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Case studies of archaeoastronomy in Romania

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Archeologia e Calcolatori
21, 2010, 325-337

CASE STUDIES OF ARCHAEOASTRONOMY IN ROMANIA

1. Introduction
Archaeoastronomy is the discipline that studies celestial phenomena,
looking from our ancestors’ viewpoint (how they understood and used celestial
phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultures). Archaeoastronomy
uses different methods coming from archaeology, anthropology, astronomy,
statistics, and probability theory, in order to determine the thoughts of the
ancient civilizations: Neolithic people, for example, made sky observations
and used sky phenomena in their culture, in their daily and yearly concerns.
Because these methods are heterogeneous and use data from different sources,
their collecting and processing is a long lasting process.
With its roots in the Stonehenge discoveries in the 1960s, archae-
oastronomy and ethnoastronomy (the study of contemporary native astrono-
mies) have blossomed into active interdisciplinary �elds, which provide new
perspectives for the history of our species’ interaction with the cosmos. In
Central and Southeastern Europe there are a lot of archaeological �nds with
archaeoastronomical signi�cance (necropolises, aligned structures, etc.). The
formation of these monuments represents the ideology of the Neolithic man.
By the use of astronomy (mathematics) we can perform a closer examina-
tion of this Neolithic world (what they saw in the night sky and how they
used this knowledge in their culture). In the Neolithic era, for example, the
orientation of the deceased on the day of burial was towards the sunrise, or
sunset (Maxim et al. 2002).
At the Annual Meeting of the UISPP 4th Commission 2009 Data Man-
agement and Mathematical Methods in Archaeology we presented two well-
known archaeological sites from Romania: the Cernica Neolithic necropolis
and Sarmizegetusa Regia, the most important Dacian religious, military and
political center. These two sites have been studied here mostly from the as-
tronomical point of view.
For scienti�c purposes, we �rst created our detailed databank – a proc-
ess which is not so easy from many points of view – and then we elaborated
a mathematical-astronomical numerical program, written in MATLAB, for
the solar arc calculation at Cernica Neolithic necropolis. Using these results,
we plotted the most important consequences.
We also presented Sarmizegetusa Regia, the legendary Dacian “Stone-
henge” of Romania, focusing on the Andesite Sun round altar. The presence
of ten rays on the surface of the Andesite Sun poses a lot of questions. Why
ten rays? Why two concentric circles? Why pointed to the North? From

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I. Szücs-Csillik, A. Comşa, Z. Maxim, I. Szűcs

many points of view (astronomic, geographic, mathematic, religious, cultural,

political, philosophical, etcetera), we can say that the Andesite Sun from the
Carpathian Mountains is the revealing symbol of this sacred place. The com-
plex solar sign was represented by two concentric joined circles by means of
ten solar rays. The arc of the circle had a symbolic meaning, which indicated
periods when the solar cults took place, or when the Sun phenomena occurred
(solar-cycle). The arcs of the circle have different measurements; the reason
for this might be an irregular phenomenon of the Sun.

2. Cernica
An important historical moment for the Cernica area was the discovery
of the Neolithic necropolis, about 20 km Southeast of Bucharest (geographi-
cal latitude: 44o25’25.8’’; geographical longitude: 26o16’06.5’’; elevation:
59 m). Up to date, this is the largest necropolis on the Muntenian territory,
dating back to the Neolithic period. It was discovered and investigated
by Gheorghe Cantacuzino (Cantacuzino, Moritz 1963; Cantacuzino
1969). The monograph regarding the Cernica Neolithic necropolis (378
graves) was published by Eugen Comşa and Gheorghe Cantacuzino (Comşa,
Cantacuzino 2001).
This necropolis was found accidentally in 1961, on the occasion of the
systematic excavations in the Căldăraru village, on the western bank of the
Cernica Lake. Between 1961 and 1974, 374 burials were discovered. The
earliest interments of the Cernica necropolis belong to the Dudeşti Culture
and the subsequent ones to the Boian Culture. The burials of both cultures
consist of simple pits, with rectangular or oval shapes. The position of the
corpses was extended or �exed. In the last case, the lower and upper extremi-
ties were bound together. It is believed that the �exed position can indicate
the fetus’ position in the uterus or the most common position in sleep, which
gives death the meaning of extensive sleep. The funerary inventories – on or
under the corpses – are very poor, compared to the Eneolithic period: a dish,
a �int blade, a stone ax, a bead or pendant, a bracelet made of Spondylus, a
meat offering, ochre (dust or clump). In one of the burials from Cernica a bead
made of copper ore was found, the oldest one from Romania and Europe.
The archaeologists identi�ed three types of funerary inventories: food
offerings and pots �lled with water – Neolithic people believed in “afterlife”or
a “life after death” and offered food and drink to the dead person to have
them on the way to the afterworld; different tools from smooth stone, �int and
bone, which partly re�ect the householder’s tools used during his lifetime; the
“jewels”: pins – near 8 skeletons; the M101 skeleton had a pin that featured
a nude woman – pendants, beads, bracelets, the valve of a shell – near the
M43, M47, M48, M14 skeletons – a ring of bone) (Fig. 1).

