Starinar
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METAL DELM - metal avrelianis contribution to the study of mining coins and anonymous quadrantes
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In the course of rescue archaeological investigations at the Viminacium necropolis of Vi{e Grobalja in 1984, one anonymous quadrans of the VIII Apollo group was discovered (cat. 1). It was discovered in trench 63 in the immediate vicinity of a grave with an inhumation (G 343) that, besides two pottery vessels, also yielded as grave offerings one as of Faustina the Elder, minted after her death, in AD 141. Other finds presented here are four specimens of Roman mining coins from the private collection of Petar Fajfri} from [abac (cat. 2-5). All specimens come from the well known site of Duge Njive in the area of the village of Banatsko Polje (Bogati} borough) where, by all appearances, are the remains of a vicus or smaller settlement. Five specimens of mining coins from that site have already been published. Both mining coins and anonymous quadrantes represent, in general, rare types of numismatic finds. Nine anonymous quadrantes are known so far from the territory of Serbia (Table 1) and the provenance is known for three specimens from the region of Guberevac-Babe (Kosmaj), housed in the National Museum in Belgrade. All three belong to the Minerva group with an owl facing to the right represented on the reverse. For two more anonymous quadrantes the place of discovery is known: one specimen comes from Singidunum and belongs to the Mercury group and the other that was found at Viminacium and is the subject of this paper is of the Apollo group. There are four more specimens from unknown sites for which it is assumed that they come from the Upper Moesia territory. Two of them are from the Vajfert collection and two from the Kovačević collection in the National Museum in Belgrade, There has, however, been a somewhat greater number (38) of Roman mining coins discovered in Serbia (Table 1). We know the finding locations of 25 of them: from the Kosmaj area (Babe, Guberevac and Stojnik), the Ibar valley (from the vicinity of Trepča and So~anica), Ritopek, Belgrade and Banovo Polje. We do not know the provenance for the remaining 13 specimens, but it is assumed that they come from the Upper Moesia territory. The anonymous quadrans discovered at the Viminacium necropolis of Vi{e Grobalja belongs, as previously mentioned, to the Apollo group. The only analogous piece known from the territory of Serbia comes from the Kovačević collection in the National Museum in Belgrade. Most of the known specimens belong to the Minerva group (3), there are two pieces of the Mars group, one of Mercury and one undetermined (Table 1). The anonymous quadrans from Viminacium is the second of its kind discovered along the Upper Moesia section of the Danube limes. The quadrans from Singidunum was found in the zone of the Roman Singidunum harbour and belongs to the Mercury group. Five specimens of mining coins in the Fajfri} collection published earlier belong to the same METAL DELM type with a bust of Diana on the obverse and deer on the reverse. To this group should be added our specimen cat. 2, and as such this type is the best represented group (6) of mining coins from the site of Duge Njive at Banovo Polje. The same group, Metalli Delmatici, also includes cat. 3, which has the head of Mars on the obverse and armour on the reverse. Then there are the two identical quadrantes of the group MetalliAureliani (cat. 4, 5) and their only analogy from the territory of Serbia is the quadrans from the Kosmaj area. The nine specimens of mining coins from the site of Duge Njive at Banovo Polje make up a considerable proportion of the total number of mining coins in Serbia. Their importance is even greater because of the fact that seven METAL DELM specimens are the first of that group for which we know the finding location. Finds of the anonymous quadrans from the Viminacium necropolis of Vi{e Grobalja and the mining coins from Banovo Polje complete the picture of the topography of this kind of numismatic finds. Their publishing is, mainly because of the known provenance, more significant for future investigations.
