Apulum Roman Villa Project
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FeaturedWelcome to the ARVP Project Blog!
Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine you are in a field of sunflowers and soybean plants surrounded by rolling hills in the near distances with flocks of sheep and orchards. Further in the distance is a mountain range that seemingly goes on forever. Right in the middle of all of this natural beauty… Read more
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ARVP 2025 – Week 4 – Jesse
As a summer storm settles over Alba Iulia, I find myself with a quiet moment to reflect upon the journey that has been the 2025 ARVP campaign. As a fledgling archaeologist, I made my best effort to enter into this experience with no expectations and a beginner’s mind. Having spent only a little time in… Read more
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ARVP 2025 – Week 3 – Alex C.
In the final week of digging in Trench AW, we found many new contexts, most memorably roof tiles and a lot of pits. We spent a lot of time on the roof tiles so we could uncover each one without damaging it. It kind of felt like being a dentist, because we were scraping the… Read more
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Hello everyone!
Today we returned to the Roman villa at Apulum, following the path to the past through the sunflower field. Hoping for a good weather, the team is ready to uncover more details about the countryside life of Roman Dacia.
The last two weeks – Marina Musteață
Hello! Here we are again with tales from the sunflower field.
Everyday at the work place we find ourselves in a stunning area surrounded by mountains and an endless sky, one of the most enjoyed events being the sunrise.
Two weeks passed and a lot of things happened. For example, the team progressed with the archaeological research, revealing new information about the structures once built in the area of the villa.
We also visited the Alba Carolina Fortress and one of its newest museums, the Museikon. The building is a monument from the period of Austrian Rule in Transylvania, but its basement walls uncover a rich history of the place. The Roman and Medieval stone and brick structures can be seen here in situ or with signs of later interventions.
Even if the rain visited us some days ago, it gave us the occasion to make the best photos for our blog!
The third week – Mircea Macarie
After almost two intense but beautiful and spectacular weeks, the archeological site from Oarda, Alba county, made me rediscover the pleasure of working in the field after a pandemic year. I’ve met old friends and new people, I’ve learned to record small finds or contexts according to the MOLAS method, or even use much more recent working techniques in archeology, such as photogrammetry. Although sometimes the heat was a real difficulty, time passes quickly and small surprises do not take long to appear when you work with patience and as a team.
The last week – Bogdan Lăpușan
In the last week at Oarda, the time seemed to pass too fast. The mornings were colder and the sun rose later than usual. The last week we focused on finishing the research areas, washing and sorting the artifacts, and preparing the samples that we took for subsequent analyzes.
On the last day, we celebrated a successful campaign and we wished ourselves a beautiful vacation, when we can recharge our batteries for future projects together. See you soon!
Hello everyone!
We have returned to Apulum’s Roman villa to finish this year’s second campaign.
The villa looks the same as in the summer, but our appearance changed, especially our garderobe.
With the sunflower gone, the field is emptier, yet it is still alive, many pairs of curious eyes following us, hoping to learn some archaeological skills from professionals, or maybe just to catch something good during the lunch break.
Apulum Roman Villa Project 