Magic and witchcraft were part of the life of all communities throughout the entire human history. Besides modern theoretical approaches, which first appeared in the Victorian times and continued until today, magical practices are still considered useful means through which people could communicate with the supernatural beings, and sorcerers and witches are the intermediaries of this dialogue through their knowledge and abilities. Ethnographic studies have provided numerous examples of magical rituals, illustrating the huge variety and complexity of the gestures and actions required by the aforementioned dialogue with the supernatural world. Likewise, ancient literary sources can help unveiling similar information regarding some of the past societies. However, this is not the case for many areas from temperate Europe and elsewhere during most of the ancient times. As a consequence, the archaeologists are called to provide at least partial reconstructions of the magical practices and their practitioners from the regions in question using the evidence they have uncovered. It has to be noted that the archaeology of magic and witchcraft is not a new subject. There are several important contributions published around the world, which have proposed several methods of analysing and interpreting relevant archaeological evidence; many are mentioned in the introductive chapter. At the same time, a series of recent theoretical approaches taken over from cultural anthropology, for example those related to the “cultural” or “social life of things”, could offer useful instruments for interpreting archaeological data from the perspective of magic and witchcraft in past societies. (From „FOREWORD”)

Cartea, bilingvă, are ca prim obiectiv acela de a identifica principalele tipuri de kantharoi (o categorie ceramică ce a caracterizat lumea celtică răsăriteană) danubieni, precum şi cronologia şi distribuţia lor. Al doilea obiectiv este acela de a evalua semnificaţia culturală pe care au avut o atât kantharoi i importaţi, cât şi imitaţiile locale, în cadrul diferitelor comunităţi celtice din regiune sau în interiorul unor grupuri sociale bine definite din Bazinul Carpatic. Cel de al treilea obiectiv este acela de a identifica factorii care au contribuit la renaşterea kantharoi lor iliro-pannonici pe parcursul La Tène ului târziu prin analizarea prezenţei lor într o serie de contexte arheologice semnificative. (Autorii)

The landscape of any given region has almost always being present in one way or another in archaeological reports, studies and monographs since the beginning of this scientific discipline. More often than not, landscape descriptions only aimed to provide an obligatory environmental background for the study of settlement patterns and subsistence strategies of various communities by listing “relevant” geomorphologic, pedological or faunal features, climatic patterns, mineral resources or historical/traditional land-use practices. The required data were usually lifted from modern studies, repertoires, atlases, catalogues and handbooks whose original scope often had little to do with the investigation of past societies and their practices. Likewise, archaeological sites were commonly plotted on modern-age maps that included regulated waterways, intensive agriculture, mining or quarrying, and dense transportation networks and urbanization.

However, changes in the archaeological paradigm of the last few decades, as well as the subsequent adoption of several investigative methods from other sciences (e.g. geophysics, palynology, geology, biology, biochemistry etc), have challenged the stereotypical, mono-dimensional approach that favoured a deterministic interpretative model, leading in turn to the emergence of the sub-discipline of landscape archaeology. This has also been influenced by diachronic studies of the evolution of ecological systems which focused on human beings as important actors, acknowledging that the interactions between past communities and the environment were highly dynamic processes that sometimes have repercussions until today. As a consequence, alongside the investigation of geomorphologic and hydrologic features and their impact, more attention has recently been paid by the archaeologists to the socio-political, economic, cultural and ideological dimensions of the landscape as products of human agency. (from the „Introduction”)

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„La sfârşitul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial, ţara noastră avea să intre în sfera de influență a U.R.S.S. Încă din timpul războiului Stalin afirma, şi dădea de înţeles aliaţilor, că acest război va fi altfel şi că imperiul sovietic îşi va impune propriul său sistem, până acolo unde va ajunge armata sa. Cu toate că Iuliu Maniu şi ceilalţi lideri ai partidelor istorice au sperat, până în ultimul moment, în ajutorul S.U.A., Angliei şi Franţei, acest lucru nu s-a întâmplat, Europa fiind împărţită în sfere influenţă. Din păcate, ţara noastră a căzut în sfera de influenţă a imperiului sovietic, condus de către dictatorul Stalin, care a reuşit să-şi impună regimul şi în România, până în anul 1947, cu ajutorul Partidului Comunist din România, un partid minuscul ce nu avea decât aproximativ 1000 de membri la 23 august 1944.” (din „Studiu introductiv”)

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