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New evidence of Baltic-Adriaticamber tradeJoan M. Todd a & Marijean H. Eichel ba San José State Universityb Virginia Commonwealth UniversityPublished online: 01 Mar 2007.

To cite this article: Joan M. Todd & Marijean H. Eichel (1976) New evidence of Baltic-Adriatic amber trade, Journal of Baltic Studies, 7:4, 330-342

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01629777600000331

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NEW E V I D E N C E OF B A L T I C - A D R I A T I C A M B E R T R A D E

Joan M. Todd, San Jos~ State University Mari/ean H. Eichel, Virginia Commonwealth University

In a preliminary study of the ancient amber trade, x we advanced the idea that it might be advantageous~ to pursue the problems by considering in turn the various possible routes. The Adriatic route, coming down from the Baltic to the Danube and thence branching into two contacts with the Adriatic, west over the Alps to the Po River and east over the Postojna Pass (the ancient Peartree Pass) to centers in North Yugoslavia, appears to be a natural first candidate. This route appears (with some modifications) on all major map studies of the amber trade. Secondly, this is the route through which the ancient writers tell us they received the amber, although once north of the Adriatic itself, they become confused as to the way to the Baltic and often connect the Black Sea with the Adriatic by way of the Danube. From the earliest myths to the later travels of Pausanias amber is linked with the Eridanus River, usually now considered to be the Po River. 2 Islands in the North Adriatic were called the Electrides and the Greeks believed amber came from there. 3

Another reason for beginning with the Adriatic is the tantalizing proximity of the important sacred shrines of Greece: Dodona in Epirus, Delphi up from the Gulf of Corinth and Olympia in West Peloponnessus. Amber has been found in Kakovatos in Ells near Olympia and recently in Messenia, on the Nichorian ridge near Kalamata in Bronze Age sites. 4 The historian of prehis- toric and classical Epirus and Macedonia, N. G. L. Hammond, mentions many shared and similar artifacts between Epiriot sites, Dodona, Macedon and My- cenean Greece. He particularly mentions amber finds, s

Hammond's recent books are the continuation of the important question of early Adriatic-Greek relationships which was first discussed at length in an article by H. L. Beaumont published in 1936. Beaumont recognized the im- portance and connection of the Eridanus-Po with the amber legend and the fact that the Greeks of Dodona were the first to handle the gifts of the north-

330 JBS, Vol. 7, No. 4 (1976)

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Baltic-Adriatic Amber 331

ern Hyperboreans, but he believed that Herodotus' Hyperborean route "can hardly have anything to do with amber, owing to lack of finds from the sta- tions he mentions. ''6 New excavations are closing the gaps in this route as well as refuting his statement that "amber was not very i m p o r t a n t . . , after 600" (Beaumont, 191). As we shall see, amber finds in Yugoslavia have been found to be especially rich for this very period, although the Greek use of amber may have indeed changed, at least in burial practices. Certainly as Beaumont himself pointed out, classical Greek references to amber are v~ery numerous. Beaumont also was concerned about the paucity of Greek finds in the Central Adriatic and this too has been corrected by recent (1966) finds near Split, Vis and Zadar. 7

New work is constantly pushing back the date for early Greek-Adriatic contacts. In his discussion (1970) on navigation in the Adriatic Brusic" gives "proofs for the supposed communications in the neolith and the connections between the eastern side of the Adriatic and cultures in the inland of the Bal- kans, as well as for connections with the coasts of Greece, central and south- ern Italy" in archeological finds of pottery, direct imports such as obsidian, ship pictures and, for the later periods, coins, a

Novak, in his work on prehistoric Hvar, an island in the central Dalmatian group, sees a continuing vital Adriatic merchandise exchange and concludes it is "quite certain that in the late neolithic there was a link Hvar-Postojna. . . and that the same way by which amber travelled in prehistoric and classic times had been paved long before, i.e. in the Neolithic or the Eneolithic. ' '9

Still farther north in the Adriatic, new discoveries and analyses by Italian scholars of prehistoric amber finds north of the Po gives proof of Baltic ori- gin as well as "frequenting of the higher Adriatic Sea by eastern merchants during the epoch anterior to colonization. ' '1° J. D. Muhly sees amber as a cen- tral consideration in the reconstruction of Bronze Age Trade, with a sort of triangular trade relationship between tin, from N. Europe, faience (from Egypt) and amber. 11

