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ASOCIAŢIA ARHEO VEST TIMIŞOARA ARHEOVEST III 1 -IN MEMORIAM FLORIN MEDELEȚ- Interdisciplinaritate în Arheologie și Istorie Timişoara, 28 noiembrie 2015 JATEPress Kiadó Szeged 2015
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ASOCIAŢIA ARHEO VEST TIMIŞOARA

ARHEOVEST

III1

-IN MEMORIAM FLORIN MEDELEȚ-

Interdisciplinaritate în Arheologie și Istorie

Timişoara, 28 noiembrie 2015

JATEPress Kiadó

Szeged 2015

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Editori: Sorin FORŢIU Andrei STAVILĂ Consilier științific: Dorel MICLE Coperta: Aurelian SCOROBETE, http://www.reinhart.ro/ Foto copertă: Aurelian SCOROBETE Această lucrarea a apărut sub egida:

© ArheoVest, Timișoara, 2015 Președinte Lorena VLAD

www.arheovest.com

referință bibliografică

ISBN 978-963-315-264-5

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Responsabilitatea pentru conţinutul materialelor revine în totalitate autorilor.

DVD-ROMul conține contribuțiile în varianta color precum și imaginile la rezoluția maximă trimisă de autor.

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ArheoVest, Nr. III: [Simpozion ArheoVest, Ediția a III-a:] In Memoriam Florin Medeleț, Interdisciplinaritate în Arheologie și Istorie, Timișoara, 28 noiembrie 2015, Vol. 1: Arheologie, Vol. 2: Metode Interdisciplinare și Istorie, Asociația "ArheoVest" Timișoara, JATEPress Kiadó, Szeged, 2015, 576 + 490 pg, + DVD, ISBN 978-963-315-264-5.
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Avertisment Acest volum digital este o imagine cât se poate de fidelă a celui tipărit. Doar paginile albe din volumul tipărit au fost omise iar linkurile către paginile WEB au fost activate (unde s-a putut).
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349

CIVILIAN AND FUNERARY SPACE IN THE DACIAN FORTIFIED SETTLEMENT AT CUGIR

Aurel Rustoiu*

* Academia Română, filiala Cluj, Institutul de Arheologie şi Istoria Artei, Cluj-Napoca; [email protected] Rezumat. Aşezarea fortificată dacică de la Cugir a fost cercetată prin săpături sistematice între anii 1977–1991 de către Ioan Horaţiu Crişan şi Florin Medeleţ, iar între 1980–1989 la săpături a participat şi autorul acestui articol. Descoperirile de la Cugir ilustrează existenţa unor prin-cipii de organizare a habitatelor şi a necropolelor “familiale” ale elitelor din Dacia preromană care au stăpânit astfel de cetăţi. Aceste reguli, care exprimă simbolic statutul social al elitei războinice în raport cu restul membrilor comunităţilor, se întâlnesc şi în alte aşezări din peri-oada Regatului dac în sec. 2–1 îHr. Cuvinte cheie: Cugir, războinici, aşezări fortificate, necropole, arme, La Tène, identităţi cul- turale, Celţi, Daci, grupul Padea-Panagjurski kolonii.

The Dacian fortified settlement at Cugir (Alba County), in south-western Transylvania, was systematically investigated between 1977 and 1991 by Ioan Horaţiu Crişan and Florin Medeleţ (Fig. 1). Ioan Andriţoiu from the Museum of Deva was later included into the team due to the identification of a Bronze Age horizon. Several students and researchers were also added through time, one of them being the author of this article, who was part of the team between 1980 and 1989 (Fig. 2). Most results of the archaeological investigations carried out at Cugir remained unpublished1. The present article is analysing the manner in which both the habitat and the funerary space of the fortified settlement at Cugir were organized, since this subject is less discussed in the specialist literature.

