Starinar
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Things we lost in the fire
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From the earliest excavations on the territory of the central Balkans and up to today, Late Neolithic pottery assemblages have remained one of the most important contributors to our knowledge of the past. To a certain extent, the burned Late Neolithic horizons left a great number of the architectural details preserved in the archaeological record, along with various artefacts, of which pottery makes up the largest part. However, due to the fact that the majority of pottery vessels and sherds were subjected to temperatures that were higher than those they were initially fired in the manufacturing process, decoration makes up a minority of the archaeological record of the central Balkans and, unfortunately, we usually deal with plain assemblages. Therefore, it is not surprising that the discovery of one vessel that has a small preserved portion of applied painted decoration, unearthed from a burned building structure in the latest horizon at the site of Pločnik, introduced a whole new set of questions. Importantly, this instance further emphasises that when deconstructing prehistoric paradigms, our interpretation sometimes must go beyond observation.
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Thracians - Illyrians - Celts. Cultural connections in the northern Balkans in the 4th-3rd centuries BC
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The result of the colonisation of the eastern and southern part of the Carpathian Basin by Celtic communities was the appearance of some new communities characterised by the cultural amalgamation of the newcomers with the indigenous populations, which led to the construction of new collective identities. At the same time, the “colonists” established different social, political or economic relationships with different indigenous populations from the Balkans. This article discusses the practices related to the cultural interactions between the aforementioned communities and the ways in which these connections can be identified through the analysis of material culture from the eastern and southern Carpathian Basin, and the northern and north-western Balkans.
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To whom does Serbian archaeology belong?
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The long-standing archaeological research of the Serbian Vinča culture sites of Belovode and Plocnik has been strengthened with the joint collaborative work with the UCL Institute of Archaeology in the past 6 years. This collaboration yielded scientific demonstration of the world’s earliest copper smelting amongst the excavated materials, c. 7000 years old. In the six years since the first publication of this finding in 2010, a number of detailed analytical studies followed, together with another breakthrough discovery of the world’s earliest tin bronze artefact. This artefact was excavated in a secure context within a Vinča culture settlement feature at the site of Pločnik, which was radiocarbon dated to c. 4650 BC. On the basis of the early metallurgical results from Belovode, the UK Government funded a large international collaborative project from 2012-2015. This included Serbian, British and German teams all of whom brought substantial experience and cutting-edge technology to the study of the evolution of the earliest known metal-making in its 5th millennium BC Balkan cultural context. This project’s forthcoming publications, including a major monograph published by UCL Press, which will be free to download, promise to shed new light on the life of the first metal-making communities in Eurasia, and also outline integrated methodological approaches that will serve as a model for similar projects worldwide. The open, balanced and respectful research atmosphere within our core project team is currently being challenged by an unsubstantiated controversy. This controversy arises from accusations against the project team members by Duško Šljivar, a once an extremely supportive and prominent member of our team. Each of these accusations by Duško Šljivar is completely contradictory to his own previous documented work, and have therefore easily been refuted. The work by Duško Šljivar in question encompasses: two decades of excavations at the sites of Belovode and Pločnik; including single-authored and joint publications prior to 2012, including those with Miljana Radivojević and Julka Kuzmanović-Cvetković; and official field documentation, either signed off solely by him, or together with his co-excavator at the site of Pločnik, Julka Kuzmanović-Cvetković. The first accusation, published in 2014, saw Duško Šljivar deny, together with another colleague, the veracity of his original field journal notes on the context of the previously mentioned tin bronze foil, for which he received an immediate and successful rebuttal. In the second accusation, published in Starinar LXV/ 2015, Duško Šljivar continued with the same practice of denying his own official field journals and publications which he (co-) authored with a series of false accusations relating to the manipulation of the original data from the excavations of the sites of Belovode and Pločnik by Radivojević and Kuzmanović-Cvetković. In the third accusation, Šljivar argues that his copyright was infringed, and that field journals were used without permission. This is despite the fact that these accusations are legally and formally unsupported, and that he shared his data and materials during the course of a long collaboration and co-authorship on a number of articles with both Radivojević and Kuzmanović- Cvetković over the course of the last two decades. In other words, in order to validate his accusations and to