Spehar, Limes u periodu seobe naroda

The Pontic-Danubian Realm

in the Period of the Great Migration

ARHEOLOŠKI INSTITUTBEOGRAD

POSEBNA IZDANJA, KNJIGA 51

COLLÈGE DE FRANCE – CNRS CENTRE DE RECHERCHE D’HISTOIRE

ET CIVILISATION DE BYZANCE

MONOGRAPHIES 36

The Pontic-Danubian Realm in the Period of the Great Migration

edited by

Vujadin Ivanišević & Michel Kazanski

Paris – Beograd 2012

Suivi de la publicationEmmanuelle Capet

Composition et infographieArtyom Ter-Markosyan-Vardanyan

© Association des amis du Centre d’histoire et civilisation de Byzance (ACHCByz) – 201052 rue du Cardinal-Lemoine – 75005 Paris

ISBN 978-2-916716-31-2 978-86-80093-78-9ISSN 0751-0594

ACHCByz Arheološki Institut Beograd

Published with a support of the

Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Serbia

(Project n° 177021)

Вiдповiдальний редактор: Костянтин Цукерман

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Vujadin Ivanišević, Michel Kazanski. Préface .................................................... 7

I. The Balkans and the Middle Danube

Ivan Bugarski. Occupation of the south Pannonian soil during Antiquity and the Migration period: Šajkaška revisited ...................................... 11

Perica Špehar. The Danubian limes between Lederata and Aquae during the Migration period ................................................................................ 35

Vujadin Ivanišević. Barbarian settlements in the interior of Illyricum: The case of Caričin Grad .................................................................... 57

Tina Milavec. Late Antique settlements in Slovenia after the year 600 ........... 71

Federico Montinaro. Byzantium and the Slavs in the reign of Justinian: Comparing the two recensions of Procopius’s Buildings ...................... 89

Jaroslav Tejral. Cultural or ethnic changes? Continuity and discontinuity on the Middle Danube ca A.D. 500 ................................................... 115

Zuzana Loskotova. An early- 5th-century skeleton grave with gold neck-ring from Charváty (Moravia) ............................................ 189

Eszter Horvath. Cloisonné jewellery from the Langobardic Pannonia: Technological evidence of workshop practice ..................................... 207

Dieter Quast. Martial writers – Intellectual warriors: Remarks on a group of Late Antique male graves ............................................................... 243

II. The Occident

Joan Pinar Gil. Ponto-Danubian traditions of dress in early Visigothic Hispania: Chronology, dissemination, contexts and evolution . ........... 265

Eduard Droberjar. A propos des contacts entre l’empire d’Orient et les Germains de l’Elbe au vie siècle ................................................. 297

Dieter Quast. The Alamanni and Byzantium from the 5th to the 7th century ...... 317

III. The Northern Pontus

Aleksandr Ermolin. Džurga-Oba – a cemetery of the Great Migration period in the Cimmerian Bosporus ............................................................... 339

Damien Glad. The Empire’s influence on the barbarian elites from the Pontic region to the Rhine (5th-7th centuries): A case study of lamellar weapons and segmental helmet .......................................................... 349

Alekseï Fourassiev. Byzance et la Crimée du Sud-Ouest au vie siècle : relations culturelles et particularités du costume féminin .................... 363

Michel Kazanski. Radaigaise et la fin de la civilisation de Černjahov .............. 381

THE DANUBIAN LIMES BETWEEN LEDERATA AND AQUAE DURING THE MIGRATION PERIOD

Perica Špehar

Introduction

The region of Djerdap on the middle Danube became a frontier after the Roman withdrawal from Dacia under the emperor Aurelian. Reinforced during the course of the 4th century, the Danubian limes came by the end of this century under strong pressure from barbarian tribes. One of the steps the Empire took to alleviate this pressure was to settle the barbarians within its borders. By granting barbarians the status of foederati and settling them in fortresses along the Danube, Rome pitted them against their former compatriots.

