Hi Barrett,
Thank you for the very detailed response! and I'm glad that some of the material proved useful. It sounds like you already have a pretty good approach toward your ajenda for learning more on early Romanian culture and arms. Actually I have always found the history of Eastern Europe mysterious and entirely intriguing, though I cannot claim any specific knowledge, only very general. I think that it is outstanding that you are maintaining such responsible approach in your research and quest for accuracy in your studies. It seems that many are caught up in romanticism and fantasy and fail to really reach historical accuracy in thier efforts to reproduce the original weaponry, fashion and proper use of arms.
Acquiring authentic antiques from these regions is especially difficult as there is indeed an incredible volume of 'misrepresented' items out there, and anything authentic will be unbelievably expensive. You will be wise to visit or contact museums for information on thier holdings, and often they will of course have published catalogs of thier weapons. I think Wolviex here on this forum may have some excellent resources pertaining to weaponry from these regions. It would seem that Radu has disappeared, and we haven't heard from him much lately..but of course he would have great resources.
"Archaeology" magazine is published by :
Archaeological Institute of America
656 Beacon St.
Boston, Mass. 02215-2010
www.archaeology.org
I would ask if you might obtain any articles or back issues on your topic from them. It really is an outstanding magazine and would likely have information on excavations in the areas you are studying. Computer searches online, as you already are well aware, provide amazing resources.
A very interesting softback book is "The Bronze Age in Europe" by Jean-Pierre Mohen and Christiane Eluere, in the 'Discoveries' series published by Abrams in N.Y. While clearly an overview, this book provides a colorful array of illustrations of costume and especially weapons etc. from many regions that were certainly close in sphere to Romania. There is one illustration of a wagon from a Romanian excavation. This is easily obtained on line and of course inexpensive, being more of pocketbook size, still fascinating though!
We'll talk more OK,
All the best,
Jim