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 Case studies of archaeoastronomy in Romania

Fig. 1 – A grave (M244) from Cernica with

three skeletons.

The low number of graves from the Neolithic time is discordant with
the demographic estimates; for this reason, some researchers advanced the
hypothesis that just a part of the population was selected for burial (Sângeor-
zan 1981). The East-West orientation in the Cernica Neolithic necropolis is
evident. On the map of the cemetery, two accumulations of burials can be
distinguished, one in the North and the other one in the South (Fig. 2). Between
these two groups, there is a central row of about 10 burials. Some of them are
far from the main groups. The reason might be that in the neighborhood of
the necropolis traces of all three phases of the Boian culture can be detected
(Giuleşti, Vidra, Bolintineanu).
In Fig. 2 we can see that many skeletons, whose orientation is out of
the solar arc, are grouped along a line, at the border of the Northern and the
Southern agglomerations. The reason may be due to a miscalculation, or an
exception made by the community.

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I. Szücs-Csillik, A. Comşa, Z. Maxim, I. Szűcs

Fig. 2 – Digital overwiew map of the Cernica Neolithic necropolis.

For the analysis of this necropolis, characterized by large amounts of

data, we constructed a database. This database includes many �elds containing
topics like: burial number, in the discovery order; interesting and particular
graves (for example pregnant women, skeletons facing down, and so on);
x-axis of the graves (measured on the map); y-axis of the graves (measured
on the map); azimuth (measured in degrees from the North, data taken from
the monograph); azimuth (measured in degrees from the North, data taken
from the monograph map); azimuth (cardinal points); state of the skeleton;
age of the skeleton; sex of the skeleton; height of the skeleton; depth of the
grave; position of the skeleton in the grave; head position; head orientation
(cardinal points); head orientation (code); extended or �exed; hand position;
hand under the skeleton; leg position; burials with inventory; place of funer-
ary inventories; funerary inventory (description); funerary inventory (object);
pottery; tools; jewelry; anthropological data; year of discovery; trench; culture;
phase; burial outline; burial rite.

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 Case studies of archaeoastronomy in Romania

Using this huge database, we could draw a lot of conclusions about the
life of Neolithic man in the Cernica range. For the processing of our database
we used MATLAB and Maple programs (Garvan 2001; Moler 2004). Our
numerical programs are conceived for the case study of the Cernica necropolis,
but they can be very useful for other types of research as well. In the future,
we plan to use them for a study regarding other Neolithic necropolises in the
Carpathian Basin.
We will brie�y present the mathematical and astronomical method
used for the Neolithic necropolis of Cernica. We know that the points of
sunrise and sunset differ from the years 4600-4200 BC, the period to which
the Cernica necropolis has been dated. During the year, the points of sunrise
(sunset) follow a solar arc, which is delimited by the winter and summer
solstice (Maxim et al. 2002).
First, we calculated the azimuth of the Sun (the angles are measured
from North to East with a compass) at the summer solstice (A1) and winter
solstice (A2) for the geographical latitude of ϕ = 44°25’ = 44°.416 (Cernica
necropolis).
Using Wittmann’s theory (Wittmann 1979) and the formula from
Maxim et al. 2002, we found that:
4200 BC Summer solstice Winter solstice
Sunrise azimuth A1= 55°04’38’’ A2= 124°55’22’’
Sunset azimuth A3= 304°55’22’’ A4= 235°04’38’’

4400 BC Summer solstice Winter solstice

Sunrise azimuth A1= 55°01’35’’ A2= 124°58’25’’
Sunset azimuth A3= 304°58’25’’ A4= 235°01’35’’

4600 BC Summer solstice Winter solstice

Sunrise azimuth A1= 55°00’07’’ A2= 124°59’53’’
Sunset azimuth A3= 304°59’53’’ A4= 235°00’07’’

