Tihau Castle

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Georeferencing Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap
Tihau
limes Dacian Limes
section A / VI / 27
Dating (occupancy) 2nd century (until 3rd century?)
Type Cohort fort
unit A) unknown
B) Cohors I Cannanefatium
size A) 128 m × 138 m = 1.77 ha
B) 129 m × 144 m = 1.9 ha
Construction A) Wood and earth warehouse
B) Stone fort
place Surduc - Tihau
Geographical location 47 ° 14 '32.6 "  N , 23 ° 20' 6.7"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 14 '32.6 "  N , 23 ° 20' 6.7"  E
height 221  m
Previous Fort Romita
(south-southwest, A / V / 24)
Subsequently Cășeiu Castle
(east, A / VI / 28)
Upstream Fort Moigrad
(west-southwest, A / V / 24a)
Fort Moigrad-Pomet
(west-southwest, A / V / 25)
Fort Moigrad-Citera
(west-southwest, A / V / 26)
Fort Moigrad-Coasta Citerii
(west-southwest, A / V / 26a )

Tihău Fort was a Roman auxiliary camp in the village of Tihău , Surduc municipality , Sălaj County in Romania .

location

In today's settlement the ground monument is about two kilometers north of the village in the corridor "Cetate" at the end of a ridge in the area where the Briglez brook flows into the Someș river . The fort square can be clearly perceived in the area through a visible earth wall. In ancient times, the fort's crew had the task of monitoring shipping on the Someş and land traffic on the road leading north to Barbaricum . The ancient name of the fort is unknown.

Archaeological evidence

In archaeological excavations in 1958 under the direction of Mihai Macrea and Dumitru Protase , which were supplemented in 1999 by the Dutch archaeologist Jan Kees Haalebos and others with geophysical methods, it was possible to differentiate two construction phases.

Wood-earth warehouse

Ground plan and findings of the stone fort, according to Protase (1994).

The first fort was built in wood and earth through a vexillation of Legio XIII Gemina in the early phase of the Roman occupation of Dacia (106 to 110). It had a rectangular floor plan, probably 128 m by 138 m, which corresponds to a floor area of ​​just under 1.77 hectares. Its corners were oriented in the four cardinal directions. It was surrounded by a 7.50 m thick and 1.20 m high wood-earth wall.

Stone fort

At a point in time that has not yet been clarified, the wood-earth warehouse was replaced by a stone fort. This had a rectangular floor plan with rounded corners, its axes were 129 meters by 144 meters, corresponding to an area of ​​1.9 hectares. Its orientation corresponded to the previous construction phase. The fort was reinforced with a 1.80 m thick wall using the technique of Opus incertum , in front of which a simple, 4.50 m wide and 2.00 m deep ditch ran. The Porta praetoria (main gate) was located on the south-east side of the camp and, contrary to Roman practice, was not directed towards the enemy. From the interior development, the praetorium (commandant's house) in the latus dextrum (right side of the camp ) could be partially explored. The Cohors I Cannanefatium served as the crew of the stone fort .

Limes course

The Limes Porolissensis, which is expanded with watchtowers and small forts, runs directly past the fort, apart from a larger bulge to the north. To the east of this, 35 different Limes structures have been identified so far.

