StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070051k
A. Kapuran, M. Gavranović, M. Mehofer
{"title":"Bronze age settlement and necropolis of Trnjane, near Bor - revision and new research results","authors":"A. Kapuran, M. Gavranović, M. Mehofer","doi":"10.2298/sta2070051k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070051k","url":null,"abstract":"In archaeological literature, the site of Trnjane, near Bor in eastern Serbia is known as an urn necropolis, with 43 discovered urn graves. The excavations in Trnjane took place between 1985 and 1987-1989, and continued in 1998. The investigations also included an excavation of a nearby settlement, but the results of this research were never published. In most of the previous studies, Trnjane was assigned to the Middle and Late Bronze Age, while the necropolis was often connected with the spread of the Urnfield Phenomena from Central Europe toward the Balkans. New investigations started in 2017 as cooperation between the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade and the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences shed new light on the chronology and cultural assignment of Trnjane and other similar surrounding sites in the region of eastern Serbia. The excavation of the settlement area in 2017 and 2018 yielded numerous finds indicating metallurgical activities connected with copper ore smelting (slag and ores), while pottery finds showed a typological resemblance with an Early and Middle Bronze Age repertoire. The radiocarbon dates from the settlement area and from urn graves of the neighbouring necropolis also point to a much earlier time than previously assumed. The new chronological determination of Trnjane raises a set of new questions, especially regarding the cultural connections between central Europe and the Balkans and transfers of copper ore smelting technology in the Bronze Age.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070085p
W. Powell, Ognjen Mladenović, Steffanie R. Cruse, A. Bankoff, R. Mathur
{"title":"Revisiting “Tin in South-eastern Europe?”","authors":"W. Powell, Ognjen Mladenović, Steffanie R. Cruse, A. Bankoff, R. Mathur","doi":"10.2298/sta2070085p","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070085p","url":null,"abstract":"The important role of the Balkans in the origin and development of metallurgy is well established with respect to copper. In addition, Aleksandar Durman, in his 1997 paper ?Tin in South-eastern Europe??, essentially initiated studies into the role of the Balkans in Europe?s Bronze Age tin economy. He identified six geologically favourable sites for tin mineralisation and associated fluvial placer deposits in the former Yugoslavian republics, and suggested that these may have added to the tin supply of the region. The viability of two of these sites has been confirmed (Mt Cer and Bukulja, Serbia) but the exploitation potential for the other locations has remained untested. River gravels from these four sites (Motajica and Prosara in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bujanovac in Serbia; Ograzden in North Macedonia) were obtained by stream sluicing and panning. The sites of Prosara and Bujanovac were found to be barren with respect to cassiterite (SnO2). Streams flowing from Motajica and Ograzden were both found to contain cassiterite, but in amounts several orders of magnitude less than at Mt Cer and Bukulja. Although it is possible that minor tin recovery occurred at Motajica and Ograzden, it is unlikely that they could have contributed meaningfully to regional tin trade. This is supported by the fact that the isotopic signature (?124Sn) of cassiterite from Motajica is highly enriched in light isotopes of tin compared to that associated with Late Bronze Age artefacts of the region.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070145b
Igor S. Bjelić
{"title":"Block-type military balneum in Timacum Minus its spatial arrangement, social impacts, and architectural analogies","authors":"Igor S. Bjelić","doi":"10.2298/sta2070145b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070145b","url":null,"abstract":"The remains of a Roman bath are situated northeast of the remains of the Timacum Minus castrum. The discovered building is small in size, with a total area of about 242 m?. According to the specific layout of rooms, with a reduced spatial organization of its plan, the building belongs to the reduced block-type of military small baths - balneae. In the territory of Serbia, no military balneae of this type have been discovered so far, which are otherwise common for border areas throughout the Roman Empire. The specific spatial relationship between the individual rooms and the characteristic building forms registered in the building plan indicate that the origin of the architecture of the military balneum in Timacum Minus should be associated with the Roman architecture of the balneae that belong to the villae rusticae in Central Europe.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070111g
Nadezda Gavrilovic-Vitas, Jelena Andjelkovic-Grasar
