Rural settlements in the Dacian provinces (AD 106-275). Archaeological contributions to the history of the village and agriculture during the Roman period

Abstract

Settlements and farms in the rural setting of the Dacian provinces were  distributed in large numbers and over the whole territory. The house shapes were typical for Roman provinces, the house types characteristic
of the Roman Empire. The settlements were smaller or larger and probably dependent upon the form of landscape, the financial situation of the place and the proximity to traffic routes and to markets. The archaeological material in all settlements investigated in the countryside points to a radical change in the way of life, construction techniques, architecture, productions methods, clothing and jewelry: Roman material culture had finally succeeded. The radical, fundamental change in the way of life also explains changes in spiritual life, especially with regard to burial rites and rituals, but also within religion and in particular in its further development. All these changes prove that the rural settlements experienced a romanization which was dependent upon the characteristics of the landscape, the economic situation of the place and investments. Such a thorough romanization in a territory like Dacia could not have occurred, if Roman life, in all its aspects, had not conquered the villages in particular.