Categorie: Marisia_4_2022_ro

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

Additions to the history of the “Sándor‑manor” of Văcărești (Vacsárcsi) – Based on historical sources and the 2013 archaeological campaign

Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 4, 2022, p. 99-116

Abstract:

The article discusses the history and archaeological evidence related to the property that houses ruins in
Văcărești. Based on historical sources we presented the possible owners of the plot during the time of the Transylvanian Principality. Excavations revealed in 2012 a large stone building with a cellar that was deepened during communism for storing crops, and in 2013 sections were opened around the cellar. This contributed to the dating of the building, and also determined its exact floor plan. The finds and the surveys also reveal that the property was relatively well-developed, implying the existence of several buildings.

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

The Judith and Holofernes Theme on Stove Tiles from the 16th century discovered
in Cluj‑Napoca

Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 4, 2022, p. 77-98

Abstract:

During the archaeological and art historical exploration of the Unitarian episcopal house at Cluj-Napoca (one of the few houses of the city conserving medieval structures) a considerable amount of stove tiles was discovered in the past few years. Among other types, dating from various periods, many fragments of both glazed and unglazed stove tiles with representations of the crucial scene of the decapitation from the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes dating from the 16th century were found in the filling of the vaults. The fragments depict the scene under a renaissance semi-circular arcade decorated with rich floral ornamentation. Judith is standing on the left side, still holding the sword in her right hand and Holofernes’s head in her left. On the right side, her maid is leaning forward, holding a sack for the severed body part. The tent of the general, and the dead general himself lying on his bed can also be seen in the background, between the two female figures. This type of stove tile is known from several locations in Transylvania, but no similar analogies have been found in other regions by far. The theme itself in its 16th century context can be interesting for many reasons: with the rise of Protestantism adorning stove tiles with scenes from the Old Testament became more popular in general, but in the Transylvanian milieu with its very specific historical reality the use of this motif may have had a special significance. In the middle of the 16th century at Cluj Napoca two historic songs (in Hungarian históriás ének) about Judith and her heroic and courageous deed were published. The works of Sztárai Mihály and Tinódi Lantos Sebestyén can probably give an insight into how the appearance of the scene on 16th century Transylvanian stove tiles could be explained.

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

Stove tiles from Transylvania (VIII). Medieval stove tiles from the town of Cluj

Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 4, 2022, p. 35-76

Abstract:

The article analyses some of the stove tile lots discovered in excavations in Cluj. An unexpectedly rich range of representations can be reconstructed, with no analogues (yet?) in the province. At the moment, the collection of authentically medieval pieces (excluding pre-modern ones) found in Cluj-Napoca includes representations of the pelican, the lion, Samson and the lion, David and Goliath, the Annunciation, the Good Samaritan, St. Ladislaus battling the Cuman, St. Jerome, St. Michael the Archangel, a twin-tailed siren, a griffin, an unidentified beast, the illustration of a medieval epic poem (?), knights, dismounted knights, stove tiles with the coat of arms of King Matthias Corvinus. The conclusion is natural: in terms of stove tiles, Cluj-Napoca is, to date, the richest town in the whole of Transylvania.
The exceptional situation of the town in producing stove tiles seems to be linked the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. Besides the remains and individuality of the archaeologically discovered workshop, there are grounds for the identification of at least two other craftsmen. For the time being, the most fragments of glazed tiles in the entire provincial area are located in the same place, some of them polychrome, which is also a rarity. The artistic value of the mould makers is well worth emphasising.

