Later prehistoric and Roman rural settlement and land-use in western Transylvania

The present study analyses Roman-native interaction from a landscape perspective in a core territory of both Iron Age and Roman Dacia. The study are includes the royal Dacian heartland (the Orastie Mountains) and its surrounding lowlands, and also the hinterlands of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and Apulum, the two most important Roman towns in the province. The research considers the nature and distribution of lower-order settlements in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, human impact on the local landscape and the changes which occurred as a result of the Roman occupation. Also, it addresses previous biases of interpretation through re-evaluation of earlier data and consideration of new datasets provided by the interpretation and mapping of recent oblique aerial photographs. New detailed plans of the sites discovered through aerial photography have been integrated within a significant amount of scattered published data (excavation and field walking reports; gazetteers) and relevant information from historical maps. Al the material has been analysed utilising a relational database linked to a GIS. The results provide a complex reconsideration on a more realistic and up-to-date basis of previous theories regarding the native settlement pattern and the impact of Roman colonisation in the chronological and geographical context specified. Also, through the resulting database and GIS, it provides a methodological framework and a customised tool for further analysis of the landscape and of the evolution of the settlement pattern which can be extended throughout the province of Dacia and into the neighbouring areas. Finally, it creates a useful source of analogy or contrast for Empire-wide studies of Romanisation and Roman-native interaction.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

PhD

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Glasgow

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Oltean, Ioana Adina

• GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography
• HM Sociology
• CC Archaeology

Language dc:language

en