Items with the Ox-Head on the Shores of the Baltic Sea in the Roman Period

Abstract

Items with the ox-head are a very interesting archaeological phenomenon in the Baltic Sea area in the Roman Period. The earliest category of these finds is drinking horn fittings, which appeared in the Early Roman Period on Jutland and the Danish islands. At the beginning of the Late Roman Period, in the territory of the West Balts in Masuria, brooches with the ox-head occurred. According to the scientific tradition, they are interpreted as the effect of influences from the western zone of the shore of the Baltic Sea. Nowadays, when new finds of items with the ox-head (drinking horn fittings, brooches) are found in Przeworsk culture, it is necessary to analyse this thesis again. Key words: West Balt Cultural Circle, Przeworsk culture, ox-head items, distribution, contacts. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ab.v23i0.1300