Equally important as the Adriatic is the consideration of the relation of in- terior Yugoslavia to the Danube and its tributaries which is seen as a key to contacts with both Greeks and Northern Europeans. For Marija Gimbutas the Bronze Age of Central and Eastern Europe is the result of three streams of in- fluence; the first one she considers is that between eastern central Europe and the Near East. The route by which this relationship was established was "by trade via the Balkans, the Aegean, and the eastern Mediterranean" (Gimbutas, Ch. I). Her view of the early beginning, variety of routes and continuity of the Bronze Age amber trade is summarized as follows:

Amber was collected for export to the south and north from the end of the third millennium B. C. The existence of an eastern amber route throughout the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1800-ca. 1450) is proven by the concentration of hoards and graves containing amber beads in the lower Vistula area and in western Poland. Finished and semi-f'mished amber

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332 Journal o f Baltic Studies

beads show that bead manufacture was carried on where the raw amber was collected . . . Through Bohemia, Moravia or Slovakia it reached the Danube and the Tisza rivers, where the route split into two branches, one crossing the Alps into Italy and the other leading along the eastern coast of the Adriatic to Mycenaean Greece.

The most common form of amber bead in the Mycenaean tombs was a globular or flattened-spherical bead variable in size and centrally perforated. The same type of amber bead occurs in the southeastern Baltic area. (Gimbutas, 48.)

Vladimlr Fewkes sees an even earlier set t lement penetrat ion o f the Yugoslav

por t ion o f the lower Danube valley from the north and concludes,

With respect to the Neolithic Age, the vestiges of which are clearly rec- ognized more or less throughout the lower valley of the Danube, there can be no doubt that even the apparently 'oldest' remains bespeak a well developed cultural complexity. Although regional differences are distinguishable, a common fundamental basis of economy is demon- strated. This reflects a communal mode of life, sessile conditions, agri- culture and stock-raising-in other words controlled economy. Local parental antecedents from which the determining criteria of such an innovation might be considered to have germinated are certainly totally unsubstantiated. On the contrary, the very nature of the Neolithic cultural status, collectively viewed, indubitably bespeaks derivation from external sources, lZ

It is important to note that Fewkes speaks o f the Yugoslav Danube area

o f sett lement, rather than trade. in terms

A recent reconsideration o f Greek-Yugoslav contacts between the 8th and 6th c. BC emphasizes the Greek imports in the rich tombs o f the interior Glasinac plateau, especially items o f intr icately worked a m b e r . . . " indubi tablement de provenance g r e c q u e . . . " The term "greco-iUyrien" is used for a number o f styles and the author describes the Greek merchants penetrat ing more and more (from the Adriatic coast) into the interior o f the Balkans. 1 a

Tradit ionally then, when scholars spoke o f the Adriat ic amber route, they meant a sea route whether they specifically so stated or not, and that sea route began at the head of the Adriat ic gulf, either from the Po delta or from the re- gion where Trieste is now located. Based on our investigations o f Yugoslavian amber finds, we believe that this is much too restrictive and that if one looks at the terrain o f Yugoslavia as a whole other routes are possible and in some cases probable.

The northeastern part o f the Balkan peninsula, now part o f Yugoslavia, may best be described as a series o f l imestone ridges and intermontane valleys which trend in a northwest/southeast direction. Appended from the head o f the Adri- atic Sea is the heart shaped Istrian peninsula, with an abrupt coastal scarp and an interior dissected plateau. Cut by few rivers because o f the porosi ty o f its lime- stone substrata, it was in prehistoric and classical times thickly wooded.

Close to the eastern coast o f the Adriatic, separated from it by a series o f nar- row channels, lie the Adriat ic island groups: The Kvarner islands (Greek Elek-

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Baltic-Adriatic Amber 333

trides) and the Dalmatian islands, drowned mountain ridges which parallel the trend of the coast. Like the Istrian peninsula, they were originally wooded is- lands.

The first of the ridges on the eastern mainland edge of the Adriatic rises abruptly from the sea and stretches as an almost unbroken chain from the northernmost part of the Kvarner Gulf to the lowlands of the Drin River in Albania. There are six gaps which separate the links in this barrier range: four river mouths (the Zrmanja, Krka, Cetina and Neretva rivers) and the two depres- sions leading to the interior, one over the Velebit range near Senj, and the other through Klis in Central Dalmatia.

Only the Neretva and the Zrmanja lead deep into the interior; both the Cetina and the Krka make sharp turns and run for most of their courses parallel to the coast. And only the Neretva has constructed an extensive flood plain and delta in its lower reaches.

