Settlement of the Pătârlagele Depression (Romanian Subcarpathians)

The historical geography of settlement in the Pătârlagele Depression of Romania is examined with reference to the documentary and oral evidence. Although the area is assumed to have a long history dating back to Prehistory - and is widely seen as part of a Subcarpathian region used a refuge during the Dark Age Migration Period - documentary evidence is not available before the sixteenth century. Furthermore the most remarkable developments occurred in the nineteenth century when the unstable hillsides - with extensive landslide surfaces - attracted a growing peasant population seeking a base for subsistence in the age of capitalism when the historic cereal lands were producing for the market. Although this major reorganisation is quite poorly documented, the local toponomy is remarkably rich and the oral evidence is used to help portray a cultural landscape of intensive agricultural activity around the central place of Pătârlagele that was now supporting a diverse range of functions served by road/rail communications. The study concludes with a summary covering the twentieth century including the interwar years, the communist period and the present transition.