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In thc tank dlscovered at Sarmizegctusa Regia. among thc archacologlcal 11nds. has becn found a socalled "disk-- which S!lOWS a hUlllan face on one side. This piece prescnts a Uacian origin. The lace'5 featurcs are presented in a seh'~lllatic styk of work: thc cyes arc rcpn:scnted by twn cclls. thc nose by a protuberancc in a trapcZllidal shapc. thc Illouth is n1lSsing. lInl()rtullateil. thc archaeological Icvel where this pleee has bcen fi.llind can't help us sa\ very precisel\ what the slgnifieatlon and the utilily of the pieee. But it IS out of Cjuestion that the "disk" rcprescnts a deity who had been adored bv Dacians. It is possibk that thc piccc \Vas uscd in blaek witehcrali OI' I'H practices of iniliation. This human fiIce could be a rcpresentatlon of the initiation-man itscJr. Thc person who understands thc knowlcdgc ami can dlscern them; who is thc bear,:r of a ditferent languagc. but \\'hol11 is I'Hbiddcn to tell thc sccrets to the others. Evcn il' \Ve can't offer a ckar answer eoncerning thc signification and thc dcstination of piecc. \Ve have considereel as a good thlllg to prescnt it bccausc oi' its uniquc statute 111 the Dacian world anei the small nUlllber ufthc reprcscntatlon ofhuillan Elce in the sUlTounding arca ofthe capital ofthe Dacian kingdolll
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The study of small-town houses is not a very common topic among researchers. The analysis of the development of the historical house "Panský dom" (literally house of nobility) in the town of Týnec nad Labem has been highly informative. The aim of the article is to show the individual development phases of house construction according to research into material and written sources. Reconstructions, the building use, as well as individual structural changes can be analysed from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century.On the basis of the research performed, it can be stated that the use and purpose of the building changed with each new owner, related to his social status (suzerain house; inn; house of reeve and aristocratic officers; uninhabited; house of a noble with a regular income that led to the construction of a dance hall; semi-agrarian farmers; the transformation to an apartment building and hotel; bakery; etc.). The function of the courtyard also adapted to the desires of the new owner and the quality of life the residents changed accordingly. The quality of life of its residents illustrates the ability to exploit the potential for the house (including loft, farm buildings in the courtyard, etc.), to express the fashion and trends of the particular period. The vision of the owner, the structural possibilities and especially the methods of modification that embody the fashion of the particular period can be appropriately illustrated. Individual structural modifications describe the ambitions and situation of the owners.In this case, it is not a "great" history, but it is a study of the traces of life left in the house that surrounded its owners. At certain points, general history overlaps with the micro-history of "Panský dom" and together they influenced the form of house construction. The research identified several building phases and reconstructions when the modus operandi accurately corresponded with the social status of the owners. The informative value grows from the early periods to the later periods, in proportion with the number of written sources, as well as the material source – the house itself.
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In the Balkan archaeologies, ethnic identity has been traditionally treated as a stable and monolithic category, readily recognizable in the material culture. The issue of "ethnogenesis" of the Palaeo-Balkan "peoples" is the dominant topic and the basic research subject in culture-historical archaeology, today regarded as the consequence of the modern European nationalisms. Starting from the constructivist point, the paper seeks to examine the interpretations of ethnicity in the Balkan Iron Age, on the example of the so-called "early Classical settlements" – a series of mutually very similar fortified settlements located in the vast lands of the Balkan hinterland, today in the territory of several modern states. These settlements are broadly dated into the period from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BC, and have traditionally been interpreted as the final phase of the ethnogenesis of the Palaeo-Balkan communities, supposed to have been living in "tribal states", whose population has been recognized as "people" or even "nation". In the traditional literature, the ethnic characteristics have been readily recognized, projecting directly the modern socio-political structures onto the communities of the past that could have been founded on completely different group identity or political organization. The paper deals with the issue of the political aspects of these interpretations in variousBalkan countries, favoring certain Palaeo-Balkan communities, and an attempt is made to contextualize these nationalistic narratives into the present.