No. Name / type place Description / condition
RO099 Tihau Castle Surduc-Tihău / Sălaj County see above
RO084 Watchtower Ciocmani, Mănăstire Apart from the temporary decay, the tower site with all its elements is well preserved. The tower ruin itself has an almost rectangular floor plan, the interior is sunken. The tower moat is visible on all sides except on the south side.
RO098 Watchtower Tihau, Cetate The ruined tower is very flat in terms of terrain, but is well preserved. Ash traces can be seen on the surface.
RO097 Watchtower Surduc, De-asupra Văii Hrăii The tower, excavated in the 1970s and partially documented, is almost completely destroyed today. No clear shape or clear traces are visible on the surface. However, under the foliage of the leaves one can perceive an even layer of Roman tiles, which probably came from a roof structure.
RO078 Watchtower Șoimușeni, Din deal în jos Traces of the ruin can only be seen in the southeastern part of the ensemble over a distance of 186 m. The structure was disrupted by landslides.
RO079 Small fort Șoimușeni, La Cărămidă The structures were permanently disturbed by landslides, so that the ruin can only be seen on its south-eastern side over a length of 18 m.
RO080 Watchtower Cozla, Piatra Cozlii Completely overgrown by vegetation.
RO081 Watchtower Cozla, Piatra Cozlii Circular ruin with a small moat on the southeast side.
RO083 Watchtower Vălișoara, Valea Rea Circular tower section completely overgrown by vegetation.
RO082 Watchtower Vălișoara, Valea Rea A circular ruin that has been preserved up to a height of 40 cm to 50 cm. The site does not seem to have been affected by post-Roman interference.
RO113 Watchtower Ortelec, Măgurița The tower site was archaeologically examined in the 1970s, stones, bricks and ceramic fragments are still visible on the surface. The preserved tower ruins are preserved to a depth of 50 cm to 60 cm. The moat is not clearly visible. Ten percent of the tower site was destroyed by forest vegetation and archaeological interventions. The tower with its rectangular floor plan has a diameter of nine meters, the moat is two meters wide.
RO096 Watchtower Cliț, Fața Chicerii Partly destroyed by forest vegetation and erosion, the ruin has the shape of a flattened dome, in the middle of which a moat can be seen, which visually bisects the tower.
RO095 Watchtower Preluci, Holm / Volm Of the completely preserved tower, the moat surrounding the tower was only disturbed by road construction. There are no stones on the surface of the complex, but a large amount of baked clay. It was probably a wooden tower, which was replaced by a stone tower that might still have to be found nearby.
RO094 Watchtower Preluci, Hornicior 20% of the ruins that have been preserved were destroyed by a modern forest road without prior documentation. The ruin is barely noticeable, only on the south side of the tower can a ditch be observed, the width of which is approximately one and a half meters.
RO093 Watchtower Lozna, Curmăturița Largely destroyed by robbery graves and completely covered by vegetation. The structures could still be visible if the vegetation were removed.
RO092 Watchtower Lozna, Curmăturăță Large parts of it destroyed without prior documentation, but the shape of the tower is still visible from all sides, but the surrounding moat is no longer recognizable everywhere. The western part of the tower was destroyed by the roots of the trees.
RO091 Watchtower Valea Leșului, Țiclău In large parts (60%) destroyed by the construction of a road that leads through the middle of the tower without prior documentation. There are pieces of sandstone scattered around the tower. The trench can also still be observed in some places.
RO090 Watchtower Cormeniș, Picioarele Andreichii The preserved ruins of the tower are in very good condition. It can be seen on the surface as a circular shape. A well-preserved entrance can be seen on the western side, the moat is completely preserved throughout. On the east side there seem to be outbuildings.
RO088 Watchtower Negreni, Poiana La Arbore The tower site was largely destroyed without prior documentation. The structure that is still preserved is very flat. The moat is visible on the south and east side with a lot of effort. An old forest road cuts through the tower structure and depresses the west side of the tower. In the southern part of the ruin there is another encroachment in the form of a trench, which most likely arose during the earlier archaeological investigations.
RO085 Watchtower Rogna, La Bontaua Stone tower in the technique of Opus incertum . The moat is barely visible. The tower structure was overgrown by vegetation. The wall thickness of the tower is 70 cm. The tower has been completely excavated but has not yet been published.
RO086 Small fort Podișu, Podișu The tower site was archaeologically examined in the 1970s. Located within a village, one of the houses was built over the southeast corner of the fort. The remaining parts are in the back yard of this house. 70% of the fort area is endangered by permanent plowing.
RO076 Watchtower Ileanda, La Căsoi 30% of the extensively flattened ruin was destroyed by the installation of a topographic landmark without prior documentation.
RO075 Watchtower Ileanda, Coama Pietrar The circular tower ruin has been preserved up to a height of 80 cm to 90 m. The wall is made of local limestone and tuff. The moat has been completely preserved except for the west side. Its width is about two meters. Natural erosion and old, undocumented excavations have negatively affected the condition of the site.
RO074 Watchtower Ileanda Structures that can only be perceived as a flat hill.
RO073 Watchtower Glod, Toaca Glodului 40% of the preserved ruins were destroyed by stone robbery. Due to these interventions, the ruins are only preserved on the south side in the form of a horseshoe, the wall on the north, west and east sides. The wall of the rising was made of local limestone. Bricks and burnt clay can be seen on the surface.
RO043 Watchtower Bârsău Mare, La Cetățea The tower site was excavated in the late 1960s. Some parts of the wall or its foundations and the moat are still visible. Otherwise the tower site was seriously damaged by stone robbery and excavations.
RO072 Watchtower Bârsău Mare, La Cetățea The natural destruction and old excavations (without documentation) have impaired the authenticity of the Roman buildings. The ruin has the shape of a horseshoe. The north side of the wall is relatively well preserved, while only a few traces of the moat can be seen.
RO070 Watchtower Gâlgău, Casa Popii / Poianu Destroyed by a ditch that runs through the ruin. This, as well as old, undocumented excavations, significantly affected the tower site.
RO068 Watchtower Căpâlna, Casa Popii The hill of ruins is still preserved up to a height of 1.20 m, as is a large part of the rising masonry. However, older, undocumented excavations led to certain impairments of the findings.
RO067 Watchtower Căpâlna, Dâmbul lui Golaș The two meter wide moat and the one and a half meter high wall around the flattened tower ruins are still well preserved. However, natural erosion caused certain impairments to the structures.
RO069 Watchtower Căpâlna, Casa Urieșilor The ruined tower shows up in the area as a flattened hill. The moat is visible on all sides of the tower. The structures are disturbed by a forest road ditch and other interventions. Older, undocumented excavations have also damaged the findings.
RO066 Watchtower Căpâlnă, Hotroapă The tower site was archaeologically researched in the 1970s, with certain disruptions to the findings, but remained unpublished.
RO065 Watchtower Muncel, Comoruță The ruin is strongly flattened and appears to have a circular floor plan.
RO064 Watchtower Fălcușa, Muchia Poienii Lupului The hill of ruins is extremely flattened. A small moat can still be seen around the tower.
RO063 Small fort (?) Fălcușa, Vârful Țîglii The structures of the tower were damaged by natural processes (a number of bushes destroyed about 30% of the rampart structure). Because of the lush vegetation, there is very, very little to see in the area.
RO061 Watchtower Chiueşti, Dealul Crucii The ruin has a circular shape. In the north, west and south the moat of the tower with a width of about four meters is still visible. The only post-Roman intervention consists of a medieval stone structure in the middle of the tower.
RO062 Watchtower Chiueşti, Dealul lui Mihai The well-preserved tower has circular ruins. The 0.7 m high wall is as little disturbed as the accompanying, up to three meters wide trench.
RO077 Cășeiu Castle Cășeiu see main article Casteiu Castle