The interior limestone mountain ridges, the planine, are generally rounded, broad and quite long in proportion to their width. In prehistoric times they were thickly wooded with conifer or deciduous oak associations. As one travels east, the height of the mountains decreases and several high plateaux, gently rolling and easily traversed, are encountered. The intermontane valleys, the polje, are partly of karstic or techtonic origin and partly carved by mountain streams. The largest is Lika polja, an oval depression about 100 kilometers long and 40 kilo- meters wide, probably formed by karstic and techtonic forces.

Across the top of the mountain chain cuts the Sara River. Rising in the Julian alps, it flows east to join the Danube in the Pannonian plain. Large tributaries flow into it only from the south: it is these tributaries which deeply dissect the

• mountain massif, only rarely building flood plains. In the main, the broad plan- ine which separate them provide much easier passage than the canyons of the upper river courses; it is only when one reaches the lower elevations that the val- leys of these tributaries are easily traversed.

It was in the consideration of this total geographic picture of the Adriatic area in combination with the interior of Yugoslavia that our investigation of the ancient amber trade in this area began.

During the summer of 1974, thirty-five samples of archeological amber exca- vated in the Yugoslav provinces of Bosnia and Croatia were collected for prove- nience analysis. All of the amb'er artifacts from which samples were take are pre- sently in the possession of the cooperating museums, with the exception of a necklace from Rijeka which was lost earher. 14

The samples were tested for provenience by infrared spectrophotometry, by Professor Curt W. Beck and Angela Macchiarulo of Vassar College. is This meth- od of analysis requires only a very small sample of 2 milligrams and, except in rare cases of extensive weathering identifies Baltic amber (succinite) unambig- uously by a characteristic absorption pattern in the wavelength of 8 to 9 mi- crons. Computer classification makes it possible to further substantiate results. 16 The infrared method of provenience analysis is empirical and independent of any

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334 Journal of Baltic Studies

uncertainties which still attach to the chemical composition and botanical origin of Baltic amber; 17 it is a "fingerprinting" technique based solely on the compari- son of archaeological amber finds with a very broad data base of about 3,000 amber samples of known geographic origin. 18

There are six major geographic areas represented by the samples and these divisions are used in arranging the data in order to assist the reader to visualize the geographic complexities involved and to point out further possibilities of contact and influence as outlined above. The areas are discussed generally from East to West and important river courses mentioned are shown on the accom- panying map. Finds are also separated into Bronze and Iron Age representation. This is the first systematic study of Bronze Age Yugoslavian amber finds. When- ever possible, the relevant literature is cited to aid in the study of ancient cul- tures in Yugoslavia. Forthcoming publications will describe situations accom- panying finds, and sociological implications more fully.

I The Istrian Peninsula and the Kvarner islands. (1) Vr~in. Five amber samples were taken from the necropolis of Vr~in, part

of a museum display in the Archaeological Museum of Pula, but otherwise unpub- lished. Finds are believed to date from the late Bronze Age and were excavated from tumuli constructed of stone. A total of thirty pieces of amber, all beads of different styles, were found. Twenty-seven of these appear to belong to distinct necklaces from which samples were taken. Color ranged from orange-brown transparent, translucent and bright orange in color, to dark red. All spectra, al- though some were weaker than others, indicated good patterns of Baltic amber (succinite). 19

(2) So§ic~, Istria. Solid is located at the head of a bay on the western coast of Istria in an area of karst topography and is well located for sea connections with the Po delta and plain and for transit trade with the islands of the Kvarner Gulf. Two amber beads were found on a bronze spiral necklace dating from the bronze age in a stone slab grave. Two spectra were made of samples from the one re- maining amber bead. 2° There was a broadening of the absorption band at 6.1 microns and several other peculiarities. The unusual features of these spectra are very likely caused by impurities in the sample but the identification of this bead is Baltic amber must be qualified as being doubtful.

(3) Osor is in the center of the Kvarner (elektrides) islands. Five samples were taken from large lumps of amber which were part of bronze fibulae and from long (44 cm)'. intricate "Italian type" fibulae with bronze discs. They dated from the Iron Age, Hallstatt B and C.21 All were found to be Baltic amber but one sample indicated the possible contamination of the sample with a synthetic conservation material.

II Kastav (4) Kastav is close to the route leading to the interior and to the Postojna Pass.

An amber sample was taken from a large amber necklace found in a 3rd c. BC

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336 Journal of Baltic Studies

man's grave, excavated in 1972. Even though this was a very large and long necklace, it is the only amber in the Narodni Muzej in Rijeka. It is unpublished, although the museum has a photograph. Unfortunately the necklace was recent- ly stolen; the sample was taken from fragments which were left and its spectrum indicates Baltic amber.

