AD FINEM

IMPERII ROMANI
Studies in Honour of Coriolan H. Opreanu
 AD FINEM
I M P E R I I RO M A N I
STUDIES IN HONOUR OF
• CORIOLAN H. OPREANU •
 ROMANIAN ACADEMY
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF ART CLUJ‑NAPOCA

BIBL IOTHEC A E PH E M E R I S N A P O C E N SI S
8
I N S T I T U T E O F A RC H A E O L O G Y A N D H I S TO RY O F A RT C L U J ‑ N A P O C A

AD FINEM
I M P E R I I RO M A N I
STUDIES IN HONOUR OF
• CORIOLAN H. OPREANU •

Editors:
Sorin Cociș
Vlad-Andrei Lăzărescu
Monica Gui
Dan-Augustin Deac

MEGA Publishing House | Cluj-Napoca | 2015

 DTP:
Francisc BAJA

© Autorii, 2015

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României

Editura Mega | www.edituramega.ro

e‑mail: [email protected]
 SUMAR – SOMMAIRE – CONTENTS – INHALT

ACAD. MARIUS PORUMB

Lui Coriolan Horaţiu Opreanu la ceas aniversar11
MICHAEL DAWSON
Memories  13

ZACCARIA MARI
Ricordo  15

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF CORIOLAN HORAŢIU OPREANU17

STUDIES
DAN APARASCHIVEI
Some remarks concerning the rural vici and their administration in Moesia Inferior Province  27

SORANA ARDELEANU
Reconstruction proposal for the Roman houses C1 and C2 in Deleu Street, Cluj-Napoca  45

RADU ARDEVAN
On the size of collegia and associations in Roman Dacia  65

DAN BĂCUEȚ-CRIȘAN
Pagans or Christians in the early mediaeval cemetery from Zalău “Valea Răchişorii/Pálvár”?  71

MICHAEL DAWSON
Peri-urban settlement and Roman Dacia  85

DAN-AUGUSTIN DEAC
Graffiti aus Dacia Porolissensis (I)  101

ALPÁR DOBOS
Notes on artefacts with punched decoration discovered in the late row-grave cemeteries in Transylvania  107

FLORIN DRAȘOVEAN
The Transition from the Neolithic to the Copper Age in Banat. Tradition and Innovation  129

CHRISTOPH EGER
Guarrazar und seine Bedeutung für eine Archäologie des westgotischen Königtums  145

FLORIN-GHEORGHE FODOREAN
Landscape archaeology in Dacia: Mapping the Roman discoveries along the road Apulum – Brucla  167

MONICA GUI
How to wear the Ringschnallencingulum in Dacia  175

ZSOLT KÖRÖSFŐI
Grave-looting in the Late Roman age cemetery of Sântana de Mureș/Marosszentanna  191
VLAD-ANDREI LĂZĂRESCU, BOGDAN CIUPERCĂ, ALIN ANTON
The Post-Černjachovian horizon in Wallachia revisited. A case study for the newly discovered site
at Ciorani, Prahova County  211

SABIN ADRIAN LUCA

Istoria unei comunități din primul val de neolitizare a teritoriului Transilvaniei  239

ZACCARIA MARI
La villa di Traiano ad Arcinazzo Romano alla luce delle recenti ricerche  275

MIHAI MUNTEANU, VASILE ŢOPA

The Archaeometry in the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca  297

SILVIA MUSTAȚĂ, SORIN COCIȘ

A Roman bronze basin found at Micia (Mintia, Vețel Commune, Hunedoara County)  301

SORIN NEMETI
Une fibule du type Udine – Planis en Transylvanie  311

MAREK OLĘDZKI, ANDRZEJ DUBICKI

The lower Danube in the propaganda of Constantine the Great  315

COSMIN ONOFREI, DRAGOŞ BLAGA

Some issues regarding the identification of ancient Romula with the urban ghost Malva  323

CLAUDIA RADU, BEATRICE KELEMEN

Estimating stature for archaeological human remains: a methodological review  331

LIGIA RUSCU
Das Amt des Protos Archon in Bithynien und Thrakien  339

IOAN STANCIU
Schimbări demografice şi culturale pe durata secolelor I–II p. Chr. în spaţiul nord-vestic al României  347

EUGEN S. TEODOR
A Romanian World Heritage linear site? Unsolved issues  373
 A ROMAN BRONZE BASIN FOUND AT MICIA
(MINTIA, VEȚEL COMMUNE, HUNEDOARA COUNTY)*

