Daria Loznjak Dizdar

ThePožegaValleyisadistinctgeographicunitinthecentral portion of northern Croatia. Its strategic location between the vital courses of the Sava and Drava rivers accords this region with exceptional importance as a communications zone, which is confirmed by the numerous ...

Eastern Slavonia, western Bačka, and western Syrmia in the Early Iron Age were inhabited by communities associated with the material culture
of the Dalj group. The continuity of life and burials on the same sites can be followed from the Late Bronze Age. Recent excavations at
Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age cemeteries in Sotin have identified 119 graves. These are cremation graves; in most of them, the cremated
remains of the dead and the remains of costume and personal items were placed in urns and covered with a bowl serving as lid. The Early Iron
Age graves included ceramic sets of pots, cups, kantharoi, and bowls, containing food and drinks as departing gifts within the funerary rite.
Interdisciplinary analyses of contexts, finds, and samples, have led to more detailed interpretations of funerary rites, identities, and the status
of the dead, by analysing specific graves. The definite context linking the pottery finds and the jewellery has resulted from the detailed dating
of the inventory in the Danube Basin from the Early Iron Age, considered within the network of communications and influences that can be
seen from the objects and funerary rites.

The Urnfield culture in northern Croatia was defined in the works of K. Vinski-Gasparini on the basis of known hoards and the few
researched graves, especially those from the Zagreb group, dated to phases II and III. The Slatina cemetery, researched in 2009 during
the rescue excavations on the planned route of a bypass, was dated to phase Ha A2 on the basis of pottery and metal finds, according
to the chronology of H. Müller-Karpe and K. Vinski-Gasparini. The rich material heritage found in the researched graves calls for a reevaluation
of phase Ha A, since the location of the Slatina cemetery – in the valley of the River Drava – has exceptional importance when
considering the relations between the earlier and the latter phases of the Urnfield culture in the Drava valley. Moreover, the identified parallels
with the finds from the closed funerary complexes in Slatina testify to the relations between the Drava valley and the Carpathian
Basin during the phase Ha A2.

The 11th cent. BC in the southern Carpathian Basin was marked by the Urnfield culture. The typological and chronological analysis of the ceramic and metal finds collected in the Late Bronze Age cemetery in Slatina, excavated in 2009, date the cemetery to the Ha A2 phase according to the periodization of H. Müller-Karpe. Absolute radiocarbon dating from the Slatina graves suggests the period of the 11th cent. BC. The analyzed 38 graves give the opportunity to reconstruct the burial practices on the central Drava, while the geographic location of Slatina makes it possible to relate the observed burial practices with the wider communication network of the researched contemporary cemeteries in the wider area of the southern Carpathian Basin.

Changes in mortuary practices at the end of the Late Bronze Age in the southern Middle Danube region are evident in several grave characteristics. The most obvious is an increased number of vessels in ceramic sets placed within the grave. Even though this period is the time of traditional Urnfield cemeteries, presence of inhumation graves can also be noticed. Two investigated cemeteries that belong to this period are Batina and Sotin. Graves from those two cemeteries will be analysed combining archaeological and anthropological data in order to investigate changes in mortuary practices. We hope that this analysis will enable us to answer some questions, such as: does the combination of grave goods match the sex or age of the deceased or does the choice of grave goods depend on the possibilities of a community that buried the deceased. Possible regularities in the mortuary practices of the Dalj group – common rituals (encompassing the meat/parts of animals, farewell gifts) and local variations in certain cemeteries will be tested by comparing data from several other cemeteries. Also, we shall also try to answer the question – who wore hair jewellery, the most common body ornaments found in graves, combining archaeological and anthropological methods.
Changes in mortuary practices of communities settled in the southern Middle Danube region at the end of the Bronze Age were not significant, but they are noticeable. It is interesting to investigate how those communities located on the crossroads between the east and west of the Carpathian Basin accepted the new burial customs/practice.

