Animal remains from the Late Medieval kitchen of the Esztergom archdiocese, Hungary - the benefits of screening

Medieval animal remains from the Esztergom archbishopric (Hungary) were screened using 5 mm and 2 mm mesh sizes, aimed at the high-resolution study of fish and bird remains and helping to achieve better comparisons with documentary sources. This is the first medieval assemblage in Hungary recovered using screening. A total of 7,294 animal remains are studied here, representing the 14th and 15th century. The screening resulted in quantities of fish and bird bones. The large find numbers also multiplied the taxonomic diversity. In addition to the remains of new, small-bodied species, bones of young fish showed a diachronic increase in the contribution of carp and young pike to the diet. This seems consonant with the expansion of medieval fish farming. Remains of juvenile birds could also be identified. Some worked bones recovered by screening indicate the manufacturing or reparation of crossbows at the site. Thanks to these details, our material stands out among other contemporaneous animal bone assemblages from the Carpathian Basin. Comparisons between sites, however, must be done with caution, as our data are qualitatively different from others. Large bones of livestock and the near absence of those from large game may be interpreted in the light of other hand-collected samples, while fish and bird remains and even the abundance of brown hare need to be seen in part as a product of high-resolution recovery. The newly discovered spectrum of animal remains could be profitably interpreted in the light of late 15th century accounting books of the archbishop. Although these documentary sources slightly post-date our material, they shed light on the complexities of meat procurement between possibly local production and trade.

The blues of Romuliana

The paper presents a set of glass fragments excavated at several different locations within and outside the late Roman fortified imperial residence Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad, Serbia). This small group of eighteen fragments and mosaic glass tesserae are distinguished by their cobalt blue colour. The majority of the finds are mosaic tesserae (six pcs) and sheets of glass (five pcs), which could be related to architectural decoration (sectilia panels). Others are pieces left behind from secondary glass working (four pcs). There are also two fragments tentatively identified as window pane pieces, and only one find is a vessel sherd. The materials are dated to the 4th century. Significantly, some of the production debris and the two ?window pane? fragments were found inside the destruction of a glass furnace. The analyses of the chemical glass composition of the finds confirmed that the blue colourant in all samples is cobalt, and antimony is also present at notable levels (except for one sample), likely to produce opacification of the glass. Regarding the origin of the raw glass, the data on almost all pieces suggests a Syro-Palestinian provenance, and a single sample could be related to Egyptian primary glass production. Importantly, the concentrations of the oxides added to the base glasses in order to modify the colour are positively correlated in certain samples, hinting at the makeup of the cobalt bearing ingredient and at a likely existence of particular production practices of the late Roman period.

Size doesn’t matter: Foeni-Sălaş, a small multi-period settlement in the Romanian Banat

Systematic archaeological excavations at the multicultural site of Foeni-S?la? in the Romanian Banat conducted during the first half of the 1990s uncovered evidence that the site was inhabited during the Early Neolithic, Copper, Bronze, Early Iron, Late Antique and Medieval Ages. This paper summarises the cultural history of the settlement at the site and describes the relevant deposits and material culture in each period.

The Balkan-Aegean migrations revisited: Changes in material culture and settlement patterns in the Late Bronze age Central Balkans in light of new data

Alleged ?Aegean migrations? have long been seen as underlying major transformations in lifeways and identity in the Balkans in the 12th-11th centuries BC. Revisiting the material culture and settlement changes in the north-south ?routeway? of the Velika Morava-Juzna Morava-Vardar/Axios river valleys, this paper evaluates developments within local communities. It is argued that mobility played an important role in social change, including an element of inward migration from the north. We argue that rather than an Aegean end point, these river valleys themselves were the destination of migrants. The prosperity this stimulated within those communities led to increased networks of personal mobility that incorporated elements from communities from the wider Carpathians and the north of Greece over the course of two centuries.

A new interpretation of prince Lazar’s “tipar” from the Rudnik mountain

This paper offers a new interpretation of an object found on the Rudnik mountain in 2015. On its first public presentation, it was defined as a tipar (seal die) of the Serbian prince Lazar. However, a new reading of its inscription revealed a detail that demonstrates that it is not a seal die but an object with a different purpose. It is a mould (matrix) which would have been used for the fabrication of a medallion (plaquette) on the bottom of a goblet destined for the prince. This identification is also corroborated by examples of similar medallions known in the region of medieval Serbia and its surroundings. This find from the Rudnik mountain remains unique in our region while the new interpretation raises a series of questions about the development of artistic crafts and the fabrication of luxurious receptacles in medieval Serbia.