The presence of barbarian tribes is attested by archaeological evidence at numerous sites of the limes opposite the Pannonian and the Great Valachian Plain. This paper will focus on one section of the limes, from Lederata to Aquae, most of which traverses the region of Djerdap, along the slopes of the southern Carpathians. Here the Danube riverbed is in some places 400 m deep, its sides rise steeply at an angle of 30 to 40 degrees, and the hills reach the altitude of above 1,000 m on the left bank and 700 m on the right (Cvijić 1991: 277). Even though the Carpathian foothills terminate be-yond the Djerdap gorge at Sip, this paper will also cover the territory between Sip and the Timok confluence, a transitional zone between the mountains and the plain. Also included are sites along the rivers Velika Morava north of Naissus as well as of Mlava and Timok; the main communication lines passed through their valleys and intersected at Naissus. A total amount of 28 archaeological sites with the “barbarian” finds from the Migration period is attested in the area under consideration. These sites belong to three horizons (see the Map): 1) from the late 4th to the mid-5th century; 2) the second half of the 5th century; 3) from the early 6th to the early 7th century.

I. The first horizon (the late 4th the first half of the 5th century)

The first horizon belongs to the time of the barbarian tribes’ settlement as foederati in the imperial territory, up until the great invasion of the Huns in 441/42, when the Danubian limes ceased to function (Prisci Fragmenta 1; 1b; Lemerle 1954: 279−280).

Orşova, on the left bank of the Danube. A grave or a hoard discovered in this locality in 1857 contained a gold earring and four silver spoons; a part of a belt ensemble was accidentally

Vujadin Ivanišević and Michel Kazanski eds, The Pontic-Danubian Realm in the Period of the Great Migration (Centre de recherche d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, Monographies 36 / Arheološki institut, Posebna izdanja, Knjiga 51), Paris-Beograd 2012.

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unearthed later (Harhoiu 1997: 183, Taf. LXXXII/1−4, 8). The earring, a Roman product, consisted of three perforated damaged cubes with almandines (Fig. 1 : A). The silver spoons (Fig. 1 : B), fairly common among the grave goods in the Medi ter ranean region north of the Alps and in southern Germany as of the 4th century, appear in hoards south of the Alps as of the second half of the 5th and in the 6th century (Harhoiu 1997: 137−138). For the belt set, there is no image available; Böhme classified it according to the description as a three-part type B belt ensemble (Böhme 1974: 57; Harhoiu 1997: 183).

Drobeta, a Roman city situated downstream from Orşova. An oval belt tongue with a rectangular upper side and lower side shaped as a snake’s head was unearthed there by chance (Harhoiu 1997: 173, Taf. LXXX/7). According to Böhme’s classification, this would be a type 1 belt tongue (Fig. 2) from the second half or the last quarter of the

Map. Sites from the Great Migration period

0 50 100 km

Sites from the 1st horizonSites from the 2nd horizonSites from the 3rd horizonRoman towns

37THE DANUBIAN LIMES BETWEEN LEDERATA

4th century; however, an analogous find from Sucidava is attributed to the late 4th or the early 5th century (Böhme 1974: 57; Harhoiu 1997: 106).

Hinova. A Roman fortress erected at this site in the early 3rd century was destroyed by the Goths around 376/378, subsequently renovated, and reconquered by the barbarians soon after the death of Theodosius I (Davidescu 1989: 127–135). Excavations revealed fragments of a bronze boiler, an iron umbo (Harhoiu 1997: 177, Taf. LXXXII/7; LXXXII/E), and a single-row bone comb (Davidescu 1980: 77, foto 7). The fragment of a rim and handle belongs to a bronze boiler with vertical, rectangular handles and three spherical reinforcements on the upper side (Fig. 3 : A). Such large vessels, 50 to 100 cm high and weighing up to 35 kg, were related to the Hunnic funeral rites and dated to the first half or, more precisely, to the first decade of the 5th century (Kovrig 1972: 116; Germanen, Hunnen und Awaren 1987: 156; Harhoiu 1997: 132–134). However, the find could also be dated later, to the middle or second half of the 5th century. The conical, facetted umbo

Fig. 1. Orşova: A – earring. B –silver spoons

Fig. 2. Drobeta: oval belt tongue

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(Fig. 3 : B), from the late phase of the Pshevorsk culture, or so-called Dobrudza group, belongs to the late 4th – early 5th century (Harhoiu 1997: 50–51; Ščukin 1993: 332), as well as a simple unornamented single-row comb with a semi-circular head (Fig. 3 : C).