The analysis of the “space” occupied by human communities took different approaches as early as the beginning of archaeological research2. The manner in which different communities chose to organize the habitat was determined by aspects related to their lifestyle: exploitation of resources, economic, social and political organization, shared habits and practices, means of expressing collective identity etc. Thus, in order to better understand the place of the Cugir settlement within the model of spatial, economic and social organization that was specific to a particular historical

1 See some short archaeological reports or general presentations of the finds in Crişan, Medeleţ, 1979; Crişan, 1980. 2 One short overview of the archaeological theories regarding the “space” in Seibert, 2006.

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referință bibliografică
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Aurel Rustoiu, Civilian and funerary space in the dacian fortified settlement at Cugir, În: ArheoVest, Nr. III: [Simpozion ArheoVest, Ediția a III-a:] In Memoriam Florin Medeleț, Interdisciplinaritate în Arheologie și Istorie, Timișoara, 28 noiembrie 2015, Vol. 1: Arheologie, Vol. 2: Metode Interdisciplinare și Istorie, Asociația "ArheoVest" Timișoara, JATEPress Kiadó, Szeged, 2015, 576 + 490 pg, + DVD, ISBN 978-963-315-264-5; Vol. 1, p. 349-367.
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Fig. 1. Excavation of tumulus no. 2 at Cugir in 1979. Ioan H. Crişan (left) and

Florin Medeleţ (right) (photo Archive of the Institute of Archaeology and History of Art Cluj-Napoca).

Fig. 2. Florin Medeleţ (centre) on the archaeological site at Cugir in 1987

together with Florin Băluţiu (left) and Aurel Rustoiu (right) (photo personal archive Aurel Rustoiu).

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period, a short overview is needed of the evolution of the habitat in the eastern Carpathian Basin (eastern Hungary and Transylvania) during the Late Iron Age.

Chronologically and culturally this period was divided in two different stages. The first stage, ca. 350–175 BC, comprises the so-called Celtic horizon, whereas the second stage, ca. 175 BC–AD 106, covers the Dacian civilization and the respective Kingdom whose end is marked by the Roman conquest3.

The eastern part of the Carpathian Basin experienced a process of Celtic colo-nization in successive stages during the second half of the 4th century and at the begin-ning of the 3rd century BC. A series of small colonist groups originating from the Central European regions gradually advanced to the east and their movements are documented by some cemeteries displaying specific elements of the funerary rite and ritual. These cemeteries were established at the end of the LT B1 or in the LT B2, and remained in function during the LT C1. The arrival of Celtic groups eastward the middle Danube basin contributed to the cultural reconfiguration of these regions. The new communities resulting from the cohabitation of the indigenous population with the Celtic newcomers contributed to the appearance of different modalities of expressing individual and collective identities4.

Fig. 3. Location of the dwellings on the plan of the LT C1 rural settlement at Cicir5.

The settlements of the period in question had a rural character and the num-ber of houses in each of them was reduced. There are a few cases, for example at Ciumeşti6 and Cicir7 in western Romania (Fig. 3), where the houses were grouped, most probably reflecting an internal organization of the habitation based on family or clan affiliation. A similar kinship-based organization can be sometimes observed in certain cemeteries containing clearly separated groups of burials8. The cemeteries, each of those used during the entire Celtic horizon (ca. 150 years) containing around 100 graves, were always located in the vicinity of these settlements. This pattern is

3 Rustoiu, 2015. See also Glodariu, 1989. 4 Rustoiu, 2008, p. 65-98; Idem, 2014. 5 After Rustoiu, 2013. 6 Zirra, 1980. 7 Rustoiu, 2013. 8 Idem, 2015, p. 22-23, fig. 19.

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confirmed by a series of archaeological investigations, field surveys and aerial pho-tography9.

Returning to the settlements, it can be noted that they were sometimes asso-ciated with workshops which responded to the regular needs of the local community. Many of these local workshops were specialised in pottery manufacturing, although the number of examples is quite small due to the limited archaeological investiga-tions carried out in settlements. These were mostly identified during recent large-scale rescue excavations along the new motorways, for example in north-eastern Hungary and north-western Romania, and it has been noted that such workshops functioned within or in the close vicinity of numerous rural settlements10.