In view of the small number of sites in the Drava Basin in Croatia and Hungary, as well as the large number of Hallstatt sites discovered in the recent salvage investigations in the Slovenian part of the Drava Basin, as well as in the area of Varaždin, it is probable that the role Podravina had played in the Ha B period as an important east-west communication route did not diminish afterwards. The two excavated graves from Slatina complemented our hitherto modest understanding of the Early Iron Age in the central Podravina region. These are the first investigated graves from that period, with a highly intertesting burial rite in flat graves with still strongly preserved Urnfield tradition. The burial rite, as well as the forms and decorations on vessels bear testimony to the peripheral position of Slatina in the eastern Hallstatt circle. On the one side, urn no. 1, spindle-whorls and the knife point to strong western influence from the area of the eastern Hallstatt circle, while flat graves in urns, the pot, decorations on urn, show eastern influence from the area of the Dalj group. These graves once again underlined the importance of the communication via the Drava plain, connecting the southeastern Alpine area with the Danubian Basin. The mentioned connection is corroborated precisely by flat graves in urns, characteristic for the Dalj group in the east, but recent investigations (Wildon, Nova Tabla) indicate that we should expect to find them also more to the west in the core territory of the southeastern Alpine Hallstatt circle.

The Drava river, just as it had incised its bed across the Pannonian Plain, so it has from times immemorial traced the routes that connected the south-eastern Alpine circle with the Danubian basin. Podravina was a region where various ideas and knowledge were exchanged, which is exceptionally well documented by the material culture in the younger phase of the Late Bronze Age and at the beginning of the Iron Age. Two graves discovered in Belišće, west of Osijek, complement our presently modest knowledge about the Lower Podravina region in that period.

The territory of northern Croatia is delineated by the rivers Drava, Danube and Sava, whose basins played an important role in the
communication system of the Late Bronze Age. The influence of communications on the everyday life and identity of Late Bronze Age
communities that inhabited this area is reflected in the distribution patterns of certain goods, but also in the ways in which people built
houses and buried their dead, as well as in the new phenomenon of hoarding, with the greatest concentration in central Posavina.

The southwesternmost findspots of type B battle axes with a plaque are situated in Vinkovci and the surrounding area. In addition to the find of axes, the 1977 salvage excavations of a Middle Bronze Age settlement in Vinkovci yielded a fragment of a mould for casting battle axes with a plaque. The Vinkovci area has so far yielded 5 such axes, invariably chance finds. The finds of moulds for casting jewellery from the Vinkovci settlement make it clear that a metallurgical workshop was in operation in that Middle Bronze Age settlement of the Belegiš I culture, whose smiths communicated with the workshops in the Carpathians. These contacts took place through communications along the courses of the Danube and Tisza rivers.
Taking into consideration the size of the Middle Bronze Age settlement in Vinkovci, and the continuity of habitation and the tradition of casting operations, we could perhaps be discussing a major manufacturing centre. Such a view is reinforced by the fact that the moulds were discovered at several different positions within the settlement.
Considering that the number of presently known bronze objects of Middle Bronze Age date from northern Croatia is relatively small, this hampers the analysis of local distribution networks.
The position of the Vukovar and Lovas hoards in the Danubian basin, and the object types from settlements and hoards, as well as chance finds, all point to strong connections with the area of eastern Hungary. The workshop in Vinkovci should therefore be considered as a metallurgical centre at the southwestern edge of the production centre of the eastern Carpathians.