III The Lika District (5) Kompolje and Vla§ko polje has good connections to the coast and the inte-

rior rivers. One sample was taken from a very rich Japodian grave, 22 a second sample, unpublished, was found outside the graves, an important distinction. Both were found to be Baltic amber from the First Iron Age, Hallstatt C and D.

(6) Pro~or has a central location in the Lika valley with routes leading north, east and to the coast. 1971-72 excavations revealed 76 graves, 71 inhumation and 5 cremation. Some beautifully made jug-shaped beads in one grave and some fragments in another were both found to be Baltic amber and date from Hall- statt D.2 a

IV The Split Area and the Island of Bra~ (7) Urjanic/Solina is near the ancient town of Salona. In a grave dated to Hall;

start B were numerous finds, including much bronze jeweUery, glass paste beads and three beads of amber, a4 A sample taken from one of them showed the spec- trum to be that of succinite (Baltic amber).

(8) Zaganj-Dolac is near Sumartin on the island of Bra6 in the central Dalmatian island group. Three amber samples were taken from stone slab graves dating the end of the VI to V c. BC.2 ~ One of the samples was shown by the spectrum to be Baltic amber; the other two were not able to be identified apparently because the small samples available for analysis consisted entirely of extensively oxidized weathering crust.

(9) Pritoka lies between the Glasinac plateau and the Lika and the very rich finds of the necropolis Jezerine near Pritoka constitute one of the most complete excavation programs in Yugoslavia. Jezerine finds are divided chronologically in four phases from ca. 800 to 110 BC and three amber samples were taken from graves belonging to Phase III (360-250 BC). a6 Two of the samples were shown by their spectra to be Baltic amber; the third gave a spectra quite unlike those of any archaeological amber specimen we have analyzed. This sample came from a large (16.6 cm ) fibulae of bronze, ornately carved with two animal heads and a large piece of amber in the center. The hydroxsyl absorption is very intense. The strongest carbon-oxygen singlebond absorption occurs at ca. 8 microns, a feature common to recent pine resins.

This development points to one of the central problems in the analysis of Yugoslav amber. One of Yugoslavia's most important archeologists, Frantic StarXe of Ljubljana, maintains the dominance in Yugoslavia of local origin, man- made amber, particularly in his area of Slovenia. In an interview in January 1974 he put forth the following observations:

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Baltic-Adriatic Amber 337

t . There were no direct Bronze Age relationships between

Slovenia and Western Greece.

2. Of 600 Late Bronze Age ~raves, only two graves contained

any amber at all.

3. All Slovene amber from the early Iron Age was o f local origin; none is from the Baltic. He believes that artisans

collected resin from pine and yew trees, cooked it down,

worked with wet hands, formed it into necklaces, figures

and beads, then dried and hardened it.

His proofs for the latter observation:

a. Baltic fossil amber breaks in the form of shells, like an onion, but "new" amber, "ours" breaks into cubes and prisms and disintegrates in these forms.

b. In many of the beads, the hole is too large to produce by drilling without splitting the bead. He believes the holes were produced by forming the malleable amber around horse hairs which were removed when the amber dried.

c. On some pieces of amber he has found fingerprints. d. On some pieces the understructure of the modelling can be seen (e.g.,

marks like rifling on the inside of the bead.) e. Baltic fossil amber, when burned, smells like the resin violinists treat

their bows with; but Slovene amber, when burned, smells like pine forests.

f. In some graves, the amber has picked up clay on the outer surface, giving it a grey, clayish tinge. He believes this was caused when amber was needed quickly for a burial and was not quite dry when placed around the neck of the dead person.

g. There was no commercial amber route between the Baltic and the Northern Adriatic (here he was explicit and definite). He deduced this from the fact that there is no single piece found with Baltic workmanship in the Adriatic and in the Baltic no piece with work- manship like the Adriatic. 27

Star~'s conclusions are born out by chromatograph analysis done by Lebez, who

summarizes:

From our analysis (thin-layer chromatography) it is evident that none of numerous samples of archeological amber examined showed pro- perties s~anilar to the samples of Baltic amber. Therefore we can con- clude that the archeological samples do not originate from Baltic am- ber, but in all probability from a tree resin which was produced similar- ly to present-day colophony. 28

Beck was given samples of the same amber tested by Lebez and infrared specto-

graphic analysis by him showed the amber to be Baltic in origin. 29

V The Glasinac Plateau

(10) Sokolac has connections, via mountain passes to the Neretva River. An am-

ber sample was taken from the Brezje necropolis, Iron Age, apparently part o f a

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338 Journal of Baltic Studies

necklace, a° Two spectra were taken because of clay contamination. The second spectrum gave a weak but unmistakable absorption pattern of Baltic amber.

