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In the funds of the Samara Museum for History and Regional Studies named after P. V. Alabin there is a small collection of jewelry made of precious metals by the Volga Bulgarians of the 12th — early 13th century. The article describes items from this collection that originate from the sites of Volga Bulgaria in the Samara region. The range of jewelry products in Volga Bulgaria includes a variety of personal jewelry. A special place is occupied by items from the Zhiguli hoard, discovered on the Samara Luka and representing an outstanding example of Bulgarian jewelry art of the pre-Mongol period. These artifacts are evidence not only of the high level of development of the Volga Bulgarians’ metalworking craft, but also indicators of the level of artistic representations of society as a whole within the cultural traditions of the Muslim East.
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One of the most precious Byzantine objects in the collection of the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow is the double-sided pendant in the form of a carved wooden medallion (9.8 × 7.2 × 1.5 cm) with a refined openwork filigree silver-gilt mount studded with pearls and garnets (inv. no. MNK XIII-475). There is a depiction of the Virgin and Child on the front and of three saints with a temple model on the back. Its features suggest that it was made in the second half of the 18th century, probably in one of the monastic centers on Mount Athos, perhaps at Simonopetra or — even more plausibly — at Hilandar; and all the more so if the figures depicted in the medallion actually are St. Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, and St. Simeon, his father and the first Serbian king.
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Fragments of plates of silver frames of liturgical objects with minted floral ornaments were found in the collection of archaeological materials stored in the State Hermitage Museum and among those originating from the excavations of the Large fortified settlement near Shepetоvka (second half of the 12th — first half of the 13th centuries). They differed stylistically and used to decorate once different objects. It was possible to reconstruct a large procession cross with a lush floral ornament and distinguish two crowns from the decoration of an icon, executed less luxuriantly, possibly by another master. The design and stylistic features of the cross find parallels among the Byzantine procession crosses of the 11th—12th centuries, covered with silver frames. At the same time, the reconstructed cross has significant differences, which allows it to be attributed to the first similar works of the ancient Russian masters of the 12th century (?) who followed Byzantine tradition.
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The iconography of a number of small Old Russian icons from the first third of the thirteenth century, made of stone, clay or copper alloy, confirms the tradition, known from written sources, of votive ornaments in the form of gold and silver collars, both wound and sickle-shaped, on particularly venerated icons. The paper examines the sources of this tradition and the influence upon it of international contacts: similar ornaments on sacred images may be traced in Western Europe and among the Cumans. The miniature icons that have been discovered, which reproduce the form of the most venerated icons, supplement our idea of the religious art of Old Rus’, the canon of which was received from Byzantium, but was realised in an original manner, reflecting local realities and artistic tastes.
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Jewelry bearing images of saints, publicized in academic circles but without any greater study, are presented here in detail for the first time. Additional information has been introduced where such detail has been lacking on those found in foreign collections. The images, their forms and design compositions, characterizing the work of the Kiev’s princely workshops of the 11th—12th centuries, are analyzed. Attention is focused on separate stylistic features of manufacturing, previously unresearched.The study allowed us to conclude: that there were cases of stencils being re-used; that manufacturing to order of a pair of kolty by two masters took place — the main specialist, who was highly proficient in his drawing and cloisonné technique and his assistant, who was still gaining skills in producing such jewelry. This would explain the reason for stylistic differences in the details of face designs, garment decor and enamel tones.A new interpretation of Vladimir’s kolts of the 12th century is proposed, revising the prevailing school of thought in literature about their provincialism and imperfection.
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The rescue archaeological excavations, held on the territory of the former thermal electric power plant in Pskov prior to its renovation, revealed a medieval “metallurgy quarters” which existed on this territory in the 13th—16th centuries beyond the fortification walls. The manufacturing center occurred on the site of the burial grounds of the 10th — first half of the 11th cc. thus having destroyed many burial mounds. It is indicative that the raw materials used by the local metallurgists contained a significant amount of fragmented and deformed jewelry, some of which may have highly likely come from the destroyed burials. To date, no clusters of industrial complexes that occupied such an area in the absence of residential development have been found on the territory of Medieval Pskov. The discovery of such a production quarter in Pskov allows us to revise both the history of urban development and the organization of production processes in one of the largest urban centers of North-Western Russia.
