South Morava Basin in the Transitional Period from the Bronze to the Iron Age
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UDC 903"637/638"(497.11) DOI: 10.2298/STA0757057B 57 ALEKSANDAR BULATOVI] Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade SOUTH MORAVA BASIN IN THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD FROM THE BRONZE TO THE IRON AGE Abstract. ‡ Results of the recent investigations of the sites from the Transitional period between the Bronze and Iron Age in the South Morava basin are presented in this paper. On the basis of these results as well as the earlier research in this area a chronology of this period in the South Morava basin has been established. The analysis of the material, particularly pottery, shows that channelled pottery of Gava ‡ Belegi{ II type (Iron Age Ib) was a prevailing feature at the beginning of the Transitional period in the entire region. It is also stated that during the Transitional period a particular culture group formed in the basin of the river P~inja, the upper course of the Vardar, then in the Ko~ane-Kratovo area and in the Vranje-Bujanovac valley, which later influenced south-east Kosovo and the Leskovac area. The group was named the P~inja cultural group, after the central part of the territory. Key words. ‡ South Morava basin, Transitional period, Early Iron Age, phase Ha A2 ‡ Ha B3, channelled pottery, pottery deco- rated with oval and slanted points, Pottery decorated with rectangular impressions, culture influences from the North and East, P~inja culture group, Dardanians, Paeonians. he South Morava basin is situated in the central chronological division, and to Iron Age I, according to part of the Balkan Peninsula at the crossroads Gara{anin’s division of the Iron Age.1 T of natural communication routes which bind The Brnjica group was dominant in the Late Bronze the Danube valley with Macedonia and the Aegean, Age in the entire South Morava basin.2 Its disintegration and the Black Sea shores with the Adriatic. The South began already at the beginning of the Transitional Morava basin consists of three smaller geographical period, when the channelled pottery from the North entities: the lower course ‡ from the junction of the became more prevalent. Cultural manifestation, South Morava with the West Morava to the mouth of characterised by channelled pottery, and its relation to the Ni{ava (Kru{evac area), then the middle course previous and later cultures in this region, were (Ni{ and Leskovac areas) and the upper course ‡ territory, stratigraphically clearly expressed at the sites Konopljara south of the Grdelica canyon to the border with Kosovo near Kru{evac, Hisar in Leskovac, and Piljakovac in (Vranje area). The most northerly part of the South Kr`ince near Vladi~in Han. Besides unpublished finds Morava valley is up to 10 km wide, while in the south, from excavated multi-period sites, the paper includes in the Vranje‡Bujanovac valley, it narrows and is mainly unpublished finds from the survey investigations. up to 4 km wide. The basin, in the direction north- Many characteristic finds, already published are not -south, is about 150 km long, so it is not surprising that presented here due to limited space, but the literature in spite of the fact that it represents one geographical where they are published, is cited in detail. entity, the ethno-cultural processes did not develop in ___________ the same manner over the entire area in particular prehistoric periods. 1 Gara{anin 1973, 401‡449, Table V. The Transitional period from the Bronze to the Iron 2 On the Donja Brnjica ‡ Gornja Stra`ava group, as it was Age, which includes the two last centuries of the 2nd named earlier, see: Srejovi} 1959/60, 122‡123; Trbuhovi} V. i and the two first centuries of the 1st millennium B.C., L. 1970; Krsti} 1992, 231‡248; Gara{anin 1973, 439‡440, is one of the less known prehistoric periods in this region 444; etc. Recently, several papers concerning this culture were and neighbouring areas. This time span corresponds published: Lazi} 1996; Quci 1998, 144‡145; Bulatovi} to phases Ha A1 ‡ Ha B3, according to Reinecke’s 1999/ 2000, 23‡42; Stoji} 2000, 9‡60; Tasi} 2001, 7‡9 etc. STARINAR LVII/2007. 