Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
GrenzÜbergänge
tationsmuster zu bewerten, die stets kritisch hinterfragt werden sollten.
Im vorliegenden Band werden die Ergebnisse der 27. Jahrestagung zu
den Grundproblemen der frühgeschichtlichen Entwicklung im mittle-
ren Donauraum vorgelegt. Im Fokus des Interesses stehen die Region
von Norikum über Pannonien bis Mösien. In methodischen Beiträgen
werden Fragen der Interdisziplinarität und Periodisierung sowie an-
hand von Fallbeispielen aus der Untersuchungsregion Verwendung, Be-
deutung und Interpretation zentraler Begriffe und Quellen beleuchtet.
Sie liefern damit die Grundlage für eine Diskussion über trennende und
verbindende Elemente von „Grenz(en) – und – Übergängen“ zwischen
Epochen, Räumen und wissenschaftlichen Betrachtungsweisen diesseits
und jenseits der Donau.
The time between AD 300 and 800 is seen as a period of transition be-
tween Antiquity and the Middle Ages; archaeologists and historians in-
creasingly acknowledge its existence under the term ‘Late Antiquity’ as
a period in its own right. Categories such as ‘Late Roman’, ‘Early Chris-
tian’ or ‘Early Byzantine’ appear in this context as competing concepts
Bugarski, Heinrich-Tamáska,
that describe chronologically and geographically overlapping phenom-
ena. They are primarily termini technici used in historical research and
herausgegeben von
Orsolya Heinrich-Tamáska,
Niklot Krohn und Sebastian Ristow
Band 4
GrenzÜbergänge
Spätrömisch, frühchristlich, frühbyzantinisch als Kategorien der
historisch-archäologischen Forschung an der mittleren Donau
herausgegeben von
Ivan Bugarski, Orsolya Heinrich-Tamáska,
Vujadin Ivanišević und Daniel Syrbe
2016
Verlag Bernhard Albert Greiner
Remshalden
Gedruckt
Das dieser Publikation zugrunde liegende Vorhaben wurde mit Mitteln des Bundesministeriums für Bildung
und Forschung unter dem Förderschwerpunkt „Geisteswissenschaftliche Zentren“ (Förderkennzeichen
01UG1410) gefördert. Die Verantwortung für den Inhalt dieser Veröffentlichung liegt bei den Autoren.
Die Beiträge wurden einem Peer Review-Verfahren unterzogen. Für die Unterstützung danken wir den
Kollegen: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Brather (Albert-Ludwigs-Univ. Freiburg, Inst. für Arch. Wiss.), Dr. Slavko
Ciglenečki (Arch. Inst. der Slowenischen Akad. d. Wiss.), Dr. Hrvoje Gračanin (Univ. Zagreb, Phil. Fak.),
Prof. Dr. Matthias Hardt (GWZO, Leipzig), Prof. Dr. Michael Schmauder (LVR-LandesMuseum, Bonn),
PD Dr. Sebastian Ristow (LVR-Landschaftsverband Rheinland), PD Dr. Roland Steinacher (Alfried Krupp
Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald), Prof. Dr. Tivadar Vida (Loránd Eötvös Univ., Arch. Inst., Budapest).
GrenzÜbergänge
Spätrömisch, frühchristlich, frühbyzantinisch als Kategorien
der historisch-archäologischen Forschung an der mittleren Donau /
Late Roman, Early Christian, Early Byzantine as categories in
historical-archaeological research on the middle Danube /
Akten des 27. Internationalen Symposiums der Grundprobleme
der frühgeschichtlichen Entwicklung im mittleren Donauraum, Ruma, 4.–7.11.2015
herausgeben von Ivan Bugarski, Orsolya Heinrich-Tamáska, Vujadin Ivanišević und Daniel Syrbe /
Forschungen zu Spätantike und Mittelalter 4 /
herausgegeben von Orsolya Heinrich-Tamáska, Niklot Krohn und Sebastian Ristow /
Remshalden : Greiner 2016 /
ISBN 978-3-86705-079-1
1. Auflage 2016
© 2016
Verlag Bernhard Albert Greiner, 73630 Remshalden; www.bag-verlag.de
Umschlagbild: Mosaik aus Sirmium/Sremska Mitrovica, Kaiserpalast, Raum 23 (site 1a, 4. Jh. n. Chr.), Ausgrabung des
Denkmalschutzamtes Sremska Mitrovica, 2006 (Photo: J. Vuletić and I. Filipović); Halbmondförmiger Ohrring: Bóly, Grab
21/a (1. Hälfte 7. Jh. n. Chr.), Janus Pannonius Múzeum Pécs, Inv.-Nr. 61.3.1 (Photo: A. Blay); Tremis von Aelia Pulcheria
(450–453), Narodni Muz. Zaječar (Photo: S. Pop-Lazić, Inst. of Arch., Belgrade).
Das Werk ist in allen seinen Teilen urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig.
Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung
in elektronischen Systemen.
ISBN 978-3-86705-079-1
ISSN 2195-2221
Vorwort / Preface
The fourth volume in the series ‘Research on Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages’ contains the papers
presented at the 27th international symposium dedicated to ‘Major Issues in the Early History of the
Middle Danube’ which took place on 4–7 November 2015 in Ruma, in the province of Vojvodina,
Serbia, and is now published under the title of the present book.
The conference was organised by the editors of this volume and their institutions, the Leipzig Centre
for the History and Culture of East Central Europe (since 1 January 2017 Leibniz Institute for the
History and Culture of Eastern Europe [GWZO]) and the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, in
collaboration with the institutes of the academies and universities of the ‘Major issues’ circle in Brno,
Nitra, Vienna and Krakow.
The region of Syrmia forms the focus of current and future research programmes of the Institute
of Archaeology in Belgrade and for this reason it is not hard to explain the choice of venue for the
conference. The Institute has been involved for decades in research on this key region, located on the
northern fringes of the Balkan Peninsula in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda, first and fore-
most through the excavations in Sirmium. But another Pannonian Roman town, Bassianae, was also
investigated in recent years by geophysical and photogrammetric surveys (conducted by the Ludwig
Boltzmann Institute, Vienna) and it offers great opportunities for future excavation projects.
For the GWZO, the research project ‘Continuity and discontinuity of Christianity on the middle
and lower Danube between Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages’ was instrumental in shaping
the theme of the conference. Christianity represented innovation, continuity, tradition, identity and
power at various times in the period under examination, and it left behind a multiplicity of traces.
In the Danube provinces, the Christian religion played a crucial role as a pillar of continuity in the
timespan from the fifth to the ninth century AD, forming part of Roman identity. Changes also took
place under its influence in the lower Danube region and its hinterland, where the imperial presence
endured until the seventh century.