Silvia Mustață, Sorin Cociș

Abstract: The article analyzes nine bronze fragments discovered during rescue excavations in the military vicus at
Micia (Mintia, Vețel commune, Hunedoara County). They were identified in a waste pit belonging to a timber
structure which was subsequently built in stone. A terminus post quem is given by a bronze coin from Philippus Arabs
discovered inside the pit. Part of the fragments (rim, base and handle) characterize a certain type of Roman bronze
basin comprising vessels discovered in various parts of the Roman Empire and in North European barbaricum. The
type was produced between the middle of the 2nd century AD and the beginning of the 3rd century AD, in workshops
which functioned in the western provinces of the Empire.
Keywords: Roman Dacia, Micia, bronze vessels, imports, everyday life.

The rescue excavations undertaken in 2012 at Micia (Mintia, Vețel commune, Hunedoara County)
offered important information regarding the extent of the settlement and the character of the Roman land use
during the 3rd century AD. The researched area, positioned 300 m south from the military fort, revealed the
existence of a nucleus of habitation separated from the rest of the civilian settlement (vicus or pagus). The iden‑
tified structures, consisting of a series of buildings used for housing and / or storage, have been interpreted by
the authors of the field research as part of a villa suburbana which, taken into consideration the archaeological
material (military equipment, weaponry among others), might have belonged to a veteran who lived at Micia
during the 3rd century AD1.
Trench S1 positioned in the northernmost part of the investigated perimeter allowed the identification of
a small-size structure with a stone wall preserved on three sides, which might have functioned as an outbuilding
of the household. The building had two functional phases: in the first one the structure was provided with
a timber wall which was subsequently built in stone during the second phase, following a slightly different
plan. On the northern side, the stone wall partially overlaps a pit (CX 04) belonging to the first phase (Fig. 1).
The inventory of the pit consisted of common pottery, fragments made of copper alloy coming from a vessel,
military equipment, and a coin from Philippus Arabs2. The analysis of the pottery from the pit proved the
prevalence of cooking wares (70% of the total), consisting of pans, jars, and lids, followed by vessels used for
storing liquids (jugs), drinking vessels (cups / beakers), vessels used for serving food (plates), and turribula3.
Nine copper alloy fragments (cat. nos.: 1–8, Pl. I–V) have been discovered in the pit. They consist of two
rim fragments (cat. nos.: 1a-b, Pl. I / 1), a base (cat. no.: 2, Pl. I / 2, IV / 2), an almost complete handle (cat.
no.: 3, Pl. II / 3, V / 3), and five possible body parts (cat. nos.: 4–8, Pl. III / 4–8). Since it was not possible to
undertake metallographic analyses, it cannot be sustained with certainty that all fragments belong to the same
vessel. As it will be seen further, the rim, base, and handle are specific for a type of Roman bronze basin. Visual
observation of the fragments shows different oxidation patterns and colours of the alloy. While the two rim
fragments and two of the body parts (cat. nos.: 4–5) display a light golden colour, which might very well be
brass, with a dark green patina and brown spots, the base together with the rest of the fragments (cat. nos.:
6–8) were made from a brownish-reddish golden alloy. However, without knowing the composition of the
*
This work was supported by grants of the Ministry of National Education, CNCS – UEFISCDI, nos.: PN-II-ID-
PCE-2012-4-0618 and PN-II-ID-PCE-2012-4-0210. The authors would like to thank Dr. Liviu Petculescu for his help in registering
the bronze vessel.
1 
COCIȘ ET ALII 2013; GĂMUREAC 2014, 237–238, 249, Fig. I; GUI / COCIȘ 2014, 257.
2 
COCIȘ ET ALII 2013, 169, 355, Pl. 3.
3 
GĂMUREAC 2014.
302 Silvia Mustață, Sorin Cociș

alloys used for each piece, it is hard to say if all the fragments belong to the same vessel (which could have been
produced from more than one piece of metal, except for the handles), or if they come from different vessels
which were discarded at the same time.

Cx 04

Fig. 1. Building
identified in trench
S 1 (processed after
COCIȘ ET ALII
2013, 355, Pl. 3).

