Early iron age burial complex from the Svrljig area

Abstract

In 2005, a group of objects was ploughed up, comprising a bronze openwork belt, bronze belt parts in the form of a four-spoked wheel, a bronze bell-shaped pendant, the arc of a bimetal fibula, fragment(s) of an iron sword, and part(s) of a horse's iron bit, at the Kalnica site in the village of Nisevac. According to the finder, while ploughing a field, his plough dug up several larger slab-shaped stones, beneath which were found the above objects, as well as fragments of human bones. The most important finds from the Kalnica grave are three parts of a bronze openwork belt (fig. 3a-c) and three bronze belt parts in the form of a four-spoked wheel. According to the finder, the belt was composed of three more belt links, two or three parts in the form of a wheel, and a final segment with a larger round buckle. The links of the belt were cast, with dimensions of 4.2-4.3 cm (length), 2-2.1 cm (height) and 0.6-0.7 cm (width). All three links were made in the same mold, after which they were decorated with perforations, incisions, and points in an identical manner. The circular bronze parts of the belt in the shape of a four-spoked wheel (fig. 3d-f) were cast, with a diametar of 2-2.1 cm, and their height precisely matches the links of the belt. All three circular parts were made in the same mold and then decorated with perforations, incisions, and points. One more item from this group of finds that probably belongs to the belt collection, is a bronze bell-shaped pendant (fig. 4/a), with a height of 4 cm and a diameter of 1.7-1.8 cm. A larger arc of a bimetal fibula was discovered in the grave, with its foot in the shape of an hourglass. The arc is 5.5 cm in width, decorated with dense small ribs. Part of a damaged horse's iron bit 11 x 4.3 cm in dimension was also found in the grave (fig. 4/c). The last find in this collection comprises part of a bent single-bladed iron sword, 11.9 x 4.4 cm (fig. 4/d). In this kind of bent sword, a so-called T end is usually found at the end of the handle/hilt, so we suppose that this sword had such an end. Bearing in mind the chronological classification of all finds from this destroyed grave (fig. 5), the openwork belt from Kalnica could be dated to the end of the VII or the very beginning of the VI centuries BC at the earliest. Such dating in principle agrees with the Ha C2/D1 central-European period, i.e. horizontal 2 according to R. Vasic, since other finds of openwork belts were dated to this period by the same author. Nevertheless, the type II iron bit does raise a slight doubt regarding the dating of the Kalnica belt, since according to M. Werner such belts were dominant in the Ha D2/3 period, i.e. at the end of the first half of the Vth century BC. The find of the composite belt from Kalnica raises several interesting observations. Firstly, the belt differs from most examples previously discovered on the territory of south-eastern Europe in that most belt link sets were formed in the shape of a square, with less frequent deviation regarding link dimensions, while those of the belt from Kalnica are relatively elongated. Links similar to the Kalnica elongated links have only be discovered in north Macedonia and in grave 5 of tumulus I in the Kenete site in Albania. The difference in the decoration of the belt from Kalnica compared with other belts is interesting. They are decorated with pierced triangles and perforated concentric circles, with a central point, repeated in countless combinations. Half-elliptical perforations appear for the first time on the belt from Kalnica, to some extent inexpertly carried out. Openwork belts have been discovered throughout the territory between the Timok river in Serbia and the Isker in Bulgaria, although according to recently published finds from the Trojan region in Bulgaria, that area could be extended eastward to the Rosica river. Outside these territories, more significant groupings are visible in the Vardar valley in Macedonia, as well as in an early Iron Age necropolis in the Donja dolina in northern Bosnia. The production center of these belts is connected with the Zlot group (Zlot-Sofronijevo), or with the Triballi tribe, but it could be said that in the VII and VI centuries BC such belts were also worn among their neighbors.