Question: Will you please briefly introduce yourself
My name is Gelu A. Florea, I am a professor in the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology at the Faculty of History and Philosophy. My field of expertise is the archaeology of the second iron age and my on-site studies in the country and abroad focus on this period of protohistory. A number of the papers I have written are mainly looking at the connections between art, viewed as a form of communication, and ideology, the archaeological expressions of religions and how we can make sense of them today in the absence of ancient written sources. Lately, I have also turned my attention to how Dacian antiquity is currently assimilated into our society and to how it is distorted and reinterpreted in the collective imagination in the form of Dacianism.
Can you give us a brief overview of the academic output that prompted this interview?
In 2019, we launched an archaeological research project in France (in the historical region of Bourgogne), on the site of Mont Beuvray – in antiquity Bibracte, capital of the powerful Gallic tribe of the Haedui. We were invited by the European Centre for Archaeology based there and we formed a joint Franco-Romanian team in collaboration with Professor Sophie Krausz from the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, a close friend of our university.
Our initial talks were mediated by professor Călin Tămaș, from the Faculty of Geology, who has been working there for many years in the field of mining archaeology and is highly esteemed, and whom I thank.
It is a site dating from the end of the Iron Age, one of the most important in the temperate region of Europe, well-known since antiquity (mentioned by Caesar in De bello Gallico) and just as famous today for the scientific achievements of the teams conducting research there, coming from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, France, Great Britain, etc. The Centre Archeologique Européen Bibracte (https://www.bibracte.fr/le-centre-archeologique-europeen) is a hub of European archaeology which is recognised not only for bringing together international teams but also for its scholarly publications and scientific events, which are invaluable contributions to the study of the protohistory of the continent. The Centre provides research teams with an excellent museum, a specialised library, and other archaeology-related facilities.
The UBB team (also including students and doctoral students from the Faculty of History and Philosophy) has joined French colleagues in carrying out excavations in the Les Grandes Portes sector, on two separate sites, as part of a project called Bibracte militaire, which focuses on the defensive component of the great ancient fortified settlement: one of the main gates, the enclosure wall, the access road, and a platform near the entrance. On weekends, we organise guided visits to museums and archaeological sites in the region (Augustodunum – Autun, Vix-Mt. Lassois, Vézelay, etc.). These are opportunities for students to get acquainted first-hand with international colleagues, with places and histories they have only read about…
This collaboration was further consolidated in recent years through joint conferences and courses and joint doctoral projects. I will soon travel to the University of Bordeaux Montaigne to join a doctoral defence committee for a dissertation on the protohistoric religions of Gaul.
Looking ahead, what upcoming academic projects are you working on?
I hope to continue, with the support of the management of the Faculty of History and Philosophy and of UBB, this major research project which has significant educational benefits for students. It also increases the international visibility of our university. Last year we received on the Bibracte site a visit from the President of the University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, accompanied by a vice-president, as well as representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Paris and the French Embassy in Bucharest, who took an interest in our work there and in the excellent Romanian-French scientific cooperation.
I will also continue to work with international colleagues in the NEMESIS International Research Network de l’Atlantique à la Mer Noire, territoires et sociétés européennes à l’âge du Fer (https://irnnemesis.hypotheses.org/category/projet-nemesis), supported by CNRS France, whose aim is to facilitate networking and joint projects of European archaeologists. UBB is part of the core-group and a founding member. The network organises annual specialist workshops (in September 2022 it was hosted by UBB) which bring together scientists from several countries and produce open access publications. In 2025 I will co-organise such an international workshop at the University Paul Valéry in Montpellier, in collaboration with my colleague Professor Réjane Roure.
