Gerulata

What should a catalogue of archaeological material contain? This book is a comprehensive index of 210 lamps from the Roman fort at Gerulata and its adjoining civilian settlement. The lighting devices were excavated during the last 50 years from the houses, cemeteries, barracks and fortifications of this Roman outpost on the Danube Limes and span almost three centuries from AD 80 to AD 350. For the first time, they are published in full and in color with detailed analysis of lamp types, workshop marks and discus scenes.

Roman lamps were a characteristic form of interior lighting that burned liquid fuel seeped through a wick to create a controlled flame. Relief decorations have made them appealing objects of minor art in modern collections, but lamps were far more than that – with a distribution network spanning three continents, made by a multitude of producers and brands, with their religious imagery used in worship and death, and as symbols of study and learning, Roman lamps are an effective tool that can be used to discover the ancient economy, culture, craft organization and Roman provincial life.

The first chapter describes the history of Roman Pannonia and the archaeological record of Gerulata. Three successive catalogues – of the lamps, of the stamps, and of the iconography – illustrate the material thoroughly. An inquiry into the lamps’ function as grave goods is presented, followed by four studies focused on the statistical analysis of types, the organization of the lamp industry, signs of personal ownership, and the cultural significance of lamplight in a provincial milieu, respectively. Together, they paint a picture of a community on the edge of the Empire and its use of artificial light in both life and death.

The importance of the small group of Roman gold jewellery from Gerulata (Rusovce) consists in its form and context, with notable interpretive value. Five items are known from the area of Rusovce and its close surroundings. Almost all of them come from archaeological excavations, except for one ring (no. 5). Head decoration is represented by one earring and a pair of earrings. The analysis of the single earring (no. 1) and its technology of production pointed to a trade, personal or manufacturing relation between Gerulata and Scarbantia. The wire surface of the older single earring (no. 1) from the 1st–2nd century AD is compact and glossy and has tiny ends. The surface of other earrings (no. 2), dated to 3rd–4th century AD, shows visible lateral lines and is made of thin twisted gold plate. The bracelet (no. 3) is made of round golden pearls, beads of various shapes and a circular fastening. At least the last segment is here ascribed to the local, provincial workshop. The archaeological context of the bracelet with the circular bead points to the 3rd–4th centuries AD, despite the most frequent use of this decoration being documented for the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. A pendant (no. 4) from thin gold plate displays a scene of a trophaeum and the goddesses Victoria and Minerva or Libertas. It can be interpreted as personal talisman or amulet. The ring (no. 5) is a unique find. An analysis of the gemstone points to similar specimens from Carnuntum. The evaluation of this quite small group of jewels from the area of Rusovce also allowed to show relations between Gerulata and Scarbantia, possibly also with Carnuntum. For definitive future confirmation of the visual analysis, it could be helpful to undertake more detailed laboratory analysis of the materials‘ surface and structure.

Roman rings from Gerulata (Finds from the excavations by Ľ. Kraskovská and M. Pichlerová in a new light). The paper presents the finds of Roman rings from the excavations of Ľ. Kraskovská and M. Pichlerová in the light of new information. The discovered rings were also evaluated in a chronological context and taking into consideration the way they were worn and the gender of their wearer. In both reports, a total of 18 items were published, 15 of which were available during the research and preparation of this paper. We were able to identify the characteristic decoration of engraved lines on the shoulders of the rings at the end of the 3rd century and during the 4th century A.D., which appears on several items. The question of the significance of the square plaque with the letter/number X was also addressed. According to the author, this ring might be related to a retired Roman veteran from Vindobona (LEG X GEMINA).

"Das Tema des Beitrags bilden vier römisch-kaiserzeitliche Ringe, gefunden im Kataster von Bratislava – Rusovce.
Zwei von ihnen stammen aus Rettungsgrabungen des SNM – Archäologischen Museums. (Kat. Nr. 1 und 2).  Die anderen zwei Ringe stammen aus dem äußeren Dorfereich und sie wurden dem Museum von Privatbesitzern zum Dokumentieren zur Verfügung gestellt (Kat. Nr. 3 und 4). Der Verband von Siegelringen aus Bratislava – Rusovce ist heterogen. Für die Herstellung der 4 Ringe verwendete man unterschiedliche Materiale: Eisen, Bronze, Gold, Glaspaste, Halbedelsteine (Granat und weißer Onyx). Die Datierung aller dieser Funde zwischen das 2. Jahrhundert und den Anfang des 4. Jahrhunderts entspricht der historischen Entwicklung und archäologischen Funden aus dieser Fundstelle."