0 2m

As mentioned before, the two rim fragments together with the base and the handle characterize a certain
type of Roman bronze basin which, based on the complete vessels discovered so far, displays a semi spherical
or bell-shaped body with an everted rim, which was cast and subsequently hammered or pressed on the lathe.
The body can be simple or it can display a fluted decoration. The base of the basins is flat with a small ring,
somewhat thicker than the rest. It is usually provided with two massive handles placed symmetrically under
the rim, both of them composed of a horizontal part and two vertical ones ending in leaf-shaped appliqués.
The handles can be decorated with vegetal depictions and the ends of the horizontal part are usually provided
with representations of rosettes or stylized stars.
Though never analyzed in detail, vessels belonging to the type have been discovered in various parts of
the Roman Empire and in North European barbaricum. Regarding Roman Dacia, the fragments from Micia
represent the only documentation of the type in the province. A complete basin displaying a bell-shaped
undecorated body and an everted rim, flat in the upper part, was part of the inventory of the burial pit from
the Thracian mound discovered in the south-western part of Bulgaria, at Slokoshtitsa (Kiustendil district).
The basin was initially provided with two handles from which only one has been preserved, detached from the
body of the vessel. The handle is richly ornamented with vegetal patterns and the ends of the horizontal part
are rosette / flower-shaped4. Based on the chronology of the finds, the discovery has been dated to the middle
of the 2nd century and beginning of the 3rd century AD5.
A basin of similar shaped was discovered at Rouen, France, in a shaft which collapsed as a result of a fire
which took place sometime during the 3rd century AD. The vessel has the same bell-shaped body as the one
discovered at Slokoshtitsa. In this case both handles, ending in leaf-shaped appliqués decorated with incised
lines, are preserved6.

4 
MESHEKOV / STAIKOVA 1998, 56–58 (Fig. 12, 14), 64 (cat. no.: 5).
5 
MESHEKOV / STAIKOVA 1998, 61.
6 
TASSINARI 1995, 92–93, no. 97.
 A Roman bronze basin found at Micia (Mintia, Vețel Commune, Hunedoara County) 303

Another variant of the type with the same kind of handles is composed of basins with a body displaying
a fluted decoration. The variant is represented by the basin discovered in grave 3 from Harpelev (Seeland,
Denmark), dated by U. Lund Hansen during phase C1b (210 / 220–250 / 260). The basin has an everted rim
and a body marked by deep and wide vertical grooves7. One of the handles is still preserved and its shape and
decoration are very similar to the ones displayed by the handle from Micia, except for the depictions at the end
of the horizontal part, which are marked with four, not eight incised lines.
The handle which resembles the most with the one from Micia is the one discovered in an insula from
the Roman town Cambodunum / Kempten (Germany), as part of a metal objects deposit identified in a timber
cellar belonging to one of the rooms. The object displays the same decoration at the end of the horizontal part,
the same middle grooves and the same shape of the appliqués8. Based on stratigraphic observations it seems
that the group of artefacts was sealed inside when the cellar collapsed, at a certain moment in time related to
the invasion of the Alemanni from 233 AD9.
Taken into account that most of the discoveries belonging to the type appear in contexts dated to the begin‑
ning (Slokoshtitsa), in the first half (Harpelev, Kempten), and around the middle of the 3rd century AD (Micia),
it is very likely that we should take into consideration a production which started around the middle of the 2nd
century AD and continued until the beginning of the 3rd century AD. This type of basins can be framed in the
third generation of bronze vessels defined by R. Petrovszky10, together with the buckets with grooved body and
the basins Petrovszky XVII, 211, with workshops functioning in the Gallo-Germanic provinces of the Empire,
more specifically in the Rhineland for the ones made of brass12. Since no metallographic analyses have been
made, it is impossible at this moment to sustain more than a western origin for the vessel discovered at Micia.
Regarding the functionality of the type, as long as the inventory of grave 3 from Harpelev is not conclu‑
sive in this respect13, the only information we can rely on is the one offered by the association of items inside
the burial mound at Slokoshtitsa. The vessels, together with the other objects (a folding chair, 2 strigilles) iden‑
tified in the main chamber and outside of it suggest everyday activities related to personal care (a balsamarium
with relief decoration, a hand-washing set, vessels for carrying and heating the water). In this context, the
basin discussed here is considered part of a set together with a jug with handle ending in human foot, which
was used for washing14. Of course, this functionality will have to be confirmed by new finds coming from well
documented contexts. Regarding the variant with grooved body attested at Harpelev, we consider that a use
for serving as part of the tableware, similar to the basins Petrovszky XVII, 2 should not be excluded.
Coming back to the fragments discovered at Micia, their presence in a waste pit can only be explained as
pure accidental, as long as the area was still inhabited in the next phase. Otherwise, even if the initial objects
were no longer functional, it would have been unusual to intentionally discard half of kilogram of copper
based alloy which could have been reused very well as raw material by the metallurgical workshops which
functioned in the military vicus15.