Nova, a fortress on the right bank of the Danube, at its confluence with the Čezava river, was erected in the 1st century and finally abandoned in the 6th century (Vasić 1984: 92–102). A single-row comb unearthed at the site had a semi-circular head decorated with an inverted T-shaped motif made of concentric circles (Fig. 4. : 1). The find dates to the late 4th or the first half of the 5th century, and can be linked to the Chernjahov-Sintana de Mureş culture (Petković 1995: 65, Cat. No. 106, T. IX /2).

Saldum, a locality with some evidence of a fortress occupied between the 1st and the 6th century (Petrović 1984: 129−133; Jeremić 2009), produced a head of a bone single-row comb decorated by tiny circles along the rim (Fig. 4. : 2); it might also belong to the Chernjahov-Sintana de Mureş culture and date to the end of the 4th or first half of the 5th century (Petković 1995: 65, Cat. No. 107, T. IX/6).

Fig. 3. Hinova: A – fragment of a bronze boiler. B – umbo. C – single row comb

Fig. 4. Combs: 1 – Nova; 2 – Saldum

1 2

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B


Boljetin, ancient Smorna. This mid-1st century fortress, which was finally abandoned in the 6th century (Zotović 1984: 211), produced a military belt ensemble made of bronze. It included a rectangular buckle (Fig. 5 : A) and a small pentagonal plaque with two horse heads facing each other on the triangular tip ending (Fig. 5 : B) (Popović, V. 1987: 133, Taf. 7/1−2). These items were dated to the last third of the 4th or the first half of the 5th century (Chadwick Hawkes, Dunning 1964; Böhme 1974: 160−162; Popović, V. 1987: 135−136).

Fig. 5. Boljetin: A – rectangular belt buckle; B – pentagonal tip ending

Fig. 6. Ravna: A – belt plate; B – buckle tongue

Ravna (Campsa). This fortress, also erected before Trajan’s conquests in Dacia and finally abandoned in the 6th century (Tomović 1996), produced two fragments of another bronze military belt ensemble: a little plate with the lateral sides arc-shaped in one section (Fig. 6 : A), and a buckle tongue (Fig. 6 : B) similar to the find from Drobeta (Popović, V. 1987: 133, Taf. 7/3−4). These finds belong, likewise, to the last third of the 4th or the first half of the 5th century (Böhme 1974: 160−162; Popović, V. 1987: 135-136).

A

A

B

B

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Donje Butorke is situated not far from Kladovo, about 500 m upstream from the Turkish fortress of Fetislam. The site revealed a burgus, most probably built in 294 during Diocletian’s journey from Sirmium to Nikomedia, around which a fortress was erected during the reign of Justinian (Cermanović-Kuzmanović 1979: 127−133). The most significant find from this site was a small fibula with a rhomboid foot (description only, no image available). Some authors attribute it to the Kiev type (Milinković 1998: 283−284), dated

Tekija (Transdierna) is a village at the confluence of the Tekija stream with the Danube, where two fortifications were excavated. The fortification on the left bank of the stream dated to the 1st century and the burgus on the right bank, to the time of Diocletian (Cermanović-Kuz-manović, Jovanović, A. 2004: 19−51). A fragmented biconical ceramic vessel with a flat rim, decorated on the upper part with slanting, polished motives placed in three friezes, framed with three to five horizontal identical lines, originated from this area (Fig. 7). It was attributed to the first half of the 5th century (Tomović 1984: 351, T. I/13).

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Grave 7

A B

C

D

E

to the last decade of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century (Schulze-Dörrlamm 1986: 655−657, Abb. 76). For the fragments of grey vessels of a fine make, produced on a potter’s wheel, we also have only a description, no image (Mrkobrad 1980: 19, T. IV/9−10; Milinković 1998: 284−286, T. 87/4−7). Other discoveries included several types of pottery (spherical and oval shaped pots, jugs and biconical vessels), decorated with polished ornaments, dating from the late 4th to the early 5th century (Fig. 8).