(11) Sjeversko and Taline are also part of the Glasinac plateau region on tribu- taries of the Drina River with connections via mountain passes to the Neretva floodplain. Three samples come from graves representative of the rich Glasinac culture, al Some of the amber samples still showed an interior of light yellow. All samples had strong and nearly perfect spectra of Baltic amber.

VI The Drina River Valley (12) Ro6evic~is near the Drina and the confluence of the Save and Danube is

only a little more than 100 km away. Five amber samples were taken from the Jezero necropolis near Ro6evic/, excavated in 1970-71, dating from the late Bronze Age and one grave from the Early Iron Age. a2 All had absorption pat- terns most of them very strong ones, of Baltic amber.

(13) Padjine, also close to the Drina River. An amber sample was taken from the Karavla§ke ku6e necropolis, late Bronze Age, aa and has a definite Baltic spectrum.

(14) A random find, undateable, a beautifully carved, ovoid bead amber neck- lace in excellent condition was found in the Tuzla area. It was the only amber we examined that appeared to have a seed or straw inbedded in it and finely drilled center piercing. A second spectrum indicated a very strong absorption pattern of Baltic amber.

Conclusions: The infrared spectra show that 31 of the 35 samples analyzed are of Baltic amber (succinite.) Three finds were unidentiflable because the small samples available for analysis consisted of extensively oxidized weathering crust. While this establishes firmly that Baltic amber was imported into Croatia and Bosnia during the time covered by these finds, the remaining spectrum, although less than conclusive lends some support to StarXe's contention that imported am- ber may have been imitated locally by making beads of recent pine resin. But if so, this was clearly the exception rather than the rule.

All of the amber analyzed in this study, with the exceptions of the Tuzla ran- dom find and the one recent discovery in Kompolje, was found in graves. The amber was found in all varieties of burials: inhumation, cremation and urn cremation. Generally, it was located very close to the body and in association with the upper half of the body. Amber was found in the graves of both men and women. Usually it was found in conjunction with bronze artifacts; only once with gold and another semi-precious stone, chalcedon. In several of the graves containing amber there were glass paste beads of similar shape with similar markings. At Jezerine, the cross shapes incised on amber discs are also found carved in bronze. Only one of the graves from which samples were taken con- tained iron objects, even though more than half of the samples have been dated from the Iron Age.

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Baltic-Adriatic Amber 33g

Most of the amber is found in the form of beads, either in necklaces or as part of bronze fibulae. Most of the amber from which samples were taken have some kind of suspension hole. Even the amber inlay in a large fibula has a hole bored in the middle. Many of the larger pieces show deliberate deep cuts or gashes, pos- sibly to remove insects or seeds caught in the amber. A notably exception to both of these conditions are the cross-incised fiat discs from Jezerine. They are perhaps, of all the finds analyzed, the most purely symbolic artifacts. 34

The amber beads analyzed are found in a half dozen shapes with considerable variations. Generally, as the bronze workmanship becomes more complex, the amber combined with it remains in a simpler form. The Bronze Age beads often show very good workmanship, particularly in the making of the holes. Amber is more abundant in Iron Age graves, particularly in the Lika. But the presence of Bronze Age amber as far west as Istria and as far east as the Drina Valley is im- portant to note.

Although the pattern of archaeological excavation in Yugoslavia was, until very recently, very irregular, one can nevertheless suggest a tentative network of routes by which amber may have travelled. Coming from northern Europe there were several routes which entered the Danube basin and which continued by way of its tributaries toward the Adriatic Sea. The most obvious route con- necting the Danube with the head of the Adriatic is through the Postojna Pass. As we noted, Beck has tested one sample from Slovenia and found it to be of Baltic provenience, but in the absence of additional samples, we hesitate to pos- tulate a route without specific evidence. However, we can state that amber was travelling during both Bronze and Iron Ages on other routes towards the Adri- atic.

The position of the Lika, a fertile intermontane basin, during this period could have allowed it to be a major node of communications both with the in- terior and with the coast. This is reflected we believe in the abundance of Iron Age amber found by the excavators in this area. Although no Bronze Age amber has yet been found in the Lika, the first Bronze Age grave was discovered by Dreschsler-Bi~ic' during the summer of 1974 and future excavation may well demonstrate the importance of the Lika during this period as well. 35

Although Mycenean finds are very rare in the Adriatic area, the presence of Bronze Age amber on the Istrian peninsula in close proximity to the coast, lends credence to the early classical Greek concept of an Adriatic amber route.