The title of this volume (GrenzÜbergänge/BorderCrossings) is a play on words in German intended
to render the theme of the conference. The meeting sought to address questions of interdisciplinarity
and periodization, using the Middle Danube region between AD 300 and 800 as a case study, to lay
the foundations for a discussion concerning aspects of ‘borders’ and ‘crossings’ that separate and con-
nect different periods, spaces and scientific approaches. The terms employed in research on this pe-
riod, such as ‘Late Roman’, ‘Early Christian’, ‘Early Byzantine’ or ‘Late Antique’, are frequently applied
indiscriminately, and are either used as equivalents or, conversely, taken to represent a chronological
sequence. These stances often reflect different research traditions and regionally circumscribed re-
search domains.
The conference was organised in four sessions, entitled ‘Crossing Borders between Rome and
Barbaricum’, ‘Early Christianity’, ‘Transformations of Roman Strucutres’ and ‘On the Edges of
Byzantium’. The papers made clear that many frontiers become less distinct the closer one gets to
them. What is taken to represent a break from the perspective of current research often turns out to be
a political event, whose impact appears to be rather limited at a regional or local level. Moreover, the
results of archaeological research are significantly changing our view of the historical trajectory of the
Balkan provinces in Late Antiquity, which followed a dynamic evolution well into the sixth century
AD. The fact that the seventh century marked a real break in the Middle Danube region appears, on
the other hand, to be a common denominator. It can be documented in many different ways in the
archaeological evidence available.
5
Vorwort
As the conference was held in Serbia, a significant number of contributions drew on research con-
cerning the northern and central Balkans’ heritage, enlarging the ‘Major issues’ research group’s
usual area of expertise, i.e. Eastern Middle European Barbaricum. In addition to the conference pa-
pers, a poster session was organised in the Municipal Museum in Ruma, where current archaeo-
logical research projects dedicated to the protection and restoration of the imperial palace mosaics at
Sirmium, settlement patterns in the environs of Sirmium, and results of new excavations at Keszthely-
Fenékpuszta and in a villa rustica in the vicinity of Ruma, our conference host town, were presented.
The conference excursion took us to Sremska Mitrovica, ancient Sirmium. Stefan Pop-Lazić from
the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, and Biljana Lučić from the Institute for the Protection of
Cultural Monuments in Sremska Mitrovica guided us around the archaeological sites and the impe-
rial palace and explained the recent research and heritage issues related to this important town. The
participants also had the chance to visit the permanent exhibition at the Museum of Srem in Sremska
Mitrovica and at the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad.
Three further contributions complement this volume, as their topics are closely related to our theme:
they were originally presented at a session coordinated by the GWZO at the 2013 International
Medieval Congress in Leeds entitled ‘Central Places in the Middle Ages, I: Eastern Central Europe’.
There, historians and archaeologists discussed the role of central places in terms of their political, eco-
nomic, social and/or religious functions. The session focused on the bilateral development in Eastern
Central Europe, where, to the south of the Danube, it was often the Late Antique, Roman towns that
accommodated the early medieval centres, whereas to the north of the Danube new central places
developed from other cultural backgrounds.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Austrian Archaeological Institute, the Institute
of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology and the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies of the
University of Vienna, as well as our own institutions in Belgrade and Leipzig for their generous finan-
cial and organisational support of the conference.
We also thank our colleagues for their painstaking editorial work, especially Eva-Maria Tepest for her
review of the contributions in German to this volume and Madeleine Hummler for her revision of
the articles in English.
Last but not least we are most grateful to all our colleagues for presenting their results at the confer-
ence and for submitting them to scrutiny in this volume. Research is alive and well on both sides
of the Danube and is bound to offer new perspectives and openings for wide-ranging international
exchange.
6
Inhalt / Contents
Alexander Sarantis
Eastern Roman management of barbarian states in the Lower-Middle Danube
frontier zones, AD 332–610 ....................................................................................................................41
Anne Hähnel
Militärverwaltung im mittleren Donauraum: Das Illyricum zwischen Rom,
Byzanz und dem Barbaricum .................................................................................................................67
Alois Stuppner
„Spätrömisch“, „spätantik“ oder „spätkaiserzeitlich“?
Epochenbezeichnungen am Beispiel des ostösterreichischen Donauraumes ..................................83
Jaroslav Tejral
Spätantik – merowingisch – frühmittelalterlich. Strittige Übergänge im mittleren
Donauraum aus der Sicht der Archäologie ....................................................................................... 103
Levente Nagy
Interpretationen frühchristlicher Kunst am Beispiel pannonischer Kästchenbeschläge:
Methodische Probleme und unscharfe Terminologie ..................................................................... 121
Hrvoje Vulić
Eine frühchristliche Anlage in Kamenica bei Cibalae/Vinkovci:
Vorbericht zu den archäologischen Untersuchungen in den Jahren 2012 bis 2015 .................... 133
Marina Šimek
Lonja – eine frühchristliche Kirche auf einer spätantiken Höhensiedlung
in Pannonien (heute Nordwestkroatien) ........................................................................................... 161
Ivana Popović
Survey of Early Christianity in Sirmium/Sremska Mitrovica (fourth to fifth c. AD)................... 179
Efthymos Rizos
Martyrs from the north-western Balkans in the Byzantine ecclesiastical tradition:
patterns and mechanisms of cult transfer .......................................................................................... 195
Ádám Bollók
The “phylactery of the cross” and Late Antique/early medieval mortuary
practices in the Eastern Mediterranean and on its fringes ............................................................. 215
Stefan Pop-Lazić
Felix Romuliana/Gamzigrad in the fifth century – results of recent research ............................. 231
Orsolya Heinrich-Tamáska
Byzantine goldsmithing in Avaria? Exchange and transfer at the edge of the Empire
during the seventh century AD .......................................................................................................... 273
Stefan Eichert
Byzantinische Vorbilder für karantanischen Schmuck?
Zur Rezeption des Greifen- und Vogelmotivs im frühmittelalterlichen Ostalpenraum ............. 311
Daniel Syrbe
Regensburg und die Grenzen und Übergänge zwischen Antike und Mittelalter
im raetischen Donauraum.................................................................................................................... 327
Przemysław Urbańczyk
Central places as foundations of the early Piast state ....................................................................... 343
Stefan Albrecht
Cherson als Zentralort auf der südwestlichen Krim (6.–10. Jahrhundert) ................................... 355
8
TeilnehmerInnen der Tagung auf der Exkursion in Sremska Mitrovica/Sirmium am 6. November 2015.