One can see from the calculation results that the sunset follows a solar
arc in one year from 235° (Winter Solstice) to 304° (Summer Solstice) for
4600-4200 BC (Fig. 3). Using these mathematical results we can say that, in
this period, a form of solar cult was practiced in Cernica: sunrise and sunset
were observed as part of a burial ritual. The Gaussian distribution of the
skeletons from Cernica necropolis shows a West-East orientation, with an
apex at spring-autumn (Fig. 4).
Concerning the main results, especially those which are derived from
comparisons regarding orientation, one can note that, out of 378 burials,
41% of the skeletons were facing to the left (North) and 46% to the right
(South). Perhaps the view was in the direction of the ancestral land or the
house of the deceased.

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I. Szücs-Csillik, A. Comşa, Z. Maxim, I. Szűcs

Fig. 3 – Orientation of skeletons in Cernica Neolithic necropolis.

The positions of skeletons were 91% extended and 8% �exed. The ar-
chaeologists arrived at an important historical conclusion: the graves which
contain extended skeletons were earlier than those containing �exed skel-
etons, because, as already stated, they belonged to different material cultures
(Dudeşti and Boian).
In Cernica a form of solar cult was practiced: sunrise or sunset were
observed within the limits of a burial ritual (Comşa 2006). Among the aligned
skeletons 92.11% were also comprised in the western area of annual oscil-
lation of the Sun in azimuth. 26 skeletons are out of the solar arc, but they
are close to the winter and summer solstice point. The Gaussian distribution
of the skeletons from Cernica necropolis shows a West-East orientation with
an apex at spring-autumn. This fact shows that the mortality rate grows in
spring and autumn. This death rate can be connected to epidemics (in�uenza,
hepatitis, encephalitis), or lack of food (the end of winter).
Looking at the skeletons from Cernica, it is possible to deduce that each
one of them was meant to express something that had characterized the dead
person. The skeletons were put in the graves in a speci�c manner. For example,
in the skeletons which are outside of the solar arc, the hand position is corre-
lated with the direction in which the head is facing. Using this body language
(Pease 1981), we can deduce the following: the Neolithic people from Cernica
belonged to the Sun culture. This is revealed by the burials inside and outside
the solar arc; the position of hands and legs of pregnant women’s skeletons;
the unnatural position of corpses; different positions of grave goods along
the corpses in the three different phases of the Boian culture.

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 Case studies of archaeoastronomy in Romania

Fig. 4 – Histogram of aligned skeletons.

The hand positions show the same apex (at the Western point) and we
obtain the same result if we take into account the sex of the skeletons (Fig.
5). But the head position and the hand position seem to be well correlated.
The legs are extended, bended or crossed.
Four skeletons of pregnant women [M158 (242°), M251 (264°), M256
(280°), M303 (284°)] were found in the Cernica cemetery. Each skeleton is
inside the solar arc and is not isolated in the cemetery. M158 was buried in
January or December, M251 in October or March, M256 in September or
April and M303 in May or August. Three skeletons positioned face down
[M149 (258°), M237A (260°), M318 (260°)] were also discovered in the
Cernica necropolis. Each skeleton is inside the solar arc and is not isolated in
the necropolis. It is very interesting that none of the skeletons had a funerary
inventory. The Neolithic people buried the dead person face down to immo-
bilize its spirit in the pit, and to prevent it from disturbing the living.
As we have already pointed out, the large inhumation cemetery at Cer-
nica is one of the chief sites of the Boian Culture. The anthropological studies
made on the Cernica necropolis showed that the small-statured Mediterranoid
anthropological type was mostly frequent within the Neolithic population,

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I. Szücs-Csillik, A. Comşa, Z. Maxim, I. Szűcs

Fig. 5 – Orientation of skeletons with both hands on the abdomen versus azimuth.

followed by the Protoeuropid, the Alpine and Nordic ones (Necrasov et al.
1990).
The Cernica necropolis yielded valuable evidence on burial practices
and on the use of personal ornaments (pendants, bracelets, beads) of Medi-
terranean origin and made of shells. This indicates that extensive intertribal
trading existed between the Boian culture in Romania and the Mediterranean
region. The skill of the Boian potters is re�ected in the footed cylindrical
vases, the open dishes, and the cups which have straight sides sloping slightly
outward from the base.