Catalogue16:
Rim fragments:
1a. a. uneven dark green patina with brown spots; restored; b. cast and pressed on the lathe; c. everted
rim, flat in the upper part and rounded on the inner one; an incised line can be observed under the rim; d. L.:
136 mm; Height: 20 mm; Th.: 0.5 (body)–3.7 mm (rim); D: approx. 360 mm; Weight: 31g; Pl. I / 1.
7 
LUND HANSEN 1987, 106–107, Fig. 42, 387, Taf. 17 / 2, 415.
8 
FASOLD / WEBER 1987, 47–48 (no.: 11), 52, Abb. 6 / 3a-b (it is not certain whether the handle and the basin with grooved
decoration and everted rim (Abb. 3 / 4) belonged to the same vessel). We are grateful to Dr. R. Petrovszky for informing us regarding
the existence of the handle from Kempten and of another one, very similar to the one from Micia, preserved in the Collections of
Badische Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (the object comes from Xanten and was part of the Houben Collection: inv. no.: C 417).
9 
FASOLD / WEBER 1987, 43–45.
10 
PETROVSZKY 1993, 123–125.
11 
PETROVSZKY 1993, 126–128, 415, Taf. 4 / XVII, 2.
12 
PETROVSZKY 1993, 124.
13 
See LUND HANSEN 1987, 415: besides the bronze basin and items of personal adornment, the grave contained only several
glass fragments which could not be attributed to a specific type. The shape of the basin from Harpelev has good parallels in glass (see:
STJERNQUIST 2004, 129–130, Fig. 24).
14 
MESHEKOV / STAIKOVA 1998, 61–62.
15 
For a synthetic view on the activity of the metallurgical workshops from the military vicus at Micia see: BENEA 2008, 115–116.
16 
The objects are preserved in the Collections of the National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest. In the description of the
objects the following criteria were used: a. state of preservation, b. technology, c. description, d. dimensions.
304 Silvia Mustață, Sorin Cociș

1b. a. uneven dark green patina with brown spots; restored; b-c. same as no. 1; d. L.: 120 mm; Height:
15.5 mm; Th.: 0.5 (body)–3.7 mm (rim); D: approx. 360 mm; Weight: 19g; Pl. I / 1.

Base:
2. a. patina removed during restoration; b. cast and pressed on the lathe; c. fragmentary base of vessel with
concentric circles made on the lathe; the two outer circles define the limits of a thicker area which functioned
as a ring of the base; the trace left by the lathe centre can be observed on both sides; d. L.: 143.5  mm;
W.: 123.5 mm; Th.: 1–2 mm; D outer ring: 114 mm; Weight: 153g; Pl. I / 2, IV / 2.

Handle:
3. a. dark green patina; restored; b. massive cast in one; c. massive handle consisting of a horizontal part,
circular in section and two vertical S-shaped elements, arranged symmetrically, ending in leaf-shaped appli‑
qués; the horizontal part is narrower in the middle and becomes wider towards the ends; it is decorated in the
middle with three deep, parallel grooves and both ends present on the sides a depiction of a stylized star made
of eight incised lines; traces of soldering alloy can be observed on the back of the leaf-shaped appliqués; one of
the appliqués is fragmentary; d. W.: 75 mm; Height: 70 mm; Th. lower appliqués: 2–3 mm; D horizontal part: 17–22 mm;
Weight: 273g; Pl. II / 3, V / 3.

Possible body fragments:

4. a. uneven dark green patina with brown spots; restored; b. cast; c. body fragment irregular in shape,
curved in section; d. L.: 34 mm; W.: 25 mm; Th. 1 mm; Weight: 5 g; Pl. III / 4.

5. a. uneven dark green patina with brown spots; b. cast; c. body fragment irregular in shape, curved in
section; d. L.: 36 mm; W.: 16.5 mm; Th.: 0.8 mm; Weight: 3 g; Pl. III / 5.

