bojan djuric

During the era of the Severn dynasty, the worship of Dionysus/ Bacchus/ Liber Pater once again became prominent in Roman society. A belief in the circle of life, rebirth, and the immortality of the soul is visible in figural, non-figural, and motifs combining the two decorating funerary monuments. In ancient Noricum and Pannonia, these motifs as attributes of Dionysus/ Bacchus/ Liber Pater appear in the form of kantharoi, grape vines, panthers and, rarely, the god himself. These motifs appear without distinction on funerary aediculae, stelae, tombstone altars, sarcophagi, and in Poetovio also on typical tombstones – ossuaries. Although it is not possible to read these depictions exclusively in an eschatological sense, the motif of the kantharos with a vine, guarded by two panthers should be seen as a sign of faith and hope in the promises of Dionysian ideology. The transition of these same motifs into early Christian contexts with similar promises confirms their symbolic nature.

Over the course of studying stone products from the Roman colony of Emona (Regio X), stratigraphically undefined calcarenite that was used to make simple sepulchral and architectural stone products was detected. The calcarenite used is late Aptian to early Cenomanian in age. The corresponding facies were found in the Lower Flyschoid Formation outcropping near the town of Medvode, within the local radius of Emona. The Roman quarry was likely located in this area near the Sava River. According to the collected data, the quarry was in operation mainly in the 1st century.

Kamnolom v naselju Podpeč pri Ljubljani velja za glavni kamnolom rimske kolonije Emone (Ljubljana). Obstoj antičnega kamnoloma v Podpeči je bil do sedaj utemeljen le na podlagi makroskopske podobnosti med Členom litiotidnega apnenca, ki izdanja v Podpeči, in z njim povezanimi rimskimi spomeniki, odkritimi v Ljubljani. V okviru pričujočega dela smo skušali poiskati oprijemljive arheološke in geoarheološke dokaze za njegov obstoj. V skrajno severnem delu kamnoloma smo izvedli arheološko sondiranje, hkrati pa natančno določili sestavo apnenca na tem območju in v 288 izdelkih iz antične Emone. Sondiranje severno od modernega kamnoloma je odkrilo dobro ohranjene sledove rimskodobne kamnoseške dejavnosti. Hkrati je litološka analiza spomenikov iz Emone razkrila, da je kar 182 (ali 64 odstotkov) analiziranih spomenikov izdelanih iz apnenca, litološko identičnega različkom, ki izdanjajo v Podpeči. Ti različki se prostorsko grupirajo severno od modernega kamnoloma. Pri ...

Over the course of studying stone products from the Roman colony of Emona (Regio X), stratigraphically undefined calcarenite that was used to make simple sepulchral and architectural stone products was detected. The calcarenite used is late Aptian to early Cenomanian in age. The corresponding facies were found in the Lower Flyschoid Formation outcropping near the town of Medvode, within the local radius of Emona. The Roman quarry was likely located in this area near the Sava River. According to the collected data, the quarry was in operation mainly in the 1st century.

Na prostoru med Alpami in Karpati, ki je v transportnem smislu notranje odlično povezan z reko Donavo in njenimi desnimi pritoki, hkrati pa s Sredozemljem povezan le z Donavo prek Črnega morja, je bilo v rimskem obdobju odprtih mnogo kamnolomov, od katerih jih je danes znanih in potrjenih razmeroma malo. Raziskave izdelkov iz kamna, odkritih v različnih delih tega območja, ki so pripadali številnim avtonomnim mestom in naseljem, so pokazale osnovni vzorec preskrbe mest z lokalnimi in regionalnimi viri, večfazno proizvodnjo izdelkov ter obstoj medprovincialne trgovine z marmornimi izdelki iz kamnoloma Gummern in travertinskimi izdelki iz kamnoloma Budakalász. Hkrati je bilo mogoče postaviti utemeljeno domnevo o tasoški (?) kiparski delavnici hadrijanskega časa, delujoči v oz. ob kamnolomu Gummern, ter nakazati rešitev starega vprašanja izvora t. i. noriško-panonske volute. The part of the Roman Empire stretching between the Alps and the Carpathians was an area where the Danube and it...