Along the same lines, several tools and installations used in metallurgical activities and even waste coming from these processes were found in some rural sites from this region, for example at Polgár in north-eastern Hungary11. These traces indicate, as in the case of pottery workshops, the presence of specialised craftsmen who produced or repaired common metal objects needed by the community.

However, the main innovation of the 3rd century BC in the eastern Carpa-thian Basin is the appearance of larger manufacturing centres. The most relevant example is provided by the site at Sajópetri–Hosszú-dűlő in north-eastern Hungary. This is a large rural settlement in which various manufacturing activities were con-centrated. The entire area was organized in three sectors, each corresponding to a particular activity. One sector grouped the activities related to the production of iron ingots, the second sector contains traces of several pottery workshops and the third one was dedicated to blacksmithing12. The settlement from Sajópetri–Hosszú-dűlő illustrates the concentration of manufacturing activities in a large centre which was the focus of a network of smaller rural settlements from a wider area. This process of concentration of the manufacturing activities in a single specialised centre suggests the structural transformations which happened a few generations later, when the “industrial production” of the large fortified centres (oppida) appeared.

However in Transylvania the Celtic horizon, with its typical La Tène ceme-teries and settlement inventories, abruptly ceased at the end of the LT C1 (in the first half of the 2nd century BC). Other types of burials and settlements appeared in the following Dacian horizon.

Cremation graves in a simple pit or in tumuli, sometimes organized in small “familial” cemeteries, were mostly discovered in south-western Transylvania, for instance at Cugir and Călan (tumulus graves), or at Blandiana, Tărtăria, Teleac, Hunedoara, Piatra Craivii etc. (cremation graves in a pit). Recent investigations also identified such burials northward, for instance in the surroundings of the Malaja Kopanja fortress, on the right bank of the upper Tisza River, in Trans-Carpathian Ukraine13.

9 Berecki, 2015. 10 Almássy, Pop, 2014; Németi, 2014. 11 Szabó et alii, 2008. 12 Szabó, Czajlik, 2007. 13 Rustoiu, 2008, p. 142-163; Idem, 2012, p. 171-178; Kotigoroško, 2011.

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The funerary inventories comprise weaponry which defines the characteristic panoply: long swords of the La Tène type, spears, curved daggers sometimes having the blade decorated with geometric or zoomorphic symbols, shields and occasionally chain-mails and helmets. They are associated with harness fittings amongst which the so-called “Thracian” horse bits are typical. The ceramic vessels placed in graves no longer resemble the forms of the previous horizon, instead evolving from those that are characteristic of the northern Balkans region. Amongst them can be listed the jars with knob handles, the so-called “fruit-bowls” (bowls having a tall foot, the larger ones being probably used in convivial practices), one-handled beakers (usually handmade and sometimes used as funerary urns), large bi-truncated vessels with two handles etc.

Comparable funerary assemblages containing panoplies of weapons that are typologically and functionally homogenous were found on a relatively extended area in the northern Balkans and on both banks of the Danube downstream the Iron Gates (Fig. 4). The entire phenomenon was designated by archaeologists as the Padea-Pana-gjurski kolonii group on the basis of two cemeteries discovered on the territories of Romania and Bulgaria respectively14. However, in spite of the unitary character of the

Fig. 4. Distribution map of the graves with weapons specific to the Padea-

Panagjurski kolonii group – black dots15. Black square – Cugir.

14 Woźniak, 1974, 74-138; Idem, 1976, 388-394; Łuczkiewicz, Schönfelder, 2008. 15 After Ibidem and Rustoiu, 2012.

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weaponry, certain elements of the funerary rite and ritual differed from one region to another. This leads to the hypothesis of their belonging to different warlike elites who shared the same symbolic means of expressing their identity, but had various ethnic origins. Ancient authors mention different populations in the regions in ques-tion, of which the Lesser Scordisci, the Triballi and the Dacians are better known16.