seek to damage our untainted academic standings, Duško Šljivar has denied all his professional and academic achievements, research articles, field diaries and formal documents that he ever (co-) wrote and/or signed on the topic. He even goes as far as to exclude a landmark joint publication in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal (Radivojević et al. 2010) from his citation list in order to support his claim that a formal agreement on the joint publishing of Belovode metallurgy results has never been fulfilled. Šljivar also omitted the published rebuttal (Radivojević et al. 2014) to unsubstantiated claims on alleged manipulation of contextual data of the tin bronze foil from the Vinča culture site of Pločnik put forward in a joint article by him and another colleague (Šljivar and Borić 2014). In order to end this malicious debate, we present our rebuttal from 2014 and further elaborate upon it by showing the original quotes from the Pločnik field diary on the day that the tin bronze foil in question was found, and from the concluding remarks of the diary in question. We again clearly demonstrate that there has never been any doubt regarding the secure context of the tin bronze foil within the Vinča culture material, that the Vinča horizon is the only cultural occupation at the site of Pločnik and that no intrusion has ever been observed in the context of this find, not on the day of the discovery, not in the conclusions or the excavation field diary, and not in the first publication of the said find by Duško Šljivar. We have presented a detailed account of this particular case in order to show Šljivar’s contradictory and inconsistent account of the official fieldwork documentation that he co-authored. It would appear that either Šljivar made a false field diary entry regarding the context of the tin bronze foil on the day of its discovery in 2008, or he presented incorrect information in the later joint commentary. The former hypothesis that Šljivar made a false entry in the field diary in 2008 in order to potentially mislead later scholarship does not seem plausible, especially as the object of dispute was not identified as tin-bronze on the day of discovery, but merely as another copper object from Pločnik and therefore not nearly as important to early metallurgical scholarship. To underline further the absurdity of the situation in which we found ourselves with Šljivar, we should also mention Šljivar’s initial agreement to co-author the paper we published in Starinar XLIV/2014, from which he withdrew without offering any constructive comments, only to publicly publish his views as well as professional and personal insults directed towards us in Starinar XLV/2015. The situation where Šljivar had the opportunity to act in his best professional interest was while our article was still in preparation and he chose not to do it; this leads us to assume that professional interests were not his priority on this matter. Finally, Šljivar’s deceitful and erroneous claims were executed in a spiteful language that is unfit for a scholarly journal, and damages both his reputation and the decision of this journal to publish them. We further elaborate on these developments in the broader context of Serbian archaeology, quoting the legislation on the intellectual copyright of excavation directors over the archaeological materials that they have excavated. The current law on Cultural Monuments recognizes the exclusive rights of excavation directors to publish their research for the period of 12 months after the excavations ended. After this period, other interested parties in the field can access the materials and any related field documentation. This demonstrates, alongside previously mentioned scientific arguments, that we have worked with the Belovode and Pločnik materials in accordance with the valid legal regulations. We conclude that there is no formal support for the exclusive interpretation of lives of communities in the sites of Belovode and Pločnik c. 7000 years ago, and emphasise the value of our original scientific contribution as illuminating a particular economic activity of the inhabitants of these two prehistoric villages. Finally, we call for the reinforcement of existing procedures in Serbia so that our profession can prevent any future misconduct such as that exemplified in the attempt by Duško Šljivar.
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Tutundžić Sava P.
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Anđelković, Branislav - Tutundžić Sava P.: Donji Egipat u halkolitskom periodu i odnosi sa južnim Levantom (prva polovina IV milenijuma), Posebna izdanja 2: Srpsko arheološko društvo, Beograd, 136 strana, 2004 - Starinar
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Two epigraphic-historical notes
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Recently a monograph appeared dealing with Roman epigraphical monuments from the West-Serbian town of Čačak and its neighbourhood (S. Ferjančić / G. Jeremić / A. Gojgić, Roman Epigraphic Monuments from Čačak and its Vicinity Čačak 2008, Engl. Summary pp. 103-107). Authored by one specialist in Roman history and epigraphy and two archaeologists, the book is rather thin and does not provide much new data, apart from the identification of the equestrian officer Tiberius Claudius Gallus with Severus' senator - which was taken from my PhD thesis without citing it - and from two inscriptions, № 20 and № 21, forming the subject of the present paper. Published here for the first time, they both contain important information which the co-authors failed to notice. The consuls of 227 A.D. in an inscription from Čačak The № 21 (fig. 1) was found in the site of Gradina on the mountain Jelica, S. of Čačak. It is engraved on a whitish limestone monument, apparently an