Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
220 R. ZÄGREANU-ZS. NYÁRÁDI 1967, 401-405; Ferenczi 2002, 23-31), Säräteni (Székely 1961, 185-186) and Sighisoara (Mitrofan-Moldovan 1968, 99-108). Beside the forts, the area has been researched through a few archaeological surveys.1 The forts were connected through a network of roads, along which there were the guarding towers. Some have been researched archaeologically, such as the tower of Homorod (Ferenczi- Ferenczi 1958, 26-27), near Odorhei, the one from Szarkakő (Ferenczi-Ferenczi 1978, 91), or Ocland-Hagymásvár, and others have been researched through field surveys (Téglás 1896b, 384-389). The firs descriptions of these sites were made by B. Orbán (1868, 58); and G. Téglás (1896b, 384-389), verified by I. Paulovics (1944, 43-59), while researches were carried out later by N. Gudea (1977, 97-113). In the last years the survey of the limes was realised also by air photography, done by the ‘Pécsi Régészeti Téka’ (Visy 2009b, 107-110) from Hungary in collaboration with local museums from the area. According to these studies, several towers are known from §ic\od-Siklódi kő (Cavruc 2000,67), at Tibod (Cavruc 2000,124), at Chinusu-Lőrincbükke (Ferenczi-Ferenczi 1978, 92), at Päuleni-NyiVasfetö, where several traces of towers have been observed (Szabó 2009,118-119). The literature also mentions erroneously the remains of a guarding tower at Dealu-Kápolnadomb, with a diameter of 8 m, made of stone and mortar, described by I. Paulovics (1944, 51-53) and quoted by other researchers (Cavruc 2000, 123), but the archaeological excavations pointed out that these walls are the remains of a catholic chapel (Ferenczi-Ferenczi 1978, 97-98) appearing on the first military map of the area from 1769-1773. The road connecting the roman fort from Sighisoara to the one from Odorhei passed along the Tárnává Mare valley. During building a bridge in 1963 near Porumbenii Mici, at a depth of 120-130 cm the remains of a gravel road have been found, dated to the roman period (Benkő 1992, 88). It is possible that it was guarded from the Galat, where, during the roman period, the defending moat of the Bronze Age fortification was improved (Benkő 1992, 88). The excavations of these sites (Székely 1959a, 523-529; Székely 1959b, 233-237; Székely 1962b, 25-33; Horedt EtAl. 1962, 633-641; Székely 1970, 304) led to the discovery of a household, where a bronze coin of Commodus and a coin of Vespasian were found along with many pieces of roman ceramics. It seems that there was a wooden roman tower, watching the roman road leading to Odorhei, strengthened with a ditch and a rampart, which barred the plateau. At the foot of the hill the traces of settlements from the roman period have been identified in several places: at Telek, on the left bank of the Mota creek; at Bolhás-Hídja, on the left bank of the Bolhás creek, where roman ceramics have been found, some of them painted (Benkő 1992, 85). The traces of roman roads have also been noticed at Ulcani-Colina lupului, where big stone slabs - some of them 6 m wide - were cut out of the rock (Ferenczi-Ferenczi 1978, 91). Because the region was the border of the Roman Empire, the population tended to gather in the operating area of the troops, therefore the discoveries outside the roman forts are few and scarce. Remains of villae rusticae have been found at Filias, where during a land survey at the site of Alsókövesföld fragments of bricks, stones, concrete and roman ceramics were unearthed. Materials from the roman period were found at Nagyerdő földje (Benkő 1992,194). Other traces of roman settlement are known from Simonesti-Bethlen (Benkő 1992, 195). Buildings have also been discovered at Cädaciu Mic-Katona-kert, where cut stone-blocks and a terracotta statuette of the goddess Libera appeared (Ferenczi-Ferenczi 1978, 92). Following the survey at Forteni, 1 The area near Cristurul Secuiesc was researched by E. Benkő, the Odorhei Depressions by I. and G. Ferenczi, and in recent years by A. Sófalvi and Zs. Nyárádi.