Consequently, the funerary contexts from Transylvania which chronologically follow the cemeteries and settlements of the Celtic horizon suggest a migration from the south of some warrior elites coming from the northern Balkans or the Lower Danube region. These groups ended the Celtic domination inside the mountains range, imposing new social structures and norms17. The new models of community organi-sation are reflected by the appearance, aside from rural settlements, of fortresses built on heights and enforced with earthen ramparts and palisades, and later with stone walls, for example at Cugir, Costeşti or Piatra Craivii. They controlled economically a certain territory and the main routes of communication. Due to the small enclosed surfaces they defended and the economic and social functions they fulfilled, these fortresses differ from the large settlements of the oppidum type from Central and Western Europe, with which they were contemporary.

The Dacian fortified settlement at Cugir, located on the Cetate Hill at an altitude of 495 m, belongs to this chronologic and cultural horizon. Although the appearance of fortresses built on heights and of the graves containing panoplies of weapons specific to the warlike elites originating from the northern Balkans is quite clearly attested archaeologically, there are other questions concerning the models which inspired the social organization of the communities from Dacia north of the Danube. More precisely, where to look for the origin of the fortified settlements built on heights, which are completely different from the dwelling structures of the previous period?

Archaeological investigation of the settlements from the south of the Danube, on the territory of modern Bulgaria, was less intensive in comparison with the one focusing on the funerary sites having more or less sumptuous inventories of the 5th–3rd centuries BC or later. However, recent investigations carried out on the southern slopes of the Balkans Mountains unearthed some small fortresses having stone walls and bastions built in the Greek technique. These were dated to the 4th century BC. Inside were found rectangular structures also built of stones. These fortresses were interpreted as aristocratic or royal residences, being ascribed to some local rulers. Some rural settlements were identified in the hinterland and at the foot of these mountains were identified tumulus graves having funerary chambers specific to the period in question18.

Consequently, one source of inspiration for the appearance of fortresses and fortified settlements in pre-Roman Dacia could be found south of the Danube, in the 4th century BC fortresses located on mountain heights on the Odrysian or Triballi

16 Rustoiu, 2008, p. 148. 17 Contra, Măndescu, 2013, p. 126-128. 18 Hristov et alii, 2011; Hristov et alii, 2012; Gotzev, 2013, p. 171.

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territory. For instance, the Dacian fortresses at Costeşti and Tilişca resemble the aforementioned Balkans sites both morphologically and functionally. The perpet-uation of certain ideas and concepts through time could be ascribed to the warriors belonging to the so-called Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group. South of the Danube, at the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 2nd century BC, they took over and reinterpreted in their own manner a series of elements of the aristocratic ideology of the 5th–3rd centuries BC, inventing new symbolic means of expressing identity. These means spread northward together with the expansion of the warlike groups. Amongst the symbolic elements that echoed the preceding aristocratic ideology can be men-tioned the tumulus burials, the equestrian heroization and a series of iconographic motifs of the 5th–3rd centuries BC which can be found in the repertoire of the 2nd–1st centuries BC, for example the riders or the winged female characters shown as the “Mistress of Animals”19 etc. The images on the silver phalerae from the Lupu hoard provide a good example in this context20.

Another source of inspiration for the organization of the Dacian fortified settlements could be another type of site identified in eastern Bulgaria. At Arkovna was found an archaeological structure consisting of one settlement (or two?) built on a (probably fortified) mountain height dominating the routes of circulation and the surrounding agricultural hinterland. Rural settlements and tumulus burials are located in the nearby lowland area. From this region come some La Tène artefacts, for exam-ple brooches, military equipment (the cheek-piece of a helmet, an iron chain-mail etc.), glass beads (one Janus-like human mask), ceramic vessels (some having a stamped decoration typical of the Carpathian Basin) etc. Chronologically these objects belong to the LT C1–C2/D1 sub-phases. In the same region were found numerous bronze coins issued by Cavarus, the last king of the Celts from Thrace, whose residence was located at Tylis; their presence made some researchers to locate the kingdom in this area21. Unfortunately, no large systematic investigations were carried out at Arkovna, so there are no clear data regarding the layout and characteristics of the archaeological sites. Still, the available evidence indicates the existence in the 3rd–2nd centuries BC of a highland settlement, perhaps fortified, which controlled econo-mically the communities living in the surrounding agricultural hinterland and the circulation along the routes of communication with the nearby areas. The “masters” of this region, probably the Celts from Tylis, could have contributed to the forma-tion of the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group after the fall of their kingdom at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, which may partially explain the presence of La Tène objects (for instance the long swords with two cutting edges or the chain-mails) in the panoply of weapons.