The cremation rite is deeply rooted in the Late Bronze Age of continental Croatia (Urnfield culture) with roots that most likely date from the Middle Bronze Age. The early phase of the Urnfield culture is characterized by two distinct groups which differ from one another primarily in the way of burial and in the costume: the Virovitica group and the Barice-Gređani group. In the Virovitica group, which inhabited the Podravina region, the cremated remains of the deceased were placed in a ceramic vessel – urn, which was covered by a bowl. Fragments of other ceramic vessels could sometimes also be placed in the graves. In certain documented cases the cremated remains of the dead were placed on the bottom of the grave and then covered with a bowl. This way of burial, with cremated bones placed in the grave and covered with a bowl, is characteristic for the Barice-Gređani group in the Posavina region (the Sava river basin), whose beginnings date to the Middle Bronze Age. In the older phase of the Urnfield culture (Br D, Ha A1), the graves rarely contain, in addition to the bones of the deceased, pieces of bronze objects belonging to the costume of the dead, which were cremated together with them (these were most often pins). There were also graves with a third vessel, most often a footed bowl. In this same period the territory of eastern Croatia was populated by the Belegiš II culture, presently known only through settlements. However, investigated cemeteries in eastern Syrmia reveal that the cremated remains of the dead together with costume accessories were likewise placed in an urn, which was sometimes covered by a bowl.
In younger phase of the Urnfield culture were also several cultural groups in continental Croatia, which differ from one another, between other differences, in way of burial (selection of urns, breaking of vessels, number of vessels in graves). The recent investigations at several sites in northern Croatia led to a discovery of cemeteries with cremation burials in urns, in a grave without urn and under tumuli, which can be dated to the younger phase of the Late Bronze Age. Their appearance is deeply rooted in the method of burial of various communities of the Late Bronze Age in the territory of northern Croatia, and the same tradition persisted with minor modifications into the Early Iron Age. The method of burial of the deceased (cremation burial in an urn, grave or under a tumulus), the selection of grave goods (number of vessels in graves, attire) and traces of funeral rites (breaking of vessels) bear testimony to various influences exerted on this transit territory. The selected examples of graves point to various customs practiced by communities settled along the main rivers in the area between the Danube, Drava and the Sava rivers, whose fertile plains were at the same time important thoroughfares that connected the southeastern Alpine area with the Lower Danube area, as well as the Balkans and Middle Danube area.

Discussing the exceptional rich female burials in Southern Pannonia during the Late Urnfield
Culture one can conclude the following: they can be recognized by a larger number of necklaces, the
presence of pendants, hair ornaments and diadems, as well as ceramic bird representations. More
numerous sets of ceramic ware were noticed in the Pobre`je and Doroslovo cemeteries (table 1).
Parts of wear can be associated with the Urnfield Culture – the cemeteries where the deceased were
buried belonged to this Culture – while some customs noticed in the deceased’s equipment and mode
of burial can be followed in the territories of neighboring communities (Japodian and Bosut),
which is not surprising considering the position of these groups of the Urnfield Culture on its south-
eastern border.

Das Bronzebecken aus der Kiesgrube Gabajeva greda an der Drau ist ein seltenes Beispiel für die
Deponierung eines spätbronzezeitlichen Metallgefäßes im Wasser. Die ähnlichste und nächste Analogie
wurde im Hort aus Slavonski Brod gefunden. Funde eines Beckens des gleichen Typus und der
entsprechenden dreifachen Appliken sind im Gebiet Nordungarns und der Slowakei dokumentiert,
wo sie von der Zeit Ha A1 bis zu Ha B1 datiert wurden. Das Bronzebecken aus der Drau wird anhand
des Fundes derselben Applik im Hort Slavonski Brod in die Zeit Ha A1 datiert. Im Hinblick auf die
Besonderheit der beiden Funde im Zwischenstromgebiet der Drau und der Save kann man Becken
mit dreifachen Appliken als Produkte lokaler Werkstätten betrachten.

This article is a publication of the Siča/Lučica hoard found
in the Kordun region, close to the city of Karlovac. Most of
the hoard was discovered at a secondary site – the result of
its movement during excavation of soil. Since the hoard’s
discovery was recorded outside of the context of a settlement
or cemetery, there is some question as to the purpose
for this manner of deposition of items and the phenomenon
of hoards in general and their possible significance. Based
on the quantity of its contents (287 items) and their typological
characteristics, the hoard can be classified among
the mixed-content hoards dated to the second phase of the
northern Croatian hoards, i.e. the Br D/Ha A periods.