bronze and iron age amber from croatia and bih

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Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifacts in Croatia and Bosnia-HercegovinaAuthor(s): Joan M. Todd, Marijean H. Eichel, Curt W. Beck, Angela MacchiaruloSource: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1976), pp. 313-327Published by: Boston UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/529439 .Accessed: 06/04/2011 11:03

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Introduction The presence of archaeological amber artifacts in the

provinces along the eastern coast of the Adriatic is crucial to the question whether or not-and when northern amber reached the Aegean by a direct overland route. Past work based on finds then published and chronologies then current led to the conclusion that modern Yugoslavia was entirely bypassed by the movement of amber from northern Europe to Greece. Thus deNavarro, in his justly acclaimed comprehensive study fifty years ago,l could point to no Bronze Age amber finds east of the Adige river in northern Italy and therefore wrote that during this period "it was through

Italy . that the Aegean world was supplied with

succinite."2 DeNavarro listed numerous amber Elnds of 1. Jose Maria deNavarro, Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade," Geographical Journal 66 (1925) 481-503. We are greatly indebted to Professor deNavarro for giving us access to the unpublished typescript of the second part of his work, 'sThe Distribution of Amber Antiquities with Special Reference to Southern and Central Europe." The two parts will be cited hereafter as deNavarro, Part I and deNavarro, Part II, respectively.

2. Ibid., pt. I, p. 501.

the Early Iron Age in Carniola,3 Croatia and Bosnia- Hercegovina and these, together with a string of finds leading north to the eastern Baltic, led him to postulate an eastern Amber Route from east Prussia to the head of the Adriatic4 which opened only at that late time.

The division between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age is, of course, problematic. DeNavarro was as explicit as he was careful about his chronology and his general statements must be read in terms of his deElnitions:5 he uses Hallstatt exclusively to refer to the Early Iron Age and in contradistinction to Bronze Age. This is, indeed, the best use of that term,6 but Hallstatt

3. Carniola or Krain was aF Austrian erown-land until 1918 when it was divided between Italy (Venezia Giulia) and Yugoslavia (Slovenia). Since 1947 it is entirely encompassed by the Yugoslav republic of Slovenia.

4. Ibid., pt. I, map facing p. 484.

5. Ibid., pt. I, p. 503.

6. Marija Gimbutas, Bronze Age Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe (The Hague 1965) 131: "The application of the term 'Hallstatt' for the central European Late Bronze Age phases dating

Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifacts in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina

Joan M. Todd San Jose State University, California

Marijean H. Eichel Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

Curt W. Beck Angela Macchiarulo Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York

The question as to whether or not Yugoslavia played a role in the Bronze Age amber trade to Greece has traditionally been answered negatively because of the scarcity of amber f nds in that country. Amber f nds that have come to light as a result of more intensive exploration after World War II have been thought to be of local origin by some Yugoslav scholars. Spectroscopic analysis of 35 archaeological amber artifacts from the Yugoslav provinces of Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina of the Bronze and Iron Age shows 31 of them to be of imported Baltic amber. The finds are discussed in their archaeological and geographic contexts as a first step towards re-assessing the place of the Eastern Adriatic area in the southward movement of amber.

- -

314 Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifacts/Todd, Eichel, Beck, and Macchiarulo

Table 1. Succinic acid content of Yugoslav amber artifacts. From Hedinger, op. cit. (in note 11).

Location (Name in 1903)

Prozor 45.02N15.12E

Percent Succinic Acid

1.5 (interior) 2.2 (weathering crust)

3.2 (interior)

4.6 (interior)

5.0 (interior) 7.4 (weathering crust)

3.3 (brittle interior) 2.1 (Flrm interior)

5.4 (interior)

5.3 (interior)

5.6 (interior)

Province

Croatia

Prozor

M okronog (Nassenfuss) 45.57 N 14.50 E

Slovenia Toplice (Toplitz) 45.45 N 15.03 E

Magdalenska gora (M agdalenenberg) near Smarje (= St. Marein) 45.58 N 14.37 E

Smarjeta (St. Margarethen) 46.08 N 15.12 E

Podzemelj (Podseml; Podsemel) 45.37 N 15.17 E

Vace (Watsch) 46.07 N 14.50 E

has been and continues to be used to refer to Late Bronze Age periodss and many of the 'Hallstatt' Elnds deNavarro lists belong to the Bronze rather than the Iron Age.7

Thus revisions of chronology as well as new finds require a reassessment of the role Yugoslavia may have played in the southward transport of amber. This cannot well be done without establishing a further point: are the archaeological amber Elnds of Yugoslavia in fact made of that species of amber which is known as suc-

back to Reinecke's time is a misunderstanding. 'Hallstatt' properly belongs to the Early Iron Age, the period of the Halstatt cemetery."