Returning to the settlement from Cugir, systematic investigations carried out between 1977 and 1991 unearthed a settlement fortified with earthen ramparts and

19 Rustoiu, 2002a, p. 123-134. 20 Glodariu, Moga, 1994. 21 Lazarov, 2006; Idem, 2010. For the La Téne finds from the Bulgarian territory see Anastassov, 2011.

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palisades (Fig. 5/1). The fortifications were built around a man-made plateau on top of the Cetate Hill having an altitude of 495 m (the modern town at the hill’s foot has an altitude of 300 m). The hill is located at the confluence of two rivers having the sources in the mountains. Together they form the Cugir River which flows into the Mureş River at about 14 km downstream. Due to its location, the Cetate Hill domi-nates the surrounding regions along the Cugir valley, having a good northward visi-bility to the fertile plain reaching the valley of the Mureş River. Southward the land-scape is dominated by the heights of the Şureanu Mountains in the southern Carpa-tians, having a higher altitude than the one of the settlement at Cugir22.

Fig. 5. Organization of the civilian and funerary space in the settlement at Cugir:

1. fortified precinct; 2. inhabited terraces outside the fortified precinct; 3. lower plateau with traces of habitation; 4. Cugir River; 5. tumulus cemetery seen from the north–south direction; Şureanu Mountains in the background

(aerial photo Zoltán Czajlik).

Inside the precinct were found several habitation features (dwellings, storage pits etc.), the majority of them being cut into the soft mica schist that define the geo-logical structure of the hill. Similar features were also found on the lower terraces of the hill, outside the fortified precinct (Fig. 5/2). The settlement was established in the second half of the 2nd century BC, being definitively destroyed during Trajan’s campaigns against the Dacian Kingdom at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. During its existence, the settlement went through different phases of reconstruction

22 For the geography of the Cugir valley see Popa, 2011, p. 17-39.

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or reorganization of the habitat. Aside from the structures built on the Cetate Hill, which were systematically

investigated, some field surveys and occasional discoveries also identified traces of habitation at the hill’s foot, on a plateau rising above the surrounding valley (in the După Cetate findspot – Fig. 5/3), as well as on the terraces and the banks of the stream bordering the hill to the north (Viilor Stream – Fig. 6). Other accidental finds pointing to some rural habitations come from the northward terraces of the Cugir River, reaching the plains along the Mureş valley23 (Fig. 7).

Fig. 6. Location of some rural settlements in the Cugir valley, close to the

fortress, seen from the south–north direction (aerial photo Zoltán Czajlik).

Lastly Dacian ceramic fragments, including a jar with knob handles deco-rated with alveoli, have been found on the Chiciura Peak, located southward the Cetate Hill and having a higher altitude of over 730 m, during the field survey carried out together with Florin Medeleţ in 1983. Another Dacian ceramic fragment was later identified by Cristian Ioan Popa24. The small plateau on the hilltop seems to be sur-rounded by an earthen rampart. It might be therefore presumed that a watch structure connected with the Dacian fortress was set up on this peak. If the fortification belongs to another period, then the finds from this location could be ascribed to a seasonal shepherd dwelling.

23 See more details in Popa, 2004, p. 91-97 and Idem, 2011, p. 283-298. 24 Idem, 2004, p. 91.

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Fig. 7. Cugir valley seen from the south–north direction towards the Mureş

valley (flowing at the foot of the Apuseni Mountains in the background), with the agricultural hinterland (edited photo after Google Images).

