Bodin
About fifteen bronze vessels, whole or fragmented, have been found in the late Iron Age graves at Karaburma. They are mostly early Roman forms dating from the turn of the Christian era, and only three or four belong to earlier, Hellenistic types. The most representative are the situla and the bowl shown here.
The situla has two handles fixed to the body of the vessel by heart-shaped attachments. The form of the attachments indicates south Italian origin, and it is supposed that the vessel is a product of one of the workshops in Tarentum, where similar vessels were made from the 4th to the 2nd centuries B.C. The other vessel is a small bowl, a vial, with an omphalos bottom (phialai mesomphaloi). It, too, is probably of south Italian origin, although it is also possible that it was made in a Greek workshop in Asia Minor in the 6th century. Vessels of this type were used exclusively in funerary rites, and they reached Greece, together with the practice of offering libation, from Asia Minor in the 6th century. In the central Balkan area similar vessels appear already in the earliest horizon with princely graves of the 6th-5th centuries.
Their occurrence is associated with the contacts of the local aristocracy with the Greek colonizers on the Adriatic coast. With the disappearance of this early Iron Age aristocracy, vessels of this kind also disappear. In this respect, the vial from Karaburma, which has been dated by the accompanying grave goods into the 3rd century B.C., represents an exception in all respects. Although two full centuries later than the rest, it was discovered in the same context as the early examples – as part of the same ensemble of grave goods – which rises a number of questions, difficult, if not impossible, to answer. It may have been a reminiscence of some old custom. On the other hand, it may have been simply part of the spoils brought from one of the numerous plundering raids in the southern parts of the Balkans. If the latter is true, these objects were probably laid into the grave in accordance with the custom of the Celts to bury their dead with the objects dear to them in their lifetime. They believed that the deceased person would take these objects with him and use them in the other world. They believed that contact between the world of the living and the world of the dead was possible only in the night of the 1st of November (Samhain), which marked the end of the old and the beginning of the new year.
The harmonious form and the carefully executed ornamental designs make this vessel of the kantharos type one of the most representative examples of its time. Vessels of this form originated in Greece, where they were used for serving wine during feasts. Wine was brought in large recipients (kantharos heksamilia) and then ladled out with smaller vessels of the same type, out of which it was drunk. The set of vessels for the serving and drinking of wine included a fairly large shallow saucer, which was placed under the large kantharos to collect the spilt liquid.
Metal variants of such vessels appear in the central Balkans as early as the 6th century B.C. Only aristocracy could afford them, which explains why they have been found only in the burial mounds of the great people of that time. Concurrently, the poorer population began to use earthenware forms of these vessels, and they remained in use throughout the late Iron Age. Made on the potter's wheel, virtually unknown in this area before the arrival of the Celts, these vessels, called pseudo-kantharoi, became one of the basic objects of the material culture not only in the territory settled by the Scordisci, but also in the entire region inhabited by the eastern Celtic populations. It is precisely these vessels that are believed to represent a reflection of the palaeo-Balkan ethnic substratum subsumed in the newly-formed communities.
The richly decorated hollow handles and the stamped, typically Celtic ornaments on the belly make this vessel an outstanding, it might be said unique, example of the Celtic potter's art. It combines the common and traditional forms with the new Celtic tendencies, and it reflects the new ideas and new spirit which influenced the development of a new pottery style, peculiar to the material culture of the Scoridsci during the formation of the late Iron Age communities in the central Balkans.
There is almost no Neolithic site in the territory of Anatolia, Thrace, Macedonia, central Serbia and the Danubian valley which has not yielded a number of altars. They differ in size, ornaments and number of legs, but their function was the same everywhere – they were used as ritual objects in sacrificial offerings.
This small altar from Banjica differs from the other Vinča altars, which stand on three or four legs. This one rests on two massive legs connected by an arch, which gives it a special significance. It is ellipsoid in form and has a deep recepient with an animal head at either side. It is supposed that the sacrificial rites of the community were performed in the centre of the settlement on large altars such as those found at Divostin, Vinča and Banjica. Small altars, on the other hand, were probably used by individual families in their homes.
The large number of altars indicates that magic and religion had an important role in the life of the people of that time. The diversity of their forms allows us to trace the way magic gradually grew into religion. This is particularly evident in the altars with an opening and with the representation of a kneeling figure in the posture of prayer. It is very likely that the seated figurine and the altar were fused into a single form, symbolizing the existence of a particular person who performed religious rites. It is difficult to determine what kinds of sacrifices were offered by these people, or to what supernatural power were they offered, but they were certainly associated in some way with farming and stock-raising as the basic human activities of the time.
This clay figurine from Grabovac is interesting because it belongs stylistically to the most highly developed, "baroque" phase of the Vinča sculpture. This phase is characterized by a realistic, three-dimensional and circumstantial treatment of the human figure.
They usually represent a seated or standing woman dressed in richly ornamented clothes and with prominent female attributes. This is not accidental, for the woman represents a fertility symbol, the Earth Mother, the main deity of the Neolithic farmers. People used various magic rites in order to propitiate the higher powers and ensure bountiful crops. It is therefore not surprising that such a large number of these figurines have been found on the Neolithic sites. The skirts and other garments in which these figurines are dressed represent a good source of information on the clothing of prehistoric women.
This seated figurine from Jakovo, in excellent state of preservation, is exceptionally finely fashioned. It represents a woman seated on a throne in the form of a small bench. The woman has the stylized "bird face" with a prominent a beak-shaped nose, which is a characteristic feature of the later stages of the Vinča culture. The change of style is also reflected in the loss of three-dimensionality, which was a feature of the earlier period. Now the figurines assume a flat, two-dimensional form. Their volume is evoked instead by various pictural methods.
The enthroned figurine does not represent a deity with human qualities, but a figure which symbolizes by its posture the central role of the female deity in the fertility cult and her boundless power to punish or reward. The figurine is also an inspired artistic work of exceptional cultural and historical value.