The products of private brickworks in southwestern Slovakia especially in Gerulata. The subject of the contribution is a list of Roman stamped bricks from private brickworks, the period of their existence and the locations where the bricks were produced, as well as analogies to the bricks and a detailed bibliography. The contribution also contains drawings and tables of 112 bricks with stamps of ten private brickworks, the place where they are deposited, their sizes and references to literature.

Abstrakt: Obsahom príspevku je zoznam rímskych kolkovaných tehál súkromných tehelní, obdobie ich produkcie a lokality, kde tovar vyrábali ako aj analógie a podrobná literatúra. Výpovednú hodnotu majú aj kresby a prehľadné tabuľky 112 kusov tehál s kolkami 10 súkromných tehelní, s miestom ich uloženia, rozmermi a odkazmi na literatúru.

Kniha byla vydána v Bratislavě roku 1998 / he book was published in Bratislava in 1998.

Drazí kolegové, tato kniha je umístěna kvůli jejímu  mimořádnému významu  a její špatné dostupnosti  vědcům a studentům. Naléhavě Vás prosíme, abyste respektovali autorská práva autora a vydavatele. Děkujeme --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear colleagues, this book is placed because of its importance in understanding and its poor availability to foreign scientists and students. We urge you to respect the copyrights of author and publishers. Thank you.

What should a catalogue of archaeological material contain? This book is a comprehensive index of 210 lamps from the Roman fort at Gerulata and its adjoining civilian settlement. The lighting devices were excavated during the last 50 years from the houses, cemeteries, barracks and fortifications of this Roman outpost on the Danube Limes and span almost three centuries from AD 80 to AD 350. For the first time, they are published in full and in color with detailed analysis of lamp types, workshop marks and discus scenes. Roman lamps were a characteristic form of interior lighting that burned liquid fuel seeped through a wick to create a controlled flame. Relief decorations have made them appealing objects of minor art in modern collections, but lamps were far more than that – with a distribution network spanning three continents, made by a multitude of producers and brands, with their religious imagery used in worship and death, and as symbols of study and learning, Roman lamps are an effective tool that can be used to discover the ancient economy, culture, craft organization and Roman provincial life. The first chapter describes the history of Roman Pannonia and the archaeological record of Gerulata. Three successive catalogues – of the lamps, of the stamps, and of the iconography – illustrate the material thoroughly. An inquiry into the lamps’ function as grave goods is presented, followed by four studies focused on the statistical analysis of types, the organization of the lamp industry, signs of personal ownership, and the cultural significance of lamplight in a provincial milieu, respectively. Together, they paint a picture of a community on the edge of the Empire and its use of artificial light in both life and death.

Although the first modern mentions to the Roman fort (castellum) of Gerulata (today Bratislava-Rusovce) date back to the end of the 18th century, the location of this important monument remained unclear until the second half of the 20th century. The paper has attempted - after taking into account all the previously known findings - to provide a first spatial delineation of the military fort, the civilian settlement (vicus) and the burial sites. Simultaneously, for the first time, it outlined the basic stages of the construction-historical development of Gerulata, from the earth-and-timber fort, through the stone castellum to the late Roman burgus ("Restkastell"). In addition, the paper also presents an analysis of artefacts from one wooden barrack. On this basis, the arrival of the Roman army to Gerulata and the  construction of the earth-and-timber fort are dated to the reign of Emperor Domitianus (81-96 AD). As a military unit for this earliest phase the author proposes cohors V Callaecorum Lucensium.