ara, the middle and lower parts of which are preserved after it has been reshaped to be used as building material. The four-line inscription was read by the editors as follows: [- - -] Aur(elius) F[- - - v(otum)] l(ibens) p(osuit) Mal+[- - -]et Al[- - - co(n)s(ulibus)] Idibus [- - -]. Unable to identify the pair of consuls mentioned in lines two and three, the authors interpret the inscription as a funerary one: [- - -]Aur(elius or -elio) F[- - - vix(it) ann(is)] L P. Mal+[- - -]et Al[- - - f(ecerunt) ? die ?] Idibus [- - -]. In fact, they misread the final cluster of the line two, by having mistaken for L the long right serif of M (in ligature with A) together with a trace of a subsequent letter, which proves to be an X. The alignment of the letters at the beginning of the lines suggests that the left side of the inscription is entirely preserved. The inscription reads as folows: ] \ Aur(elius) F+[ -] \ l(ibens) p(osuit) Max[imo] \ et Al[bino co(n)s(ulibus)] \ Idibus [ -]. M. Laelius Maximus Aemilianus (PIR2 L56) - probably son of Marcus Laelius Maximus (PIR2 L55), one of the leading senators under Septimius Severus - and M. Nummius Senecio Albinus (PIR2 N235) were the eponymous consuls of 227. The pair is attested in several inscriptions, e.g. CIL VIII 18831 from Numidia which resembles this one in recording the exact date: Bacaci Aug(usto) \ sac(rum) \ Albino et Ma\ximo co(n)s(ulibus) \ Kal(endis) Mai(is) [3] Si\ttius Novellus \ et Q. Galerius Mu\stianus magg(istri) \ [Thib(ilitanorum?)]. Here Albinus' name precedes that of Maximus, which is usually the case. Nevertheless, a parallel with Maximus named before Albinus is provided by an inscription from Dacia (ILD 774, near Cluj): Deae Ne\mesi sac\rum Aur(elius) Ru[f]inus \ be(ne)f(iciarius) co(n)s(ularis) \ leg(ionis) XIII Gem(inae) \ Sever(ianae) v(otum) l(ibens) p(osuit) Maximo et Albi\[no] co(n)s(ulibus). Consequently, № 21 is a votive inscription, largely restorable and precisely datable. The Collegium curatorum of the Cohors II Delmatarum in an inscription from Čačak Forty years ago within the Ascension Church yard in Čačak the lower part of a Roman limestone monument has been accidentally unearthed, bearing an inscription, three last lines of which are partially preserved (№ 20 of the catalogue, (fig. 2), wherein only the mention of a cohort was recognized by the editors, who read: ]\[- - -]ALB[- - -| -]GIATI +[- - -|- - -co]h(ortis) eiusde(m) [- - -|- - - The elegant, shaded letters are lined up one below the other, which suggests that the text was arranged following the principle of centering. Above the L in the first line there is a trace of an O or a Q, unnoticed by the editors. So, there are 4 lines partially preserved. The space left between the lines 2 and 3 being larger than that between 1-2 and 3-4 respectively, the two last lines seem to constitute a separate entry. The genitive case cohortis eiusdem implies a preceding designation of the dedicant(s), and what we have before is a nominative plural ending in ‑giati followed by a word of which only the first letter, C or O, is still discernible. As the most probable, if not the only possible, we propose the following restoration of the last two lines (fig. 8): [colle]giati c[urat(ores)]|[co]h(ortis) eiusde[m] possibly with a p(osuerunt) or d(edicaverunt) in the end. Despite its fragmentariness, the present inscription bears an important testimony to the existence, within the Roman army, of professional associations (collegia militaria) independent of regular military structures. The evidence for them is based solely on epigraphic sources; some hundred inscriptions contradict the paragraph of the Digesta (47.22) forbidding the soldiers to organize corporate associations in the camps. The cohort in question is doubtless the cohors II Aurelia Delmatarum milliaria equitata, which is known to have been stationed permanently, from the seventies of the second century A.D. to the fifties of the third century, in the eastern part of Dalmatia around the modern city of Čačak. It was a mixed infantry and cavalry unit, and the rank of curator (curator equitum singularium, curator alae, curator cohortis) is attested exclusively in the mounted units of the Roman army. It was higher than the simple eques; in the auxiliary troops, the curators may have been charged with special tactical or economic-administrative tasks. The lower officers (principales) and the soldiers with special tasks were allowed to form private associations fostering loyalty to the Emperor. All Roman collegia including the military ones, had their religious purpose and their official meeting room (schola) was also a sanctuary of their patron deity. It might be a part of the headquarters building, as in the case of the Castra Nova equitum singularium in Rome, where, beneath the Basilica of St John Lateran an Ionic capitel was uncovered with inscription on it dated with AD 197 recording the dedication of the schola curatorum to Minerva Augusta (AE 1935 156 = AE 1968, 8b).
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Two medieval swords from the regional museum in Jagodina
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The author analyzes two medieval swords (one found near Kalenić monastery and one near the Ćuprija town) from the funds of the Department of Archaeology in the Regional Museum in Jagodina. He presents arguments in opposition to the typological classification existent in scholarly literature of the first one, and concludes that the both specimens most probably originate from the same workshop, as were being stamped with identical maker-marks. In the end the author draws one’s attention to circumstances of the site find of the first sword, and also points towards possible directions of research of the sacred topography of the Kalenić monastery environs.
