Exploring Roman Dacia through Archaeology!
I am not, by training, an archaeologist, so the last two weeks have been intense but fantastically educational. If I had to summarize the many and varied lessons of the ARVP season so far, it would serve to state that archaeological trenches are quite like ogres. That is, they are (literally) dirty, (unavoidably) smelly, they …
Continue reading “ARVP 2024: An Update from Trench C – Brendan Kay”
Hello from Trench A! Week two on the project has gone well. The sunflowers are in full bloom and the heat is high as ever. Our three trenches have progressed significantly, with C and D hitting sterile dirt in parts of their excavations. Trench A continues into a refuse context from the medival era. This …
The citadel of Alba Iulia The first full Sunday of our 2024 stay in Romania meant two things: a later wale-up call, and an excursion. Where 10am would usually be halfway through a morning of work, today it saw us walking the streets of Alba Iulia, making our way towards the citadel. Upon arrival at …
The Roman villa at Oarda-Bulza is beautiful. The mountains seen on the horizon fill you with awe. The only downside is the heat, which has been terrorizing us. My family originates from Romania, but I haven’t visited in over 8 years. It feels good to be back in the country, and even better to help …
The opening of the 2024 Apulum Roman Villa Project campaign has been a success. Both the Canadian and Romanian students arrived by Sunday 16th June, and we assembled the following day at the Muzeul Naţional al Unirii Alba Iulia, where the excavation tools were gathered and prepared for transportation to the site. A small team …
Continue reading “2024 Apulum Villa Project Campaign – Jenny”
This week marks the end of the AVRP 2023 field season. Our final week was cut short by rain, so half of the crew went to the museum to begin washing all the bones and pottery we found this season; a monumental task! Those that finished up the work at the museum on Saturday got …
Week 4, our last week and the mad dash to the finish line! The week started strong, and with the cooler temperatures and breeze the teamwork worked hard to finish their areas. Area C were on their A-game, keeping all their open contexts in order. Area A-East dug out their huge “crack” and pit. And …
This weekend we visited not one, not two, but three sites on our excursion! We began our day at Colonia Dacica Sarmizegetusa, the capital of Roman Dacia. It was raining in the morning so we visited the site museum. We were able to see sculptures, floor mosaics, and other artifacts. When the rain finally stopped …
Our third week here was full of activity as we fell into an already-established rhythm, finally feeling like we really understood why we were digging through dirt at 7:15 in the morning. All three trenches (A-East, A-West, and C) worked to establish a chronology of the structures found in our areas, from their construction to …
Climbing hills was the name of the game on our week two excursion to the Dacian hillforts of Costeşti and Sarmizegetusa Regia. Located in the Orăștie Mountains about an hour’s drive away from our site, we stopped first at Costeşti, a Dacian hillfort built around the first century BCE. After a two kilometre hike up …
Apulum Roman Villa Project