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Marek Gedl
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Vasić, Rastko P. - Marek Gedl: Die halsringe und halskragen in polen i (frühe bis jüngere bronzezeit), Prähistorische Bronzefunde Abt. XI, Band 6, Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart 2002 - Starinar
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Medieval Dobrun
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An interesting and highly structured medieval complex, Dobrun has been attracting attention of scholars for a long time. Unlike the ruins of medieval fortifications, the remains of wall-painting in the former monastery church received most of the attention. A series of problems have, however remained open. Some of them have escaped observation, and there are hypotheses that ought to be reassessed. The Dobrun complex is not a matter of local or regional significance. It is a surviving testimony to the events and processes that marked the century preceding the final Ottoman occupation of Serbia and Bosnia. After outlining the research work done to date and analyzing the original historical documents and physical remains, this paper brings the author's views of the issue and some reflections aimed at suggesting directions of further research. The Dobrun complex is situated on the fringe of a hospitable landscape in the lower Rzav valley, not far from Višegrad. It is a region of present-day Republika Srpska on the border with Serbia. The medieval fortifications high up on cliffs above either side of the river controlled the entrance to the gorge, a natural border between western Serbia and Podrinje (the Drina river basin). About a kilometer downstream, on a plot of flat land above the right riverbank, surrounded by rocky hillsides and opening onto a gully cut by a mountain stream, sits the monastic complex of Dobrun with the Church of the Annunciation. The discussion of the structural remains of the complex (Fig. 2) proceed from the multipart whole, which consists of fortifications on the rocks above either bank of the Rzav, built in such a way as to take full advantage of the terrain for defence purposes. The steep slopes and inaccessible rocks complete with walls and towers form a fortress considered at the time of building to be virtually unassailable. Fortification elements were laid out on the western edge of the gorge, which was and still is an important communication route leading from the west towards the interior of Serbia – the illustrious "Bosnian route". Blocking the entrance to the gorge, the Dobrun fortifications were of strategic importance for the defense of the eastern territories against attack from the west. The central and undoubtedly the oldest part of the fortified complex are the remains on the cliffs overlooking the right bank of the Rzav – a castle of an elongated plan closely following the natural features of the terrain (Fig. 3). With most of the walls built on the cliffs somewhat easier access was only possible from the southwest. The interior of the castle was divided into three independently defendable wards. In the absence of archaeological investigation, only chance finds are available. The only surviving remains of its intramural structures are those of a sunken stone-built room left of the gate, presumably a cistern. The walls were built of rough-hewn stone bound with relatively poor lime mortar (Figs 4 and 5). Laid down on the very rock, they show a varying thickness of 1.10 to almost 2 meters. Also fortified, the zone on the eastern slope below the castle was for the most part defended by steep slopes. Apparently of a somewhat later date its walls were built more solidly than the castle (Figs 6 and 7). There are traces of a path, with occasional rock-cut steps, climbing from the gate to the castle. In this ward, functioning primarily as the front line of defense of the castle, traces of houses are observable. The eastern part of the fortification above the left riverbank consisted of protruding towers on the summit of a rocky hill surrounded on three sides by the bending river (Fig 8). Surviving are the ruins of two towers and traces of a third. They stood in alignment and, not being interlinked by a rampart, were conceived as free-standing structures. Between Towers 2 and 3 passed the old road leading from the Rzav bridge towards the east. The outlying settlement grew by the river below the castle. Its central part seems to have occupied a piece of flat land at the hill foot on the right bank, where in the mid-nineteenth century streets and traces of houses were still discernible. According to research by Đ. Mazalić, part of the settlement was on the left bank as well in the area known as Podrogovi and stretching from the former mosque towards the Budimlija creek. Unlike the walls and towers of Dobrun, occasionally quite well preserved, of the nearby monastic complex only the vestiges of the church narthex have survived till this day. The church kept its original appearance until the end of the nineteenth century, when it was thoroughly altered. Eventually, its main part was blown up by German mines in early 1945 (Fig. 9).From earlier documentation and the surviving physical remains it is obvious that the building of the monastery church at Dobrun went through several phases (Fig. 10). The original church, erected in 1343 as an endowment of župan Pribil, as inferable from the now gone ktetor's inscription, was a one-nave edifice with a semicircular apse. It was barrel-vaulted and had no dome, while its walls were of limestone blocks Besides the foundations, considerable and well-preserved areas of the original floor have survived. In the middle