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The paper describes archaeological excavations in the Bandkeramik settlement of Olteni in Transylvania. Remains of early Neolithic longhouses were discovered, which are the first evidence of such structures in Romania. The ceramic finds allow dating the site to the later Notenkopf phase of the Linearbandkeramik. In addition, Olteni yielded the most extensive collection of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures in the entire Eastern Bandkeramik milieu. The excavations also included traces of the Boian and Precucuteni I cultures, as well as an Iron Age cemetery. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper I will present the customs regarding the Hungarian reformed funeral songs in the area by the stream Nádas, an area that is located in the heart of Kalotaszeg in Romania. The paper follows a theoretical and a practical thread. In the theoretical part I examined the funeral song-material of old Hungarian song collections, while the practical part describes my visits to a number of villages with significant folk traditions, inhabited by Hungarians, where I collected and summarized the musical traditions associated with funerals. In this paper I will shortly report on my findings, observations and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the handling of sources in the historic and ethnographic literature about Roma. In it a tradition of copying can be found without sufficient acknowledgement of sources, the unchecked assumption of foreign statements and inadmissible generalization. These characteristic features are integrated into a pejorative structure. The historic and ethnographic literature is characterized by a moralizing condemnation of those referred to as „gypsies” whereas the social realities remain largely hidden. It is based on only a few sources, in which statements about Roma in the Transylvanian area take a key role. Texts from the 17th to the 19th century are referred to in context of this aspect and are analyzed on their contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For Central-Eastern Europe the aftermath of the war was apparent, especially in what concerned the disintegration, respectively, the formation of some new national states (e.g. Poland, Czechoslovakia) as well as the extension of some already existing borders (Serbia, Romania). In the case of Romania, the historiography was focused on the presentation of the event through one of its major aftermaths: the Great Union of December 1st of 1918 declared at Alba Iulia, by means of which the Romanians in Transylvania, Banat and Hungary expressed the annexation of the territories they inhabited to the Kingdom of Romania. Confirmed by the peace treaties in Paris, the Union from December 1st was a founding moment for the whole Romanian state, welcoming the attention of researchers, in spite of the political regimes that followed in the country, the utmost importance of this event in Romanian history arising from it being declared the national day of Romania. For the Saxons in Transylvania, the Great War did not get but a little of the researchers' attention, who focused as well on the first political document of the Saxon elite after the disintegration of Austria-Hungary: the adherence of the Saxons to the Union proclamation of Transylvania with Romania, an action that was explained by the need to win the Romanians' affinity and thus obtain a political status as favorable as possible within the new state. Romanian and German historiography did not consider in any way the perspective of common people, soldiers or civilians, peasants or town inhabitants, men or women, adults or children had on the war. This perspective started to change radically in 2012 when two Romanian historians, Nicolae Bocşan and Valeriu Leu, initiated a project to edit the Romanian memoirist of Banat concerning the Great War. The over 1500 pages in the two volumes that were already published give therefore a new image of the event, the mail, the journals, the memoirs were brought to light, turning into sources that renew historiography. In brief, we are discussing a new history that suggests a different approach by: 1) discovering the story of some human destinies, individual and collective, whose biographic path was irrecoverably marked by the development of the world war; 2) exploring the First World War from a different point of view, that of the soldier on the front or the one in prison, the military priest meant to comfort the souls, to offer moral support and to encourage the people sent to the battlefields, the viewpoint of the journalist and the politician who try to exploit the military events for journalistic or political propaganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines depictions of musical instruments including the harp, the trumpet, and the portable organ in panel paintings, frescoes, and murals adorning Middle Ages-era Southern Transylvanian churches. Information is provided on the role of church music in the Middle Ages, dating is offered of some of the paintings in Romanian churches, and the depictions of musical instruments in Romanian churches are compared with those found in churches in Poland and Serbia. Analysis is provided of the depictions of angels in the churches' art.

The article discusses the agricultural structure of Transylvanian villages, a region in Romania, in the second half of the 19th century. The scientific research shows a difference in the wealth of the peasants from comitatens territories and territories owned by the king after die abolition of serfdom, an high interest in wine growing, and that the peasants cultivated rather a small surface. Several charts on the agricultural structure of Romanian villages are presented. Other topics mentioned in this article include cattle breeding, the economic structure of Transylvanian villages, and research on wealth gaps in East Europe in the second half of the 19th century.

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In the year 1889 a Gepid grave was accidentally discovered at Apahida (a village near Cluj-Napoca), containing an important ritual grave furnishing of gold items. (Abb 4-9). Ancient texts and archaeological discoveries reveal that after the battle from 454 the Gepidae partially or wholly retreated from the Tisa plain to Transilvania (the ancient Dacia). (Abb 1-3). From the time of its first publication the text from the ring nr. 3 has been known as OMHARVS, being interpreted as a name given to a king or a prince or to a high ranked personality in the Gepid society. But neither history nor archaeology or German lingvistic has so far confirmed the existence of such a personality, or the German character of the name, respectively. The contradictory opinions concerning the text as well as the lack of resolved analogies (Abb 10-11) determined the author (N. Gudea) to tackle the text from another point of view. Based on the hypothesis that the treasure to which the ring belongs constituted a betrothal or a marriage gift coming from the Byzantine Empire, the author asserts that the ring nr. 3 might be a marriage ring. For demonstrations the author (N. Gudea) analysed a series of Byzantine marriage rings, marriage belts/chains with medallions (Abb 12-17) bearing Christian symbols or images, connected with marriage as well as marriage congratulatory expressions typical for the respective times. In this way he accomplieshed a typology of the rings having marriage representations and Christian symbols accompanying these representations and inscriptions (Abb 18). In the author's oppinion these early Byzantine marriage congratulatory expressions on rings and medallions could be grouped this way: - simple congratulatory expressions: omonoia/omonua (understanding), haris (good luck), ygia (health), evxi (fidelity); - compound wishes/congratulatory expressions: ex theou omonoia (understanding given by God), ex theou haris (good luck received from God); complex congratulatory expressions: ex theou omonoia, haris, ygia (from God understanding, good luck and health). Perhaps the Byzantine manufacturer who produced the ring, had to concentrate/ abbreviate this complex formula in order to find room for it on the bezel of the ring. Th e author proposes the reading of the inscription in this belief and this way: a. the cross is the symbol of Jesus Christ, who unites the pair (bride and bridgegroom); b. the text was divided in three parts, each being completed in the way of marriage congratulatory expressions. So, the lecture/reading of the inscription is: + (ex theou) OM(oni)A HAR(is) VG(ia) (from God (come) the understanding, the luck and the health) Unfortunately neither the ring itself, nor the inscription and abbreviation type has analogies in the archaeology of early Byzantine times. But the typology of the letters, the mixture of Latin and Greek letters as well as the structure of the treasure did not contradict such an interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]