3. Sarmizegetusa Regia
Legends mention, about the year 3000 BC, the existence of a great
empire, ruled by the priestess of the Uranian Sun, Dacia-Dochia, which was
located in the area of the Ceahlău Mountain. She was simultaneously the
supreme judge and military leader.
Five hundred years later, Hestia (Vesta), queen and high priestess of the
sacred �re, led the same empire based upon the code of fair laws, Belagine.
Hestia was later on dei�ed by the Thracians. Around 1400 BC, traditions
mention the name of Zamolxe (Zamolxis, Zalmoxis), high priest, physician

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 Case studies of archaeoastronomy in Romania

and king, likewise dei�ed, who presumably received the Belagine code of
laws, directly from the goddess Hestia. As it appears today, in the Zamolxean
schools, which lasted for hundreds of years, philosophy, logic, mathematics,
and medicine were taught, while the uses and names of medicinal herbs have
been handed over to us through folklore.
Sarmizegetusa Regia (geographical latitude: 45o37’36’’ N; geographi-
cal longitude: 23o18’62’’ E; altitude: 990 m), located in the sacred Orăştie
Mountains in Romania, comprises the remains of a forti�ed city and sacred
area (Bărbosu et al. 2004). The city dates from 82 BC to 107 AD, during
the reign of Decebal, the last of the Dacian kings. Sarmizegetusa Regia was
the most important religious, military and political center of Dacia during
this period (Fig. 6). The archaeological ruins clearly illustrate the importance
of geometry in designing the city; rectangular and polygonal structures were
common, along with circular sacred spaces.
Ancient Sarmizegetusa, the biggest known Dacian fortress, rises on the
Grădiştea hill. The fortress covers 3 hectares within its walls with an irregular
plan. But Sarmizegetusa did not have a primary strategic importance, unlike
the other fortresses that dominate the surrounding areas. Sarmizegetusa Regia
is at 1000 m elevation and it dominates the highest places around. Because of
their stateliness and their enigmatic nature, the most impressive features are
the sanctuaries, Getae-Dacian religious constructions (Glodariu 1995).
Near the great round sanctuary there is one of the most interesting
monuments of “The Sacred Precincts”: a pavement of Andesite slabs arranged
like rays around one round slab, made of the same stone (Fig. 7). Because of
this shape, this round pavement with a 7 m diameter was named “The Andesite
Sun” – this huge circular construction, divided into ten sections, having ap-
proximately 36 degrees each, comes tangentially to the Great Calendar Temple
and points to several Dacian buildings. This pavement has a foundation made
of limestone blocks. It has a long radius, which points to North and an inner
circle that has 1,54 m in diameter. The 10 radiuses traced on the surface of
the Andesite stone measure 2,76 m in length (Comşa 1991).
The monument of the compact Andesite disk, with 10 rays incrusted
upon its surface, is placed on the right as an extension of the large axis of
the Large Rounded Sanctuary apse, with an orientation to 30 degrees. The
golden number is present in the concentric circle and also in each of the 10
isosceles triangles of the regular decagon. The supporting basis of the disk
is very solid and this led to the conclusion that offerings of large animals
(horses, bulls, etc.) were practiced upon the disk, a hypothesis supported by
a big limestone dish placed beneath the disk, with a drainage hole over the
collecting channel of the sacred precinct.
The symbol of the solar disk is to be found upon many Dacian frag-
ments of pottery discovered during the excavations. The Andesite sun has

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I. Szücs-Csillik, A. Comşa, Z. Maxim, I. Szűcs

Fig. 6 – The map of the sacred area of Sarmizegetusa Regia: 1. The great round
sanctuary; 2. The small round sanctuary; 3. The Andesite Sun; 4. The eastern
rectangular sanctuary; 5. The western rectangular sanctuary; 6. The sacred way;
7. The southern old sanctuary; 8. The western new sanctuary.

Fig. 7 – Andesite stone and the great round sanctuary.

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 Case studies of archaeoastronomy in Romania