of the central bay the ambo rosette still stands (Fig. 11). Especially interesting are the stone slabs next to the south church wall. The one in the west bay apparently covers the ktetor's grave. Two similar slabs in the central bay may also be interpreted as grave markers. In a later phase, presumably not long after the building of Pribil's endowment, the church received a narthex. A peculiarity of its architecture is a shallow arched porch on the west front, an unusual element in Serbian medieval architecture. Subsequently added to the narthex, an open exonarthex was torn down during the late-nineteenth-century rebuilding. A northern annexe, divided into two smaller rooms and connected with the apse by a door, may also be considered an addition. The purpose of the two rooms the position of which corresponds to that of the prothesis, is not clear. Of the wall-paintings only those in the narthex have partially survived (Figs 12–14). Despite damage, especially that inflicted in 1945, from the surviving fragments, old photographs and descriptions the original arrangement of scenes can be largely reconstructed, as well as the features of this, as it seems, valuable work of Serbian painting from the first half of the fourteenth century. Especially important is the ktetor's composition discussed on several occasions, showing župan Pribil with his sons Petar and Stefan, and protovestiar Stan. The impressive traces of dormitory cells and other buildings, indicative of a larger monastic community, are observable around the church. The churchyard included a cemetery with numerous gravestones, especially of the stećak type (Fig. 15), of which almost none have survived. Depictions in relief or carved on the rock some hundred meters to the northeast of the church are a curious discovery (Figs 16–17). In their immediate vicinity are vestiges of ascetic cave cells, registered also in the wider surroundings of Dobrun Castle. Approaches to the Dobrun complex have mostly been partial, their focus, understandably enough, being on the church with its remains of wall-paintings. Any solution to a series of problems that arise here would, by contrast, require an integrated approach to the complex given that it constituted a whole, initially at least. Regrettably, the research results achieved so far cannot lead to final conclusions, but rather to working hypotheses expected to inspire further research. Of particular significance as the starting-point for such exploration is Dobrun Castle – the walled core of the later fortress with the outlying settlement. In a region that was the westernmost zone of the state of the Nemanjić, župan Pribil with his sons seems to have controlled the lower Rzav valley, his hereditary domain. If that was the case, the castle on a rocky hill at the exit from the gorge that was an east-bound route may be regarded as Pribil s fortified residence. The same function must have been fulfilled by the frontier castle of Višegrad, the remains of which are still awaiting researchers. The role of Stan – titled a protovestiar in the Dobrun portrait – as its possible owner is yet to be examined. Responsibilities of the holder of this title, high-ranking at the court of Stefan Dušan, included that of customs supervisor. Officials holding this title had been known in the Serbian administration even before that date. It is perhaps with this duty that Stan's presence on the western state border, in an area crossed by an important trade route, may be related. It would help clarify his relationship with Pribil, a local hereditary lord, who seems to have been his son-in-law. If we accept that Dobrun Castle was the fortified residence of a provincial lord, it remains to examine the circumstances leading to the building of Pribil's endowment, i.e. to the foundation of the monastery. The interrelationship in the Serbian lands of the castles of local lords and the churches they founded is one of the issues that are yet to be studied. This practice, traced back to the fourteenth century, is characteristic of the period preceding the Ottoman conquest. Yet another interesting phenomenon is involved here – the development of anchoretic monasticism at the side of fortified sites, whether fortresses or castles of sovereigns and lords. Some well-known examples occur in the territory of Bulgaria, while in our parts the phenomenon is evidenced by a cave laura below the walls of the Fortress of Ras, the Monastery of the Archangel Michael, as well as by some other sites that are yet to be explored. The function of ascetic cells clinging to fortresses and castles, like that of warrior-saints portrayed on the walls of the Morava churches, was spiritual militancy and they were considered as part of the general system of defence from the enemy of a different faith. The case of Dobrun raises a query that is yet to be resolved – whether the hermitages surrounding the castle preceded the building of the monastery or developed according to the brotherhood's needs. The distribution of these hermitages as well as the traditional pattern of evolution of anchoretic monasticism from lauras to cenobitic communities tends to favor the first explanation, but it is quite certain that they were in use even later. What can be deduced from the frescoes at Dobrun indicates that the central role in the entire process of building Pribil's endowment was played by a respected and learned monk, undoubtedly the subsequent hegumen Jefrosin. Whether he lived his ascetic life in one of the nearby cells and thus won great respect remains open to conjecture. What seems incontestable is his influence of a spiritual guide on the župan's family. It does not seem erroneous to presume that