The paper presents a multi-method characterisation of the Roman quarry of the middle Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) limestone situated in the village of Podpeč, south of Ljubljana, and examples of the placement of stone products made from micritic, fine-grained, and oolithic facies into the known extent of the quarry. 23 m of the rock succession from the ancient quarry was exposed at the northern tip of the St. Ana Hill by archaeological trenching. Petrological, micropaleontological, mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic analyses of carbon, oxygen, and strontium were performed in order to characterise the rocks exploited in the quarry. Additionally, a new detailed geological map of the wider Podpeč area was prepared, which defines in detail the lithostratigraphic units in the area. The recorded succession contains facies that also occur in the modern part of the quarry. Interpretation of the sedimentation environment is consistent with previous interpretations and occurred in an internally differentiated lagoon. The studied succession is characterised by δ 13 C isotope values ranging from-2.44 to +2.5 ‰; δ 18 O values ranging from-4.0 to-1.2 ‰; and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values ranging from 0.707414 ‰ (SD 0.000003) to 0.707329 ‰ (SD 0.000012). The Sr isotope values can prove a decisive factor when studying the provenance of stone products, while δ 13 C and δ 18 O values can help narrow the place of extraction within the known extent of the Roman quarry at Podpeč. The high positive correlation of SiO 2 with Al 2 O 3 , K 2 O and TiO 2 recognised both in the logged succession and in the studied stone products indicates a low terrigenous input into the depositional area and further confirms the provenance determination. By applying a multi-method approach to the characterisation of the known extent of the ancient part of the Podpeč quarry, we have reliably determined the provenance of stone products that have their origin in the quarry and have successfully applied this approach to several stone products made of micritic, fine-grained and oolithic limestones. Izvleček Članek predstavlja večmetodno karakterizacijo rimskega kamnoloma v vasi Podpeč južno od Ljubljane in primere umeščanja apnenca kamnitih izdelkov iz spodnjejurskih (pliensbachijskih) mikritnih, drobnozrnatih in oolitnih faciesov v znan obseg kamnoloma. Na severnem robu hriba sv. Ane je bilo z arheološkimi izkopi razkrito 23 m debelo kamninsko zaporedje antičnega kamnoloma. Za karakterizacijo kamnin, ki so jih izkoriščali v kamnolomu, so bile opravljene petrološke, mineraloške, mikropaleontološke in geokemične analize ter izotopske analize ogljika, kisika in stroncija. Poleg tega je bila izdelana nova podrobna geološka karta širšega območja Podpeči, na kateri so natančno opredeljene litostratigrafske enote na tem območju. Preučeno zaporedje vsebuje faciese, ki se pojavljajo tudi v sodobnem delu kamnoloma. Potrjena je bila interpretacija sedimentacije v notranje diferencirani laguni. Za preučeno zaporedje so značilne vrednosti izotopov δ 13 C od-2,44 do +2,5 ‰, vrednosti δ 18 O od-4,0 do-1,2 ‰ in vrednosti 87 Sr/ 86 Sr od 0,707414 ‰

The unusual Roman sarcophagus of green volcaniclastic rock that was found in Titel, a small town in Vojvodina (SRB), and is now kept in the Muzeul National al Banatului, in Timi?oara (RO), caused considerable unease among scholars in the past as it could not be convincingly connected with any of the productions in Pannonia and Moesia Superior. Only Silvio Ferri, albeit a long time ago, correctly identified its connection with the sarcophagus production in Sirmium and with the sarcophagus of Asclepiodota in particular, made of Dardagani limestone. Sarcophagi of volcaniclastic rock have only been recorded in the region of Srem and its immediate vicinity, and were all produced in Sirmium. The material most likely arrived there from the south, quarried near the village of Rajici, ca 25 km west of Domavia, in the valley of the River Drina. The structure and decoration of the sarcophagus from Titel reveal it as essentially the type produced by the workshops at Salona using models from Pro...