this name because it displays the Sun. Many ideas had arisen concerning the
nature of the Andesite stone use. In the following lines, we will present few
possible uses of this assembly: for a better orientation in space (the sundial,
the gnomon, the astrolabe, the compass), for determining the measurement
units (decagon, pentagon, golden number), for orientation in a plan (radiuses
pointing to the peaks of surrounded Mountains), and for religious ceremonies
(the Sun Altar of the God).
There is much evidence for the solar cult of the Getae-Dacians: the
Andesite Sun from Sarmizegetusa, with a diameter of 7,1 m, worked out of
Andesite plaques and having in the center a disk with a diameter of 1,5 m;
the incrusted arrow pointed to the North: this was the altar where the offer-
ings were brought and sacri�ces were made; the missing roof on the Dacian
temples, in order to prevent the Sun from being hidden; the arrangement of
the pillars and slabs of the rounded sanctuary from Sarmizegetusa, which
proves their knowledge about the 365 day calendar and the Sun movement
during the year; the use of the sacred �re and the practice of cremation.
The solar cult is closely connected with the rounded sanctuaries like
the one from Sarmizegetusa, or the one in England, at Stonehenge. The no-
tion of the sacred circle had expanded further to all magical practices, as a
form of protection for the space where a ritual takes place. The probable
denomination given by the Dacians to the Sun was “Dzio”. From this word
are derived the recent words of “ziua” (day) and “zeu” (god), that still have
a close form in the Italian: “dio”.
In our astronomical investigation we used the sun view from the Sun
altar. Sunspots are seen as “small” dark spots on the surface of the Sun. They
are easy to observe and count if the sunlight is strongly �ltered. They were
�rst noticed (in Western record) in the year 325 BC by Theophrastus, a Hel-
lenic scientist, and they have been counted on a regular basis since the mid-
dle of the 17th century. They come and go in cycles which average about 11
years. Solar cycle is the main source of periodic solar variation and activity,
causing variations in space weather. The cycle varies in both amplitude and
duration. The cycle is observed by counting the frequency and placement of
sunspots visible on the Sun. The largest group of spots become visible to the
naked eye, when the Sun’s glare is �ltered (Chinese, BC). Sunspots had some
importance in the debate over the nature of the solar system. They showed that
the Sun rotated, and their comings and goings showed that the Sun changed.
In the Dacian period a 10 year solar cycle may have been present, which was
represented on the top of the solar altar, namely the ten radiuses. Analyzing
numerically the data from the Dacian period of Sarmizegetusa Regia, we
can say that the 10 year solar cycle hypothesis could be the reason for the
Sun altar’s appearance. So, we can bring evidence for the hypothesis that at
Sarmizegetusa Regia the Dacians had used their astronomical knowledge.

335
I. Szücs-Csillik, A. Comşa, Z. Maxim, I. Szűcs

4. Conclusions
In the burials from Cernica, the dead person had his legs towards the
sunrise direction. So, we can admit the existence of a special cult, which con-
sisted in the orientation of the dead person towards the sunrise. The purpose
of this practice can be a last, desperate attempt to resurrect the dead person to
“life”, the light of the Sun feeding him with energy during the “resurrection”
moment (Szücs-Csillik, Maxim 2008). The main occupations of all Dudeşti
and Boian communities were agriculture and animal husbandry, suitable to
the geographical environment of the plain, so that they could easily develop a
solar calendar. This Solar cult, which subsequently appeared and was also used
for the burials, was created by a systematic observation of the Sun. Another
important conclusion is that Neolithic people had possibly made a social dif-
ferentiation concerning the dead location in the cemetery (in the middle was
the rich, healthy, protected person), and in the orientation of the skeletons
(probably derived from another population, not native but foreign).
In the case of the Sarmizegetusa Regia, the so-called Romanian Stone-
henge, the complex solar sign was represented by two concentric circles joined
by means of ten solar rays. The arc of the circle had a symbolic meaning, that
indicated periods when the solar cults took place, or when the Sun phenomena
occurred (solar cycle). The arcs of the circle had different measurements, and
the reason for this might be an irregular phenomenon of the Sun.
Iharka Szücs-Csillik
Astronomical Observatory
Cluj-Napoca
Alexandra Comşa
Institute of Archaeology “Vasile Pârvan”
Bucharest
Zoia Maxim
National Museum of Transylvanian History
Cluj-Napoca
István Szűcs

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ABSTRACT

Archaeoastronomy is the discipline which studies celestial phenomena looking from

the viewpoint of our ancestors (how they understood and used celestial phenomena and what
role the sky played in their cultures). Archaeoastronomy uses different methods, derived from
archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, statistics, and probability, in order to determine the
thoughts of the ancient civilizations. Because these methods are heterogeneous and use data
coming from different sources, the collecting and processing require considerable time. In
this article two archaeoastronomical case studies in Romania are presented. First, we show a
mathematical method used in order to study the astronomical orientation of the skeletons from
the Neolithic necropolis of Cernica. We created a detailed data bank for the Cernica necropolis
and, using our program written in MATLAB, we obtained interesting results, mostly from an
astronomical point of view. Secondly, we provide an astronomical explanation about the ten
radiuses on the top of the Andesite Stone from Sarmizegetusa Regia.

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