Pontes, by the village of Kostol. Two fortresses were discovered next to the remains of a Trajanic bridge, on both banks of a dried up tributary of the Danube (Garašanin, Vasić 1980: 7−8). The excavations of the larger fort, on the right bank, produced material from the 1st to the 6th century, including several finds from the Migration period (Garašanin, Vasić 1980: 7−8, 17−18; Garašanin, Vasić, Marjanović-Vujović 1984: 25−27, 44−47). A necropolis situated about 100 m away from the forts contained ten graves oriented east-west, all but one with no grave goods. Only grave 7 (Fig. 9)

Fig. 7


Fig. 8. Donje Butorke: pottery

Fig. 9. Donje Butorke: finds from Grave 7

A

A B

E

C D

B

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contained a square buckle (Fig. 9 : A) and a small pentagonal plate (Fig. 9 : B) from a bronze military belt ensemble dating from Late Antiquity, a glazed ceramic vessel with two handles (Fig. 9 : C), a glass cup with a drawn-out rim and a dewdrop-shaped blue ornament (Fig. 9 : D), and a belt pendant made of bronze (Fig. 9 : E). Similar military waist-belts were attributed to the last third of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century (Böhme 1974: 160−162; Popović, V. 1987: 135−136). A single-row bone comb with a semicircular head decorated with randomly dispersed concentric circles (Fig. 10 : 1), also discovered in this grave, dates to the late 4th or the first half of the 5th century (Petković 1995: 65, Cat. No. 110, T. IX/4).

Korbovo. In this multi-layered locality (Krstić 1984: 101−103), a single-row bone comb with iron teeth and semicircular head decorated with undulating lines (Fig. 10 : 2) was unearthed. Like the previous find of this type, it was dated to the end of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century (Petković 1995: 65, Cat. No. 111, T. X/1).

Fig. 10. Combs: 1 – Pontes; 2 – Korbovo (both sides)

Vajuga, section Karaula, revealed a fortress containing a basilica, most probably from the 6th century, as well as a necropolis with more than 20 graves, of which only one has been published (Popović, V. 1987: 129−132). This grave 18 (Fig. 11), located in the southeastern section of the fortress, was positioned vertically to the northeastern rampart. The 12-14 year-old girl buried in the grave had on her breast tiny bird’s bones. The grave goods consisted of a pair of gold-plated silver fibulae (Fig. 11 : A-B), a bronze earring with a loop (Fig. 11 : C), a necklace of pearls (Fig. 11 : D), a triple band ring (Fig. 11 : E), two plain bronze rings (Fig. 11 : F-G), a black glazed biconical pot with two handles (Fig. 11 : H), and two perforated coins, one placed in the mouth and the other, beneath the chin (Fig. 11 : I-J). Chronologically the most significant were the fibulae with large plaque-like triangular heads and pentagonal feet, decorated with small circles on the frontal side along the rim and along the vertical axis, as well as with almond-shaped ornaments creating two four-leafed motifs. They belong to the Viškov type that appeared on the Danube between the years 400 and 433 (Popović, V. 1987: 129−132; Bierbrauer 1989: 149−157). The 4th-century coins, of which the latest was minted in Thessalonica under Gratian (367-375), appear in secondary use. Finally, the glazed ceramic vessel, while reminiscent of Roman products in shape, was decorated according to Germanic taste. Based on these finds, the grave was classified as East Germanic, most probably Ostrogothic (Popović, V. 1987: 129-132; Milinković 2006: 32-34).

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Fig. 11. Vajuga: finds from Grave 18

H

A

B

C

DE

F, G

I, J

Grave 18

A

B

Mora Vagei is a site situated about 2.5 km east of Mihajlovac, on the left bank of the confluence of the Kamenički potok stream and the Danube, where a 1st-century Roman fort was recorded. Above its northeastern corner, a new fortress was built in Late Antiquity, inside which some late-4th – early – 5th-century Germanic pottery was discovered; unfortunately, the excavation report provides no more specific data or illustrations (Cermanović-Kuzmanović, Stanković 1986: 453−455).

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C

F G

E

D

I J3 cm0

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Aquae and its surrounding area produced three stray finds dating from the Migration period: a fibula with a turned back foot (Jovanović 1978: 55; Mrkobrad 1980: 36; no image available), similar to the Kladovo find that several authors attribute to the Kiev type (Milinković 1998: 297), a ceramic vessel decorated with polished lines (Fig. 13 : A), and a ceramic fragment with identical decoration (Fig. 13 : B). All the finds were dated to the end of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century, although one comes across similar pottery from the 6th century (Milinković 1998: 297−299, T. 100/3−4).

Fig. 12

Fig. 14.

