu, at the Dacian settlement spotted on Cetateaua
height. Within the same show case there are a group of bracelets and rings, a
handle on the upper edge of which a prey animal is represented (a lion maybe)
made from silver, (all these come from Costesti), as well as a silver bracelet
(dug at Banita). The pieces
mentioned before complete the list of the ornamental Dacian pieces onthe area of
Hunedoara county.
The
third central show-case contains the silver Dacian coins coming from Radulesti
treasure. These coins science
pieces have Heracles's head on their head, and a horse rider on their tail.
Both figurative representations, planned in a completely original manner,
can be noticed only on the Dacian coins that were dug out throughout the area of
current Hunedoara county. Due to this, they were called "coins of Hunedoara
type". The coins were printed by the tribal communities and used to
circulate throughout the territory of those social groups.
Getting
back to the 6th hall, on the left side of the entrance tothe 7th hall, here one
can see displayed within two glass cases ceramical fragments ornamented with
wavy-shaped motifs, done by incision, alveolary middles and cylindrical buttons,
pieces that open the series of the Dacian dwellings in the settlement discovered
and searched ona hill that lies near Deva and called "Piatra Coziei" (Cozia's
Cliff).
Among
this ceramics groups we can distinguish parts belonging to the typical Dacian
pots with red-brick walls, used for keeping corn seeds.
"Cozia's
Cliff Hill", high of 686m, dominates the Mures River's Valley, perhaps more
severly. Its upper terracls shelter
a level of Dacian settlements with tracts of material culture typical for the
2nd century BCE. Nevertheless, most of the dwellings date back to the 1st
century CE.
The
fragments from the fire heathes of the dwellings, the clay building material
with wood prints, the round grinder from volcanic rock, the polishers (metal
sharpeners) for pots and the nails of different types and sizes displayed in two
glass cases on the left side of the 8th hall, all prove an obvious civil
character of the settlement.
The
typological and ornamental diversification of Cozia cermanics is marked through
the great number of poits and pot fragments that are hand-made, as well as
manufactured on the pottery wheel, that can be seen in the three glass cases on
the wall adjacent to the 9th hall.
The
fruit bowl made from grey hin paste, with a tall leg, a Dacian pot dating to the
1st century CE and the cups in the shape of two cones united at tops, of a large
variety in size, are samples representative for the local pottery workshops.
Along withthe ceramics fragment in all Dacian settlements, some less common
fragments showed up. We put into
relief a part of a pot made of very good quality clay, with prints of painting
applied on both faces, upper parts of painted fruit-bowls and adorned with white
liens, designed as sun beams.
There
get into bold relief the two fragments of amphor side handles on which are
imprinted the signs of hte craftsmen in whose workshops they werew produced,
potters' signatures, containing leaves applied like stamps.
Nearby are displayed several iron pieces, among which one can distinguish
a bracelet manufactured in the style of similar silver jewellery, a knife with a
curved blade, the point of a speare and some scales, a unique sample deriving
from the Dacian settlement so far, up to the current stage of the searchings.
In the
middle of the hall are presented two pots specific to Dacians, made by hand:
a pitcher with a conical body, with the ear flat, and a type of bag pot,
on the outside being decorated with alveolar row combined with conical cuff
links which creates a great artisitcal effect.
Both
recipients, with their graceful form, stands out for the ability of Dacian
potters, which, even without the potter wheel had been able to make not only
useful pots but beautiful in the same time.
The
fight episode of Romans trying to conquer Dacia, who's end was in 106 CE, is
conjured up by archaeological materials and graphic elements from the 9th fall
on the museum's floor.
In the
glass case one can see weapons from the epoch of Romans war to conquer Dacia:
lances, arrows, spears, bronze plats for Roman's clothes,unbos, knives and heels
for the lance's wood halve.
On two
pedestals, pieces of stone sculptures, discovered at "Sarmizegetusa" (Gradistea
Muncelului), tell us about the setting up of the Romans on Decebal's land.
One of the sculptures reproduces a war scene and the other mentions,
not in a real way, but with knives and curved swords, the name of the IV Flavia
Felix legion, the big army legion who had fight on Dacian's wars.
The
central panel of the hall, with two pictures of Decebal and Trajan, and a short
text from Dio Cassius, about the personality of the Dacian's leader, open the
groups of auxiliary graphic elements.
Four
pictures with Trajans Column complete the frame of two wars for conquest of
Dacia (101-102, 105-106). From left
to right, on the first picture are represented the Dacian messengers speaking
with Trajan and, in the second, Decabal and another two persons are watching a
fight. The other two pictures, with
a scene of the siege of Sarmizegetusa and with the trajic end of Dacian's King,
put an end of the permanent exposition of archaeological museum from Deva about
the Dacian;s civilisation on the persent territory of the distinct
Hunedoara.