This study applies a bioarchaeological framework to interrogate the material, ritual, and institutional dimensions of early Christian martyrdom in the Roman province of Scythia, integrating osteological evidence, archaeological context, and historical sources to examine the construction of martyrial identity. The findings substantiate instances of perimortem violence, with the Halmyris case displaying evidence of decapitation and blunt-force trauma, while the Tropaeum Traiani assemblage reveals deliberate limb amputation and execution through beheading. However, the Niculițel assemblage, despite its strong epigraphic identification as martyrial, lacks osteological markers of violent death, placing under scrutiny the assumption that corporeal suffering was a prerequisite for martyrial designation. This discrepancy foregrounds the semiotic and institutional mechanisms through which martyrdom was inscribed onto bodies, reinforcing the role of posthumous interventions — translation, relic fragmentation, and ritual manipulation—in the social production of sanctity. The analysis also engages with the Weiss-Krejci model of mortuary deposition to trace the postmortem trajectory of martyr remains, while osteobiographical methodologies reconstruct individual profiles through skeletal morphology, trauma analysis, and burial context. By embedding bioarchaeological data within a theoretical discourse on material agency and posthumous subjectivation, this study reframes martyrdom not as an intrinsic, biologically verifiable condition, but as a dynamic and institutionally mediated construct. The analysis demonstrates that martyrial identity was not simply inscribed at the moment of execution, but was iteratively produced through a recursive process involving textual codification (hagiographic texts and epigraphic sources), ritual manipulation, and institutional validation. Furthermore, anthropological analysis plays a crucial role in this process by providing empirical evidence that can either support or challenge martyrial narratives—not only by shedding light on the biological profiles of individuals, but also by identifying signs of perimortem violence (or their absence) and traces of posthumous manipulation of remains.
The paper discusses a recently discovered glass stemmed beaker with snake-thread decoration, Isings form 86, recovered during rescue excavations in 2024. The glass beaker was part of the grave goods of a cremation burial under tumulus, dated to the 2nd – 3rd c. AD, in the necropolis from Galați (Galați county, Romania), on the Danubian limes. The find, remarkable for this part of the Roman Empire, is discussed from a typological and technological point of view, in the context of glass vessels with snake-thread decoration from other regions of the Roman world.
The analysis of strontium and oxygen stable isotopes represents an unprecedented approach in Romanian archaeology, particularly with regard to the Roman–Byzantine period in the ancient province of Scythia and the Migration Period associated with territories inhabited by barbarian groups. This research aims to analyse the isotope values from 29 samples in Dobrogea, attributed to the Romans, and 29 samples from Muntenia, 9 from Transylvania, and 6 from Banat, attributed to the barbarians. Mortuary discoveries from the Roman Empire, when compared to those from the barbarian world, have revealed distinct preferences between the two cultures. Additionally, it has become possible to identify graves south of the Danube that can be linked to individuals from the north. In conjunction with the archaeological context of each site, the geology of the surrounding area also plays a significant role in the study of mobility through isotopes. By understanding the local values of these two chemical elements—strontium in the soil and oxygen in precipitation—we can determine which individuals lived in a specific area and which did not. The findings reveal the presence of both autochthonous individuals and migrants originating from other regions, particularly from areas located north of the Danube. This finding corroborates historical accounts of population movements in the Lower Danube from that period.
The excavations conducted in the ancient city of Beroe (Tulcea County, Romania), during two campaigns (1958-1959 and 1970-1971), by A. Petre and D. Vîlceanu, brought to light a large number of archaeological features and materials, of which an important part remained unpublished. The glass objects found on this site are in the same situation, only a handful being published in detail so far. The effort of the team from the Eco Museum Research Institute (Tulcea), of putting old excavations and finds on the archaeological map of the county takes into consideration also the site from Beroe. In this case, the paper focuses on a specific category of glass items, namely goblets Isings Form 111, dated to the 5th – 6 th c. AD. The artefacts discussed here represent a first batch of fragments belonging to this type, identified so far during the re-evaluation of the museum’s storerooms. Thus, the present article is the first in a series dedicated to this type of glass vessels, as the work is still in progress. Once all the identifiable material will be processed and published, the authors will attempt, based on typological and technological details, to discuss possible production centres and commercial relations, as well as their function, use and significance in the local cultural context.
This paper is the first in a short series of articles dedicated to a specific category of small finds from the Acropolis Centre-South Sector in Histria (Romania), namely the weights. The discussion concerns in this case a metal discoid coin weight with the value of two nomismata, found in the last habitation level of the insula excavated by the team from the University of Bucharest (Romania). The item can be dated, based both on analogies and find context, to the 6th century – the beginning of the 7th century AD.
