Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 30/1. (2010)
Articles
Women in a Mans World? Female Related Artefacts from the Camps of Dacia 139 Beads from this site (PL 6/2) appear only in barrack no. 5 in the building of praetorium and in porta praetoria (Pl. 4/18-19; 5/7).60 The large number of beads from barrack no. 5 can be explained by the find consisting of a necklace of 12 glass beads. This find shows clearly that these beads were rather used as jewellery and not as different decorating elements of dresses or of other issues. Typically female brooches are in the smallest number among these special artefacts (Pi. 6/3). The two examples were all recovered from barrack no. 5.61 The small number of brooches of these types in Buciumi and in other forts (Appendix) shows that these brooches represented the typical accessory of women dress comparing with the other types found in big numbers and which can be related to the military costume. These brooch types are generally dated to the 2nd century AD and they are known as typical accessories of the native Celtic population from Pannonia and Noricum.62 The fact that they were recovered from a building dated to the 3rd century shows that different types have a much longer period of use as it is believed. The presence of artefacts related to women in several forts in Dacia, even in a small number or with unknown provenance is not coincidental and I believe that they can be an indicator of female presence within the camp. Though the ‘sexing’ of artefacts is very subjective and many types of objects could have been used by both sexes, the concentration of these artefacts in the area of barracks and buildings considered as officers’ residence in most of the cases is too regular to be neglected. As shown by the example of Buciumi the distribution pattern of these objects could provide a range of information, even if their demonstration or control is impossible. The positivistic manner of archaeological research, the careless documentation of finds and features, the unbreakable position of some clichés based on the one-sided interpretation of ancient sources make the research of gender very difficult in Romania. For better results in gender research traditional patterns and concepts related to relationship, chronology, functionality of objects, gender based tasks should be revised and reinterpreted. 60 Chirilä et al. 1972, 90-91, 764, nr. 1-12, 15-16, 61, Taf. IX/61; XCVIII/4. 61 Chirilä et al. 1972, 88, nr. 8, Tat. XC1I/4; 89, nr. 12, Taf. XCIII/4. Coci§ 2008, 161.62