More...Some Differences and Similarities between the Germanic and Nomadic Rituals
In Lombard cemeteries there are numerous burial pits containing horses, confirming that this animal was the sacrificial victim par excellence among Germanic and Nomadic cultures in the Early Middle Ages. The majority of horse burials found in Italy shows similar deposition methods to some discovered in the cemeteries of Central and Eastern Europe, which belong to both Lombards and other Germanic peoples. This permits tracing of the main characteristics of the Germanic funerary custom, and its differentiation from another ritual recognised in the Italian cemetery of Campochiaro (Southern Italy, Molise), where horses were buried in a manner similar to that observed among the Avars, a nomadic population who settled in the Carpathian Basin in the last decades of the 6th century AD. This paper describes the main archaeological discoveries in Italy, with the aim of clarifying the distinctions between the two cultural heritages identified there, and providing some explanations thereof.
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The research of ancient history in institutional terms is less represented than other historic periods, which certainly has an impact on the quality and quantity of published papers. We should also bear in mind one specific characteristic of ancient historiography – the difficulty of making a clear distinction between historical and archaeological research of the ancient history of Bosnia and Herzegovina – thus the results of both of these scholarly fields can be observed through the prism of comparability of their themes. A noticeable stagnation in the process of archaeological and historical research is the result of the war of 1992–1995 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the recent period witnessed the birth of a significant number of papers addressing topics such as Roman conquests, peregrine communities (civitates peregrinae), municipal units, and Romanization and urbanization of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. We should emphasize that the majority of these papers address the topics from the period of Augustus’s and Tiberius’s reign. The focus is on the study of the position of indigenous communities during the military conflicts with Rome, while the issue of their development following Bellum Batonianum (AD 6–9) is quite neglected. Apart from Slovenian scholar Marjeta Šašel Kos, the first phases of the Roman conquests of the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were mostly studied by Croatian scholars – Siniša Bilić-Dujmušić, Danijel Džino, and Marin Zaninović – as part of their wider scope of research during the last two decades. Their research assumes two opposite directions. Firstly, they believe that the conquest of the Adriatic hinterland, i.e. the interior of Illyricum, should be traced through military and political interaction of Rome with individual indigenous communities and polities. Secondly, they believe that the sources are interpreted by tracing the essential political interaction between Rome and the entire regional geopolitical system of Illyricum in order to avoid defining Roman interactions with certain smaller political bodies. In the context of regional historiography regarding Roman conquests, we should single out the papers of already mentioned Danijel Džino. Although his stances frequently part ways with the scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Džino should be acknowledged for making a methodological contribution to the study of the ancient history of Bosnia and Herzegovina through his research.
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Within the results presented in this monograph, the basic method used to analyse the ceramic pastes of stove and floor tiles and small ceramic sculptures was micropetragraphic analysis. This method provides the most important information on the shard – representation of fragments and rocks, firing temperature, surface treatment etc. The second most frequent method is electron microscopy with an energy-dispersive analyser. This method was used with glazed ceramic artefacts to determine the chemical composition of glazes. The other methods mentioned below were applied when a specific technological phenomenon occurred.
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One of the most representative commodities of the medieval and modern ceramic production are relief-decorated stove tiles, in which we can follow up the content and symbolism of decoration motifs as an evidence of material and spiritual culture at the time of their origin. From a technological point of view, it is possible to define the development of production procedures, both in the construction of tiles themselves, and in the construction of entire heating devices. However, problems arise when we try to find out how technological novelties and relief motifs have spread among stove builders. Apart from natural scientific analyses, which have long been used to solve this question (e. g. Loskotová–Hložek 2017), we also searched for the possibilities of analysing the relief decoration on tiles from a technological and not from an art historical perspective. For this purpose, we had to document the reliefs in order to obtain exact data, which were not yet provided by the standard methods of archaeological research.