NOTES

Joan M. Todd & Marijean H. Eichel, "A reappraisal of the prehistoric and classical amber trade in the light of new evidence," JBS, 4 (1974), pp. 295-314. E. g., the description of an amber statue of Augustus in Olympia by Pausanius who comments specifically: "This amber.., when found native (automaton) in the sand of the Eridanus, is very rare and precious to men for many reasons; the other 'amber' is an ahoy of gold and silver" V. xii. p. 7.

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3 Cf. the comment by J. J. Wilkes, Dalmatia (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press, 1969), p. 4, n. 3: "The Elektrides derived their name from the ancient trade in amber (elektron) which ran from the Baltic through Central Europe to Northeast Italy and the head of the Adriatic and thence to the eastern Mediterranean." He then lists the ancient authors who have recorded this name.

4 Find cards record about a dozen amber beads found on the Nichorian ridge, mostly spherical and oblong. Complete results have not yet been published. For preliminary work see A. H. McDonald, ed., The Minnesota Messenian Expedition (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1972). For Kakovatos, see Marija Gimbutas, Bronze Age Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe (The Hague: Mouton, 1965), p. 50.

5 N . G . L . Hammond, Epirus (Oxford: Clarendon 1967), esp. pp. 330 f. and N. G. L. Hammond, A History of Macedonia (Oxford: Clarendon 1972), in which he stresses an overland route westward through Albania to the Adriatic, p. 3.

6 H .L . Beaumont, "Greek influence in the Adriatic Sea before the fourth century BC" J. o f Hellenic Studies, 56 (1936), p. 198.

7 Mladen Nikolanci, "Arhajski import u Dalmaciji" (Importations archaiques en Dal- matie), V/esnik za Arheologi/u i histori/u Dalmatinsku, 68 (1966).

8 Zdenko Brusi~, "Problemi plovidbe Jadranom u prethistoriji i antici" (Navigation in the Adriatic in Prehistory and Ancient Times), Pomorski Zbornik, 8 (1970), pp. 565-68.

9 Grga Novak, "Prehistoric Hvar: The Cave of Grabak," Academia Scientiarum et Atrium Jugoslavica Classis: Philosophia et Sociologia (Zagreb, 1955), p. 309.

10 Nuccia Negroni Catacchio, "Io Studio delia Problematica dell'ambra nella Protostoria Italiana: Nuovi Risultati," Estratto Dagli Atti della X V Riunione Scientifica dell'isti- tuto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria Verona-Trento, 27-29 Ottobre 1972 (Firenze, 1973), pp. 47-52.

11 James David Muhly, Copper and tin: The distribution of mineral resources and the nature o f the metals' trade in the Bronze Age (Hamden, Conn.: Archon 1973). See entries under "amber" in Index.

12 Vladimir J. Fewkes, "Neolithic sites in the Yugoslavian portion of the Lower Danubian Valley," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Dec. 10, 1937), p. 335.

13 Maja Parovi6-Pe~ikan, "Les Illyriens au contact des Grecs" Archaeologia Jugoslavica, 4 (1963-68), pp. 61 ft.

14 The samples were taken by Todd and Eichel. We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the assistance and cooperation given to us by scholars in Yugoslavia. Particularly, we would like to thank the following for their time and encouragement, as well as the permission to take the samples: Dr. Borivoj ~ovi6, Zemaljski Muzej, Sarajevo; Dr. Milica D. Kosori6, Muzej Isto~ne, Bosne, Tuzla; Dr. Ru~ica Dreschsler- Bi~i~, Arheolo~kog Muzeja, Zagreb; Dr. Boris Bali6, Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula; Dr. Radmila Matej~i6, Narodni Muzej, Rijeka; Dr. Zeljko Rapani6 and Prof. Ivan Marovi6, Arheolo~ki Muzej, Split.

15 The analytical work at Vassar College has been supported by a grant from the Research Corporation of New York. C. W. Beck et al.,Nature, 201 (1964), pp. 256-57;Archae- ometry, 8 (1965), pp. 96-109;Archaelogy, 23 (1970), pp. 7-11.

16 C.W. Beck et al. in R. H. Brill, ed., Science and Archaeology (1971), pp. 235-40. 17 L.J . Gough and J. S. Mills, Nature, 239 (1972), pp. 527-28. 18 Joan M. Todd, Marijean H. Eichel, Curt W. Beck and Angela Macchiarulo, "Baltic

"Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifacts in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina," J. of FieM Archaeology, 3 (1976), 313-27.

