Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 1. (2019)
Aurora Peţan: News ont he Discovery of the Ruins from Grădiştea Muncelului int he International and Local Press from the Beginning of the 19th Century
NEWS ON THE DISCOVERY OF THE RUINS FROM GRÄDI§TEA MUNCELULUI IN THE INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL PRESS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE 19th CENTURY Aurora PEJAN' The natives’ discovery of several coin hoards in the neighbourhood of the ruins from Grädiftea Muncelului (Hunedoara County), at the beginning of the 19th century, determined the Habsburg authorities to make investigations among the villagers and to forbid treasure hunts on the state lands. On this occasion, they discovered the impressive ruins of the Dacian fortress on the Grádifiea Hill, later on identified as Sarmizegetusa Regia, and huge official excavation campaigns were initiated aiming both at finding gold and for scientific reasons. The news related to the discovery of the ancient city up in the mountains and of the treasures, spread all over the world, the local and the international press reporting at large or briefly on this topic. The article herein is meant to analyse the information from the press of the time and the way in which it was spread. Keywords: historiography, Dacian Kingdom, coin hoards, Sarmizegetusa Regia, Grädi§tea Muncelului, the press of the 19th century Cuvinte cheie: istoriografie, Regatul Dac, tezaure monetäre, Sarmizegetusa Regia, Gradi§tea Muncelului, presa secolului al XIX-lea PREMISES On the passage from the 18th to the 19th century, a series of information spread out, related to the existence of some treasures around the ruins from Gradi^tea Muncelului (today Grädi^tea de Munte, Hunedoara County), where in antiquity laid the fortress of Sarmizegetusa Regia, capital of the Dacian Kingdom. The natives from the nearby villages but also those from the newly founded colony of workers in the vicinity of the ruins rushed to the area, in search for gold.1 The authorities found out about the discovery of a treasure consisting in Lysimachos-type gold coins in the area around Ceata hill (The Anine§ valley, a few kilometers away from the ruins of Sarmizegetusa), in the autumn of 1802. The discoverer had been denounced at the end of February the following year, but the authorities started an investigation only at the beginning of the summer and forbade all other private searches on the imperial lands. The investigator, Paul Török,2 went at the beginning of June to Ocoli§ul Mic, where the discoverer was living, and then he climbed up the Ceata Hill, at the place indicated by the villager. In the meantime, on the 16th of June, the priest from Välcelele Bűne, shortly followed by a larger group of searchers, discovered in the vicinity of the ruins from Gradi§te a hoard of 400 kosons, near the path leading to Godeanu Hill. The news was quickly spread and numerous villagers climbed * Aurora Pejan. Study Centre of Dacica Foundation, Alun, RO, aurora.petan@dacica.ro . 1 Pejan 2018, 44 sqq. 2 For Töröks activity, see Mitthof-Mádly 2016. MARISIA 1,2019, p. 49-54.