Conference delegates in Sremska Mitrovica/Sirmium during their excursion of 6 November 2015.
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
The Colonia Aurelia Cibalae, a Roman city loca- Roman rule in Pannonia. In the following article
ted in present-day Vinkovci, was the third-largest we shall present new results concerning this time
settlement in the province of Pannonia Secunda. on the basis of new excavations and analysis of
It gained municipal status in the second century ceramic assemblages.
AD and colonial status in the third1. However,
Vinkovci has a longer history, with a series of Old assumptions
settlements documented over 8000 years2. What
are the reasons for this phenomenon? One reason In Croatian archaeology and historiography the
could be the site’s favourable geographical posi- decline of the Roman city of Cibalae has long
tion on the northernmost curve of river Bosut. been assumed. In this model the city burnt down
At the junction of the Pannonian plain with the and was destroyed at the end of the fourth cen-
mountain chain of the Dinaric Alps (or Dinari- tury AD. This theory is owed in part to András
des) in the south-west and the Rhodope-Balkan Mócsy, and was developed partly on the basis of
area in the south-east, major traffic crossed at evidence from other Pannonian sites and partly
this point; this is shown by the overlap of diffe- on written sources4. Most of the archaeological
rent archaeological groups and cultural spheres3. finds – whether they originated from archaeolo-
But we do not find, or have not recognis- gical excavations or were finds without archaeo-
ed, rich traces of human activity in all periods logical context5 – were integrated in this chro-
of Vinkovci’s long settlement history. One of nological framework. Later finds were however
these periods is Late Antiquity or the Migration not completely disregarded, but considered to
Period, from the middle of the fifth to the early be sporadic finds attesting continuity of occupa-
seventh century AD, after the presumed end of tion6.
1 I. Iskra-Janošić, Colonia Aurelia Cibalae. Entwicklung der Stadt. In: M. Šašel Kos/P. Scherrer (eds), The
autonomous towns of Noricum and Pannonia – Die autonomen Städte in Noricum und Pannonien. Situla 42
(Ljubljana 2004) 169–195 here 177–181.
2 A. Durman (ed.), The oldest town in Europe, Vinkovci (Privlačica 2013).
3 I . Karaula/Z. Korpar, Grad između ekvatora i sjevernog pola. In: M. Landeka/D. Švagelj (eds), Vinkovci
(Vinkovci 2010) 139 f.; Iskra-Janošić 2004 (note 1) 169 f.
4 A. Mócsy (Pannonia and Upper Moesia – A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman
Empire [London 1974]) proposed that Pannonian cities developed in four phases: initially the urbanization of
indigenous settlements, then two phases of prosperity, followed by a period of decline. See also H. Gračanin,
Južna Panonija u kasnoj antici i ranom srednjovjekovlju (od konca 4. do konca 11. stoljeća) (Zagreb 2011)
54–58.
5 Here mostly private collections that were fundamental for the Museum’s (Gradski Muzej Vinkovci)
establishment are considered.
6 S. Dimitrijević, Rezultati arheoloških iskopavanja na području vinkovačkog muzeja od 1957. do 1965.
god. (Prethistorija i srednji vijek) (Vinkovci 1966) 69 f.; I. Iskra-Janošić, Rimsko razdoblje – Roman period.
In: S. Jozić (ed.), Vinkovci u svijetu arheologije (Vinkovci 1999) 34–99 here 63.
145
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
The first archaeological investigations in Vinkov- the city in the easy reuse of Roman buildings and
ci by Josep Brunšmid in the nineteenth century ditched defence system. Regardless, the fifth-and
revealed the remains of defensive ditches sur- sixth-century settlement was only partly occu-
rounding the Roman city, presumed to be ori- pied and small9.
ented northwest-southeast, covering an area of According to Ivana Iskra-Janošić, Cibalae had two
about 56 hectares (a rectangular area measuring phases of fortification: the earlier dating to the
some 860 × 650 m). Besides the ditches Brunšmid early second century (encircling an area of 38.1
also mentions walls, but provides no evidence for hectares), and the later dating to the third centu-
these7. It was proposed that Roman life ended in ry (surrounding an area of about 56.8 hectares).
Cibalae at the end of the sixth century, after the The first fortified circuit consisted of double ear-
fall of Sirmium in AD 5828. then ramparts, 13 to 14 m wide, with a 5 m wide
According to later research by Stojan Dimitrijević, ditch in between. The second had just one ear-
Cibalae was trapezoidal in shape (north = 710 m, then rampart, mostly overlapping with the ear-
east = 630 m, south = 780 m, west = 650 m), co- lier outer earthen rampart, with a fence or palisa-
vering an area of 45.6 hectares. He ascertained de, a form of timber panelwork filled with earth.
that the ditches surrounding the city were 15 to The interior was rectangular, oriented north-
more than 50 m wide, and the earthen rampart west-southeast10. Iskra-Janošić also states that
13 to 45 m wide; a wooden palisade on the top Cibalae was devastated in AD 378/379, leaving
was an important part of this defence system. only the city centre suitable for living. Sporadic
He argued that life in Cibalae came to an end in fifth-century finds have turned up in the lar-
around AD 385, the direct cause being devasta- ge Gepidic settlement, attested by intra muros
tion, burning and conquest by the Goths in AD graves and finds of stamped pottery. The inha-
378/379. This statement, however, only applies bitants of that settlement apparently lived in the
to the Romans, because he refers to some spo- Roman ruins11.
radic finds of the fifth century, and some more The models proposed by these three scholars
finds that can be linked to the second phase of were also generally accepted among other experts
domination by the Gepids in the sixth century. dealing with the topic12. Only sporadically do
Dimitrijević saw the reason for reoccupation of we encounter different opinions, expressed qui-
7 J. Brunšmid, Colonia Aurelia Cibalae. Vinkovci u staro doba. Vjesnik Hrvatskog arheologičkog društva
NS 6, 1902, 117–166 here 124 f.
8 Brunšmid 1902 (note 7) 131. Apart from mentioning ‘wild barbarian’ hordes and troops belonging to the
Avar khan Bajan, Brunšmid does not give any further information about specific dates or events that led to
the destruction of Cibalae. He only mentions a last reference to Cibalae in the Chronicle of Casino (Epitome
Chronicorum Casinensium). This document has been shown to be a later medieval forgery (S. Andrić,
Tobožnja darovnica cara Justinijana sv. Benediktu i spomen grada Cibala u njoj. Croatica Christiana Periodica
XXIX,55, 2005, 1–5).
