- Metal detectorists in modern-day Romania discovered a stash of silver treasure from around 500 B.C.
- The silver treasure included six ornamental pieces, all designed as fashion accessories.
- Likely belonging to an elite member of the community, it’s the first local find from an ancient people group known as the Dacian.
The discovery of a silver treasure hoard—this one unearthed by metal detectorists—has shed a sparkling light on just how richly adorned the Dacian elite once were.
What is now modern-day Romania was once ruled by a people group known as the Dacians, who were prominent from around 500 B.C. into the first century A.D. This spring (according to a translated statement from the Museum of Mures County posted by the Breaza Mures Municipality City Hall), metal detectorists Moldovan Dionisie-Aurel and Zahan Sebastian-Adrian scoured an area around the town of Breaza in central Romania, and uncovered a cache of six silver ornamental pieces that date to the Dacian people.
This is the first find of Dacian treasure in Breaza, and it doesn’t disappoint.
The haul included a bracelet made of a circular silver bar with slightly widened ends and plant-like motif decorations, a matching pair of two knotted brooches without decoration (but with an elongated plate and a spring), a smaller brooch with four knobs, a neck chain with a looped link holding three nail-like pendants, a waist belt made up of oval plates attached alternately with a series of links, and a rectangular plate that likely attached to the belt, the last of which would likely have been decorated with a series of solar motifs showing the role the Sun played in ancient Dacian culture.
In total, the treasure weighs 19 ounces and “represented an important symbol of the owner’s social status,” museum archaeologist Daniel Cioata wrote. He added that the items would have been worn by a prominent member of the Dacian aristocracy on various special occasions, but it’s “difficult to say whether it was a man or a woman.” Either way, they would have shined in silver.
The buried silver didn’t offer up many clues as to why it was placed where it was to begin with—as Cioata said, it could have been an offering to a deity, or simply never retrieved after the owner hid it away.
This find opens up the possibility for further Dacian discoveries in and around the town of Breaza. “We hope that through field research in the coming period,” Cioata said, “the Dacian settlement or even the fortification in the area will be identified.”
Plans are now in place to document and further study the silver hoard, which the Mures County Museum will exhibit.
“These historical artifacts,” the city said in a statement, “remind us of the cultural heritage and importance of our region in the history of Dacia.”
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.