6. a. patina removed during restoration; b. cast; c. body fragment irregular in shape, curved in section;
d. L.: 93.5 mm; W.: 43 mm; Th.: 1 mm; Weight: 16 g; Pl. III / 6.

7. a. patina removed during restoration; b. cast; c. body fragment irregular in shape, curved in section;
d. L.: 69 mm; W.: 29 mm; Th.: 1 mm; Weight: 11 g; Pl. III / 7.

8. a. patina removed during restoration; b. cast; c. body fragment irregular in shape, curved in section;
d. L.: 47 mm; W.: 29 mm; Th.: 0.7 mm; Weight: 6 g; Pl. III / 8.

Silvia Mustață
Mureș County Museum, Târgu Mureș
[email protected]

Sorin Ilie Cociș

Institute of Archaeology and Art History, Cluj-Napoca
[email protected]

REFERENCES
BENEA 2008
D. BENEA, Ateliere de prelucrare a bronzului, argintului și aurului în Dacia romană. In: D. Benea (Coord.),
Dacia în sistemul socio-economic roman. Cu privire la atelierele meşteşugăreşti locale, Bibliotheca Historica et
Archaeologica Universitatis Timisiensis 9 (Timişoara 2008), 107–179.
COCIȘ ET ALII 2013
S. COCIȘ / A. URSUȚIU / I. BAJUSZ / K. CUMURCIUC / SZ. FERENCZ / A. MIHAI / M. URAK / 
C.-D. ȚUȚUIANU / L. PETCULESCU, Mintia, com. Veţel, jud.Hunedoara [Micia]. Punct: Fabrica de acetilenă
– Aşezare civilă sud castru. In: Cronica Cercetărilor Arheologice. Campania 2012 (București 2013), 168–170,
355–356, Pl. 3–5.

GĂMUREAC 2014
 A Roman bronze basin found at Micia (Mintia, Vețel Commune, Hunedoara County) 305

Ș.-E. GĂMUREAC, The Roman common pottery discovered in an archaeological complex from the middle of
the 3rd century at Micia. EphemNapoc 24, 2014, 237–256.
GUI / COCIȘ 2014
M. GUI / S. COCIȘ, Millefiori inlaid hilts, strigil handles, or what? EphemNapoc 24, 2014, 257–276.
FASOLD / WEBER 1987
P. FASOLD / G. WEBER, Ein römischer Metall-Sammelfund aus Kempten-Cambodunum. BayVgBl 52, 1987,
37–55.
LUND HANSEN 1987
U. LUND HANSEN, Römischer Import im Norden. Warenaustauschung zwischen dem Römischen Reich
und dem freien Germanien während der Kaiserzeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Nordeuropas, Nordiske
Fortidsminder. Serie B 10 (København 1987).
MESHEKOV / STAIKOVA 1998
J. MESHEKOV / L. STAIKOVA, A rich Thracian mound burial from the Roman period at the village of
Slokoshtitsa, Kiustendil district (south-western Bulgaria). ABul 2 / 3, 1998, 51–67.
PETROVSZKY 1993
R. PETROVSZKY, Studien zu römischen Bronzegefäßen mit Meisterstempeln, Kölner Studien zur Archäologie
der Römischen Provinzen 1 (Buch am Erlbach 1993).
STJERNQUIST 2004
B. STJERNQUIST, A Magnificent Glass Bowl from Uppåkra. In: L. Larsson (Ed.), Continuity for centuries: a
ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Stockholm 2004), 103–151.
TASSINARI 1995
S. Tassinari, Vaisselle antique de bronze, Collections du Musée Départemental des Antiquités de Rouen (Rouen
1995).
 306

1
Silvia Mustață, Sorin Cociș

0 3 cm
2

Pl. I. Bronze fragments discovered at Micia. 1. Rim; 2. Base (drawn by N. Șugar).

 A Roman bronze basin found at Micia (Mintia, Vețel Commune, Hunedoara County) 307

0 3 cm

Pl. II. Bronze handle discovered at Micia (drawn by N. Șugar).

308 Silvia Mustață, Sorin Cociș

4 5

0 3 cm
8

Pl. III. Bronze fragments discovered at Micia (drawn by N. Șugar).

 A Roman bronze basin found at Micia (Mintia, Vețel Commune, Hunedoara County) 309

2
0 3 cm
1 ?????

Pl. IV. Bronze base discovered at Micia.

310 Silvia Mustață, Sorin Cociș

0 3 cm 3

Pl. V. Bronze handle discovered at Micia.