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Hunting themes began to be depicted on relief-decorated stoves since the second half of the 15th century, when the tile iconography was enriched with motifs portraying prestigious social activities and individual themes were drawn from the everyday life of privileged social classes. Hunting was an integral part of noble style and a popular entertainment. Together with tournaments and accolades, it created the aristocratic culture. The popularity of hunting is evidenced by genre scenes from the hunting milieu, depicted in the form of woodcuts, illuminations and graphics, or in the form of painted, carved or sculpted decoration in the representative interiors of manorial and ecclesiastical residences and burgher houses. Attractive themes were associated not only with castles and mansions, as we would expect with regard to their tight connection with hunting grounds, but we know them also from towns and monasteries. This fact indicates that hunting was enjoyed not only by the uppermost social classes, namely the ruler and aristocracy, but also by wealthy patricians and clergymen. The spread of the motif among various social milieus, initiated by the effort to imitate the lifestyle of upper classes, increased the demand for this category of luxury goods. And production centres responded to this demand by their updated supply. The tiles with hunting decoration have been part of the manufacturing programme of ceramic workshops for about fifty years. Together with other scenes, they contributed to the adoption of cultural habits of high society.
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Seen from the perspective of analytical methods, the relief-decorated floor tiles exhibit both common and different technological traits when compared to the stove tile production. This finding can be best demonstrated on the sets of floor tiles from Brno. A surprising characteristic of medieval floor tiles is a very low proportion of temper in the clay body, which makes it completely different from the raw materials used in the stove-making workshop whose waste was found in the Veselá Street. In terms of technology, floor tiles resemble more the bricks. We can thus suppose that this commodity has been produced by brick makers. The location of brickworks in the territory of Brno is well known from written sources and archaeological excavations (Holub–Anton 2020). The results of analyses help us localise the two main places of clay extraction. The majority of floor tiles are probably made from raw materials acquired from terraces above the rivers Svitava or Ponávka (1st and 2nd material groups). These materials are characterised by a low temper content. Clay has been extracted in places adjacent to the southern edge of the town walls and in suburban areas north and northeast of the medieval town core – the different character of these locations might have caused small differences between groups 1 and 2. It can be generally said that fluvial sediments based on transported loess were historically considered a raw material suitable for the production of building ceramics. This statement was proved e. g. in a medieval brickworks uncovered by archaeological excavations in Brno-Královo Pole (Holub–Merta–Zůbek 2006, 45). These sediments cannot be macroscopically distinguished from primary loess deposits, so they can be generally confused with each other.
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Archaeological contexts and finds which evidence the pottery-making and stove-making production are always welcome because they provide a great deal of new information on local production. Even though Brno counts among towns which have been archaeologically investigated over a long period of time, only two sites were detected, so far, that can be associated with the activity of potters and stove builders. In the 1960s, Vladimír Nekuda uncovered a workshop in the area of what is now the capuchin monastery in the south-western part of the town. The workshop was operated here in the last quarter of the 15th and at the beginning of the 16th century. The 2015–2016 excavations in the north-western part of the historical town core of Brno between the Veselá and Besední Streets have yielded relics of two pottery kilns and plenty of production waste, which can be associated with a workshop that was probably operated here in the last third of the 15th century.
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Presented are two inscriptions accompanied by graffiti – drawings from the end of 9th and the beginning of the 10th century found in North-Eastern Bulgaria. It is believed that they are directly related to the spread of the cause of Cyril and Metho¬dius in Bulgaria since the mid-9th century. The first monument was discovered during archaeological excavations in the Old Bulgarian monastery near the village of Ravna, Provadiya region, east of the capitals of Pliska and Preslav. There is no doubt, there is written КΛΗΜΕΝΤΟΣ ΠΑΠΑ ΡΟΜ(Η)С (Clement Pope of Rome). Next to the sign, there is a dove against two dragons. Definitely the cult of Clement Pope of Rome, who lived in the first century, and died in exile in Chersonese, was introduced in Bulgaria by the Great Moravian students of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, who arrived in Pliska in 886. The cult was reborn after Cyril found the remains of Clement Pope of Rome on January 30th 861 at the mission in Chersonese, then took them to Rome and formally submit them to the Pope Adrian II in 867. It is remarkable that the only Eulogy to Clement of Rome, written by Clement of Ohrid himself, compares the Pope to a dove brought up by Apostle Peter himself. The second monument is the inscription in Cyrillic and Glagolitic letters from the old Bulgarian fortress near the village of Tsar Asen, Silistra, that emerged around the end of 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. It reads: “On Gospozhina day has been placed the cross. Lord have mercy on me, Manasseh monk with serf through Byzantium“. It is assumed, that Manasseh is a new, unknown by name disciple of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, who specifically warns that he comes from Byzantium, the old name of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. According to Naum’s biography, some of the Mora¬vian students of St. Methodius are sold by the German clergy in slavery. Later, with the support of the Emperor, they were purchased and received in Byzantium, and later, with the personal assistance of Prince Boris, they were brought to Bulgaria.
