Dve novi najdbi čelad s slovenskega ozemlja

In th e treatise 2 new helm ets of th e so-called Italian-E truscan type from the Slovene te rrito ry from Valična vas and N evlje near K am nik are published. Both helm ets w ere m entioned by Reiinecke already in his w ork »Der' N egauer H elm fund 32 BRGK (published in 1950). In this connection the author raises on the base of other findings the question of the periodisation of th at type again. In th e last stage of the so-called Italian-E truscan type there are three variants: helm ets w ith th eir brim s w idened in the shape of a belt; helmets with their brim s w idened in the shape of a belt and their cristae having developed independently on the present Slovene te rrito ry on the basis of in the shape of a belt and w ithout cristae, as are the published specimens from V alična vas and N evlje. The author shows th at the last variant has developed independently in the present Slovene te rrito ry on the bassis of a common Italian base for all th ree variants from 5th century, and th at it was at the same tim e lim ited to th at territory. It originated soon after the influence of Certosa, w hen the strong influence of Italy — its existence during C ertosa being proved —• was over owing to Celtic invasions, w hile the civili[1]zation of the eastern Alps te rrito ry was still in full swing. The connections with Italy w ere getting worse, and in consequence thereof the helm ets w ith cristae being lim ited to the western Alps territory, had no influence on the eastern Alps one. This periodisation is in accordance w ith the accom panying m aterial in the graves; this m aterial being predom inantly of late H allstatt — corres[1]ponding to the period of C ertosa — shows the influence of La Tene B. It is quite wrong to consider tl}e findings from the graves of the sites in the Slovene te rrito ry to be later Roman interm ents, but they are chronologically p arallel to the late H allstatt accom panying m aterial, w hich doubtless has not come into contact w ith the helm ets on account of its inadequate exploration. I ll The helm et from Id rija near Bača is only the proof of th a t type of a helm et having been preserved also in the first century B. C., and not of its having originated only then. T he au th o r shows also the im probability of R einecke’s thesis about the people on th e Slovene te rrito ry having begun m anufacturing the type of helm ets the prototype of w hich reaches as far as the fifth century, w hen th ere w ere neither econom ical nor political conditions for it nor can be explained by the unexpected reappearance of a som e hundreds of years old Italian ty p e during the Rom an occupation. T herefore it is clear th a t neither the w ell-know n finding from Ženjak m ust have inevitably originated from the period of A ugustus, b u t possibly from the beginnig of the th ird century till the period of Augustus.

Grobovi v Vinči

In Vasić’s w orks m any of Ms hypotheses are based on graves w hich he says to have been discovered in the c a ttu rai stra ta of the prehistoric settle[1]m ent of Vinca. It was positively stated th a t in the low est stratu m in one of th e dw elling caves 9 skeletons and some fragm ents of o th er ones hacl been excavated. O riginally, Vasić considered th a t dw elling cave to have been a special se[1]pulchre, a so-called cham ber tomb. O n som e skeletons th ere are traces of a p artial carbonization, especially on the skull of skeleton No. 1 . O ver such carbonized p arts a carbonized beam was lying w hich was a p a rt of the wooden construction of the dw elling cave. T herefore Vasić m eans th a t there m ust have been inhum ed both crem ated and not crem ated corpses, w hich is wrong. The traces of fire are of a la te r period w hen the dw elling cave was used as a tomb, or burnt by accident. Pieces of burning beams had fallen on the corpses or skeletons, aind left their traces on some of their parts. Over that dwelling cave which was used as a sepulchre there is a thiiT[1]ner stratum of pure loess, and above (it a new humic layer mixed with crushed charcoal and ashes. This is the reason why Vasić states that over the mass grave there was a cult fire burning. Yet that (statement is wrong, the remains being of the burnt wooden construction or offal and ashes from the neigh[1]bouring cultural caves. Another positively stated grave is the one with a skeleton in contracted attitude in another dwelling cave. The third grave does not belong to the Vinca culture period any more, but to all appearance to the la Tène period; it was found in more recent layers. As far as we know at present those are the only graves that have been excavated at Vinča. Yet in the layer of Vinca there are several fragments of human skulls, especially in the lower strata. They probably belong to earlier graves which were later destroyed while various works were being undertaken on the spot. Vasić supposes th at there were more ways of interment. Thus he thinks that a considerable number of pithoi which have been found in fragments had served for interments. Another way of inhuming may have been the burying of cremated corpses in urns. As urns may have served two comical (fragmentary) vases witli reliefs, anthropomorphic vases with prosopomorphic lids, anthropomorphic vases without lids and other vases, etc. Yet all of them are represented only by fragments, sometimes even by quite slight ones. Besides, in connection with such vases neither human cremated bones nor any other traces of a cremated corpse have ever been found. It is true that in Vasić’s opinion any layer of ashes belongs to a cremated corpse, yet there are at the same time no burnt bones which might, be expected. The fragmen[1]tary human skull which he mentions to have been discovered in the layer of ashes in 1934, and other fragments of calcified bones do not belong to a cre[1]mated corpse, but are the remains of some later turned up skeleton grave. Also in another case, mentioned by him, namely that in the layer of dwelling caves a biconical vase with ashes and calcified bones has been found, the finding does not seem to be really a cremated inhumation, as it was stated neither what kind, of ashes nor what kind of bones it was, and whether they were really remains of human bones or not. F u rth e r Vasić supposes there w ere some m ore ways of burying: a kind of larnaces consisting of perforated oval clay plates and shallow oval dishes. The longest dish, how ever, was h ard ly 0,5 m long and a few centim etres high. N ow adays it is impossible to explain to w hat purpose the oval plates served (their size is up to 45 cm, but also much sm aller), w hile the dishes represent sim ply pottery for everyday use. Besides, the plates are never found in any connection w ith the pottery, and are usually in small fragm ents only. In his opinion there was another special way of burying, the »shaft graves*, the proof of their existence being statuettes the fragments of which graves«, the proof of their existence being statuettes the fragments of which various fissures in that area or cultural caves, etc. The biggest amphora that has been discovered up to the present at Vinca is in Vasić’s opinion not a grave, it is true, but a tombstone anyhow. It was excavated in a house whiclf is being considered a sepulchre now. Also1 other objects found in the same house, objects of everyday life, have been explained to be grave accessories. As a m atter of fact the amphora represents a store vessel, which is to be seen by its manufacture, despite of its anthropomorphic representations. At Vinca we have thus only some specimens of skeleton graves in the lowest strata; and there are no traces of cremated corpses. The necropolis of Vinca must have been in another place

Predromanski pletenini iz Batuj

At B atuje in the Valley of V ipava (Slovene Littoral) tw o fragm ents of stone w ith basketry design originating from the destroyed church of St. George in the surroundings of B atuje w ere discovered. Iconographically, the first one is a fragm ent of a plate decorated by a cross w ith birds a t its sides; a special attention is to be paid to th e 8 loop interlacing w hich is rem iniscent of Coptic patterns. The second stone represents only a fram e m otive composed of snail[1]like curves, a corded b elt and a plait underneath. The loosened organization of the ornam ent, the' lack of sym m etry and rhythm , and the rusticized tech[1]nique are the proof of its late origin, so th a t we m ust range the two fragm ents probably into 11th century w hen this »Carolingian-Itailian a rt w ith popular tendency« (F. Stelè) has already passed its classical stage. The church of St. G eorge was situated n ear the form er Rom an highw ay A quileia—Pons Sontii (M ajnica)—Sovodnje—V olčja draga—Vogrsko—passing B atuje—A jdovščina. T herefore w e m ay conclude that, w hile th at church was being built, there was a continuity of the antique population.

Prerez paleolitika na slovenskih tleh

T he author takes a short historical survey of the developm ent of Palaeo[1]lithic researches in ethnically Slovene territory. The discoveries of com para[1]tively num erous M ousterian an d A urignacian sites in a relatively narrow southern Alps te rrito ry have refuted in 1915 expressed M enghin’s view th at the te rrito ry had been well explored, and th erefo re no greater Palaeolithic discoveries w ere to be expected. In the nearest neighbourhood of a te rrito ry w hich had been covered w ith ice in Pleistocene a rich A urignacian site was discovered 1700 m above sea[1]level. In low er places several sites w ere found whose inventory confirm s th at th e te rrito ry was continually settled from th e earliest M ousterian to the latest Stages of the Palaeolithicum . A special ; attention is to be paid to th e appea[1]rance of quartzite in d u stry whose elem ents are rem iniscent of prim itive A urignacian