{"title":"A message from beyond the grave: Hercules rescuing Hesione on a Stojnik funerary monument","authors":"Nadezda Gavrilovic-Vitas, Jelena Andjelkovic-Grasar","doi":"10.2298/sta2070111g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070111g","url":null,"abstract":"The research of this study is dedicated to a unique iconographical scene in the territory of the Central Balkan Roman provinces, of Hercules rescuing Hesione from a sea-monster (ketos), depicted on a funerary monument found in 1931 at the site of Stojnik, in the vicinity of Belgrade, antique Singidunum, and now displayed in the lapidarium of the National Museum in Belgrade. The funerary monument was erected for the deceased, a veteran of cohors II Aurelia nova, Publius Aelius Victorinus, by his wife Aurelia Rufina and their son Publius Aelius Acutianus. The rich iconography of the monument makes it a very important example of funerary art in the period from the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd century - the eschatological symbolism of the presented scenes and motifs is more than clear and underlines not only the hope of the deceased?s family for his eternal and blessed life after death, but also the deceased?s victory over death and presents him as a symbol of courage and virtue. The architectural scheme of the monument, along with its iconography, suggests strong artistic influences from Noricum and both the Pannonian provinces, while the the mythical tale of Hercules and Hesione was chosen, it is argued, not only because Hercules was one of the most favoured gods in the Roman army, but also because he was a protector of miners and mines.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070041p
W. Powell, Lina Pacifico, Terrence E. Mitchell, Steffanie R. Cruse, H. Bankoff
{"title":"Local provenance of raw materials for prehistoric pottery production at the Spasovine tin placer site (Western Serbia)","authors":"W. Powell, Lina Pacifico, Terrence E. Mitchell, Steffanie R. Cruse, H. Bankoff","doi":"10.2298/sta2070041p","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070041p","url":null,"abstract":"Archaeological finds at Spasovine, on the south flank of Mt Cer, near the town of Milina, indicate that it was settled in the Eneolithic and seasonally inhabited for tin placer mining in the Late Bronze Age. The site is highly disturbed and abraded domestic pottery is the most common material found. An analysis of the mineralogical assemblages that comprise the temper sand in a subset of the prehistoric pottery sherds from the site indicate that the sand was obtained from the adjacent Milinska River. Key minerals that link the pottery to on-site production from local materials include almandine-spessartine series garnets, the tin-bearing mineral cassiterite (SnO2) and a microlite group mineral ([Ca,Sn,U]2[Ta,Nb]2O6(OH,F]). The unusually common occurrence of cassiterite within the pottery sherds relative to the abundance in the Milinska today suggests that the tin ore grade in the Milinska River may have been significantly higher in prehistory.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070173b
Igor S. Bjelić, Emilija Nikolic
{"title":"From an element to a composition: Reconstruction of a vault of terracotta tubes from Timacum Minus, Serbia","authors":"Igor S. Bjelić, Emilija Nikolic","doi":"10.2298/sta2070173b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070173b","url":null,"abstract":"The renewal of the archaeological excavations of Timacum Minus in 2019 initiated extensive analyses and an additional interpretation of the results of previous excavations of its buildings. One of the buildings outside the fortification has attracted special attention, because of both its constructive solutions and its dimensions. Although the archaeological research of ?the building with a hypocaust? has never been completed, there are enough discovered segments that indicate the applied building techniques and constructions. In addition to under-floor and wall heating systems, this building had vaults built of terracotta tubes. The rarely discovered and insufficiently documented examples of this type of vaulted structure in Roman architecture in south-eastern Europe necessitate a deeper analysis of their remains in Timacum Minus, with the aim of obtaining relevant information important not only for the reconstruction of the construction process and appearance of ?the building with a hypocaust?, but also for future architectural analyses of Roman buildings in the territory of Serbia and in the surrounding region.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070201d
B. Djuric
{"title":"Roman sarcophagus from Titel","authors":"B. Djuric","doi":"10.2298/sta2070201d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070201d","url":null,"abstract":"The unusual Roman sarcophagus of green volcaniclastic rock that was found in Titel, a small town in Vojvodina (SRB), and is now kept in the Muzeul National al Banatului, in Timi?oara (RO), caused considerable unease among scholars in the past as it could not be convincingly connected with any of the productions in Pannonia and Moesia Superior. Only Silvio Ferri, albeit a long time ago, correctly identified its connection with the sarcophagus production in Sirmium and with the sarcophagus of Asclepiodota in particular, made of Dardagani limestone. Sarcophagi of volcaniclastic rock have only been recorded in the region of Srem and its immediate vicinity, and were all produced in Sirmium. The material most likely arrived there from the south, quarried near the village of