9 S. Dimitrijević, Arheološka topografija i izbor nalaza s vinkovačkog tla (Archäologische Topographie
und Auswahl archäologischer Funde vom Vinkovcer Boden). Corolla Memoriae Iosepho Brunšmid dicata.
Izdanja Hrvatskog arh. društva 4 (Vinkovci 1979) 133–200 here 149 f., 190.
10 I. Iskra-Janošić, Urbanizacija Cibala i razvoj keramičarskih središta (Zagreb, Vinkovci 2001) 33–43;
Eadem 2004 (note 1) 177–181.
11 I. Iskra-Janošić 2001 (note 10) 150–153.
12 Z. Virc, Pregled povijesti Vinkovaca (Vinkovci 1988); M. Bulat, Rimska Mursa. In: I. Mažuran (ed.),
Srednjovjekovni i turski Osijek (Osijek 1994); T. Sekelj Ivančan, Neki arheološki primjeri zaposjedanja
antičkih urbanih cjelina u sjevernoj Hrvatskoj tijekom srednjeg vijeka (Manche archäologische Beispiele für
die Besiedlung der Ruinen antiker Stadtanlagen in Nordkroatien in Mittelalter). Prilozi 18, 2001, 189–212
here 196.
146
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
te tentatively and in a mitigated manner13. His- from Cibalae. Even the historians changed their
torical sources shed no light on this problem14. views, recognising that the period of barbarian
We know of major events, such as invasions and invasions was not a period of complete destruc-
migration routes15, but Cibalae was never men- tion, but rather a period of raiding, plundering
tioned in known sources, unlike the destruction (especially livestock and crops) and taking priso-
of Sirmium/Sremska Mitrovica or Mursa/Osi- ners for ransom18.
jek16. Since the late 1990s new methods of archaeolo-
gical excavation – individualising and recording
stratigraphic units – have allowed us to observe
New insights features that had previously been overlooked19
and this has led to a number of new conclusions.
Developments in archaeological excavations, One is that the city reached its peak in the fourth
new finds and methods have given us new in- century20, when many new buildings were erec-
sights. Marko Dizdar took a first step in 1999, ted (Fig. 1). This boom in construction could be
collecting for the first time all data and finds that explained by the fact that Roman emperors were
he believed could be attributed to the Gepids. His connected to Cibalae21. This also fits into the pic-
research was limited to burial finds and stamped ture of the renewal of cities and fortifications in
pottery17. Later, further new finds were included Pannonia conducted under the emperor Valen-
in the late fifth-and sixth-century assemblage tinian I22.
13 S. Andrić, Vinkovci u srednjem vijeku. Područje grada Vinkovaca od kasne antike do kraja turske vlasti
(Vinkovci in the Middle Ages. The Vinkovci urban area from Late Antiquity to the end of Ottoman rule)
(Vinkovci, Slavonski Brod 2007) 19.
14 Just as in archaeology, changes also occur in historical interpretation. Older opinions favour the thesis that
Alaric used a southern route when conquering Italy, more recent scholars claim that he followed a northern
route via Cibalae (H. Gračanin, Goti i Južna Panonija [Goths and South Pannonia]. Scrinia Slavonica 6,
2006, 83–126 here 106 note 132).
15 For the vicinity of Vinkovci: H. Gračanin/A. Rapan Papeša, Postrimski grad u južnoj Panoniji – primjer
Cibala (Post-Roman city in South Pannonia – example of Cibalae). Scrinia Slavonica 11, 2011, 7–30 here
10–13. For southern Pannonia: Gračanin 2011 (note 4).
16 H. Gračanin, Huni i Južna Panonija (Huns and South Pannonia). Scrinia Slavonica 5, 2005, 9–47 here 33;
Gračanin 2006 (note 14) 84. Given that battles were fought near Cibalae and that two emperors were born
there, it is most unlikely that contemporary writers did not know about the city.
17 M. Dizdar, Rani srednji vijek – Early Middle Ages. In: S. Jozić (ed.) Vinkovci u svijetu arheologije
(Vinkovci 1999) 65–71.
18 Gračanin 2006 (note 14) 85.
19 The practice was to dig in spits about 25 cm thick, regardless of period and cultures. Solid remains (such as
walls) were defined, and pits were recorded mostly when cut into sterile soil – not in layers. Therefore we often
find pottery sherds from prehistoric and later periods bagged together. These finds obviously came from pits
that were not recorded properly.
20 Previously the late second and early third centuries were seen as a peak in the development of cities.
21 Constantine the Great, who defeated Licinus near Cibalae in AD 316, Constantius II who built a winter
camp outside of the city before his battle with Magnentius near Mursa in AD 351 (Zosimus, Historia Nova, ed.
by B. Kindt. Corpus Christianorum. Thesaurus patrum Graecorum 21 [Turnhout 2008] II, 18 and 45–63.) and
Valentinian I and his brother Valens, both born in Cibalae (Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum gestarum libri qui
supersunt, ed. by C. U. Clark, 2 vol. [Berlin 1910] 30.7.2).
22 N. Christie, Towns, Land and Power: German-Roman survivals and interactions in fifth- and sixth-
century Pannonia. In: G. P. Brogiolo/N. Gauthier/N. Christie (eds), Towns and their territories between Late
Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Leiden 2000) 275–297 here 277; Idem, From the Danube to the Po: The
Defence of Pannonia and Italy in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries AD. In: A. Poulter (ed.) The Transition to
147
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
LEGEND:
PRESUMED RAMPART ROADS
ROMAN/LATE ROMAN ARCHITECTURE ROMAN NECROPOLIS
LATER CIBALAE LIMITS (PRESUMED)
LATE ROMAN WOODEN ARCHITECTURE INTRA MUROS BURIALS
POTTERY WORKSHOP POTTERY KILNS EARLIER CIBALAE LIMITS (PRESUMED)
BASILICA LATE ROMAN POTTERY
PUBLIC BATHS STAMPED POTTERY
Fig. 1 Distribution of Roman and Late Antique features and single finds in the area of present-day Vinkovci.