19 Dating in Yugoslavia has some irregularities. In his recent book, John Alexander comments "In the last five years new ways of looking at the evidence, new methods

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Bal t ic -Adr ia t ic A m b e r 341

of dating and excavation have meant that a critial reappraisal of the whole body of evidence has become des i r ab le . . . " (Yugoslavia Before the Roman Conquest [New York: Praeger, 19721 p. 9.) For discussion of the relationship between traditional chronology for the Balkans and the new calibrated radiocarbon chronoly, see Colin Renfrew, Before Civilization: and Prehistoric Europe (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1973), pp. 91-98 and the Tables, Figures 18 and 22. Also, Harm Tjalling Waterbolk, "Working with radiocarbon dates," Actes du Vllle Congres International des Sciences Prehistoriques et Protohistoriques (Beograd: Comit~ National d'Organisation, 1971), pp. 11-24; for Iron Age chronology see Otto-Herman Frey and Stane Gabrovec, "Zur Chronologic der HaUstattzeit im Ostalpenraum," pp. 193-218, and Kilian Klaus, "Bemerkungen zur Chronologic der Friihen Eisenzeit und zum Beginn der Hallstatt- zeit in Itafian und N/W-Jugoslawien," pp. 220-31.

20 Boris Baclc, "Tumuli iz v Doba na v., Broncanog Maklavunu i ~amnjaku u Ju~noj Is tr i" (Bronzezeitliehe Tumulus aufMaklavun und ~amnjak in Siidistrien), Jadranski Zbornik, 4 (1959-60), p. 203 ff.

21 Josip Mladin, "Iskapanje Ilirskog Tumula u Osoru na Otoku Cresu," (Die Ausgrabung des Illyrisehen Tumulus in Osor auf der Insel Cres) Jadranski Zbornik, 4 (Rijeka-Pula, 1959-60), pp. 224-25 and Plate VIII, p. 233.

22 The Japodes, or Ipayges as the Romans called them, were Illyrian-speaking peoples. There are many Central European traits in their culture and strong connections with central Dalmatia and eastern central Italy. Many of their settlements give evidence of a well-equipped community "working iron, copper, bronze, lead and silver and farming a wide range of animals and plants" (Alexander, pp. 111-112).

23 Ru~ica Drechsler-Bi~i6, "Nekropola Prahistorijskih Japoda u Prozoru kod Oto~ac" (Gr~iberfelder Vorgeschichtlicher Iapoden in Prozor bei Oto~ac), V/esnik Arheolo~kog Muzeja u Zagrebu, 3. Serija, Sv. VI-VII (Zagreb, 1972-73), pp. 48, 34, 49. Also Sv. II (Zagreb, 1961), p. 109.

24 Ivan Marovi6, "Prahistoriski nalozi na podru~ju Solina" (Trouvailles pr6historiques et protohistoriques sur le territoire de Salone), Vjesnik za Arheologiju i Histori}u Dalmatinsku [1960], 62 (1967) p. 6, n. 5; p. 28;p. 9, Photo 2, nos. 2-4.

25 Ivan Marovi~, "Zeljeznodobni Grobovi u Zaganj Dola~u kod Sumartina (O. BraY)" (Eisenzeitliehe Gr~iber in Zaganj Dolac bei Sumartin auf der Insel Brag), V]esnik za arheologi]u i historiju dalmatinsku, 65-67 (1963-65), pp. 11-12; 25.

26 Alexander (pp. 113-118) describes some of the variety and richness of the Glasinac culture including fortified single rampart hill-settlements and valley communities where houses were raised on piles to make and series of terraces. Cattle, sheep and pigs were raised. He cites the working and exportation of gold and silver as a possible reason for wealth. For the Pritoka finds, Zdravko Marl6, "Die Japodischen Nekropolen im Unatal" Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen des Bosnisch-Herzegowinischen Landes- museums~ Band I: Heft A (Sarajevo: Oslobodenje, 1971), pp. 19, 28-34, Plate II, figs. 22-24; Plate III, figs. 1-3.

27 Interview by Marijean Eichel with Dr. Franc6 Star~, Scientific Consultant, Filosofski facultet, Univ. of Ljubljana, 28 January 1974. Cfs. Franc~ Star~, "Dva Prazdodovinska Groba z Dalmatinski Obale," Adriatica Praehistorica et Antiqua (Zagreb: Institutum Arehaeologicum, 1970), p. 270, in which he describes "das Sammeln und Verarbeiten der rezenten Harze zu bernstein-~ihnlicher Materie, aus der man Schmuck und viele andere dekorative mad auch symbolische Gegenst~inde verfertigte."