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The authors discuss the issue of presence of vessels in the inventory of an early-medieval warrior. The goal was to answer a question of to what extent this category of artifacts belonged really to non-military accessories. The source basis was constituted by 106 burial sets, equipped with military artifacts and containing vessels, recorded at burial grounds from Polish lands, utilized in the period of 10th – 13th centuries. Basing on the find overview, three basic groups of vessels were distinguished: wooden vessels (a bucket, a scoop, and others), clay and metal ones (bronze bowls). The discussion included also leather vessels, only hypothetically present in the graves. The authors express an opinion, that all of the mentioned vessel categories could have been used by early- Medieval warriors. Material, shape and technical parameters of the buckets makes them especially suitable for this role, although basing on the data present we cannot unambiguously identify these finds as related to riders. They could have been used by any military formation. The smallest specimens were used as drinking mugs, larger ones were used mainly for storing of food or as containers of liquids, subsequently poured to smaller vessels. The largest ones, although not numerous, could have been used for horse watering. A small number of other types of wooden objects in the graves with military artifacts does not allow any further discussion. Ceramic vessels were probably used ad hoc as mugs during military expeditions. Miniature specimens were included in personal inventory, while larger specimens probably followed the army transported on wagons. Bronze bowls were included in grave sets containing horse equipment, caparison elements and prestigious weapon elements. All this suggests, that they were used (as vessels for washing hands) by the representatives of the contemporary social elites, serving most probably as riders. Considering the luxurious character of the bowls, however, we have doubts about practical usage of this category during military expeditions. No sources exist that would prove the use of leather vessels by the warriors. The performed analysis excludes the possibility that the vessels found in graves could have been used for liquid transportation, since all of them, independently on their type, were open in form. They could, however, been used on camps, as vessels for consumption of meals and fluids. Probably most of the analyzed vessels were the warrior’s property.
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Über Enea Silvio Piccolomini, bzw. Papst Pius II. kann man behaupten, dass er ein typischer Vertreter der Zeit in der er gelebt hat war, was seine Persönlichkeit unter Beweis gestellt hat. Er lebte und schuf im 15. Jahrhundert, in einer Zeit in der die Apenninenhalbinsel vom Humanismus beherrscht wurde. Als Humanist, Staatsmann, Diplomat und Diener der Kirche kannte der West- Nord- und Mitteleuropa besser als jeder seiner Zeitgenossen. Die Vielgestaltigkeit, die sein Leben kennzeichnete, erwarb er während seiner Studentenzeit, als Sekretär bei verschiedenen Kardinälen, als Sekretär des Basler Konzils, als Abenteurer im Dienste des Friedens in Europa, als Sekretär am Hofe des Gegenpapstes Felix V., als Sekretär des Königs und späteren Kaisers Friedrich III., als Priester der alle hierarchischen Stufen bis zum Papst bestieg und schließlich als Schöpfer verschiedenartigster literarischer Werke (von der erotischen Komödie, Gedichte hin bis zu Abhandlungen über Erziehung oder Jagd und zu seinem selbstbiographischen Werk).
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Peat record from a very small basin, the former mire of Verevainu, in the nearest vicinity of the prehistoric settlement centre at Keava (4th century BC – early 13th century AD), was investigated by palaeo-ecological means, namely by pollen, charcoal, and loss-on-ignition analyses and radiocarbon dating. The study aimed at ascertaining the appearance of prehistoric man in the area and reconstructing the local vegetation history and human impact on the environment around the settlement centre. According to palaeo-ecological evidence the first sporadic cereal pollen grains appeared in the sediments in the Late Bronze Age. Both peat ignition residue values as indicators of topsoil erosion and pollen evidence suggest forest clearance, opening of landscape, and cultivation of cereals from the Pre-Roman Iron Age. Approximately at AD 350–500 the rate of human impact upon environment increased notably. The comparison of palaeo-ecological data with archaeological evidence of human inhabitation displays not only large coincidences but also some discrepancies.
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Archaeologists are often surprised by things that come to light out of the earth, showing us that people in the past lived a life that was much more intense than we could ever imagine. Unusual finds that step out of frames limited by our imagination often make us search more and dig deeper. Such a find was recently donated to the Vinkovci Municipal Museum (Eastern Croatia). On an unexplored field in the village of Karadžićevo little less than 200 medieval coins and an anthropomorphic mount were found by a local metal detector operator. Coins were easily identified as nominals of the Hungarian kingdom, dated to early 15th century. After examining the mount most similar objects to our item are described as products of medieval manufactures in Limoges, France. During High Middle Ages workshops there produced, in the service of the church, numerous religious objects. What such an object, of prestige for this part of Europe, is doing in Croatia and whether it is a Limoges Mount will be discussed in this paper.
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One of the exhibits of Moldavia’s History Museum is an Early Modern/Late Medieval sword that has been until recently known and labeled as “Prince Vasile Lupu’s Sword”. Our investigation demonstrates, by means of typology analysis and analogy, that the item is an ordonance weapon in the category of “riding swords” dated at the end of 16th or the in the beginning of the 17th century, used to equipp the light cavalry or to be worn as side-weapon by travelers. The type of weapon is known as Styrian Sword, as the largest group of preserved items is located in the Styrian Arsenal Museum in Graz, Austria.
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