148
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
Since coin circulation at the end of the fourth earlier. This cannot be proven at present, due to
century was weak23, some of the buildings dated heavy levelling in Vinkovci and surroundings
by fourth-century coins could have been erected over the two last centuries.
in the fifth century. The analysis of the pottery Our third conclusion relates to the residential
certainly suggests that some of these objects were buildings of the fifth and sixth centuries. Roman
in use during the first half of the fifth century24. structures may have been renewed or repaired to
Because of the high degree of destruction, re- serve as shelters of some kind. In recent preven-
searchers rarely uncovered more than foundati- tive excavations new dwellings have also been
ons and occasionally lines of bricks (up to five) recorded (see below).
making up walls; we therefore cannot argue that A fourth suggestion cannot yet be verified. Accor-
these structures were newly built. Hence it is still ding to the data available, the focus of the fifth-
possible that they were renewed. and sixth-century settlement was in the western
A second conclusion concerns the defences of and central part of Cibalae, which was main-
Cibalae. The idea that an earthen rampart could ly a residential area. The eastern and southern
have protected the city for 500 years seems most parts seem to see less occupation at that time.
unlikely. There is apparently a line between the However this hypothesis will have to remain just
structures inside the defensive ditches, which that, because the eastern and southern parts of
was superseded by graves. The existence of this Roman Cibalae lie under historical buildings
line is still open to question. So far no traces of erected during the eighteenth and nineteenth
solid brick or stone walls have been found. As century in Vinkovci, which are protected as cul-
for the discovery of yellow soil, interpreted as an tural heritage. Sporadic finds imply that that life
earthen rampart, at some locations, it has been continued over the whole territory occupied by
shown that this was of geological origin. By con- Cibalae.
trast, recent excavations have shown that the Our fifth, and most important, conclusion is
city’s ditches were similar to the boundaries that that continuity in ceramic production is attested.
Josef Brunšmid saw in the nineteenth century. With over 80 kilns from the entire Roman pe-
Perhaps the surrounding marshes, mentioned riod, Cibalae is exceptional. Regrettably, only a
by Zosimus25, could explain why the city never very small number of these kilns was found with
needed to build a solid defence. If the only path ceramic remains still inside, and those that did
leading to the city was narrow, it would be easy so mainly contained early Roman types (first–
to defend it, since the marsh was about 900 m second centuries AD)26. Therefore we still cannot
(five stadia) wide. It is also possible that earthen pinpoint which kilns were used during the fifth
ramparts were erected in the late fourth centu- and sixth centuries, even though local produc-
ry, as part of the Pannonian renewal mentioned tion was continuous until then (see below).
Late Antiquity, on the Danube and Beyond. Proccedings of the British Acad. 141 (Oxford, New York 2008)
548–578 here 554.
23 P. Kos, Novčne najdbe – Coin finds. In: Z. Modrijan/T. Milavec (eds), Poznoantična utrjena naselbina
Tonovcov grad pri Kobaridu. Najdbe – Late Antique Fortified Settlement Tonovcov grad near Kobarid. Finds.
Opera Inst. Arch. Sloveniae 24 (Ljubljana 2011) 221–238 here 234; M. Nađ, Coin Circulation AD 193–423. In:
B. Migotti (ed.), The Archaeology of Roman Southern Pannonia: The State of Research and Selected Problems
in the Croatian Part of the Roman Province of Pannonia. BAR Internat. Ser. 2393 (Oxford 2012) 385–409.
24 For instance Roman objects in present-day Glagoljaška Street 13, 33 and 39, Duga Street 40, A. Ulman
Passage, Kralja Zvonimira Street 12.
25 Zosimus, Historia Nova (note 21) II,18.
26 V. Šaranović-Svetek, Раноцарска лончарска радионица у Цибалама (Atelier de potier du Haut
Empire á Cibalae) Starinar XXXI, 1981, 17–33.
149
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
Fig. 2 Vinkovci, ‘Hrvatski dom’, unfurnished burial of the sixth century AD.
27 Mostly unpublished (see Iskra-Janošić 2004 [note 1] 184 f.) and the foederati cemetery in the northern
ditch of Cibalae, a grave with a pot in the southern necropolis, a grave with a glass jug in the western
necropolis (Dimitrijević 1979 [note 9]; M. Leljak, Late Roman glass from South Pannonia and the problem
of its origin. In: D. Keller/J. Price/C. Jackson [eds], Neighbours and successors of Rome [Oxford 2014]
79–82).– In autumn 2015, during rescue interventions in the western necropolis, a small graveyard (10 graves)
with sixth-century finds was excavated. A preliminary interpretation is that the Roman population continued
to burry in cemeteries outside the city, but the processing of the finds is still ongoing.
28 Brunšmid 1902 (note 7) 90.
29 E.g. I. Iskra-Janošić, Povijesni pregled arheoloških istraživanja u Vinkovcima. Godišnjak Ogranka
Matice hrvatske Vinkovci 10, 1992 (1993) 61–78.
30 The limited size of the excavation area could be one, or even the main, reason for such results.
150
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
0 1 cm
Fig. 3 One-sided bone comb dated to the middle third of the sixth century AD from a single grave in Vinkovci.
full of rubble (construction debris), a fact that loops). A third-century Roman coin was found
suggests that abandoned areas of the city were in one grave, but it is not clear whether it was a
used as burial grounds. The reuse of Roman grave good or was just incorporated in a Roman
bricks for grave construction, has also been re- layer32. None of the grave goods can be interpre-
corded. In many cases remains of Roman archi- ted as revealing any ethnic affiliation, but all have
tecture (walls, columns and fragments of road) good parallels at other contemporary sites33.
were used to build the sides or base of the burial
pit. Orientation with head at the west and legs at Late Antique settlement structures
the east was a rule that was followed consistent-
ly. All burials were extended inhumations, with Rescue excavations underneath the present-day
hands next to the body or crossed and laid on the city are limited, given the restricted areas availab-
pelvic area (Fig. 2). An anthropological analysis le for excavation and because strata are often da-
was conducted on more than half the burals and maged by foundations belonging to subsequent
the results suggest a well-fed, stable population structures. Since Late Antique and Migration-
that worked hard, with illness recorded on only period objects have been recognised only re-
two skeletons31. cently, we still do not have a clear enough over-
Only 18 graves were furnished with grave goods view. For the time being, we can identify two dif-
(35 % of all burials intra muros). They include ferent types of dwelling. In addition, some pits
clothing accessories (belt buckles), jewellery are also known. They are regular, circular and cy-
(necklaces, bracelets), accessories (e. g. combs: lindrical. Pits were used for waste material, and
Fig. 3) and tools (knives, spindle whorls, hanging so far we have no evidence for any other use34.
31 M. Šlaus et al., Temporal Trends in Demographic Profiles and Stress Levels in Medieval (6th–13th Century)
Population Samples from Continental Croatia. Croatian Medical Journal 43, 2002, 598–605 here 598;
M. Vodanović et al., The frequency and distribution of caries in the mediaeval population of Bijelo Brdo in
Croatia (10th–11th century). Archives of Oral Biology 50, 2005, 669–680 here 676 f.