From “Porta Fossiensis” to Fossae exploring the roman road system in the Glac Study Area east of Sirmium

As part of a comprehensive archaeological survey of the area around the site of Glac, near ancient Sirmium, a detailed examination has been undertaken of the location of the via militaris from Sirmium to Bassianae in light of previous studies and new field surveys. In locating the road, the questions of the findspot of two Roman milestones, the location of the eastern gate of the city of Sirmium, the nature of road way stations including mutationes, and the likely location of the way station at Fossae mentioned in the Bordeaux Itinerary and Ravenna Cosmology have been considered. The implications of the road construction on the patterns of rural settlement and economy in the Glac Study Area are highlighted.

The economic and social importance of saline soils and saltwaters during the Late Neolithic of the Pannonian Plain and the Central Balkans

The importance of salt in human and animal diets suggests that the local resources of saline soils, watercourses, and marshes with saline water had to be well known to past populations. Based on the analysis of the environs of a large number of Late Neolithic and Early Eneolithic sites, this research assumes the great importance of such resources. This paper examines the spatial relationships between settlements and these resources, in the example of five Late Neolithic settlements from the territories of the Pannonian Plain and the Central Balkans. The goals of the research are to provide an initial step in the reconstruction of potential locations for salt exploitation, and provide a better understanding of each settlement and, subsequently, its role and function in the local Neolithic settlement system. The research considers previously published results of the pedological analysis of the settlement environments and archaeological investigations of the settlements. If certain micro-regions and regions did not provide possibilities for the extraction of salt for both animal and human utilisation, salt, and probably cattle, had to be procured through exchange networks. However, if livestock could not be grazed in areas abundant in salt, then salt would have to be added to the animals? diet. We conclude that Late Neolithic settlements should not be observed in isolation, but rather ?s parts of wider settlement systems including exchange networks with salt as a major commodity. This represents one of the crucial factors for the understanding of cultural development during the 5th millennium BC.

The cult of goddess Fortuna in the Roman Central Balkans

The cult of the goddess Fortuna has been attested on the territory of Roman provinces in the Central Balkans with numerous votive monuments, sculptures, votive reliefs, statuettes and on glyptics. The goddess was particularly popular among the army, but also venerated by administrative personnel, merchants, freedmen, slaves and women. The epithets of the goddess imply that she was honoured by her devotees as in other Roman provinces - mainly as the goddess of good luck and chance, but also as the protectress of transport, business, routes and perhaps in bathing facilities. Fortuna was usually worshipped alone, but her pairing with the Egyptian goddess Isis as the syncretistic deity Isis-Fortuna and her relationship with Genii, are confirmed in different Central Balkans localities. The goddess Fortuna?s sanctuaries can be presumed in the vicinity of Ulpiana, Nis, near Kumanovo and probably in Viminacium, while her cult lasted from the 2nd to the last decades of the 3rd century.

Roman agricultural tools in the ager of Viminacium

The several decades long rescue excavations of the ancient city of Viminacium have brought to light a large number of finds with very varied functions. In this paper, we will focus our attention on the remains of agricultural tools. They can be grouped according to their application: tools for clearing plants and preparing the soil for cultivation, tools used for tillage, implements for shredding and preparation for planting, as well as those used for mowing, harvesting, soil cleaning, and haymaking. The finds of agricultural tools that we present in this paper, although small in number, represent the most reliable indicators of agricultural activities in the period from the 2nd to the beginning of the 4th century, when Viminacium went through its period of greatest prosperity.

Iron belts of the Dalj type - a study of regionalisation of the Middle La Tène female costume

A characteristic element of the Middle La T?ne Scordiscan female costume are the various types of iron and bronze belts, which can often be connected with contemporaneous types from the Carpathian Basin. One such form are iron belts of the Dalj type, composed of pairs of twisted rod-shaped segments with loops, connected with rings, which differ in the shape of mostly iron, only rarely bronze buckles. Dalj type belts are numerous in south-eastern Pannonia in cemeteries of the Scordisci, although they have also been documented in female graves in the northern part of the Carpathian Basin, in Transylvania and in cemeteries in Central Europe. Dalj type belts are mostly dated to LT C1, although it seems that their appearance can be dated as early as the end of LT B2. Noticeable differences in the shapes of belt buckles bear witness to the individualisation of the early Middle La T?ne female costume used by various communities, that is, its regionalisation.