Conclusion

The Conclusion reviews the role of material culture in mediating imaginations of place in the Roman empire, with reference to the Itinerary Cups describing journeys from Spain to Rome, the Spectacle Cups depicting chariot racing and gladiatorial combat, the Fort Pans documenting Hadrian’s Wall, and the Bay Bottles visualizing Baiae and Puteoli. To demonstrate the flexibility of the book’s analytical framework, two final sets of artifacts are presented. One focuses on spectacle souvenirs that were made in Roman Spain and include the date of the event and the name of its sponsor with unusual specificity. The other is an ornamental metal vessel that was excavated in a distant province, yet was created in workshops around Rome’s Circus Flaminius and bears that place name as a mark of prestigious craftmanship. Whereas the book’s introduction constructed an interdisciplinary analytical framework, the Conclusion reconsiders the place of material culture in Roman studies.

Die nächsten drei Sueben! Ein kaiserzeitliches „Fürstengrab“ mit römischem Import und weitere Grabfunde von Kariv-I in der Westukraine

The next three Suebi! A Roman Period „princely grave“ with Roman import and other grave finds from Kariv-I in the western Ukraine In spring 2017, the Historical-Regional Museum in Vinniki was informed about the discovery of several metal objects discovered by detectorists in the vicinity of the village Kariv, obl. Ľviv, Fpl. I, in western Ukraine. An immediately scheduled excavation should deliver information about the character and state of preserving of the site. It took place in summer 2017 under the direction of Jaroslav Oniščuk (Ivan Franko University Ľviv). At the very beginning of these investigations, two extremely interesting graves (1 and 2) were discovered, dating back to the late second century AD. Grave 1 contained fragments of a Roman amphora dating from the second third of the 1st century BC to the middle of the 2nd century AD, a terra sigillata vessel with applied decoration, a severely disintegrated horse skull and bridle of the Vimose type, five iron arrowheads, ritually bent iron scissors, a fragmentary shield shackle, two molten and broken bronze spurs and belt fittings. Given his inventory grave 2 can be named “princely grave“. As a urn was used a bronze cauldron with three busts of Germanic men with the so-called Suebian knot, to which there are known only two parallels next to a loose find of a single bust. As a second metal vessel, the grave contained a bronze bucket, furthermore two glass goblets with oval cut facets, two glass bowls, and a fifth glass vessel so badly decomposed that it could not be retrieved. Also email-decorated drinking horn components made of copper alloy have to be mentioned. They and the finds of Roman provenance from grave 2 can be called spectacular. They indicate an outstanding position of the owner in his environment and also on a supraregional scale. The graves can be dated to the time of the Marcomannic Wars or shortly thereafter and are certainly related to these events in a causal connection. Zusammenfassung: Vinniki über den Fund von mehreren Metallgegenständen informiert, die von Sondengängern im Gebiet des Dorfes Kariv, obl. Ľviv, Fpl. I, in der Westukraine entdeckt wurden. Eine unverzüglich anberaumte Verifizierungsgrabung sollte Aufschluss über den Charakter und Erhaltungszustand des Platzes geben. Sie fand im Sommer 2017 unter der Leitung von Jaroslav Oniščuk (Ivan Franko-Universität Ľviv) statt. Sofort bei Beginn dieser Untersuchungen wurden zwei äußerst bemerkenswerte Grablegen (Grab 1 und Grab 2) des späten zweiten Jahrhunderts n.Chr. freigelegt. Grab 1 barg Fragmente einer römischen Amphore die in die Zeit vom zweiten Drittel des 1. Jh. bis in die Mitte des 2. Jh. datiert, eines Terra Sigillata-Gefäßes mit applizierter Verzierung, einen stark zersetzten Pferdeschädel samt Zaumzeug vom Typ Vimose, fünf eiserne Pfeilspitzen, eine rituell verbogene Eisenschere, eine fragmentarische Schildfessel, das Fragment eines Schildbuckels, zwei angeschmolzene und zerbrochene Bügelsporen aus Bronze sowie Gürtelbeschläge. Grab 2 verdient aufgrund seines Inventars die forschungsgeschichtlich fest etablierte Bezeichnung „Fürstengrab“. Als Urne diente ein Bronzekessel mit drei Attaschen in Form von Germanen mit Suebenknoten, zu dem es neben einer einzelnen Attasche bislang nur zwei Parallelen gibt. Als zweites Metallgefäß barg das Grab einen Eimer mit Frauenkopfattaschen, ferner zwei Glasbecher mit Ovalschlifffacetten, zwei ineinandergestellte Glasschalen sowie ein fünftes Glasgefäß, das so stark zersetzt war, dass es nicht geborgen werden konnte. Als weitere Beigaben sind vor allem emailverzierte Trinkhornbestandteile aus Kupferlegierung zu nennen. Diese und die Funde römischer Provenienz aus Grab 2 sind spektakulär zu nennen; sie zeigen eine herausragende Position des einstigen Besitzers in seinem Umfeld und auch im überregionalen Maßstab an. Die Gräber können in die Zeit während der Markomannenkriege oder kurz danach datiert werden und stehen mit diesen Ereignissen sicher in einem ursächlichen Zusammenhang.

CHICKEN OR EGG? RETHINKING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SILVER AND TINNED CERAMIC VESSEL ASSEMBLAGES

Since the 1960s, when the existence of tinned ceramic vessels in the Late Bronze Age Aegean was first recognised, our knowledge of this phenomenon and the catalogue of known examples have expanded significantly. Even before the nature of these objects was fully understood, scholars had suggested that their primary purpose was to imitate metal, particularly silver, vessels. Several silver vessel assemblages, including one from the tholos at Kokla, have been singled out for their perceived special relationship with tinned ceramics. However, closer analysis of tinned vessels has suggested that they were less similar to silver vessels than previously thought, especially in terms of their range of forms, details of shape and even colour. Recent scholarship has also emphasised that the concept of imitation is very complex and its investigation requires a more nuanced approach. Yet references to tinned vessels as straightforward imitations of, or even substitutes for, silver vessels remain common. In 2014, an opportunity arose to examine the Kokla silver vessels in greater detail. A strong connection between the Kokla group and tinned vessels is evident, although this does not mean that the latter depended upon assemblages such as the former for inspiration. The unique features of the Kokla group suggest it may have been a local innovation to emulate the usage of tinned vessels while simultaneously stressing the higher social status of its users. This paper concludes that situating tinned vessels within the ceramic tradition and thus regarding them as an enhanced form of ceramic, rather than an inferior form of metal vessel, better explains the nature of this phenomenon.

Late Bronze Age depot from the foothills of the Pilis Mountains

The analyzed assemblage was found in 2008 by Gergely Radovics, in the vicinity of Kesztölc (Hungary, Komárom-Esztergom county). It consists of 107 artefacts (total weight: 12260.31 g) which can be divided into nine groups based on their function: 1. weapons; 2. utensils; 3. clothing parts; 4. metal vessel; 5. wagon part; 7. semi-finished products; 8. metallurgical byproducts; 9. unclassifiable objects. The aim of this study is to give a complete evaluation of the artefacts in question by using the typo-chronological method and macroscopic observations. In addition, due to the finder’s statement we were able to reconstruct the original context and re-localize the exact finding place.