The
history of Bucharest covers the time from the early settlements on the locality's territory (and that of the surrounding area in
Ilfov County) until its modern existence as a city, capital of
Wallachia, and present-day capital of
Romania.
Ancient times
In
Antiquity, much of the territory of Bucharest and Ilfov was covered by the thick forests of
Codrii Vlăsiei. The forested area, especially the
Colentina and
Dâmboviţa valleys, were home to small and scattered settlements as early as the
Paleolithic; during the
Neolithic, Bucharest saw the presence of the
Glina culture, and, before the
19th century BC, was included in areas of the
Gumelniţa culture. During the
Bronze Age, a third phase of the
Glina culture (centered on
pastoralism, partly superimposed on the
Gumelniţa culture) and, later, the
Tei culture evolved on Bucharest soil.In the
Iron Age, the area was inhabited by a population identified with the
Getae and
Dacians (speaking an
Indo-European language; the view holding that the two groups were in fact one and the same is disputed, while the culture's latter phase can be attributed to the Dacians - small Dacian settlements were found in various places around Bucharest, such as
Herăstrău,
Radu Vodă,
Dămăroaia,
Lacul Tei,
Pantelimon...
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