Rajici, ca 25 km west of Domavia, in the valley of the River Drina. The structure and decoration of the sarcophagus from Titel reveal it as essentially the type produced by the workshops at Salona using models from Prokonessos. Having said that, its decorative details reveal a more complex picture. The decoration of narrow strips of plant motifs indicates a close relationship between the sarcophagus workshops at Sirmium and the workshops active in the middle and upper valley of the River Drina with its tributaries, with the centre at Skelani (municipium Malvesiatium), which, in turn, had close ties with the Salona production. The use of the Norico-Pannonian volute of Type 6 (after Pochmarski) on the inscription panel frame of the sarcophagus from Titel shows another area of influence - the travertine sarcophagus production of Aquincum - on the appearance of the sarcophagi from Sirmium that freely use these motifs (including Type 7) to form the frames of the inscription and figural panels. Available evidence clearly shows that the sarcophagus from Titel can be attributed to the Sirmium sarcophagus production of the 3rd century, more precisely its second half.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":"201-223"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68827032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070225g
Dragan J. Gavrilović, Kristina Ponjavić
{"title":"Re-conservation and reinpretation of a Roman Fresco from Sirmium","authors":"Dragan J. Gavrilović, Kristina Ponjavić","doi":"10.2298/sta2070225g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070225g","url":null,"abstract":"This paper deals with the re-conservation of an old conserved unit and the new iconographic analysis of a wall painting that was kept in the Museum of Srem?s (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) storage depot. Experts from the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments started but did not finish the reconstruction in the 1990s, which has led to its further deterioration. Their conservation and restoration work on these fragments were extensive and offered a wealth of extraordinary technological and iconographic information.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68827128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070009b
A. Bulatović, A. Bankoff, W. Powell, V. Filipović
{"title":"Some remarks on the genesis of the early Eneolithic in the Central Balkans","authors":"A. Bulatović, A. Bankoff, W. Powell, V. Filipović","doi":"10.2298/sta2070009b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070009b","url":null,"abstract":"The study addresses an imprecisely defined period between the end of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Eneolithic in the Central Balkans. The study primarily refers to the characteristic ceramic forms common to both the Vinca culture and the Early Eneolithic groups, especially the Bubanj-Hum I group. The pottery under consideration originates exclusively from absolutely dated sites, single-layered sites, and sites that possess a well-defined vertical stratigraphy. The analyses of pottery, combined with brief reviews on economic strategies, the chipped stone industry, settlement topography and the process of metallurgy indicate that the transitional period from the Vinca culture to the Bubanj-Hum I group was a gradual process in the Central Balkans, without major external factors, yet continuous cultural contacts with the neighbouring communities, especially into the east. This gradual process of vertical genetic transmission between the 47th and the 45th century calBC resulted in the formation of the Bubanj-Hum I group.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
StarinarPub Date : 2020-01-01DOI: 10.2298/sta2070095g
Nadezda Gavrilovic-Vitas
{"title":"Monumental altar from Singidunum with scenes of a sacrificial procession - pompa et immolatio","authors":"Nadezda Gavrilovic-Vitas","doi":"10.2298/sta2070095g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/sta2070095g","url":null,"abstract":"A monumental altar was found in the very centre of Belgrade, ancient Singidunum, in 1932, with iconographic scenes of the sacrificial procession for a ritual animal sacrifice - immolatio. The scenes depict the procession of sacrificial animals to the altar known as pompa, by the victimarii, but also represent priests of a lower rank (flamines minores), with ritual utensils like a wine-pitcher, patera and acerra, used for the ritus of purification which precedes the sacrifice and for ritual acts during the sacrifice. The altar from Singidunum represents a unique monument with the described iconography in the territory of Moesia Superior and it has only been published in catalogue form to date, never fully analysed or interpreted. Through the analysis of its iconography, typology, function, geographically closest analogies and possible context of its finding, new conclusions regarding the praxis of public ritual sacrifice are brought to light related to the period from the second half of the 2nd century to the first decades of the 3rd century in Singidunum, one of the main centres of Moesia Superior.","PeriodicalId":36206,"journal":{"name":"Starinar","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68826784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}