Carpii şi cultura „carpică” între tradiţia antică şi literatura istorico-arheologică contemporană

The article aims to synthesize the research related to the Carpi – a group of populations identified by both the ancient and modern research in the regions east of roman Province Dacia. It highlights three chronological horizons of sources, of which only one can be directly linked to the Carpi – the one from the 3rd century. The study also analyses the current state of the art related to the Poienești-Vârteșcoiu archaeological culture, known as „the Carpic culture”. It briefly presents the information that contributed to the definition of this archaeological culture. Finally, the author concludes that there is a lack of reliable scientific evidence to identify the so called „Carpic culture” (Poienești-Vârteșcoiu culture) with the Carpi mentioned by the literary sources.