Fig. 13. Donje Butorke: pottery

Radujevac (Karamizar section). In this village situated about 0.5 km upstream from the confluence of the Timok and the Danube, a small fortification dating from the 4th to the 6th centuries (Janković 1981: 45) produced a fragment of a ceramic vessel with a polished web-like motif (Fig. 14). As in previous cases, the pottery can be dated either to the late 4th - first half of the 5th century, or to the 6th century (Milinković 1998: 299, T. 100/6).

Kragujevac. The National Museum in this town possesses a small oval golden buckle, with a long, slightly curved tongue (Fig. 15 : 1), from an unknown site. Interpretated as Osthrogotic, it has been dated to the first half of the 5th century (Kovačević 1960: 19, fig. 12; Bierbrauer 1980: 139).

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Borđej is the site of a small burgus from the time of Diocletian. Destroyed in the mid-5th century, it was encircled by larger defense walls during Justinian’s reign (Cermanović-Kuzmanović, Stanković 1984: 217−218). A single-row bone comb with a semicircular head unearthed on the site was decorated with a dotted ornament along the edge of the body and head, and with three small concentric circles (Fig. 12). It was dated to the end of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century (Petković 1995: 65, Cat. No. 112, T. X/3).

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B


Fig. 16. Felix Romuliana: A-B – iron fibulae, C-F – single-row bone combs

Fig. 15. 1 – Kragujevac: golden buckle; 2 – Paraćin: bronze fibula; 3 – Kruševac: golden buckle

Paraćin (section Ciglana). A bronze fibula of Bratei type discovered at the site (Milinković 1996: 258−259, T. 71/4) was dated to the first half of the 5th century (Vinski 1976: 35−36, T. VI/8; Bierbrauer 1989: 141, 152) (Fig. 15 : 2).

Kruševac. A golden buckle decorated in cloisonné technique was discovered at the site; it has a rectangular bounce, a circular hook and a long curved tongue (Milinković 1998: 446−447, T. 142/1) (Fig. 15 : 3). It was dated to the early 5th century (Dimitrijević, Kova-čević, Vinski 1962: 81, fig. 1; Stadler 1987: 343, T. 48).

Felix Romuliana. Residential quarters and a palace at this site situated in the Timok valley were constructed for the Emperor Galerius, but the excavations inside the ramparts revealed a late- 4th-century settlement, which existed until the Hunnic attack (Janković 1983; Petković 2006). The excavations produced a pair of iron fibulae of the Viminacium type (Fig. 16 : A-B), dated to the first half of the 5th century (Janković 1983), although this type was common from the mid-5th to the mid- 6th century (Shulze-Dörrlam 1986, 672, Tabbelle 2). Also belonging to this horizon are several single-row bone combs with a semicircular head (Fig. 16 : C-F), decorated with small concentric circles (Živić 2003: 107- 109, Cat. Nos. 127-128, 130, 134; Petković 2006, Pl. III/3-4, Pl. IV/4).

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A

B E

C D

F

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II. The second horizon (the second half of the 5th century)

The Hunnic invasion of 441/2 caused the Danubian limes to collapse, and Attila demanded that the frontier between the Empire and the Hunnic realm should be shifted by a five-days’ walk to the south of the Danube. Many fortresses were deserted, and this period is the least known in the research of the Djerdap limes (Prisci Fragmenta 1, 1b, 7; Lemerle 1954: 280).

The collapse of the Hunnic realm after Attila’s death strengthened the position of the Germanic tribes. Gepids and Herules appeared on the Danube; as a counter-measure, emperor Marcianus (450-457) settled Pannonia with Ostrogoths, who soon became the greatest threat to the Byzantines. In 473, the Empire was forced to authorize their settlement in the Balkans, where they tried to establish their own state with its centre in the town of Novae (Lemerle 1954: 280-281; Dietz 1987: 37).

Rtkovo-Glamija I. This small fort, destroyed in the mid-5th century, was discovered opposite the fortress of Hinova. In the 6th century, it was encircled by a larger fortification, which was never finished (Gabričević 1986: 72−74). A rectangular silver plating from a handle, discovered in the small fort, had a flat upper side with a swastika-shaped setting for almandines and a ribbed lower side (Fig. 17) (Gabričević 1986: fig. 21; Milinković 1998: 289−290). A similar gold plating from a spatha came from Sapaja, where it was dated to around 488 (Vinski 1964: 173, fig. 1). A gold ring decorated with an identical motif was discovered in a Herulic necropolis from the second half of the 5th century, at the site of Strajotin in Great Moravia (Tejral 1987: 355-356, 364, T. 58). The salient features of the metalwork from Rtkovo link it to the East Germanic tribes, most probably the Ostrogoths at the time of their sojourn in the Balkans (Milinković 1998: 290).

