On the Transylvanian territory 19 axes have been recorded that date to different times during the 7th and 8th c. AD, and which create a chronological sequence that will be shown in the text below. These 19 artefacts were retrieved from: 6 cemeteries — 10 finds; 1 military guard post / observation post for the surveillance of the area — 1 find; a settlement / house — 1 find; and discovered as stray finds: at 3 specified sites — 4 finds, within the territory of the county — 3 finds. The shape of the artefacts is the main criterion used to develop the typological groups of axes found in the Transylvanian plateau. Accordingly, five main types have been defined: 1st type — Axe with a poll, hammer type; 2nd type — Axe with a long poll in the shape of a rectangular bar; 3rd type — Axe with a fan-shaped blade and a long poll in the shape of a rectangular bar; 4th type — Axe with a round poll; 5th type — pole-axe. Taking into consideration the contexts of the discoveries and known analogies, these axes can be dated to different points in time creating a chronological sequence spanning over the 7th and 8th centuries. Most of the axes dated from the 7th and 8th centuries in Transylvania were found in warrior graves or funerary contexts, or together with other weapons, thus providing grounds for their inclusion within the category of weapons. This fact, combined with the series of typological features, allows to include these artifacts in the category of battle axes.

This study examines the causal links between improvements in economic freedom and changes in GDP per capita of new EU members in transition in the period 2000‒2009. The empirical results suggest significant causality running from changes in monetary and fiscal freedom, trade openness, regulation of credit, labour, and business, legal structure and security of property rights, and access to sound money to movements in GDP per capita, especially in less and moderately developed CEE transition countries. Moreover, we find evidence that improvements in economic freedom are one of the main factors stimulating the convergence of these economies towards rich EU members. The evidence of causality in the opposite direction is much weaker.