The topographic distribution of all these traces of habitation indicates the organization of the entire territory according to certain economic and social norms, these communities being inter-connected and having the fortified settlement on the Cetate Hill as their “central place” (see Fig. 9 below). The location of the dwelling features inside the fortified precinct and also outside, in the close vicinity on the man-made terraces below the upper plateau, as well as on the lower plateau, indi-cates a particular social and economic hierarchy of the inhabitants of the settlement on the hill. The “ancillary settlement”25 located outside and around the fortress could have also included workshops, since these were not identified inside the precinct. At the same time, the rural settlements in the surrounding valleys, as well as those from the agricultural hinterland along the Cugir valley and down to the Mureş valley, were probably dependants of the fortress “masters”26. It can be therefore presumed that these rural settlements provided agricultural supplies for those living around the for-tress, while the latter provided manufactured goods in exchange. One such organi-zation of the economic space was also suggested for other fortified settlements, for instance at Sarmizegetusa Regia27, Piatra Craivii28 or Divici29. 25 See the meaning of this term in Egri, 2014, p. 177. 26 For this model of organization of the Dacian fortresses see Ibidem, p. 176-180. 27 Florea, 2011, p. 163-165. 28 Rustoiu, 2002b, p. 200. 29 Egri, 2014, p. 176-180.

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Regarding the funerary space, as already noted, during the La Tène period the graves belonging to ordinary people from the inside of the Carpathian range and the Lower Danube region became archaeologically “invisible”, as in large areas of temperate Europe. Unlike in the previous period of the 5th–3rd centuries BC, when hundreds of cemeteries containing thousands of graves are attested, in the 2nd–1st centuries BC the deceased were treated in a manner which left almost no visible traces30. The few funerary contexts which can be ascribed to the last two centuries BC are the cremation graves in pit or in tumuli containing the panoplies of weapons spe-cific to the northern Balkans warriors.

One such cemetery was systematically investigated at Cugir during the archaeological campaigns of the 1979 and 198031. The burial ground is located on the relatively steep western slope, in the close vicinity of the fortified precinct and the access road to the fortress (Fig. 5/5). Four tumulus cremation graves were unearthed, of which three contained weapons or elements of military equipment. Tumulus no. 2 had the richest inventory, illustrating the higher social position of the deceased. This individual was equipped with the complete panoply of weapons, wearing a chain-mail and a helmet. The grave also contained a ceremonial chariot of the Central European type, together with a pair of horses. A third riding horse having the harness decorated with a gold appliqué (prometopidion) resembling a fantastic animal was also laid into the grave. Amongst the vessels included into the inventory are local ceramic tableware and a bronze situla belonging to the Late Republican period. According to the inven-tory, the grave can be dated to the La Tène D132, being contemporaneous with the early phases of the fortified settlement.

Due to the small number of graves and the similarities in the funerary rite, ritual and inventory, the cemetery seems to have belonged to a small group of warriors who expressed their identity and membership to the respective social class by dis-playing the panoply of weapons (or parts of it) specific to the elites that dominated the northern Balkans, both banks of the Danube and the Dacian territory inside the mountains. Taking into considerations the chronology of the cemetery and of the fortified settlement, it can be presumed that some members of this group were the “founders” and “masters” of the fortress and of the community from Cugir.

One such manner of organizing the civilian and funerary space is also encoun-tered in other situations, for example at Piatra Craivii (Fig. 8). In this case the Dacian fortress with stone walls was built on a limestone peak having an altitude of 1083 m, located on the eastern edge of the Apuseni Mountains. The fortress had good visibility towards the Mureş valley, which lies at around 15 km away to the east. On the lower terraces of the hill, some cut into the rock, were built rectangular structures on posts supported by stone drums. Such structures were found in other pre-Roman Dacian sites, including Sarmizegetusa Regia, being interpreted as sanctuaries. On another larger terrace

30 Sîrbu, 1993. 31 Crişan, 1980. 32 See Rustoiu, 2008, p. 161-162, fig. 81; Idem, 2009.

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Fig. 8. The Dacian fortress at Piatra Craivii, with the functionally divided

landscape: 1. fortress; 2. civilian area and workshops; 3. sanctuaries; 4. presumed “familial” cemetery (aerial photo Zoltán Czajlik – June 2011).

were identified civilian constructions and workshops33. Lastly, outside the inhabited area but close to the fortress were identified cremation graves containing weapons spe-cific to the Padea-Panagjurski kolonii group34. The situation from Piatra Craivii, which is functionally similar to the one at Cugir, indicates that this model of organization of the civilian and funerary space could be more common than previously thought.