Fig. 17. Rtkovo-Glamija I: silver plating from a knife handle

III. The third horizon (the early 6th to the early 7th century)

The Danubian border began to show signs of stabilization and recovery after the de parture of the Ostrogoths for Italy in 488, from the early reign of Anastasius I (491- 518). The process of renewal continued under his successors, Justin I (518-527), and in particular Justinian I (527-565), who initiated the erection and renovation of a large number of fortresses in Illyricum (Procop. De aedif., IV 4; Dagron 1984: 6).

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Orşova, situated on the left bank of the Danube, revealed two fibulae, only one of which was illustrated. These fibulae had semicircular heads with five small cylindrical bars and a human mask on the lower part of the foot (Fig. 18). They are linked with the Gepids, and date to the first half of the 6th century (Csallány 1961: l95−196, T. CCXIII/11).

Saldum, on the right bank of the Danube, is the site of a fortress with traces of habitation from the 1st to the 6th centuries (Petrović, P. 1984: 129−133; Jeremić 2009). The early Byzantine layers produced a pottery fragment with a spout, around which a rhomboid, web-like pattern was stamped. Vessels of this type had a biconical receptacle, a drawn-out rim and one handle (Jeremić 2009: 101, Cat. No. 276, fig. 53). They were classified as Germanic (Gepidic or Langobardic) and dated to the 6th century (Werner 1962: 57, Taf. 19/5; von Hessen 1968: 22−24, Taf. 1.1, Taf. 2.1, Taf. 3; Mrkobrad 1980: 66-67, T. LIX/1; Németh 1987: 252, 253, Cat. No. 104.b) (Fig. 19).

Taliata, a fortress erected in the 1st century, functioned until the end of the 6th century (Popović, V. 1984: 278−280). Here, too, the early Byzantine layers revealed a small vessel of light-colored clay, a cup or a bottle fashioned on a potter’s wheel. It was described (with no illustration) as having a flat rim and a long cylindrical neck; its decoration consisted of hanging triangular motifs made of rhomboid stamps filled with a web-like ornament. Classified as Gepidic or Langobardic, such vessels can be dated by analogies to the second half of the 6th century (von Hessen 1968: 25−26, 29−30, Taf. 14-17; Milinković 1998: 248−250, T. 69/1).

Tekija, ancient Transdierna, is the site where several fragments of Germanic stamped ceramics were found; no illustrations are available or any specific data about the location of the finds (Simoni 1977: 225; Arheološko blago 1978: 87).

Diana on the Danube riverside is the site of a 1st-century castrum, which survived until the late 6th or the early 7th century (Rankov 1980: 53-60; 1984: 7-10; 1987: 5-13). The 6th-century layer contained an arc fibula made of a bronze sheet (Špehar 2010: 66- 67, Cat. No. 130, T. V/130, Sl. 35), with a head decorated with randomly placed circular motifs and five radially distributed finger-like extensions (four are preserved) (Fig. 20). This fibula resembles, shape-wise, the Velesnica type (Kovačević 1960: 18; Vinski 1978: 31), classified as Slavic and dated to the late 6th and early 7th centuries. It belongs to Group D according to Werner (1950: 160-162, Taf. 37/10- 11; Taf. 39-40), or Group P according to Vagalinski (1994: 263−291). The new data on the distribution of this type of fibulae link it not only to the Slavic, but also to the Germanic, Turkic (Kutrigur) and Sarmatian (Alan) tribes (Werner 1950: 150-172; Vagalinski 1994: 264-265, 293-294; Vida, Völling 2000: 26-31, Abb. 9). 3 cm0