The fragment of the sarcophagus from Sremska Mitrovica (Sirmium) with the depiction of Eros supporting a garland formed part of the sarcophagus’s left short side. The Eckpilaster to the left of Eros suggests a columnar sarcophagus of the architectural type such as are known in Pannonia only from Sirmium and in the neighbouring regions, primarily Salona and northern Italy, with roots in the eastern part of the Empire. The sarcophagus was finished at Sirmium where it arrived as a typical half-finished product of the Aquincum sarcophagus production made of Budakalász travertine. The surviving Eros is part of a symmetrical motif of a pair of Erotes supporting a garland that adorns the sarcophagi produced in northern Italian and Salona. The small fragment does not allow a clear identification of Eros as to its type after Matz – either schwebend of Type 4 or Type 5 with legs spread. The close connection of the production in Sirmium with that in Salona, however, allows us to reconstruct the depiction as a pair of hovering Erotes supporting a garland in a variant of the motif created in the workshops of Salona and used on the sarcophagi made there in the 3rd century.

The project work in the 2007 season included the analysis of stone monuments held at the Museum of Srem and
across the town of Sremska Mitrovica as well as at Site 1a - Imperial palace. Particular attention was paid to two closed groups:
the monolithic altars from the temple of Iuppiter within the statio beneficiarii, made between ca AD100 and 231, and the remains
of the temple known as the »Tetrapylon«, consisting of blocks of limestone. The results of the analysis show a parallel and quantitatively comparable use of limestone of Lithotypes I and II for altars dating from ca AD100 to ca 185 as well as a predominance
of Lithotype II in later times. The analysis of the limestone blocks used in the construction of the »Tetrapylon«, on the other hand,
has shown the material to originate from the Dardagani quarry and revealed an as yet unknown lithotype from the area.

The unusual Roman sarcophagus of green volcaniclastic rock that was found in Titel, a small town in Vojvodina (SRB),
and is now kept in the Muzeul Național al Banatului, in Timişoara (RO), caused considerable unease among scholars in the past
as it could not be convincingly connected with any of the productions in Pannonia and Moesia Superior. Only Silvio Ferri, albeit
a long time ago, correctly identified its connection with the sarcophagus production in Sirmium and with the sarcophagus of
Asclepiodota in particular, made of Dardagani limestone. Sarcophagi of volcaniclastic rock have only been recorded in the region
of Srem and its immediate vicinity, and were all produced in Sirmium. The material most likely arrived there from the south,
quarried near the village of Rajići, ca 25 km west of Domavia, in the valley of the River Drina. The structure and decoration of
the sarcophagus from Titel reveal it as essentially the type produced by the workshops at Salona using models from Prokonessos.
Having said that, its decorative details reveal a more complex picture. The decoration of narrow strips of plant motifs indicates
a close relationship between the sarcophagus workshops at Sirmium and the workshops active in the middle and upper valley
of the River Drina with its tributaries, with the centre at Skelani (municipium Malvesiatium), which, in turn, had close ties with
the Salona production. The use of the Norico-Pannonian volute of Type 6 (after Pochmarski) on the inscription panel frame of the
sarcophagus from Titel shows another area of influence – the travertine sarcophagus production of Aquincum – on the appearance
of the sarcophagi from Sirmium that freely use these motifs (including Type 7) to form the frames of the inscription and figural
panels. Available evidence clearly shows that the sarcophagus from Titel can be attributed to the Sirmium sarcophagus production
of the 3rd century, more precisely its second half.

