Medieval Jewelry and Burial Assemblages in Croatia

Vladimir Sokol, Ph.D. (2003), is an archaeologist, and the founder and longtime director of the Museum of Prigorje in Sesvete-Zagreb. He has published monographs (Hrvatska arheološka baština od Jadrana do Save (2006), and Rimski metal s Kuzelina (1998)) as well as many articles on Late Antiquity and the early medieval period in Croatia.

"[This book] is focused on analysis of so-called 'Old-Croat' medieval cemeteries on the Adriatic coast and deep hinterland, with the author aiming to redefine the existing chronologies of those cemeteries through assessment of grave architecture, cemeteries and grave assemblage - with earrings a particular focus.This is a poorly known field as most of the existing literature is written in Croatian, and so this book, if anything, is important for making this field accessible for a wider reading audience. Sokol offers a meticulous analysis of 16 selected cemeteries, revealing an excellent knowledge of the sites and the existing (Croatian) literature." Danijel Dzino, Macquarie University, in: Medieval Archaeology, 61/1 (2017), pp. 194-195.

• ContentsAbbreviations xIntroduction 1part 1Graves and Material Culture1 A History of Research 5The Beginning of Excavations—The First Finds 5First Classification of Artefacts 5Modern Research 7Recent Research (1989–2012) 132 Cemeteries and Material Culture 17Spatial, Temporal and Cultural Characteristics 17Key Cemeteries 173 Cemetery Stratigraphy and the Classification of Material Culture 30Methodology 30Cemetery Analysis 31Relative Chronology and the Interpretation of Groups 824 Cemetery Horizons and Material Culture Phases 88Cemetery Horizons 89First or Early (Pagan) Horizon (±795–850/855) 89Second or Middle (Christian) Horizon (}850/855–1090/1110) 93Third or Late Horizon (±1090/1110–1450) 955 The Development of Material Culture: Earrings and Their Evolution 99PHASE I: Early or Pagan—±?795–850/855 99PHASE II: Classical—± 850/855–1000 102PHASE III: Interim ±1000–1090/1110 107PHASE IV: Late (ca. 1110–1450) 1106 Grave Architecture 114General Remarks 114Interpretation and General Remarks1 Croat Burial Rites and Belief System 123Material Culture and Non-Christian Spirituality among Croats—Its Duration and Cessation 1242 Stone Cists: Late Antique or Early Medieval? 1263 Burial Customs 1294 Burial Horizons and Churches 1325 Cemeteries between the Mountains and the River Sava 136part 2Earrings1 Earrings as Grave Goods 141List Sites with Earring Finds 1422 Medieval Earrings in Croatia 144Omega-shaped Earrings (no. “1”) 144Plain Links 144Plain Links with Pseudo S-loop and Clasp (no. “2”) 144Plain Links with Thinner Hoop and Spiral Cone Ending (no. “3”) 145Links with Three Interlaced Pendants on the Lower Part of the Hoop and Spiral Hoops on theLinks (no. “4”) 152Earrings with Grape-shaped Pendant with Filigree Ornament (no. “5”) 153Earrings with Stylized Ear-of-wheat Spike (no. “6”) 158Plain Links with Thinner Hoop, with Loop and Clasp (no. “7”) 159Ancient-looking Earrings with Oppositely Placed Buds (no. “8”) 159Ancient-looking Temple Pendants with Three Rings on the Link and Filigree Ornament(no. “9”) 166Ancient-looking Earrings with Floral, Omega-shaped Ornaments (no. “10”) 167Triple-beaded Earrings or Temple Pendants with Bell-shaped Calotte (no. “11”) 167Finely Cast Grape-shaped Earrings (no. “12”) 174Filigree Earrings with Almond-shaped Pendant (no. “13”) 174Earrings with Single, Smooth Beads (no. “14”) 175Tetra-beaded Temple Pendants with Filigree Ornament (no. “15”) 175Earrings or Temple Pendants with Single Beads with Filigree Ornament (no. “16”) 186Earrings or Temple Pendants with Intricately Fashioned, Single Beads with Filigree Ornament(no. “17”) 186Earrings or Temple Pendants with Single, Smooth Beads (no. “18”) 187Earrings or Temple Pendants with Twin Beads Decorated with Filigree Ornament (no. “19”) 187Plain Links with Straight Open Ends (no. “20”) 193Earrings with Single, Round Beads (no. “21”) 193Earrings with Three Round Beads (no. “22”) 202Temple Pendants with Single, Bi-conical Beads between Two Loops (no. “23”) 202Temple Pendants with Three, Bi-conical Beads Arranged in a Y-shaped Pattern (no. “24”) 202Earrings Made of Thin Interwoven Wire (no. “25”) 203Earrings with Thicker Links and S-shaped Ends (no. “26”) 212Earrings or Temple Pendants with Three Joints (no. “27”) 212Earrings with Three Joints Decorated with Filigree (no. “28”) 213Earrings with Filigree and Granulated Ornament (no. “29”) 213Earrings with Three, Equally Sized, Round Beads Decorated with Filigree (no. “30”) 222Triple-beaded Earrings with a Larger Central Bead and Filigree Decoration (no. “31”) 223Table of Absolute Chronology for Earrings—31 Basic Types 229Conclusion 232List of Cited References 237Index of Proper Names 251Index of Geographical Names 253