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Fig. 18

Fig. 19

Fig. 20

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Pontes revealed several finds from the Migration period that may be attributed to the third horizon. The first group of finds consists of five bronze items similar to cicada fibulae but with no pins, decorated with concentric circles and three to five ribs fashioned on the upper end (Fig. 21 : A) (Milinković 1998: 288-289, T. 88/1-5). A cicada fibula of similar shape, unearthed at the necropolis in Burdelj in grave 16, was dated to the second half of the 5th and the early 6th century (Ivanišević, Kazanski, Mastikova 2006: 17, 142-143, Pl. 3/16/3, fig. 8.10). In the 6th-century layer, a single-row, unfinished comb with a semicircular head was unearthed, which may indicate the existence of a workshop producing combs (Fig. 21 : B). Since single-row combs were not characteristic of the Romans, this specimen may point to the presence of a Germanic tribe (Špehar 2010: 123, Cat. No. 657, T. XXXVI/657). The comb probably belonged to the type attested at the Više grobalja necropolis from the second half of the 5th century, yet it is primarily linked to the period 530/550-580/600. One also encounters finds of this type among the Gepids and the Langobards (Ivanišević, Kazanski, Mastikova 2006: 36, figs. 18.10, 19.1-8, 20.1-5).

Fig. 21. Pontes: A – bronze items similar to cicada fibulae B – comb

Aquae, a Roman town, produced two finds from the third horizon: a fragmented bronze, silver-plated fibula with a preserved setting for almandines (Fig. 22) and a clasp with a massive, curved pin (no illustration). These were dated to the end of the 5th and the first half of the 6th century (Mrkobrad 1980: 36; Milinković 1998: 297-299; T. 100/2).

Negotin. A bronze fibula of unknown origin, garded in the local Museum, has a semicircular head with five radially distributed buttons, a short arc and a rhomboid foot, ending in an elongated animal mask (Fig. 23). It could be attributed to the Reggio-Emilia type and dated to the second half of the 5th and first third of the 6th century (Bierbrauer 1975: 108-109, 113; Milinković 1998: 300, T. 101/3; Ivanišević, Kazanski 2002: 112-113, 127, fig. 8, Pl. I.1.1, 2).

Donjičko brdo, near Kragujevac, is situated on the right bank of the Lepenica, around 9 km from its confluence. During the excavation, a late antique forti fi ca tion and a ne cro-polis with 40 graves from different periods were discovered (Petrović, D. 1965). Only two finds belong to the Great Migration period: a cicada fibula (Fig. 24 : A) and a pottery

3 cm0

3 cm0

A

B

Fig. 22.


Fig. 23. Negotin: bronze fibula

Fig.24. Donjičko brdo: bronze fibula

fragment stamped with a rhomboid, web-like pattern (Milinković 1996: 254-255, T. 71/1- 2) (Fig. 24 : B). Both finds could be dated by analogies to the 6th century (von Hessen 1968).

Jerinin grad (in the village of Vojska near Jagodina). A pottery fragment stamped with a rhom boid, web-like pattern could be linked with Ger manic tribes, most probably the Gepids, and dated in the 6th cen tury (Fig. 25). No image is available for two other pottery fragments with polished surface that could also be Germanic and date from the 6th century (Milinković 1998: 255, T. 71/3).

3 cm0

A B

Fig. 25. Jerinin grad: pottery

3 cm0

Momčilov grad at Juhor moun tain. An early Byzan tine fortification (Brmbolić 1986) delivered, among other small finds, a pottery vessel ornamented with a rhomboid web-like pattern (Fig. 26 : B) and a bone stamp with an engraved oval web-like pattern (Fig. 26 : A).

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This find could testify to the production of the so-called Germanic pottery inside the early Byzantine fortification during the 6th century (Milinković 1998: 256- 258, T. 72/2-3).

Kamenova Međa in the valley of the Mlava lies in the vicinity of Petrovac. The two graves from the Great Migration period unearthed on the site are believed to be most probably Gepidic and dated to the second half of the 6th century (Simoni 1978: 209, 214).

A female was buried in grave 1 with scissors (Fig. 27 : A), a bronze fibula with a back turned foot and coil (Fig. 27 : B), a bronze fibula with a semicircular head and five radially distributed buttons (Fig. 27 : C), an oval iron buckle (Fig. 27 : D) and biconical ceramic spinning whorls (Fig. 27 : E) (Simoni 1978: 209-210, T. I). The chronologically most explicit find is the bronze fibula with a semicircular head, ornamented with small circles on the head and foot, and also decorated with three ribs on the lower portion. This type of fibula is attributed to the Gepids and dated to the 6th century (Csallány 1961), like the fibula with a back turned foot.

