Ciubotă, Viorel (szerk.): Mala Kopanya. Micromonografie (Satu Mare, 2009)
3. Pidszumki vivcsennja pamjatki
The period between the 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D. is regarded as the most flourishing period of the Dacian culture in the Carpathian area. This period is characterized by the expansion of Rome in the Lower Danube and Medium Danube regions, the founding of new ethniccultural communities, the change of the ethnicpolitical map of the Carpathian Basin and, in the first place, the founding of the Dacian state. All these major events have directly influenced the history of the population in the Upper Tisza Region during the entire Roman period. The data of the historical events and the chronological indicators point to a Dacians expansion in the Upper Tisza Region that took place approximately in the year 60 BC, after defeating the Celts from the Middle Danube region. The Celts had been defeated, and the territories populated by them were conquered and occupied by other related tribes. In the Upper Tisa region, the main attack was launched against the oppidum of Galish-Lovachka. The evidence for the sudden cessation of the Celtic power center activity are hundreds of tools, weapons, the jewelery that the inhabitants of the oppidum didn’t manage to bury or to save. Most of the population in the Upper Tisza Region would live in open settlements in the plain area, at the beginning of our era. Several villages were located in the mountains and at the bottom of the mountains. Ecological conditions of the mountain environment suggests that the basic economic activity in these settlements was animal husbandry. The settlements in the plain areas were located along small rivers and were surrounded by pastures and fertile lands, with areas of 1-2 hectares. A part of the population in the Upper Tisza region would live in fortified settlements / fortresses built when the Dacians arrived: Zemplin (Slovakia), Mala Kopanya, Solotvino - Fortress, the White Church (Ukraine) and Oncesti-Cetăţuie (Romania) (fig . 1). These monuments date from the Late La Téne age and from the early stages of the Roman era. They would often give clues for solving major problems of the ethnic-political history in the north-eastern area of the Carpathian basin. The archaeological discoveries from these fortresses establish the relationship between the populations arrived from the Upper Tisa region in the last centuries B.C. They also contribute to the research process of the material culture of the 42