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The article examines the reports for the archaeological monuments on the territory of the city of Sliven and her vicinity, left in the travelogues and descriptions by Evliya Çelebi, S. Sayger, Dr. С. F. Pоyet, August Jochmus and Georgi Rakovski, from the 17th – to the middle of the 19th century. Evliya Celebi, Sayger, Dr. Pоyet and Rakovski mention the remains of the Early Byzantine and Medieval fortress of Hisarlka, north of the city. Johmus describes the remains of one ancient road in the mountain north of Sliven, and Rakovski notes some other fortifications in the area near the city.
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The paper focuses on analysis and comparison of two types of sources (selected late antique and medieval narrative sources as well as late medieval charters on purchase, sale, exchange, pawning, donation and perambulation of estates) referring to forests in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers. The aim is to detect and present which types of data on forests can be found in late antique and medieval narrative sources (of western/Latin and eastern/Greek provenance) and in late medieval documents, particularly in perambulation records. Through the analysis of narrative sources, the paper also endeavours to detect how much and what the writers knew about the forests, whether their knowledge was based on their personal experience, on acquired information or on the knowledge of literature; consequently what they have to say could simply be construed as a direct transfer of identical data and formulations from earlier literature references. Late medieval documents should for instance show the importance of the forests and trees in the determination of boundaries, which sorts of trees could be found in forests of the region between the Sava and Drava rivers, as well as what forests meant to the population of that time. The analyzed narrative sources offer too few information that is directly related to forests in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers. The exception is Claudian who makes the only explicit mention of forests in the region, and apparently in its eastern part, the former Roman province of Second Pannonia (Pannonia Secunda). However, given the panegyric character of his poem, his description has primarily symbolic power and is also quite general. On the contrary, Sextus Aurelius Victor was for a while governor of the Second Pannonia, and his remark about immense forests of Pannonias carries a greater weight as an eyewitness account.
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On the slightly risen and very easily defended northern edge of the hill on which present day city of Udbina is situated, there is the locality named Gradina (▲ 849). This locality is situated on the very top of the rocky uplift under which the Krbava field is divided in two parts. Eastern part leads to Visuć and Kozja Draga, while the second part leads to south towards Kurjak and Komić. Therefore, the Gradina is situated on the location of the excellent control of those parts of Krbava field. This location was inhabited from the prehistoric period, which was confirmed by the results of the archeological excavations on the northern part of the defense wall, and the excavated items are dated in the Iron Age, that is in the period between the 8th and the 5th century BC. This position was also used in the Roman period what can be confirmed by the founding of two cententionals from the 3rd century. The life on this position was continued in the middle of the 14th century, if not even in the end of the 13th century, what still has to be proven by the excavation of the so far intact layer of the first phases of the building of the stronghold of the counts Kurjakovići. The excavations conducted after 2008 were focused on the upper area of the hill (preliminary named “upper city”) with the circular tower of the diameter of 7m (external diameter of 11m). Bellow of this round tower on its western and northern external side the foundation of even older circular tower was found. This older tower was connected with the inner room with smooth daub flooring. The dimensions of the both towers are almost identical, although the older one is slightly smaller. On the northern part of the older tower the remains of the stairs which had lad to tower were found. Furthermore, several excavation probes were open on the northern slope just beside to the remains of the entrance of the outer wall. Near to the inner part of the wall the remains of the burned beams and huge iron axle pins were found. These founding indicate the possibility of the existence of the wooden console and/or the room for guards. Besides the western part of the entrance of the outer wall the carved remains of fi re place were found also. Furthermore, in order to alleviate the hill slope, the shallow staircase was made of compact boulder. The excavated moveable material is very various and it ranges from numerous construction tools as well as axle pins and staples, to the various weapons and military equipment (rifle barrels, lead bullets, stone cannon bullets, spurs…). Finally, the various ceramic, glass and bronze dishes were also founds, and these artefacts are evidence of the civil life in Udbina castle in the period between the 15th and the 17th century.
