Romania – The Dacian Civilization
A civilization of 10,000 years old is hidden in The Orastie Mountains, under the houses and stables of the peasants that live in this area.
We have heard about The Egyptian, Mayan, Incaic civilizations. There are many geographical atlases, documentary or artistic movies that tell about those megalithic, mysterious civilizations that have had great technical and scientific achievements that still make us raise an eyebrow. You think if you go to Egypt or the Republic of Peru, you’ll be able to understand the way, the pyramids have been built or to decipher the composition of the pillars and the iron spheres that never seem to rust, although they are at winds and rains’ mercy. Although it seems incredible or exaggerated, you might be able to verify your theories by going to The Orastie Mountains where you can find the vestiges of a very old and fascinating civilization – the Dacian one.
The first thing you might get in mind when you think of the Dacians is, probably, Sarmizegetusa. Sarmizegetusa was the most important Dacian military, religious and political centre. Erected on top of a 1,200 meters high mountain , the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orastie Mountains, comprosing six citadels. The fortress was a quadrilateral being formed by massive stones (murus dacicus). It was constructed on five terraces, on an area of almost 30,000 square metres. People usually think only at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa but they hardly think of Sarmizegetusa Regia (established 40 km from Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa) that was created by the population that used to live there.
First of all, The Dacians were thorough constructers, astronomers, experts in metallurgy and military strategies. Sarmizegetusa Regia is a colossus made of hundreds of fortresses that were outspread in a big area of 5000 square kilometres. The human intervention is present all over till the top of the mountain. The evidence shows the fact that the Dacians used to wall up the mountains. All of mountains around Sarmizegetusa had terraces and the slopes were walled up. There were found refined stones with a weight of 3 tons all over the tops, slopes and valleys. The transportation of those huge stones to the top of the mountains is still a mystery because the quantity of material was superior to the one people used to build the Egyptian pyramids. The Dacian calendar competes with the one from Stonehenge. Six Dacian fortresses – Sarmizegetusa, Costesti, Blindaru, Piatra Rosie, Capalna and Banita - are Unesco World heritage sites.
Vestiges of industrial activity show that the Dacians have been very good at iron processing. There were found ingots, forges and tongs for handling the iron in fire, furnaces and iron lens. Not many people know that the Batrana Mountain is the highest summit in Romania, not from the geographical point of view, but from the geophysical one. The gravitational measurements have shown that this is the highest mountain because of its very hard nucleus made of iron ores. Is it just an accident that the Dacians have had their biggest iron mine in this area?!
The Dacians were very good astronomers. They had measurements of the stars by using hourly coordinates and not the horizontal ones close to the level of the sea, that was used by the Egyptians, for example. There is a Dacian calendar that is almost as precise as the one from Stonehenge. Its accuracy shows great Math, astronomy and, especially, geometry knowledge. The Dacians created Sarmizegetusa as a vital centre that had a total endurance. It wasn’t meant to be left at the first attack against it.
The civilians lived around the fortress, down the mountain on man-made terraces. Dacian nobility had flowing water, brought through ceramic pipes, in their residences. The archaeological inventory, found at the site shows that Dacian society had a high standard of living. The Dacian complete defence system and the utilization of the soil advantages made the Romans slow down.
