The archaeological ensemble from Pietroasele

The archaeological complex in Pietroasele commune, composed of several objectives (castle, building with hypocaust/balneum and four necropolises dated to the 4th-5th centuries AD), came to the attention of researchers early on due, in large part, to the chance discovery of the Cloşca treasure with golden chickens, in 1837, within the current village of Pietroasa Mică.

The first systematic research in the locality is related to the fortification located in the center of the commune. Thus, Al. Odobescu undertook the first excavations here in 1866, the results of which were briefly published in the monumental work Le trésor de Pétrossa. During the 20th century, the research within the castle was resumed between 1973-1981 by a team composed of specialists from the Institute of Archeology in Bucharest and the Buzău County Museum, then in 1999-2000 and 2008-2009, continuing to date.

About 400 m east of the castle there is another important objective that attests to the Roman presence in the area: the building with the hypocaust/balneum. Identified in 1975 and researched during several campaigns until today, this is a construction composed of 6 rooms with different functions, 4 basins and 2 praefurniums, within a quadrangular enclosure (28 x 31 m). Within it was discovered a rich stamped tile material belonging to the units of the 11th legion Claudia, dated to the century. II-III AD

Along with the two constructions made of stone, the researches undertaken during the archaeological campaigns also revealed the presence of necropolises dated to the century. IV-V AD The first, located in the area south of the castru, conventionally called Necropolis 1, is currently covered by the households of the locals. Initially known through chance discoveries starting in 1956, the necropolis has up to now 8 inhumation graves systematically researched in the campaigns of 1981 and 2019. Based on stratigraphic information and burial inventories, the graves of this necropolis have been dated to the end of the century. IV AD - first quarter of the century V AD

Necropolis 2, located 1.6 km southwest of the castru, in the administrative sector of the Pietroasele Viticulture and Winemaking Research and Development Station, is a flat, bi-ritual necropolis within which 48 graves have been investigated since 1976 (43 inhumations, 4 cremations and a cenotaph), with a rich archaeological inventory dated to the second half of the century. IV AD Also, in the same perimeter, in the campaigns of 2002-2003, 2006 and 2017, 5 brothel-type dwellings, equipped with ovens made of stone, belonging to the early medieval period (9th-10th centuries) were investigated . Hr.).

Necropolis 3, located in the village of Dara, about 2 km northeast of the castru, is so far known only through a single inhumation grave discovered by chance in the southern edge of the village. From his inventory were recovered a tall cup, made of fine, gray paste, worked on the wheel, and a strachin, which has several letters from the runic family incised on the outer surface, both vessels being specific to the discoveries of the second century. IV AD

Necropolis 4, located in the perimeter of the village of Clondiru de Sus, is also known for the discovery of a single inhumation grave, in 1976, in the yard of citizen Nicolae Ivaşcu. Oriented in the north-south direction, the grave had as its inventory a vessel-jar, made on the wheel, two amphorae made of fine paste, red-brick in color, as well as a glass glass, cylindrical in shape with a rounded bottom, decorated with three rows of polished alveoli. And this tomb, through the funerary inventory it contained, could be dated during the century. IV AD

These last two contemporary necropolises, still insufficiently researched, may lead, following future research, to the obtaining of important data about the existing relations between the natives and the migrants from northeastern Muntenia during Late Antiquity.