he was the architect of Pribil's undertaking. Obviously, the relatively modest monastery church, also intended as the ktetor's sepulchral church, was built first. A cenobitic community was probably soon founded next to it, with Jerfrosin as its head, the first hegumen. Pribil's endeavor was continued by his younger son Petar, undoubtedly during his father's lifetime. The church does not seem to have received its wall-paintings before the addition of the narthex, as evidenced by the scene on the narthex wall that shows Pribil holding the model of the original church. The fresco programme was apparently devised by Jefrosin, who is likely to have passed away before the works were completed. The place of his posthumous portrait (Fig. 13), next to his patron saint, was even more distinguished than the ktetor's. We are inclined to believe that it also marks his grave. At any rate, Jefrosin was paid especial respect. With the painters still at work, Petar, the ktetor of the narthex became a monk, as shown by the now destroyed inscription above the portal. Jefrosin's personality, ideas and messages are clearly reflected in the surviving wall-paintings. On the one hand, prominence is given to ascetics, to the most consistent followers of earliest Christian anchoretic practice. Among them, and that is remarkably important, is figured for the first time in our wall-painting a Serbian protagonist of this orientation – St Peter of Koriša. On the other hand, the ecumenical councils are also given a prominent place and, enclosed in medallions next to them, as many as seven bishops that took part in them, as well as the established advocates of the true faith: Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, an adversary of Monothelitism, and Peter, bishop of Damascus, a fighter against Manichean heresy. Someone in the milieu of Dobrun, on the delicate western frontier with Bosnian heretics – the learned hegumen in our opinion – obviously found such a painted programme important for the defence of Orthodoxy. The means of conveying the message was well-known – an emphasis on unswerving faith and ascetic deeds. This goal, firmly rooted in earlier periods, was certainly accomplished at Dobrun. There are no reliable data about the destiny of Dobrun in the second half of the fourteenth century. Along with the surrounding areas it belonged to Nikola Altomanović for a while. After this noble s fall in the autumn of 1373 and the unfortunate partitioning of Serbian lands, the consequences of which can still be felt, Dobrun s position is unclear. Together with Polimlje (the Lim Valley), it might have passed into the hands of the Bosnian ban. To judge by its geo-strategic position, however, it would be reasonable to assume that the Serbian sovereign kept it. This falls among the issues that require separate discussion. Of relevance to our subject is a usually neglected piece of information from the Pomenik (Memorial Book) of Kruševo that despot Stefan with his mother was the ktetor of the monastery. This contemporary information would lead to the conclusion that the early fifteenth century still saw the monastery within the Serbian state borders Whether it remained so till the end of despot Stefan s rule is yet to be established. In 1433 Dobrun already was the domain of vojvoda Radoslav Pavlović. Perhaps it was briefly held by despot Đurađ, contemporaneously with nearby Višegrad (1448), but at the time of the Ottoman conquest it was a fortress on the lands of the Pavlović. Leaving aside the as yet undecided issue of borders, we should touch upon the subsequent structural development of Dobrun. To begin with, there is the query about what despot Stefan's contribution to the growth of the monastic complex was. The Serbian sovereign must have made donations to the monastery, but for the time being only guesswork is possible as to whether he had any structures built. The open exonarthex, which earlier researchers dated by the surviving fragments of wall-paintings in the porch to the end of the sixteenth century, should not be ruled out in this regard. Renovations of and donations to the monastery would have been consistent with despot Stefan's efforts to bolster up Orthodoxy in the border zone of his state. It was under his rule that in the regions bordering on heretical Bosnia, where an increasing influence of the Roman Church had support of its Catholic rulers, the old Serbian dioceses were restored and some new established, especially important being the Metropolitan of Srebrenica. The growth of Dobrun from a castle into a fortress may have taken place in the turbulent last decades of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Considerably enlarged by the addition of ramparts the defended zone could now accommodate a much larger garrison. The same period saw the growth, under protection of the fortress, of a commercial urban settlement, an important station on the road connecting Bosnia and Serbia. The fortress of Dobrun reached the peak of its prosperity in the fifteenth century. As one of the main strongholds in the domain of the Pavlović, the fortress received further additions. From that period, in our opinion, date the defences above the left bank of the Rzav, i.e. the protruding circular towers similar to developments in military architecture in the Kingdom of Bosnia. Dobrun retained its importance under Turkish rule as a checkpoint on the so-called "Bosnian road". The question as to how long a Turkish garrison stood guard over the walls of Dobrun cannot be reliably answered; perhaps until the momentous events in the last decade of the seventeenth century, when the settlement by the Rzav and the nearby monastery had to be abandoned.
