Traian
Traian
Location: Cerna commune, Tulcea county (RAN: 160163.01; TL-I-s-B-05941)
The fortification is on the edge of a narrow and elongated promontory, oriented east-west towards the Danube. The hill called Cale-Bair (toponym translated as Dealul Cetății) is located on the land inside of the village. Access is from the road DJ 222b.
Some contemporary authors have included this fortification among those inside the defensive system because nowadays the course of the Danube is 7 km to the west. Extensive land reclamation works conducted half a century ago, had the effect of draining all the secondary watercourses in this area, the nearest water shine being lake Traian, located 1 km away.
The quadriburgium-type fortification was reported as early as the 19th century, the first plan being drawn out by P. Polonic, depicting a square with a side of 60 m. Satellite images, as well as the processing of data collected with drones, give us the image of a rhomboid fortification, the length of the sides of which is almost 60 m. By the outline of the tower on the southern corner, we can assume that they all had the same shape. Monetary finds (a treasure hoard from the time of Emperor Justinian) indicate the functioning of the fortification at least in the second half of the 6th century AD.
Part of the study:
Ovidiu Țentea, Ioan C. Opriș, Florian Matei-Popescu, Alexandru Rațiu, Constantin Băjenaru, Vlad Călina, Frontiera romană din Dobrogea. O trecere în revistă și o actualizare, Cercetări Arheologice, Vol. 26, pag. 9-82, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.46535/ca.26.01
Bibliography
Polonic 1935, 22; TIR, L 35, 73; Băjenaru 2010, 129.