History of Maramureș

Maramureș (in Romanian; Dacian: Maramarista; Latin: Marmatia;Hungarian: Máramaros; Ukrainian: Марамуреш / Maramuresh, Мармарощина / Marmaroshchyna, Мараморщина / Maramorshchyna) is a historical region in the north of Transylvania, along the upper Tisa River. The territory of the southern part of this region is now in the Maramureș County in northern Romania, whereas its northern section is included in the Zakarpattia Oblast of western Ukraine.

There is evidence that the region of Maramureș was first settled in the Superior Paleolithic era. Archaeological discoveries of this primitive society have been uncovered in the Iza Valley near the village of Nănești.

Remnants from a Neolithic culture were discovered in many regions of Maramureș. Artifacts were found around Sighetu-Marmației, Costiui, Oncești, Cornești and Giulești. Some discoveries can be dated back to 6000 BC.

Traces of Mesolithic settlements, approximately 7000 years old, have been found near the villages of Camianitsa and Dibrova (Apșa de Jos) in Northern Maramureș and are considered among the oldest in Eastern Europe. Their inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, who lived during the winter in half-dug houses near the rivers and in the summer in aboveground huts. Using tools such as chisels, bows and arrows as well as harpoons, they worked stone and developed textured and glazed pottery and Ceramic. In a corner of their households they made clay kilns. The people of that period often moved their houses due to soil exhaustion. Cattle raising led to populating of mountain regions. The inhabitants of Maramureș from that period, together with those of nearby regions, belonged to the so-called Criş culture. Later, around 2000 BC, the migration of Indo-Europeans occurred. By the Bronze Age, the region of Maramureș was well settled, though due to the geography the population was quite sparse. Major archaeological discoveries have been found in more than twenty locations from the Bronze Age. This cultural establishment provides the first proof that the settlers of this region were of Geto-Dacian ancestry. During this time, the lands of Maramureș and much of modern Romania was the Kingdom of Dacia.

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