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Elongated and relatively strait the Humščak hill is the integral part of the relief of the south-western part of the Varaždin County that is the integral part of the micro-region northern of Breznički Hum. The landscape of this region is mostly composed of the hills and lower mountains with the average altitude between 150 and 300 meters. Although covered by the forest, the Humščak hill is dominant hill in the landscape and it straits from the east to west with the highest peak at 370 meters. This is an excellent strategical position with great control of the neighbouring areas and with plenitude of water resorts – all of this pinpointed the Humščak hill as a possible archaeological site. First artefacts were recovered from the surface layers in 2001, but the first archaeological probes were done in 2010, while full scale archaeological excavations started two years later. It was the footnote no. 406 in the Milan Kruhek’s book “Krajiške utvrde i obrana Hrvatskog kraljevstva tijekom 16. stoljeća”, in which the čardak on the Hum hill was mentioned, that brought the attention of the archaeologist, who conducted field surveying, archaeological probing, topographic and toponomastic analysis in order to define the possible position of the čardak on the Hum hill mentioned in the historical documents. During the two archaeological campaigns on the presumable location of the čardak, the remains of the architectural sets as well as numerous movable artefacts were found. In spite of the fact that excavated architectural remains are only fragmental, the author argues that these remains confirm that on that position the wooden object had existed. The excavated architectural remains were remains of the stone wall, the stone covered passage, the flooring made of daub as well as two holes in the ground used for the settling of the perpendicular wooden pillar. Among the movable artefacts, which are still not processed, there are numerous iron nails, the examples of the simple ceramics, the vast quantity of the plate stove tiles with square openings, as well as many other different types of stove tiles from the upper coronal of the stove. Furthermore, the various metal artefacts were also excavated such as lead bullets, horse equipment (ring for attaching the saddle), and horseshoe, hunting arrow, buckle and bronze fibula. Finally, the luxurious artefacts are rare, but two biconical glass bottles, as well as glazed decorated glasses and a piece of faience. The spectra of the artefacts very well fits in the everyday life of the 16th century guards that served on the Humščak hill during the 16th century.
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The upper town of the Knin castle is chronologically third complex on the St. Savior hill overlying of the modern city of Knin, as well as the core of the present day stronghold placed on the whole western part of the St. Savior hill. The oldest part of this stronghold were constructed no later than 950 and therefore the upper town of the Knin castle is one of the oldest medieval strongholds in Croatia. The upper town of Knin is developed mountain longitudinal noble castle which was thoroughly modified during the baroque period just to become artillery stronghold. It is place on the very northern edge of the Knin castle on the very long and strait ridge with the steep flanks, which is additionally separated from the rest of the hill by the broadside dike. The complex of the castellan’s residence is divided in two courts by the inner door. The southern court is smaller and lower, while the northern court is bigger and placed in the central part of the stronghold. In both of these courts there are several buildings of which the biggest are military barrack and the castellan’s house placed in the bigger court. Among the other existing buildings there are the remains of the old warehouse, than two large cisterns, powder warehouse, dungeons and the complex of the restrooms. The upper town of the Knin castle was defended by four rectangle and one circular semi-turret, but today only eastern and the upper town of the Knin castle semi-turret still exist. After the Venetian capture of Knin, during the period between 1688 and 1711, the former medieval and Ottoman upper town was transformed in baroque stronghold and incorporated in the complex of the Knin castle. During these construction work in the beginning of 18th century on the site of the southern turret the new fi ve-square cannon platform was built, while on the site of the north-eastern turret the new large prison house (Kalunerica) was constructed. Finally, the south-western turret was demolished in the period. In spite of the fact that the later baroque reconstruction had somewhat changed the original medieval upper town of the Knin castle, it remains one of the best preserved medieval defensive complex in Croatia.
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