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Mihajlov ponor on Miroč
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The locality of Mihajlov ponor on Miroč was discovered at the end of 2004. On that occasion, more than thirty stone constructions were observed, with a diameter from four to 12 m and a height of up to 1.3 m. The majority of these constructions were damaged. In the period from 2005 to 2007, five stone constructions were examined, which, apart from ceramics belonging to the post-Basarabi horizon, were found to contain a large number of metal objects from the Early Iron Age.
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Military graves from the Late Roman necropolis at slog in Ravna (Timacum Minus)
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The necropolises of the Roman fortification and settlement Timacum Minus, in the village of Ravna, near Knjaževac, were partially explored by systematical and rescue archaeological excavations. The most extensively explored was the part of the Late Roman necropolis on the eastern slope of the Slog hill, about 400m west of the fortification, where 80 graves from this period have been investigated. The analysis of the human osteological material, and the archaeological finds from the aforementioned necropolis, confirmed 17 military graves, containing adult male individuals with traces of injuries, stress markers and pathological changes, characteristic of a military population, as well as military equipment and weapons. At the time of the formation of the Late Roman necropolis at the site of Slog, during the second half of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century, the garrison of the Timacum Minus fortification consisted of an equestrian unit of pseudocomitatenses Timacenses, a part of the auxiliary formation that secured the forts and roads in the Timok region. Among the graves from the three phases of the Late Roman necropolis, similarities as well as certain differences are apparent, indicating changes in the structure of the civilian and military population of Timacum Minus. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177007: Romanisation, urbanisation and transformation of urban centres of civil, military and residential character in Roman provinces in the territory of Serbia]
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Modelling obsidian trade routes during late Neolithic in the south-east Banat region of Vršac using GIS
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The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the possible trajectory of the movement of the obsidian that was brought to the region of present day Vršac from Carpathian 1 and Carpathian 2 sources, located between Košice and Miškolc (the present day border area between Hungary and Slovakia). This objective has been fulfilled using computer aided modelling performed within the constraints of geographic information system software based on the physical characteristics of the terrain and the reconstruction of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions in the period of the late Neolithic. The second largest obsidian collection in the territory of Vinča culture originates from the site of Potporanj, south of Vršac. The abundance of finds indicates the importance this region had in the distribution of this resource during late Neolithic. In the paper the modelling of two different possibilities of land based distribution from the flow of the river Tisza are shown; the first from Perlez/Opovo (western route) and the other from Mureє (northern route), i.e. present day Arad and Timiєoara. The modelled results indicate the existence of a settlement patterning close to the modelled pathways in the period of Vinča culture. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177012: Society, Culture and Communications in the Balkans in Proto - and Early History]
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Necropolis on Bor lake
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This article deals with the social and anthropological aspects of burial rituals during the Middle Bronze Age in Timočka Krajina. Decades of systematic research of necropolises and reconnaissance in the basin of the Crni Timok proved an increase in number of sites around ore - rich areas of the east Kučaj mountains as well as around Romuliana site and the fertile valleys of Džanovo polje (Map. 1). The quantitative increase in settlements was reflected by the emergence of large necropolises, only three of which have been systematically explored; those in Trnjani, Magura and Bor Lake (Fig. 1; Plan 1). Analysis of geographical features of many settlements and their position in relation to natural resources helped define two communities, one of which carried out mining and metallurgical activities, while the other group engaged in the production of food. Both groups lived in the immediate vicinity and mutual dependence, functioning within a developed market for copper production. During the exploration of the necropolis near Bor Lake in 1997, the remains of burnt skeletons were collected