In conclusion, the organization of the civilian and the funerary space in the fortified settlement at Cugir and in its hinterland differs substantially from the model specific to the Celtic horizon of the previous period. Concomitantly, the Dacian for-tresses and settlements are different in what concerns their layout from the Central and Western European oppida of the late La Tène period. The appearance of fortresses and fortified settlements north of the Danube coincides with the northward expansion of some groups of warriors whose identity is symbolically expressed through the spe-cific panoply of weapons and the rider imagery. Thus the origin of the model of orga-nization of the Dacian fortified settlements could be found south of the Danube, in the northern Balkans, where the cultural features of the mentioned warlike elites were born. These elites took over and adapted in a specific manner a series of symbolic elements which defined the identity of the northern Balkans aristocracy of the 5th–3rd centuries BC. On the other hand, the Celtic presence in Thrace in the 3rd century BC

33 Berciu et alii, 1965; Moga, 1981; Plantos, 2006. 34 Popa, 2008; Rustoiu, 2007; Rustoiu, Gheorghiu, 2010.

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and the fall of their kingdom at the beginning of the next century could have played a certain role in the construction of the warlike identity of these groups. This cultural identity was also expressed through the organization of the civilian and funerary space within the new forms of habitation, and the settlement at Cugir provides a good exam-ple.

The spatial organization of the civilian area indicates that the fortified settle-ment was the “central place” of a network of nearby “ancillary” settlements and smaller rural habitations from the agricultural hinterland. Consequently, the entire economic activity was focused on supplying the fortress and its “masters”.

Fig. 9. Vertical organization, from the south to the north, of the social and

economic space of the Dacian community from Cugir.

The vertical organization also has important symbolic implications (Fig. 9). The fortified settlement was the residence of the rulers of the community from Cugir. Its location on a prominent height, having a wide visibility of the nearby settlements and of the agricultural territory along the Cugir valley and down to the Mureş River (Fig. 10), reflects the intention of these elites to express their dominant position over the dependants from the region which they controlled. Along the same lines, the for-tress itself was also meant to visually express the social status and prestige of its owners in relation with the commoners and also with the elites of other communities, being visible from distance. This particularity resembles the role of the early medieval for-tresses with imposing stone walls and towers which were also built on dominant heights, pointing until today to the chivalric elites that once controlled the European aristocratic realms.

Regarding the funerary space, the cemetery which probably belonged to the founding family that also controlled the fortress was also established on a visible loca-tion, close to the fortress and the access road to the precinct. At the same time, the tumuli erected above the graves were visible from the surrounding valleys or the low-land area. This feature again suggests the intention to visually recall the social impor-tance of the deceased and of their families in relation with other members of the com-munity. Furthermore, their social position was also enforced by the mortuary rituals

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performed during funerals. The pyre platforms were cut into the rock and the funerary pyres must have required a large quantity of wood, also the tumuli required a signifi-cant workforce. All of these aspects suggest the participation of a large part of the community, if not of the entire population, in the organization of the funerals.

Fig. 10. Visibility range (red) of the fortified settlement at Cugir (yellow dot),

extending northward mainly along the Cugir valley and down to the Mureş valley. The area probably corresponds to the agricultural territory of the community

from Cugir. Image generated using Global Mapper by Sándor Berecki.

Consequently, the organization of the civilian and funerary space in the set-tlement at Cugir had an important practical, economic scope, and also a symbolic one related to the construction and expression of individual and collective identity and status. From this point of view, the settlement at Cugir could provide an interpretative model for the manner of organizing the space within the Dacian chronological and cultural horizon preceding the Roman conquest.

Acknowledgements I wish to thank Sándor Berecki (Târgu Mureş) for helping with some of the

figures.

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