32 All data listed here can be found in A. Rapan Papeša, Sahranjivanje unutar granica antičkih Cibala.
Starohrvatska prosvjeta 38, 2011, 7–57.
33 See D. Csallány, Archäologische Denkmäler der Gepiden im Mitteldonaubecken (454–568 u. Z.). Arch.
Hung. 38 (Budapest 1961).
34 The following results are from our own excavations of the last decades and are unpublished.
151
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
B ¿
A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The first type of dwelling reused Late Roman sunken-floored buildings (Grubenhäuser). We
structures as foundations for its floor, which was were lucky enough to have a group of three such
made of compact clay c. 0.15 m thick. House structures on one site. It is interesting to note
foundations were partly just set above Roman that the dwellings were surrounded on one side
foundations. The walls, which are preserved in by a paving made of fragmented Roman bricks.
only a very fragmentary state, consisted of clay The latter – covering an area of about 60 m2
mixed with Roman building rubble. The di- – could have served as a yard or working area.
mensions of this house were 7 × 7 m. Inside the The houses themselves measured of 2 × 3 m, dug
house, almost in the middle, an ovoid pit filled 0.30–1.34 m into the ground. They had one or
with stones served as a hearth. A charcoal samp- two postholes for roof supports. The deepest
le was collected from a hearth, and radiocarbon- sunken-floored building also had an entrance,
dated to a period between AD 540 and 65035. like a porch, about 1m2 in size. Similar structu-
The second type of dwelling is more usual in this res were discovered in Gepidic settlements in the
period, or just more widespread. It consists of Tisza Region36.
152
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
0 5 cm
Fig. 5 Vinkovci, Kralja Zvonimira Street 12/2014a, ceramic fragments of the sixth century AD.
153
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
0 3 cm
Fig. 6 Fragments of stamped ceramic from Late Antique layers in Cibalae (fifth–sixth century AD).
In Croatian research there has been little focus products, and the origin of the material. For our
on the ceramic material from Late Roman and analysis we used three methods: macroscopic,
Early Medieval settlements because only a few mineralogical-petrographic, and compositional
sites have been recorded or investigated so far42. (chemical composition)43. These methods were
One of the best-known examples is Cibalae, applied to study the temperature and firing con-
where stamped ceramics, which could be rela- ditions, the inclusions, and the clay matrix. Vi-
ted to the Late Antique and Migration period sual analysis was first employed to identify basic
(Fig. 4a–b; 5), were found in settlement layers fabric types, and it served as the basis for detailed
along-side Late Roman types. petrographic and complex chemical analyses of
each type of pottery. Macroscopic analysis of the
Late Antique ceramic types fabric was carried out for more than 500 frag-
ments of different groups of Late Roman potte-
So far forty fragments of this stamped ceramic ry; it resulted in the identification of 19 fabric
could be examined. They come from twelve lo- types44.
cations in the area of the city. Most of these frag- A basic classification of seven pottery groups
ments were found in Late Antique cultural layers and a typological classification into Late Roman
(fifth–sixth century AD) together with typical pottery from Cibalae was based on these fabric
forms of Late Roman ceramic tradition. types. The seven groups are: 1) coarse pottery
The study of the ceramic material – especial- (with handmade pottery); 2) coarse grey potte-
ly the composition and structure of the fired ry; 3) slipware (black and red slipware); 4) bur-
clay – gives us valuable information about three nished and polished pottery; 5) glazed pottery;
main aspects: the technology of the manufactu- 6) stamped pottery; 7) imported pottery (am-
ring process, the physical characteristics of fired phorae, African red slip ware and thin-walled/
42 In autumn 2014 and 2015, during rescue excavations by the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb (thanks to
J. Balen for this information), along the path of the A5 motorway (Beli Manastir-Osijek) near Novi Čeminac
(site Jauhov salaš), a cemetery (11 graves) and settlement (22 houses) of the Migration period was discovered.
The rich findings provide a preliminarily date of the fifth century for the site, but processing of the finds is
still ongoing, see JASA. Rezultati arheoloških istraživanja lokeliteta Novi Čeminac-Jauhov salaš. Arh. Muz. u
Zagrebu. Centar za kulturu Grada Belog Manastira (Zagreb 2016).
43 C. Orton, Dealing with the pottery from a 600-acre urban site. In: M. Millett (ed.), Pottery and the
Archaeologist. Inst. of Arch. Occasional Publ. 4, 1979, 61–72; C. Orton/P. Tyers/A. Vince, Pottery in
Archaeology. Cambridge Manuals in Arch. (Cambridge 2003) 132–151.
44 With digital microscope, Dino, Lite Pro am413T. Details of the analysis are available in Roksandic’s PhD
dissertation (see note 41).
154
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
0 3 cm
Fig. 7 Fragments of burnished ceramic from Late Antique layers in Cibalae (fifth–sixth century AD).
egg-shell pottery). The most interesting groups Vessels with stamped decoration from the area of
for determining the fifth and sixth century were Cibalae are represented by fragments of different
two main groups of fine pottery (stamped and sizes and very thin walls (Fig. 6). These are smal-
burnished) and a group of coarse pottery (hand- ler vessels, bowl-shaped or pear-shaped, wheel-
made and grey coarse pottery). turned, and are characterised by astamped motif
The technique of stamping appears on pottery in the shape of a rhomboid or circle. This pottery
throughout the Roman period and derives from is made from fine, refined clay and the extreme-
the La Tène period. It is typical for fine tableware, ly thin walls indicate that a fast wheel was used.
mainly bowls, plates, cups and pitchers. In Pan- The surface is carefully finished and probably
nonia, it is characterised by a group of coloured polished several times to achieve a greater shi-
and grey pottery that has a specific decoration ne. The stamped decoration is very well execu-
(pannonische Glanztonware)45. Production con- ted, clean and deep, with stamping tools made
tinued in the Late Roman period, but with new of bone. Two stamps made of animal bone were
forms of grey and black vessels with different found near the pottery kilns47.
stamped decorative motifs (mostly geometric) Most of the fragments are extremely dark, due
which are linked to the presence of Germanic to reductive firing, while some fragments are
groups in the province46. yellowish-brown with traces of grey stains indi-
45 O. Brukner, Rimska keramika u jugoslovenskom delu provincije Donje Panonije. Savez arh. društava
Jugoslavije. Diss. et Monogr. XXIV (Beograd 1981) 30; K. Póczy, Der Einfluss der spätitalischen Sigillata-
Werkstätten auf die pannonischen Prunkgefässen. Acta Arch. Acad. Scien. Hungaricae 11, 1959, 143–158 here
151.
