The 2010 campaign of the Porolissum Forum Project was conducted June 21-July 30 with a Team of about 45 members. We focused on areas 22 and 23, first explored in 2009 and in doing so were able to revise our understaning of the Roman phases (please note that we prefer to maintain information posted for previous years in order to indicate our evolving understanding of the site. The chronological information here supersedes the information posted in other pages of this website).
Areas 22 and 23 to the west and southwest of the courtyard contain a series
of superimposed architectural features whose functions still remain unclear.
As noted in the results of the 2009 season, the features are partially
united by three parallel walls, which represent the earliest stone phase.
These walls have been re-dated to the time of Antoninus Pius based upon
pottery and coins (we had previously underestimated the extent of construction
during the Antonine phase). The walls are massive with a width of 90 cm;
thus, they represent a public building of uncertain nature. Similar walls
were noted on the north side of the courtyard - PFP 2007, Trench 10, but
no chronological information was gained at the time. Based upon the homogeneous
architecture, we can now date these walls. Therefore, at least two large
public buildings stood in the area of the forum by the mid 2nd century
AD.
The Antonine structure appears to have been systematically dismantled for
unknown reasons - there is no evidence of sudden destruction, by fire,
for example. The walls were razed to a common level and a new floor preparation
was installed (similar actions occurred to the north building). The second
major stone phase dates to the Severan period. There is evidence that building
stones were recycled from the Antonine building. The Severan buildings
include the cocciopesto floor we encountered in 2009 and again in 2010.
Several walls use the razed Antonine walls as foundations; in other cases
the Severan walls did not conform at all to the earlier building. Three
apses have been revealed in this complex. Moreover, a hypocaust system
was unearther in contiguous Area 23. We hesitate to call this a bath, but
considering the population of Porolissum was at least 10,000 (20-25,000
by some estimates) more than one bath complex is likely and the cistern
revealed in 2007 and 2008 lies nearby. We did not learn much more about
the post-Roman phases, but unearthed the kinds of features we have seen
in previous seasons, including a late hearth.
2010 was a wonderful season, but we experienced a tremendous loss. Just
one month after the conclusion of the field season, on Sept. 4, the founder
of the Forum Project, Alexandru Matei passed away. He is one of the greatest
men I have known and we will carry on the Project in his honor. I met Alexandru
in 2002 at a conference I co-organized with the Mellon Professor of the
American Academy in Rome, Prof. Archer Martin. Shortly thereafter, we were
contacted by Alexandru regarding the possibility of a collaboration. I
was very interested and visited Porolissum in Fall 2003 - I saw the great
potential of the Project. We organized a pilot season with just 3 field
school students in 2004 and then started the major campaigns in 2006. I
was already an experienced archaeologist, but he taught me and my colleagues
much more. He loved life and had a great spirit - he shared all of his
experiences with the core staff and students. He told us stories of his
excavations, about how his love for Porolissum and Salaj County drove him
to develop the Museum and historical sites throughout the county. He led
us on the field trips and gave us insights into the entire history of his
beloved Romania, including the fact that he was a local revolutionary in
Zalau in the overthrow of the dictatorship in 1989. He fought many battles
on the archaeological front, driven by his passions to revolutionize the
archaeological and historical scene in Romania. He was the greatest Leader
I have ever met, reminding me of figures such as Gaius Marius or Julius
Caesar. He brought people together, was always the focal point, he was
a hard worker and expected everyone around him to work hard. He also liked
to play and was the life of dinners and social affairs. He was loved by
all of his closest students and colleagues who understood his loving and
somewhat rebellious spirit. He enjoyed summer 2010 tremendously - I saw
him always happy. We organized a festival at Porolissum on August 1 - Romano-Dacian
Day which involved re-enactments of battles, traditional dances and, of
course, Roman food and drink (there are many pictures on Facebook). The
last time I saw him, just 4 days before his passing, we had pizza at a
table set under the night sky at the highest point of Porolissum (Alexandru,
Zsolt, Rob, Ancuta and myself). His favorite phrase was simple: "Life
is good!". Indeed it was and is...