from burial structures 2/97 and 13/97 (Fig. 2; Plans 2 and 3). Anthropological analysis of the cremated remains of the deceased showed that high temperatures were used during the cremation process, which we assume could have only been achieved in metallurgical furnaces. This is confirmed by the fact that the skeletal fragments contain traces of melted metal, as well as finds of bronze slag inside urns and grave structures in the necropolis in Trnjani (Figs. 3 and 4; Tables 1-4). Burial ritual of this kind was not proved by systematic archaeological research of necropolises in the basin of Crni Timok, although anthropological data collected from necropolises linked to metallurgical settlements may indicate some guidelines in the ritual cremation of prominent members of these communities. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177020: Arheologija Srbije: kulturni identitet, integracioni faktori, tehnološki procesi i uloga centralnog Balkana u razvoju evropske praistorije i br. 177007: Romanizacija, urbanizacija i transformacija urbanih centara civilnog, vojnog i rezidencijalnog karaktera u rimskim provincijama na tlu Srbije]
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Necropolis under a tumulus at Veprčani
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Six Late Roman graves and one prehistoric burial have been discovered under a tumulus in the course of investigations. The tumulus is around 11meters in diameter and around 1 meter high and is situated at Veprčani, in the mountainous area of Mariovo in south Macedonia. The graves mostly contained cists of broken stones or slabs covered with stone slabs, one grave was carved into the rock and one consisted of a dislocated grave association. One prehistoric burial containing the remains of a cremated individual and grave goods was encountered under a small stone mound to the south of tumulus. Regarding the grave goods, mortuary practice and funerary rituals of the original tumulus as well as the prehistoric burials, and material from the mound have been dated to the Ha A period, while the antique graves were dated to the 3rd-4th century. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177020: Archaeology of Serbia: cultural identity, integration factors, technological processes and the role of the central Balkans in the development of European prehistory]
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New AMS dates as a contribution to the absolute chronology of the early eneolithic in the central Balkans
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In this study we present new absolute dates for the Early Eneolithic in Serbia. Four of them confirm the recently obtained dates from that period (Bubanj-Hum I culture) but two samples (from Mokranjske stene and Bubanj) provide somewhat later dates for this period, although their stratigraphic context makes their interpretation difficult. Pottery from those sites, besides the typical examples, also shows particular stylistic and typological characteristics that resemble Galatin or Sălcuţa IV cultures, so one can presume that the Bubanj-Hum I culture in Serbia may have lasted longer than what is generally assumed. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177020: Cultural Identity, Integrating Factors, Technological Processes and the Role of the Central Balkans in the Development of European Prehistory and Grant no: 47025: Ethnogenesis of the Serbs during the Middle Ages (until c. 1250): a comparative analysis of the historic-cultural heritage, genetic material and artefacts of material culture from the aspect of analytical chemistry]
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New Byzantine seals from Morava (Margum) and Braničevo
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The authors present new finds of Byzantine lead seals at Morava (Margum), Braničevo and the broader area around them. The seals from Morava and Braničevo were unearthed in the course of archaeological excavations, which make these finds particularly important. Significant among them is the seal from Morava, which belonged to Symeon (?), magister and logothete of the dromos, from the end of the tenth century, which indicates the presence of Byzantine officials in Morava and the establishment of Byzantine authority along the north-western Danubian border following the fall of the Bulgarian empire in 971. Three new seals from Braničevo complement the list of Byzantine officials in connection with the events on the Danubian border in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The seals found in the broader area of Brani~evo should also be added to this list. Of particular significance among them is the seal of Georgios Palaiologos Doukas Komnenos, megas hetaireiarches, a well known historical figure involved in events in Hungary, Serbia and on the Danubian border in the 1160s. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177021: Urbanisation Processes and Development of Mediaeval Society and Grant no. 177032: Tradition, innovation and identity in the Byzantine world]
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