Late la Tène fibulae of the Rakitno-type. Evidence of contacts between the western Balkans and the southern part of the Carpathian basin

Abstract

Fibulae with a knob on a backward-bent foot, of which different variants of the Picugi type are probably best known, evolved in the eastern Adriatic and its hinterland, and the wider south-eastern Alps during the last two centuries BC. A similar but distinct type of fibula named the Rakitno type has been identified based on its morphological characteristics and distribution. Fibulae of this type have mainly been recorded at sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in the Sava valley and eastern Slavonia. Similarities in the way they are decorated, with a series of knobs on the backward-bent foot, link fibulae of the Rakitno type with other contemporary forms recorded in the south-eastern part of the Carpathian Basin (fibulae of the Jarak type) and the south-eastern Alps (fibulae of the Mihovo type), indicating that designs were exchanged and then adapted to different communities in local workshops. On the other hand, finds of fibulae of the Rakitno type at sites in eastern Slavonia attest to contacts with communities settled in the western Balkans. Despite the absence of finds from closed associations, documented comparisons allow for fibulae of the Rakitno type to be dated to the latter half of the 2nd and the early 1st centuries BC, with the assumption that this design was typical of female costume.