Bioarchaeology and Mountain Landscapes in Transylvania's Golden Quadrangle

Abstract

The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and copper deposits in Europe, key resources that fueled the development of social complexity during the Bronze Age (ca. 2700–800 B.C.E.). This landscape encompasses a significant amount of topographic and ecological diversity, with upland landscapes incorporating major mineral deposits, forests, pastures, and salt springs, and lowland agropastoral landscapes abutting the major interregional Mureș River corridor. Local Early Bronze Age (ca. 2700–2000 B.C.E.) communities typically buried their dead in stone-covered tumuli in the uplands, though there are also examples of burial in lowland settlements. The relationship between upland and lowland mortuary contexts is an enduring question within the regional archaeological record. In this paper we present a case study that compares individuals from two sites: the lowland settlement of Alba Iulia-Pârâul Iovului and the upland cemetery of Meteș-La Meteșel. We ask whether there were differences between the uplands and the lowlands in terms of mortuary practices and eligibility for burial, or differences in the lived experience of pathology or trauma. Our results show that there are few significant differences between the two samples. Adults and subadults, as well as males and females, are represented at both sites, and levels of skeletal pathology are low, while dental insults are more frequent. We conclude by outlining a strategy for developing a regional bioarchaeology that will incorporate multiple lines of archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence and enhance our understanding of the biocultural dynamics of the region.
 Localizaţi în sud-vestul Transilvaniei (România), Munţii Apuseni adăpostesc cele mai bogate zăcăminte de aur şi cupru din Europa, resurse vitale care au alimentat dezvoltarea complexităţii sociale pe parcursul epocii bronzului (cca. 2700-800 BC). Acest peisaj încorporează o remarcabilă diversitate topografică şi ecologică, cu zonele înalte adăpostind principalele zăcăminte metalifere, păduri, păşuni montane, zonele agro-pastorale mai joase învecinându-se cu principalul coridor interregional al văii Mureşului. Comunităţile locale ale Bronzului timpuriu (cca. 2700-2000 BCE) din zona muntoasă îşi îngropau de obicei morţii în tumuli cu manta de piatră , dar există şi exemple de înmormântări în aşezările din zonele mai joase. Relaţia dintre contextele funerare din zonele înalte şi cele din zonele joase de relief rămâne o întrebare de durată în contextual arheologic regional. Studiul de faţă prezintă un studiu de caz care compară indivizi din două situri: aşezarea din zona joasă de la Alba Iulia-Pârâul Iovului şi cimitirul din zona muntoasă de la Meteş-La Meteşel. Sunt puse întrebări care privesc existenţa unor diferenţe între practicile funerare din zonele joase şi cele înalte sau în ceea ce priveşte experienţa trăită a traumelor şi patologiei. Rezultatele noastre indică puţine diferenţe semnificative între cele două loturi de probe. Adulţi şi subadulţi, de sex masculine sau feminin, sunt reprezentaţi în ambele situri, nivelurile de patologie osoasă fiind joase, în vreme ce afecţiunile dentare sunt mai frecvente. Concluzionăm prin evidenţierea unei strategii pentru dezvoltarea unei bioarheologii regionale, care va încorpora multiple linii de dovezi arheologice şi bioarheologice şi va înbunătăţi înţelegerea dinamicii bioculturale a regiunii.

Mountain Landscape and Human Settlement in the Pindus Range: The Samarina Highland Zones of Western Macedonia, Greece

“…The initial purpose of the project was to search for high-altitude Mesolithic sites, in light of results achieved since the end of the 1960s in the Italian Alps, where dozens of early Holocene hunter-gatherer sites attributed to different Mesolithic periods were discovered [6][7][8]. This is a very important agenda because our knowledge of the Early Holocene archaeology of the entire Balkan Peninsula is elusive, especially with regard to the territories of the interior and the mountain zones [9][10][11][12][13]. Therefore, this paper will focus, in particular, on the Holocene archaeology of the Samarina highland zone, though we will also consider Mount Vasilitsa moraines, where artefacts of different ages have been discovered.…”

“…The Pindus archaeological surveys were carried out in the Samarina highlands (Figure 1). They covered a previously uninvestigated mountain landscape of north-western Greece, which Early Holocene archaeology of the entire Balkan Peninsula is elusive, especially with regard to the territories of the interior and the mountain zones [9][10][11][12][13]. Therefore, this paper will focus, in particular, on the Holocene archaeology of the Samarina highland zone, though we will also consider Mount Vasilitsa moraines, where artefacts of different ages have been discovered.…”

Settlement ecology of Bronze Age Transylvania

“…The Apuseni Mountains are home to the largest gold deposits in Europe, which -along with significant deposits of copper -were valuable minerals in the Bronze Age (Boroffka, 2006;Ciugudean, 2012;Beck et al, 2020). There are significant salt springs and rock salt deposits at the margins where the Transylvanian Plateau meets the foothills of the Apuseni and Carpathian Mountains (Harding and Kavruk, 2013).…”

Social Context of Late Medieval and Early Modern Deforestation Periods in the Apuseni Mountains (Romania) based on an Integrated Evaluation of Historical and Paleobotanical Records

“…Archaeological finds from this period indicate a significant population concentration in the Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár) area and imply that, besides agricultural activity, great emphasis was put on the exploitation of mineral resources (Beck, Ciugudean, and Quinn 2020). Historical data on the salt trade are known from AD 892, when Arnulf, king of the Franks, asked the Bulgarian khan Laodimir (Wladimir) not to sell salt to the Moravians with whom he was fighting (Bóna 2001;Madgearu 2003).…”