New find of a Roman mirror from Bratislava-Rusovce. This article deals with a new find of a Roman mirror from the area of a civilian settlement near the Roman camp of Gerulata in Bratislava-Rusovce. The round bronze mirror with a rod-shaped handle is ornamented around its edge with a series of indentations and concentric engraved lines. It belongs to the oldest Lloyd-Morgan A group, dated to the 1 st-2 nd century. Its overall finish (indentations instead of holes, a simple handle) points to one of the later variants of this type. The mirror was found during the excavation of a gravel layer from the Roman period; the numerous finds of small nails from footwear and the trench following its edge hint that it might be the remains of a Roman road. Abstrakt: Nový nález rímskeho zrkadla z Bratislavy-Rusoviec. Príspevok sa zaoberá novým nálezom rímskeho zrkadla z priestoru civilnej osady pri rímskom tábore Gerulata v Bratislave-Rusovciach. Bronzové zrkadlo kruhového tvaru s tyčinkovitou rúčkou je po obvode zdobené radom jamiek a koncentrickými rytými líniami. Patrí do najstaršej A sku-piny Lloyda-Morgana, ktorá je datovaná do 1.-2. storočia. Celkové prevedenie (jamky namiesto otvorov, jednoduchá rúčka) ukazuje na mladší variant tohto typu. Zrkadlo sa našlo počas výskumu štrkovitej vrstvy z doby rímskej-početné nálezy drobných klinčekov z obuvi a žľab lemujúci jej okraj naznačujú, že môže ísť o zvyšok rímskej cesty. Kľúčové slová: Bratislava-Rusovce, Gerulata, vicus, zrkadlo, rímska cesta (?), doba rímska Úvod V roku 2016 preskúmali pracovníci Slovenského národného múzea-Archeologického múzea na Balkánskej ulici č. 67 (parcela č, 921/2) v Bratislave-Rusovciach štrkovitú vrstvu lemovanú žľabom predbežne interpretovanú ako zvyšok rímskej cesty (obr. 1). Vrstva bola zistená v dĺžke 3 m, pričom obojstranne pokračovala mimo skúmanú plochu. Jej presnú šírku sa nepodarilo zistiť-nálezovú situáciu narušovali základy domu z 18.-19. storočia. Miesto výskumu sa nachádza na južnom okraji civilnej osady auxiliarneho tábora Gerulata. Podobné nálezy štrkových vrstiev, ktorých funkcia nie je celkom jednoznačná vzhľadom na malý rozsah sondáže, sa zistili na viacerých miestach v in-traviláne, neboli však doteraz podrobnejšie publikované (Pichlerová 1980, 172; Námerová 2015, 233, obr. 2). Pri skúma-ní spomínanej vrstvy sme pomocou detektora kovov objavili bronzové zrkadlo v dvoch častiach-najskôr kruhový disk, ktorý bol na jednom mieste poškodený a v jeho tesnej blízkosti tyčinkovitú rúčku zrkadla. Neskôr sme vo vrstve a vo výplni žľabu objavili ďalšie nálezy, ktoré potvrdili jej datovanie do doby rímskej. Najpočetnejšími nálezmi boli drobné klinčeky, ktoré pravdepodobne pochádzajú z podrážok rímskej obuvi a boli stratené pri chodení po štrkovitej vrstve (obr. 2: 1-12). Z ďalších kovových predmetov sa našli: železný klinec, železný nožík, fragment železného ple-chu, ošúchaný as cisára Hadriana (117-138 n. l.) a fragment koncentricky zdobeného bronzového plochého kovania s kruhovým ukončením (obr. 2: 13-17). Okrem kovových predmetov sa našla aj keramika-najmä fragmenty hrncov s trojuholníkovite rozšíreným okrajom a hrdlom zdobeným obežnými ryhami (obr. 2: 18, 19). Bez stratigrafických

The products of private brickworks in southwestern Slovakia especially in Gerulata. The subject of the contribution is a list of Roman stamped bricks from private brickworks, the period of their existence and the locations where the bricks were produced, as well as analogies to the bricks and a detailed bibliography. The contribution also contains drawings and tables of 112 bricks with stamps of ten private brickworks, the place where they are deposited, their sizes and references to literature.

Abstrakt: Obsahom príspevku je zoznam rímskych kolkovaných tehál súkromných tehelní, obdobie ich produkcie a lokality, kde tovar vyrábali ako aj analógie a podrobná literatúra. Výpovednú hodnotu majú aj kresby a prehľadné tabuľky 112 kusov tehál s kolkami 10 súkromných tehelní, s miestom ich uloženia, rozmermi a odkazmi na literatúru.

The ceramic vessels from necropolis No. II were redocumented during the ongoing revision of archaeological material from cemeteries belonging to the Roman military fort with civil hinterland – Gerulata. This necropolis contains the highest informative value for both archaeological and anthropological material. Therefore, for the needs of this study, a set of pottery was chosen from that particular site, which consisted of approximately 120 complete various-shaped artefacts to be used for volume calculation. The vessels primarily served for offerings but were also partly used as urns. Drawing and photo documentation was used to create 3D models of the individual artefacts. These visualisations were a data source for the quantitative measurement of the volume variations. Models and volume calculations were created in Blender open-source software before identifying a correlation between vessel shape and volume and the graves in which they were found. The main subject of this research w...