58 ALEKSANDAR BULATOVI] The Leskovac region grooves, combined with horizontal rows of impressions The site Hisar in Leskovac, which has been in the shape of triangular incisions or circular impressions systematically excavated for several years,3 is very (Figs. 10‡12). important for the precise chronological determination In sector 1, sondage I/06, during the 2006 excava- of the channelled pottery, dated to the Transitional tions, characteristic pottery was found: fragment of a period from the Bronze to the Iron Age in the South conic bowl with ring-like thickened wavy rim (Fig. Morava basin. Four developing phases were described 13); fragment of a bowl with inverted facetted rim, in the Late Bronze Age, or the Transitional period from decorated with broken lines (Fig. 14); fragment of a the Bronze to the Iron Age: Ia, Ib, IIa and IIb.4 The large biconic vessel with tongue-like handle on the oldest phase (stratum I on south-east slope) is connected belly (Fig. 15); fragment of a belly belonging to a to the Brnjica culture; in phase II (stratum II) bowls large vessel, decorated with incised broken lines, arched with inverted horizontally facetted rim and vessels channels and plastic vertical thickenings (Fig. 16); decorated with horizontal and vertical channels appear.5 fragment of a belly, belonging to a large vessel, with In phase III (stratum III) dominant pottery types were tongue-like handle, decorated with slanted channels bowls with inverted channelled or facetted rim, then (Fig. 17); fragment of a vessel, decorated with channels amphorae with largely everted rim, decorated with and rows of incisions , similar to elongated triangles channels on the interior side of the rim, or under it, (Fig. 18); fragment of a belly decorated with channels amphora’s with accentuated belly, decorated with and rows of incisions, similar to elongated triangles horizontal or slanted channels with two tongue-like (Fig. 19); fragment of a vessel decorated with horizontal horizontal handles, amphora’s with plastically channels and incised spiral lines (Fig. 20); fragment of accentuated belly, decorated with horizontal channels, a belly decorated with broken crossed lines (Fig. 21); which meet at a plastic protuberance, and vertically fragment of a belly decorated with rows of circular positioned handles, decorated with vertical channels. It impressions (Fig. 22); fragment of a vessel, decorated is interesting to point out that already in stratum III with stamped concentric circles, with two rows of ornaments appeared in the form of plastic extensions rhomboid shaped impressions in between (Fig. 23); on the rims of bowls and tops of handles, then grooves, fragment of a vessel, decorated with rows of impressed impressed circles and incised spirals.6 concentric circles, with rows of small rhomboid In stratum IV the same pottery types and ornaments impressions in between (Fig. 24); fragment of knee-like appear as in stratum III. The new shapes are biconic handle with pointed top, decorated with vertical channels bowls with tunnel-like, horizontally perforated handle (Fig. 25); handle fragment with two protrusions, on the rim.7 decorated at the top with vertical channels (Fig. 26); Several objects found at this site, excavated in handle fragment decorated with transverse channels 2006, are the best illustration of the relation between (Fig. 27); fragment of a vertical handle, decorated with channelled pottery and stamped pottery, or pottery with vertical channels, combined with rows of incisions, impression of various shapes or incisions.8 In object 3, similar to small elongated triangles (Fig. 28). sector 1, sondage I/06, bowls with inverted facetted rim Channelled pottery from Hisar, on the basis of iden- with a tongue-like handle (Fig. 1) were found, then tical analogies in the Morava valley (phase Ib is, after amphorae with a belly, decorated with arched or M.Stoji}, ascribed chronologically to period Ha A2), horizontal channels and plastic thickenings (Figs. 2 and 3) and arched handles, decorated with vertical channels and conic or biconic plastic ornaments on the top (Figs. 5 and 6). At the same place pottery, decorated ___________ with horizontal channels, combined with a horizontal row of impressions in the form of triangular elongated 3 Gara{anin M., Ivanovi} 1958, 42; Ercegovi}‡Pa- incisions or rows of rectangular impressions were found vlovi}, Kosti} 1988, 17‡18, fig. 114. 4 (Figs. 4 and 7). Stoji} 2001, 34‡38. 5 Stoji} 2001, T.XIII/1‡2, T.XIV/2‡3, 14‡16. Object 14 in sector 1, sondage II/06, considerably 6 Stoji} 2001, T.V/18‡20, T.VI/1‡7, T.XVI/3, 5‡15. damaged by later digging, contained, apart from mortar, 7 Stoji} 2001, T.XVIIb, T.XIX. mill-stone, bead, stone tools and weights, bowl fragments 8 These finds are unpublished in the National Museum in with inverted channelled rim (Figs. 8 and 9), amphorae, Leskovac. I thank the director of the excavations M. Stoji} for the decorated with horizontal channels and plastic vertical possibility to include this material in my paper. SOUTH MORAVA BASIN IN THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD FROM THE BRONZE TO THE IRON AGE 59 can be dated to period Ha A2/B1.9 The appearance of typological characteristics, with just one new element ‡ pottery characteristic of Gava‡Belegi{ II pottery (and ornament executed by impression, but also according phase Ib of the Morava group) which apart from to the metal finds at the objects, belongs to phase Ha channels, is decorated with rows of small triangular B1/B2.14 elongated incisions, can be considered as indicative. Identical pottery, decorated with stamping (Figs.