Lost property and monument protection

The archaeological finds are kept in the Muzeul Judecean de Istoric si Artă (District Museum for History and Art) in Zalău .

The entire archaeological site and in particular the castle are protected as historical monuments according to Law No. 422/2001 passed in 2001 and are entered in the national list of historical monuments (Lista Monumentelor Istorice) with the LMI code SJ-IsA-04971 . Responsible is the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerul Culturii şi Patrimoniului Naţional), in particular the General Directorate for National Cultural Heritage, the Department of Fine Arts and the National Commission for Historical Monuments and other institutions subordinate to the Ministry. Unauthorized excavations and the export of ancient objects are prohibited in Romania.

See also

literature

  • Adrian Bejan: Dacia Felix. Istoria Daciei novels . Timişoara 1998, digitized .
  • Julian Bennett: The cohors equitata fort at Tihău-Cetate, Romania. The results of geophysical survey and other research. In: Journal of Roman Archeology 19 (2006), pp. 278-299.
  • Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, pp. 50f., ( Digitized version ).
  • Felix Marcu: The Internal Planning of Roman Forts of Dacia . (= Bibliotheca Mvsei Napocensis XXX), Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2009, ISBN 978-606-543-058-7 , pp. 115f.
  • Coriolan Horațiu Opreanu & Vlad-Andrei Lăzărescu: The province of Dacia . In this. (Ed.): Landscape Archeology on the Northern Frontier of the Roman Empire at Porolissum. An interdisciplinary research project . Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2016, ISBN 978-606-543-787-6 , pp. 94-97, ( digitized version ).
  • Dumitru Protase: Castrul roman de la Tihău în lumina cunoștințelor actuale . Ephemeris napocensis, 1994.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 50, ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Dumitru Protase: Castrul roman de la Tihău (Jud. Sălaj) în lumina cunoştinţelor actuale . In: EN 4 (1994), pp. 75-101.
  3. ^ Julian Bennett: The cohors equitata fort at Tihău-Cetate, Romania. The results of geophysical survey and other research. In: Journal of Roman Archeology 19 (2006), pp. 278-299.
  4. ↑ a b c Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 51, ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ All of the following information based on where the Limes section was found on the website limesromania.ro of the National Limes Program (English, Romanian), accessed on January 10, 2019.
  6. ↑ The museum's website (Romanian), accessed on January 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage