Klaipėdos universitetas

A survey is proposed on two insufficiently researched aspects of late fifth-century clothing in southern Gaul and Hispania: multiculturalism and regionalism. Focusing on both aspects improves the understanding of a number of phenomena recorded in funerary contexts.

A shield boss and a shield grip with silver decoration were recently found in the Przeworsk culture cemetery at Czersk in the Piaseczno district in central Poland. The shield boss, type J.7, has three times three bronze thimble-headed rivets, covered with silver. The bronze shield grip has silvered rivet plates with thimble-headed rivets, decorative filigree studs, and openwork decoration. The technique that was used to produce this specimen is not clear, despite metallographic analysis. The shield has analogies in Scandinavia (Hunn, Radved, Brostorp) and the northern Elbian circle (Hamfelde). It was probably a parade shield, an international sign of the warrior elite in the Early Roman Period in the barbaricum.

Between 2000 and 2003, near Frienstedt, Kr. Erfurt, in central Germany, a settlement, graves, and what is presumably a cult site from the Roman Iron Age, were partly excavated. The habitation of the settlement started at the end of the first century AD, and ended around 400 AD. From the middle of the third century, ten inhumation graves were set out, surrounding a Bronze Age graveyard in a loose circle with a radius of about 120 metres. Two of these are little chambers of a ‘princely couple’. In the centre of the site are several shafts with a presumed ritual function. About 1,500 bronze fragments show a distinct connection with the Roman Empire in the third century, possibly in part due to Germanic soldiers recruited by the Roman army.

At the beginning of the Late Pre-Roman Period, various cultural transformations occurred on Polish territory induced by La Tène culture, and, to a lesser extent, by Jastorf culture circle stimuli. As a result of these influences, new cultures appeared: oksywie culture in the north of Poland, and Przeworsk culture to south of oksywie culture. Among oksywie culture sepulchral materials, many imported items can be identified, such as metal scabbards with crossbars decorated with three or more S-figures. These sheaths were found together with items imported from La Tène culture and roman territories. The article analyses the provenance and distribution of imported items. The authors try to define the origin of the scabbards, and show the interaction between oksywie culture societies and Celtic cultures.

The article presents aspects of the cultural function of Nordic Bronze Age hanging vessels, on the basis of their distribution and production in the Baltic Sea region. Depositions with hanging vessels and related objects show for some regions a similar understanding of the right use and ritual knowledge.