Fig. 26. Momičilov grad: A – bone stamp B – pottery

Fig. 27. Kamenova Međa: finds from Grave 1

3 cm0

3 cm0

3 cm0

A B

Grave 1

A C

B

D

E


A warrior was buried in grave 2 with a laurel-shaped spear with a vertical rib and circular spigot (Fig. 28 : A), a sax (Fig. 28 : B), a deltoid arrow head with a circular spigot (Fig. 28 : C), a fragment of scissors (Fig. 28 : D), a knife (Fig. 28 : E), a green glass pearl (Fig. 28 : F), and a pottery vessel with a double profiled rim and short neck, decorated with rhomboid stamps filled with a web-like pattern that create an ornament similar to triangular motifs (Fig. 28 : G) (Simoni 1978: T. II, T. III/1). This vessel is classified as Gepidic or Langobardic (von Hessen 1968, 29-31, Abb.3).

Felix Romuliana. A biconical pottery vessel or na-mented with a polish web-like motif (Fig. 29) was dated to the 6th century (Milinković 1998: 303, T. 102/1).

Fig. 28. Kamenova Međa: finds from Grave 2

9 cm0 3 6

3 cm0

Grave 2

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

3 cm0

Fig. 29

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Conclusions

The Carpathian section of the Danubian limes produced a fairly small number of finds from the Migration period. Most of the items were collected on the right bank of the Danube, while on the left, they appeared sporadically and were mainly dated to the end of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century. Most right-bank localities that produced the finds, 13 out of 20, belong to the section between Sip and the mouth of the Timok, a transitional zone between the mountains and the plain which was the most jeopardized by the barbarian tribes.

Most of the finds come from fortresses and can be linked to the military, such as parts of military belts discovered in Orsava, Drobeta, Pontes, Boljetin and Ravna. These belts originate from the Western Empire and are commonly found in the frontier regions on the Rhine and the Danube. They are mainly linked with the Germanic foederati from the last third of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century (Chadwick Hawkes, Dunning 1964; Böhme 1974: 160-162; Popović, V. 1987: 135-136). One can attribute to the same milieu the iron umbo of the Dobrudza type from Hinova and the fibulae of the Viškov type from Vajuga. These finds recall the small foederati units that lived with their families in the fortresses on the Danubian limes, best known by the large number of burials from phases D1 - 360/370 to 400/410 and D2 - 380/400 to 400/450 in Singidunum and Viminacium (Ivanišević, Kazanski 2002; 2009; Ivanišević, Kazanski, Mastykova 2006).

To the second horizon (second half of the 5th century) belongs only the silver metalwork for a knife decorated with almandines, discovered in the Rtkovo-Glamija I fortress, which is connected with the Ostrogoths and their presence in these parts of the Empire.

Finds from the third horizon (early 6th-early 7th centuries) point to a more limited barbarian presence as compared to the first. These smaller communities may have had the role of defending the frontier, as in Viminacium, where a settlement was recorded alongside an important necropolis from this period (Popović, M. 1987; Ivanišević, Kazanski, Mastykova 2006). The finds from the region of Đerdap mainly consist of fibulae and fragments of pottery dated to the 6th century, which can be linked with the Germanic tribes, or to be more exact, with the Gepids or Langobards. An early 7th-century fibula discovered at Diana may have been of a Slavic origin.

Only in Felix Romuliana, the small finds from the first horizon, discovered along the valleys, were unearthed inside a fortification. By way of contrast, the finds from the third horizon were mainly discovered inside the ramparts. This could indicate that the finds from the first horizon represent traces of a barbarian invasion, while the sites from the third horizon testify to a presence of foederati deeper inside the territory of the Empire, as in the case of Gradina on Jelica mountain near Čačak (Milinković 2002; 2010).

The Carpathian section of the Danubian limes was not directly in the path of the barbarian tribes, who avoided the mountain passes and preferred to use the more accessible Pannonian and Great Valachian Plains for their raids. Therefore, the barbarian penetration to the Aegean Sea primarily unfolded along the Morava-Vardar valley or through Thrace.


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Documents

Spehar, Limes u periodu seobe naroda