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Two stone icons from the Home Museum collection in Jagodina
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Two stone icons are kept in the funds of the Home Museum in Jagodina, which have originally belonged to the non-classified archaeological collection, and after revision became items in the collection of icons and cult objects. The icons belong to the genre of the Middle Ages small form plastic, the function of which is sometimes difficult to define, and its creator and workshop even more problematical. The first icon (5,5 x 4,5 x 1,0 cm) was purchased for the Museum collection in 1965 from the anonymous seller, who claimed to have discovered it in the vicinity of Prokuplje. It is a double-sided icon with profiled frame, with shallow relief bust image of St. Nicholas on one side and on another a presentation of the Christ's christening in Jordan. Another icon (5,5 x 5,5 x 1,0 cm) was discovered during the first probing archaeological excavations on the territory of Jagodina in 1962. On one side which originally was the icon's backside with no images at all, a bust image of St. Michael was subsequently carved in, while on the other side there are remains of an unknown saint. Diffraction x-ray analysis has shown that both icons are made of almost identical material (soft brown stone- clay shale of the marl-clay type). Comparative material from the Serbian and the Bulgarian collections have shown that both mentioned items may be generally dated into the period from 13th–15th century, and that by their structural and iconographic characteristics they follow older forms of Byzantine glyptic Closely related to an individual, the mentioned icons were used for the so called individual religious purpose. They were made for the believers from the lower social classes in the Middle Ages, and were most probably made in monk or city workshops.
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Une nouvelle borne milliaire découverte sur la voie romaine Naissus-Lissus
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(francuski) Cet article a pour objet d'étude la voie romaine Naissus-Lissus, la station d'Ad Fines (Kuršumlija), le compendium (raccourci) dont fait état une inscription de Viminacium et une borne milliaire découverte récemment, entre autre matériel, sur le site d'Aquae Bas. (Kuršumlijska Banja). Il analyse les découvertes archéologiques et épigraphiques, et discute le tracé de cette voie de communication de l'antiquité romaine.
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Unilateral antler combs from Romuliana
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In the course of investigations at Romuliana nine antler three-partite combs with a single row of teeth were found in the Late Roman horizons dating from the late 4th - mid 5th century. They were found in Tower 19, in the Palace II sector and in the Thermae sector. The combs can be classified as two types: three-partite unilateral combs with semicircular handle (Petković comb type VII) and three-partite unilateral combs with triangular handle decorated with horse protomes (Petković comb type VI). Two groups of these finds were distinguished after more detailed analysis; the earlier one including specimens originating from the Chernyahov-Sîntana de Mureº culture and later one including specimens made under "barbarian"influence and produced in Romuliana. These finds confirm the continuity of settlement at Romuliana in the Late Roman period, from the final quarter of the 4th until the end of the 5th century and open up the question of the character of the settlement.
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Unpublished glass findings from the eastern necropolis of Naissus (Jagodin Mala, Niš)
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In the period from 1952-1967, during the systematic archaeological excavations of the area of the eastern necropolis of Naissus, in the modern day city quarter of Jagodin Mala, in Niš, a large number of glass objects was found. A representative portion of the findings was published in various publications, while the other findings, which belong to the study collection of the National Museum in Niš, have not been the subject of any separate study. These are new kinds of findings, such as glass lamps, window panes and tesserae, and the collection also includes the familiar, standard repertoire of glass vessels of the Late Antiquity period. The findings come from the grave units, the cemetery basilica with its crypt, and the archaeological layers from the area of the necropolis in Jagodin Mala. Besides the typological-chronological, as well as the topographic analysis, the paper also presents a complete image of the glass objects from the area of the necropolis, used in the burial and liturgical practices of the population of Naissus in Late Antiquity. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177007: Romanisation, urbanisation and transformation of urban centres of civil, military and residential character in Roman provinces in the territory of Serbia) and Grant no. 47018: IRS - Viminacium, roman city and military legion camp - research of material and non-material of inhabitants by using the modern technologies of remote detection, geophysics, GIS, digitalization and 3D visualization]
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VTERE FELIX belt sets on the territory of Viminacium
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The belt sets of the VTERE FELIX type that were characteristic of the letter-shaped fittings of the mentioned message were in use during the second half of the II and first half of III century. Soldiers, who are considered to be the primary group that wore such belts, believed that such a message would bring them luck and protect them from the many perils of their profession. The numerous finds of fittings of this not so common type of belt sets that were excavated on the Viminacium site, contribute to the already existing theory that their territory of origin is the area of the Danubian provinces.
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Venceslas Kruta, Les Celtes, Histoire et Dictionnaire, Des Origines à la romanisation et au christianisme, Edition R Laffont, Paris, 2000.
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Jovanović, Borislav; Popović, Petar - Venceslas Kruta, Les Celtes, Histoire et Dictionnaire, Des Origines à la romanisation et au christianisme, Edition R Laffont, Paris, 2000. - Starinar
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