Carpathian Tumuli

Less vast than the area occupied by Lipiţa, the Carpathian Tumuli culture evolved in parts of today’s Pokuttya, Maramureş, Bucovina and to a lesser extent, Northwest Moldova and evolved between the end of the 2nd century and the end of the 4th century AD.

Arrival of East Germanic tribes in the Upper Dniester region forced Costoboci withdraw or crowd in the Carpathians at the end of the 2nd century AD and the beginning of the 3rd, where a part of them were already living. Other groups migrated in the area of the Carpic culture (nowadays Moldova) or remained to live together with the newly arrived peoples of the Przeworsk culture.

Dacian mark of the culture is showed by most of the material evidence. It is obvious that tumuli disappear from Roman Dacia with the coming of Imperial administration, but they continue to exist in the unconquered north of Dacia, a sign that the local population keeps its ancestral beliefs. The demarcation line is pretty sure, since now neighbour Przeworsk peoples don’t have tumular tombs. As in the Lipiţa culture, the dead were cremated and their ashes were put in urns which were buried in the tumuli. The difference is that now we don’t find anymore plane tombs, but only or almost only tumular tombs.

After Theodosius I defeats the neighbouring Carpi in 381, the people of the Carpathian Tumuli culture lose an important ally and soon after, this archaeological culture dissipates, its place being taken by another one, Sîntana de Mureş – Chernyakhov, which replaces also the cultural aspect Poieneşti – Lucaşevca in the Northwestern Moldavian Subcarpathians, formed by the Germanic tribe of Bastarnae between the Costoboci and the Carpi.

We can follow the Costoboci even after the beginning of the 5th century, the new formed Prague - Korchak culture being linked to the Carpathian Tumuli, and less Slavic. Between the two cultures was no chronological breach; Costoboci remained on their territories, but now start to receive not only Slavic-type material culture elements, but also some Slavic population.