46 S. Dimitrijević, Arheološka topografija i izbor nalaza s vinkovačkog tla. Corolla Memoriae Iosepho
Brunšmid dicata. Izdanja Hrvatskog arh. društva 4, 1979, 133–276 here 133–200; M. Dizdar et. al., Vinkovci
u svijetu arheologije. Exhibition Cat. (Vinkovci 1999) 65–72 here 65–68; K. Simoni, Dva priloga istraživanju
germanskih nalaza seobe naroda u Jugoslaviji. Vjesnik Arh. muz. Zagreb 3,X–XI, 1977–1978, 209–233.
47 See site NA-MA 1977/78 and Ul. kralja Zvonimira 14/2014.
155
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
Fig. 8 Overview of ceramic groups from twelve sites in the area of the Roman city of Cibalae.
cating that they are oxidised. Generally, stamped Grey and black polished wares with burnished
pottery is grey to very dark grey and black. The ornament could be linked to some ‘barbarian’
stamped decorations on these vessels are usually groups, especially if we take into account stam-
applied on an area below the neck, the shoulder ped pottery from the same layer. All the types
and belly of the vessels. The forms of the stamped from Cibalae are fragments of larger biconical or
pottery vary but generally they are distinctive pear-shaped vessels, which were made on a fast
pots, bowls and jugs, which are markedly bico- wheel and are characterised by a smooth decora-
nical, with a high cylindrical neck, more or less tion, composed of vertical, inclined and zig-zag
curved outwards, usually with profiling on the lines that sometimes form a mesh or grid (Fig.
rim. The various motifs allow us to identify 13 7). They were made of fine, purified clay, and the
types in our typology of the stamped decoration decorated surface is well polished. The colour
(Fig. 6). of the vessels varies from light to dark grey and
Vessels decorated with burnished ornaments black, achieved by reductive firing. The decorati-
dated to Late Antiquity have not so far been on was probably made with blunt tools, i.e. sticks
published in Croatia. The so-called ‘Gepidic’ of wood or bone, on wet clay.
ceramic has traditionally been interpreted as re- The very process of making these vessels is quite
presented by stamped pottery fragments only. demanding and involves knowledge and experi-
This is due to the absence of treatment of Late ence, from the preparation of the clay that had
Roman ceramics. The origin and presence of to be extremely well purified to burnishing and
this pottery type still cause many polemics, but firing techniques. The vessels are mainly bowls of
the fact is that it appears together with stamped various sizes, jugs with one or two handles, and
pottery precisely on settlements dated to the fifth pots. Three chronological groups of burnished
and sixth century, which are linked to the pres- pottery can be defined from their form and de-
ence of Gepids and Lombards48. coration: 1) from the mid-fourth century to the
The origin of the burnished ornaments goes back second half of the fourth century; 2) from the
to Late La Tène ceramic traditions, retained in end of the fourth century to the beginning of the
the first and second century AD and then reap- fifth; 3) from the beginning of the fifth century to
pearing in the fifth and even sixth century49. the middle of the sixth century.
48 Csallány 1961 (note 33) 254–258; Tóth 2006 (note 36) 83–85.
49 K. Horedt, Moreşti – Grabungen in einer vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Siedlung in Siebenbürgen
(Bukarest 1979) 122–147; F. Vagalinski, Излъскана керамика от I – началото на VII век южно от долен
Дунав (България). (Burnished pottery from the first century to the beginning of the seventh century AD
from the region south of the lower Danube [Bulgaria]) (Sofia 2002) 77.
156
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
50 P. Hárshegyi/K. Ottományi, Imported and local pottery in Late Roman Pannonia. Late Antique
Arch. 10, 2013, 471–528; F. Horváth, Das spätantike Keramikspektrum in Keszthely-Fenékpuszta
– erste Ergebnisse. In: O. Heinrich-Tamáska (ed.), Keszthely-Fenékpuszta im Kontext spätantiker
Kontinuitätsforschung zwischen Noricum und Moesia. Castellum Pannonicum Pelsonense 2 (Budapest
et al. 2011) 597–652; K. Ottományi, Late Roman pottery. In: D. Gabler (ed.), The Roman Fort at Ács-
Vaspuszta (Hungary) on the Danubian Limes. BAR Intern. Ser. 531 (Oxford 1989) 318–386, 492–570: Eadem,
Veränderungen des Töpferhandwerks in der ersten Hälfte des 5. Jhs. anhand der Keramik der Befestigung
Visegrád-Gizellamajor. In: T. Vida (ed.), Romania Gothica II. The Frontier World Romans, Barbarians and
Military Culture. Proceedings of the International Conference at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 1–2
October 2010 (Budapest 2015) 691–741.
51 V. Ivanišević/M. Kazanski, Nouvelle nécropole des Grandes Migration de Singidunum. Starinar LVII,
2007 (2009), 113–135.
52 T. Knific, Vranje near Sevnica: A Late Roman Settlement in the Light of Certain Pottery Finds. Arh.
Vestnik 45, 1994, 211–237.
53 H. Friesinger/h. Kerchler, Töpferöfen der Völkerwanderungszeit in Niederösterreich. Ein Beitrag zur
völkerwanderungszeitlichen Keramik (2. Hälfte 4.–6. Jh. n. Ch.) in Niederösterreich, Oberösterreich und dem
Burgenland. Arch. Austriaca 65, 1981, 193–266.
54 Hárshegyi/Ottományi 2013 (note 50) 489.
157
Anita Rapan Papeša and Danijela Roksandić
0 1 mm 0 0,2 mm
mollusk shell
a b
Fig. 10 Thin section petrography of coarse pottery (GL 19/2): a traces of quartz; b mollusc shells.
organic matter55. The techniques and methods In the last forty years, in the context of rescue
of producing all the fragments of coarse pottery excavations in the area of present-day Vinkov-
that were analysed are very similar and origina- ci, many finds that could belong to the fifth and
te from the same workshop in Cibalae. The clay sixth centuries have been recovered. They consist
used for production is of local origin, from the primarily of graves located within the urban area
area of Vinkovci56. of Roman Cibalae, of sporadic metal finds and of
stamped pottery fragments59. Traditionally such
Concluding remarks finds were linked to the Gepids, but there are
methodological difficulties to face when defining
All the evidence shows that the Roman city of ethnic entities in this period60.The presence of
Cibalae reached its peak in the fourth century Ostrogoths and Lombards in the area, with stray
AD57. The arrival of new, barbarian settlers and/ finds from the area of Dalj, Sotin, Ilok, Popovac,
or influences, but also the continued presence of Beli Manastir and Donji Miholjac, also remains
the Roman local inhabitants can be seen in the an open question61. The evidence from graves,
ceramic forms and the archaeological remains settlement features, survey finds and written
until the middle of the sixth century58. sources suggests that Cibalae may have been
55 The thin section petrography and interpretation of the material was undertaken by Ladislav Palinkaš (Dep.
of Geology, Univ. of Zagreb). The preparation of the ceramic thin sections was by Zdravka Hincak (Dep. of
Arch., Univ. of Zagreb).