28 D. Lebez, "The analysis of archeological amber and amber from the Baltic by thin- layer chromatography," J. of Chromatography, 33 (1968), pp. 544-47. For another discussion of gas-liquid chromatography used in conjunction with infrared spectro- photometry see Marian, Jaworski, Jerzy Krauze, Aleksander Lempka, Stanislaw Rich- ter, "Badania metodami chromatograficzna i spektrofotometryczna przedmiot6w bursztynowych pochodzacych z wykopalisk archeologicznych" (The examinations

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342 Journal o f Balt ic Studies

by chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods of amber objects obtained from archaeological excavations), Fontes Archologici Posnanienses, R. XXI-Nadbitka (1972), pp. 230-38. Their conclusion (p. 238) states, "The chromatographic pyrograms obtained with the model sample of the Polish amber, excavatory amber of Polish origin and those found in Jugoslavia showed no significant differences in their chemical composition." and "the comparison of the infra-red absorption s p e c t r a . . , suggests that the majority of the excavated objects under examination are made of the Baltic amber and some of Ukrainian a m b e r . . . "

29 C. W. Beck and T. Liu, Acad~mie Serbe des Sciences et des Arts, Bulletin, NS 13 (1974), pp. 115-18; Sbornik NarodnoiMuze]a, Beograd, 7 (1973), pp. 133-42.

30 A. Benac i B. ~ovi~, Katalog Prehistoriski Zbirke Zemalskog Muzeja u Sara]evo 1957 (Sarajevo, Zemaljskog Museja, 1957), Plate 23.

31 Borivoj ~ovi~, "Glasinac, 1957: Rezultati iskopovanja tumula glasina~kag tipa," Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzi]a u Sarajevu, Arheologija Nova Serija, 14 (1959), pp. 23-84; F. Fiala, "Untersuchung Pr~ihistofischer Grabhiigel auf dem Glasinac," Wissenschaft- liche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien unter der Hercegovina Herausgegeben yore Bosnisch- Hercegovinischen Landesmuseum in Sarajevo, 6 (1899), pp. 25-26; F. Fiala, "Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung Pr/ihistorischer Grabhiigel auf dem Glasinac im Jahre 1895 ," lCissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina Herausgegeben vom Bosnisch-Hercegovinischen Landesmuseum in Sarajevo , 5 (1897), pp. 14-15.

32 Milica D. Kosori~ and Du~an Krsti6, "Iskopa:,anje praistorijskih humki u Padjinama i Ro~evi~u 1970-1971. godine" (Ausgrabungen Pr/ihistorischer Tumuli in Padjine und Ro~evic lm Jahre 1970 und 1971), Clanci t grada za kulturnu tstonlu Isto~ne Bosne, 9 (1972), pp. 26-27, Plan Ilia and IIIb, Plate I, figs. 4, Plates IV and V; Plate VI; p. 27 and Plate VII.

33 Milica D. Kosori~ and Du~un Krsti~, "Iskopavanje Praistorijskih humki un Padjinama i Ro~evi~u" (Ausgrabung Pr~ihistorischer Tumuli in Padjine und Ro~evi~), ~lanci i Grada za kulturnu istori/u isto~ne Bosne, 8 (1970), p. 36 and Plate IV, fig. 3.

34 Cf. "incised crosses" found in graves containing amber, on many earthern vessels in the newly excavated graves at Komorowo, Poland, "which figured significantly in the contemporary worship of fire and s u n " . . , during a contemporary period with Jezerine. (Tadeusz Malinowski, "An amber trading-post in Early Iron Age Poland" Archaeology, 27, No. 3 [July 1974], pp. 195-201.

35 During 1975-76, a single bead of amber (Zagreb museum no. 11063) was found in a Middle Bronze Age grave by Dreschler-Bi~i~ and was analyzed by Beck and Diamond at Vassar. The amber bead was approximately one-half inch in diameter and was in a group grave within a cave near Bezdanja~a, in the Lika district. Much water had flood- ed the cave and the amber bead was found at the very end of the interior of the cave. With it was ochre, small bones, wood and bronze pins and native and imported (trans- Danubian) pottery. The finds are as yet unpublished; the amber was found to be Baltic amber (suceinite). (IR spectrum 3619, Beck and Diamond, Vassar College).

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