At the horseshoe, Runcu, Gorj, 1930

Iosif Berman · 1930

In order to be able to step more easily and efficiently on the hard mountain roads in the area of Runcului the horses and the oxen were horsed. Before mounting the blacksmith horseshoe, which was usually also the village horseshoe, cleaned with tools well sharpened the animal’s nail. The picture shows an old blacksmith and probably an apprentice of his own, potting an ox. On the initiative and under the direction of Professor Dimitrie Gusti from 29 June to 18 August 1930, a team of 60 monographers methodically and analytically researched all areas of his life - cosmological, biological, psychological, historical, economic, spiritual, political-administrative, at Runcu, Gorj, village (documentary attestation in 1486) situated at the foothills of the Vâcan Mountains in Sohodolului Gorge. Following this thorough investigation we defined the Romanian concepts about the theory and technique of sociological monography that in the coming years began to be known and applied also by researchers from other countries in Europe. Photography, cacherata on a cardboard sheet, with the humorous information: region, locality, title (in Romanian, French, German), date, photographer.