56 Roksandić 2015 (note 41).
57 A. Rapan Papeša, Topography of Cibalae in Late Antiquity. Opuscula Arch. 35, 2011, 189–224.
58 D. Roksandić, Germanska naseobinska keramika u kasnorimskom sloju Cibala. Acta Mus. Cibalensis 5,
2012, 133–158.
59 A. Rapan Papeša, Early Mediaeval Barbarian Elements in Late Antique Southern Pannonia. In: Migotti
2012 (note 23) 415–439.
60 Rapan Papeša 2011 (note 57) 7–57; Csallány 1961 (note 33).
61 Z. Bojčić, Pregled istraživanja i rasprostranjenosti ranosrednjovjekovnih arheoloških nalaza u Istočnoj
Slavoniji i Baranji zdanja. Izdanja Hrvatskog arh. društva 9, 1984, 211–222; Idem, Seoba naroda i srednji vijek
– vodič kroz stalni postav (Osijek 2009); M. Ilkić, Nalazi seobe naroda i ranog srednjeg vijeka iz Sotina –
Funde der Völkerwanderung und des Frühmittelalters aus Sotin. Prilozi 24, 2007, 277–288 here 277 f.;
Z. Vinski, Arheološki spomenici Velike seobe naroda u Srijemu. Situla 2 (Ljubljana 1957).
158
Cibalae/Vinkovci during Late Antiquity (fifth to sixth century AD) – new insights about old assumptions
under Gepidic rule during the second phase of man pottery workshops were located within the
their domination (AD 536–567) over eastern inner area of the city. We can thus conclude that
Slavonia and Srjem (Pannonia Sirmiensis)62. Cibalae was a large production and trade cen-
In Late Antiquity, from the late fourth to the tre in the hinterland of the Danube limes in the
sixth century, several new phenomena can be middle of the fourth century AD. Some pottery
observed in the area of Cibalae: a change in the types suggest the coexistence of new and local
urban structure, new types of dwellings and bu- traditions, a combination of Roman technology
rials intra muros. Nevertheless several Late Ro- and ‘barbarian’ style.
Summary
This article presents the current state of archaeological research in the Roman city of Cibalae in Pan-
nonia, present-day Vinkovci (Croatia), during the fifth and sixth centuries AD, based on burials, set-
tlement features and pottery production. In Croatian archaeology and historiography the notion that
the Roman city of Cibalae was completely burnt down and destroyed at the end of the fourth century
has become the norm from the nineteenth century onwards. A re-evaluation of old finds and records,
combined with the results obtained by new archaeological excavations, has changed this perception.
These results now show that life in Cibalae continued well into the sixth century AD. This period is of
particular interest because the finds and features indicate that Late Antique structures were well used
by the local Roman population as well as by new, barbarian settlers. The Roman ceramic workshops
continued production and produced new shapes during the fifth and sixth centuries AD.
Zusammenfassung
Im Beitrag wird der aktuelle Stand der archäologischen Forschung in der römischen Stadt Cibalae in
Pannonien, dem heutigen Vinkovci (HR) während des 5.–6. Jahrhunderts anhand von Bestattungen,
Siedlungsstruktur und der Keramikproduktion vorgestellt. In der kroatischen Archäologie und Ge-
schichtswissenschaft manifestierte sich seit dem 19. Jahrhundert die These, dass die römische Stadt
Cibalae am Ende des 4. Jahrhunderts abgebrannt und zerstört wurde. Erst die Neubearbeitung der
Altfunde in Verbindung mit neuen archäologischen Ausgrabungen hat diese Annahme widerlegen
können. Aufgrund dieser Ergebnisse kann heute davon ausgegangen werden, dass das Leben in
Cibalae bis ins 6. Jahrhundert kontinuierlich andauerte. Dieser Zeitraum ist vom besonderen Inter-
esse, da die Funde und Befunde bezeugen, dass die spätantiken Strukturen sowohl von der lokalen
römischen Bevölkerung als auch von den neuen, barbarischen Siedlern genutzt worden waren. Auch
die Tradition der römischen Töpferwerkstätte existierte weiter und produzierte während des 5. und
6. Jahrhunderts neue Formen.
159
Abbildungsnachweis / Figure credits
385
Abbildungsnachweis / Figure credits
386
Abbildungsnachweis / Figure credits
387
Autorenverzeichnis / Authors
389
Autorenverzeichnis / Contributors
390
Die Zeit zwischen 300 und 800 n. Chr. wird als Übergang zwischen An-
tike und Mittelalter verstanden und in der Archäologie und in den FSM 4
Geschichtswissenschaften zunehmend als eigenständige Epoche unter
dem Label „Spätantike“ wahrgenommen. Begriffe wie „spätrömisch“,
„frühchristlich“ oder „frühbyzantinisch“ treten in diesem Kontext als
GrenzÜbergänge
tationsmuster zu bewerten, die stets kritisch hinterfragt werden sollten.
Im vorliegenden Band werden die Ergebnisse der 27. Jahrestagung zu
den Grundproblemen der frühgeschichtlichen Entwicklung im mittle-
ren Donauraum vorgelegt. Im Fokus des Interesses stehen die Region
von Norikum über Pannonien bis Mösien. In methodischen Beiträgen
werden Fragen der Interdisziplinarität und Periodisierung sowie an-
hand von Fallbeispielen aus der Untersuchungsregion Verwendung, Be-
deutung und Interpretation zentraler Begriffe und Quellen beleuchtet.
Sie liefern damit die Grundlage für eine Diskussion über trennende und
verbindende Elemente von „Grenz(en) – und – Übergängen“ zwischen
Epochen, Räumen und wissenschaftlichen Betrachtungsweisen diesseits
und jenseits der Donau.
The time between AD 300 and 800 is seen as a period of transition be-
tween Antiquity and the Middle Ages; archaeologists and historians in-
creasingly acknowledge its existence under the term ‘Late Antiquity’ as
a period in its own right. Categories such as ‘Late Roman’, ‘Early Chris-
tian’ or ‘Early Byzantine’ appear in this context as competing concepts
Bugarski, Heinrich-Tamáska,
that describe chronologically and geographically overlapping phenom-
ena. They are primarily termini technici used in historical research and