The collection of stone artefacts and their fragments held in the AM
Zagreb includes six slabs from Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, that belong
to at least two sarcophagi made of Neogene limestone of Badenian
age. Three of the slabs have been positively identified as part of the
same sarcophagus. Its front side is divided into three panels: the central panel without an inscription and with Norico-Pannonian volutes
making up the short sides of its frame, as well as a pair of narrower
side panels with a simple flat frame, each enclosing a vertically positioned dolphin with the beak facing the central panel and holding a
conch shell. The right short side of the sarcophagus bears the depiction of a lioness within a moulded rectangular frame.
The dolphins in the side panels of the front are unique among the sarcophagi of the Sirmian group; they are only known in this position
on the sarcophagus from Titel. Dolphins in this position are extremely rare even across the whole of Pannonia. They resemble most closely those depicted in the spandrels around the portrait medallions on
the front side of the large sarcophagus found at the railway station
in Sremska Mitrovica. The running lioness on the short side of the sarcophagus is near identical to the lioness depicted on the short side
of the sarcophagus kept in the Muzej Srema and the lion on the short
side of another sarcophagus from the same museum.
The use of Norico-Pannonian volutes connects this sarcophagus to
two Sirmian sarcophagi with portraits that allow us to fairly securely determine the time of their production. A detailed examination of
the portraits, primarily of the women and their coiffures, shows that
the two Sirmium sarcophagi with portraits should be seen as contemporary and their dating corrected to the third quarter of the 3rd century. The sarcophagus with dolphins may be dated to the same period.

Bacchic motif on a sarcophagus from Ptuj

The article deals with a fragment of a large Roman sarcophagus
made of Pohorje marble which is kept in the Regional Museum
Ptuj-Ormož. The relief represents about one eight of its right shorter
side depicting outwardly heraldically placed pair of panthers near
kantharos from which a double vine grows and towards which both
panthers turn their heads. Both have one paw resting on a goat’s
drinking horn. The motif is most common on tombstones from
workshops in Virunum – pyramid-shaped endings of compound tomb
altars and on some decorative fields of tomb aediculae; the motif is
in particular characteristic of large marble sarcophagi from the 3rd
and early 4th centuries, which were exported to Pannonian centres
(Savaria, Sirmium, Aquae Balissae, Šid). The motif with the panthers
facing the vine is known on large and lavishly decorated reliefs on
tomb aediculae of southern Noricum. It is a typical composition of
Dionysian elements, which appear as attributes of Dionysus / Bacchus
/ Liber Pater throughout the Roman Empire. It can therefore be
assumed that the motif in this form was made in the workshops of
Virunum in the middle of the 2nd century, when the cult of Dionysus
became increasingly popular in the western part of the empire.
During the reign of Severus the cult gained even more popularity
due to the imperial propaganda.

The stone fragment with Apollo playing a kithara, depicted under a Pamphylian arch supported by square columns, belongs to the short left side of a sarcophagus made of Pohorje marble and imported to Sirmium as a semi-finished product. The architecture of the relief reveals clear links with Asiatic designs, while the motif is a unique interpretation of a myth that was popular on sarcophagi of the 3rd century, of the contest between the satyr Marsyas and Apollo. The missing right part depicts Marsyas, either playing the aulós as part of the music contest (hybris) or tied to or tied next to a tree as punishment (nemesis).

The part of the Roman Empire stretching between the Alps and the Carpathians was an area where the Danube and its right tributaries constituted internal lines of communication, but was almost completely cut off from the Mediterranean in terms of transport, only linked via the Danube from the Black Sea. In this area, numerous quarries were active during the Roman period, though relatively few are known today. The study of their production, according to the territories of individual towns and settlements, has revealed the basic supply pattern of stone products from local and regional quarries, a multi-phase nature of the stone production and the existence of an interprovincial trade with the marble products of the Gummern Quarry and the travertine products of the Budakalász Quarry. It also points to the existence of a Thasian (?) sculptural workshop, active at the Gummer Quarry in the Hadrianic period, and a solution to the old question concerning the origin of the Norico-Pannonian volute.