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

Egy párhuzamos világ. A szerb őshonosság‑elmélet

Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 4, 2022, p. 35-76

Abstract:

Serbian historiography has promoted two theories about the presence of the Serbs’ ancestors in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin and the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The first one, formulated in 1794 by Jovan Rajić was the theory of indigeneity. Its author considered the Slavs, identified with the Serbs, to be the indigenous inhabitants of the region, who had lived there even before the Roman occupation. The other thesis was based on the emergence of Serbs in written sources. Both approaches had a strong impact on the archaeology of the southern Carpathian Basin. While the representatives of the indigeneity hypothesis basically strove to see Old Slavs – or Old Serbs identified with them – in all segments of the Migration Period archeological finds from the Sarmatian period to the so‑called Bjelo Brdo culture, those who based their research on written sources, tended to keep count of Slavs in the region only from the Avar period onwards.
The doctrine of Serbian indigeneity has been cyclically reformulated, usually at times when Serbian history reached a turning point. A further peculiarity of its research is the focus on archaeological evidence that replaces the initially stressed linguistic and historical (pseudo)arguments. For a short, transitional period after the 2001 regime change in Serbia, it might have seemed that a new, less nationalistic system would be adopted in the medieval archeology of the southern Carpathian Basin. The failure of this process may have multiple reasons, and a sufficient historical perspective is probably needed to objectively assess each of the sub‑processes. Proponents of both the indigeneity and Slavic migration theories are represented among the archeologists of Vojvodina. It remains to be seen whether Vojvodina’s medieval archaeology will be dominated by the need to solve the real conservation problems of a rapidly deteriorating archaeological heritage system or the need to constantly prove unquestionable theses derived from national mythology.

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

Notes regarding the Roman presence in the area of the limestone quarries at
Măgura Călanului

Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 4, 2022, p. 19-33

Abstract:

Măgura Călanului Hill is known in literature as the source of the stone (oolitic limestone) for the Dacian fortresses in the Șureanu (Orăștiei) mountains, confirmed through petrographic and mineralogic analyses.
It is generally accepted that the same quarries have been used by the Romans, after conquering the Dacian Kingdom, but the hypothesis has not yet been firmly confirmed. In the 19th century there have been a lot of discoveries around these quarries dating from the Roman era and indicating the existence of rural settlements, necropolises, and temples. However, the exact location of these finds is still unknown since no systematic archaeological research has been done and the toponyms have not been identified in the field. The present article will use the data already published, corroborated with field observations, information gathered from the locals, and analysis of a LiDAR-derived digital terrain model. Four areas with Roman-era discoveries have been identified around the antique limestone quarries on Măgura Călanului. The presence of Roman settlements in the near vicinity of the old Dacian quarries poses some questions as to the continuous stone exploitation of these quarries during the Roman period or at least before the 3rd Century AD. The opening of new quarries by the Romans in the same area adds a further argument to this matter. It is necessary to do systematic archaeological research in the aforementioned Roman sites, as well as analyses to determine with precision the source of the stone used for the constructions and monuments in this area.

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

Überlegungen zur Datierung und Zusammensetzung des bronzezeitlichen Handwerkerhorts von Timişoara‑Fratelia, jud. Timiş, Rumänien

Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 4, 2022, p. 7-18

Abstract:

1972 wurde in Timişoara, im Stadtviertel Fratelia, ein Depotfund geborgen, der drei Gegenstände eines Metallhandwerkers enthielt und in Ha B1 datiert wurde. Zeitgleich kamen zwei Tüllenbeile zutage, die nicht Teil der Erstpublikation waren. Der vorliegende Artikel diskutiert die Funde, ihre Datierung und mögliche Zusammengehörigkeit.

marisia / aprilie 1, 2025

Oliver Dietrich, Überlegungen zur Datierung und Zusammensetzung des bronzezeitlichen Handwerkerhorts von Timişoara‑Fratelia, jud. Timiş, Rumänien

Aurora Pețan, Notes regarding the Roman presence in the area of the limestone quarries at
Măgura Călanului

Miklós Takács, Egy párhuzamos világ. A szerb őshonosság‑elmélet

Adrian Andrei Rusu, Stove tiles from Transylvania (VIII). Medieval stove tiles from the town of Cluj

Ilka Boér, The Judith and Holofernes Theme on Stove Tiles from the 16th century discovered
in Cluj‑Napoca

Levente Mátyás Süket, Additions to the history of the “Sándor‑manor” of Văcărești (Vacsárcsi) – Based on historical sources and the 2013 archaeological campaign