7. E.g., deNavarro, op. cit. (in note 1) Part 11, 263-264: "No amber antiquities have been found [in Albania, Hercegovina, Bosnia and Croatia] with objects which belong to the Bronze Age: the earliest date from the Hallstatt period. Sporadic finds occur as early as Glasinac l; but not until the second phase does amber appear in considerable quantities; it is still better represented in the third period and continues to be found in abundance in the ensuing LaTene Period." deNavarro uses the chronology of Fiala which puts Glasinac I ca. 900-700 B.C., Glasinac 11 ca. 700-500 B.C., and Glasinac 111 ca. 500-300 B.C.; but note that Gimbutas, op. cit. (in note 6) 283 equates Glasinac llawith the Koszider Horizon ofthe Middle BronzeAge Tumulus Culture, ca. 1 450-1350/ 1325 B.C.

cinite or less precisely as "Baltic amber," and which occurs naturally only in the north of Europe? Claims have been made8 and supported by chemical tests9 that the Yugoslav amber Elnds are of another fossil resin and even that they are not fossil at all, but were fashioned in situ from the sap of living trees.'°

On the other hand, Hedinger had long ago published chemical analyses of amber finds from Croatia and

8. Djurdje Boskovic. "De L'origine de l'ambre trouve dans les localites Illyro-Grecques des Balkans," Bulletin de l'Aeademie Serbe des Seienees et des Arts, Seetion des Seienees Soeiales N. S. 8 (1961) 1 1-12.

9. D. Lebez, "The Analysis of Archaeological Amber and Amber from the Baltic Sea by Thin-Layer Chromatography," J. Chromatog. 33 ( 1968) 544-547.

10. Franc'e Stare, "Zur Problematik des vorgeschichtlichen Bernsteins aus Nordwest-Jugoslawien," paper read at the Seventh I nternational Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Prague, August 1966, but not printed in the Aetes of that congress. In the German summary of "Dva Prazgodovinska Groba z Dalmatinske Obale" (Two Prehistoric Graves on the Dalmatian Coast), Adriatica Praehistorica et Antiqua /FestsehriSt Gregor Novak) (Zagreb l970) 207 Stare writes: "Man kann namlich mit voller Berechtigung annehmen, dass das Auftreten der Bernsteinproduktion nordlich der Gorjanci

7 4 / 1 9 6 1 9 4 3 3 7 0

, , , I I I I I

33 73 3382 3396 3389

Af<< 3 3 9 1 3 3 9 2 3 3 8 3 3 3 8 7

VVfV'</ , , I , t I I I I _

8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9

Figure 1. Partial infrared spectra in the region of 8 to 9 microns of authentic Baltic amber and of Yugoslav archaeological amber artifacts. Spectra 74, 196 and 194: authentic Baltic amber in progressive stages of weathering; 3370 and 3373: Vrcin; 3382: Osor; 3396: Valsko polje; 3389: Pritoka; 3391: Sjeversko; 3392: Taline; 3383: Rocevic; 3387: Tuzla.

best, Hedinger's data raise the probability of the impor- tation of Baltic amber.

More recently, infrared spectroscopy has provided a new and statistically reliable means of determining the provenience of amber artifacts.'5 Earlier infrared spectra have identiEled finds from Iron Age graves in Slovenia and from Novi Pazar in Serbia as imported Baltic amber and have shown that the differences Lebez demonstrated by thin-layer chromatography are due to the same oxidative deterioration which also changes the color and the texture of weathered amber. 16

Infrared spectroscopy is less sensitive to weathering changes than earlier chemical methods of amber analysis. Figure 1 shows three infrared spectra of authentic Baltic amber: Spectrum No. 74, with its perfectly

15. Curt W. Beck et al., "Infrared Spectra and the Origin of Amber," Nature 201 (1964) 256-257; Curt W. Beck et al., "The Infrared Spectra of Amber and the Identification of Baltic Amber," Archaeometry 8 (1965) 96-109; and both op. cit. (in note 12).

16. Curt W. Beck and Theresa Liu, "Provenience Analysis of Yugoslavian Amber Artifacts," Zbornik radova Narodnog muzeja u Beogradu 7 (1973) 133-142; idem, "The Origin of Archaeological Amber Artifacts from Yugoslavia," Bulletin de l'Aeademie Serbe des Seienees et des Arts, Classe des Seienees Mathematiques et Naturelles, N.S. 13 (1974) 115-118.

Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 3, 1976 315

Slovenia which have been taken as evidence for the im- portation of Baltic amber, although Hedinger himself used them to support the opposite view, viz., that local fossil resin deposits were exploited in this area in prehistoric times."

The contradiction arises from the uncertainties at- tached to the presence or absence of succinic acid as an indicator of provenience.'2 Hedinger was among the first to point out the error of the sweeping generalization of the German apothecary Helm, according to which the presence of 3 to 8Wo of succinic acid in an amber artifact is certain proof of Nordic origin. While stating correctly that equally large amounts of this acid may also be found in non-Baltic amber deposits, e.g., those of Roumania, Hedinger overemphasized the significance of succinic acid contents below 3Wo as in- dicating local provenience. He also used the color and texture of his Elnds as evidence of provenience. Since these gross physical properties are drastically affected by exposure to the elements, especially by air oxidation, they ought never to be used as criteria of origin.'3

The relevant data'4 in Hedinger's now virtually unob- tainable pamphlet are summarized in Table 1 to make one firm point: none of these archaeological amber objects can have been manufactured from the freshly ex- uded resin of living conifers, because such recent resins have never been found to contain any succinic acid. Thus Stare's hypothesis is ruled out by prior evidence. As to the geographic origin of these evidently fossil amber finds, the succinic acid test is inconclusive; at

(Uskokengebirge) unmoglich ware, hatte es nicht jenes allgemeine kulturhistorische Geschehen gegeben, dass (sic) zweifelsohne auch das Fundament fur einen sehr wichtigen Zweig des vorgeschichtlichen Handwerks gelegt hat, namlich das Sammeln und Verarbeiten der rezenten Harze zu bernsteinahnlicher Materie, aus der man Schmuck und viele andere dekorative und auch symbolische Gegenstande verfertigte." For a detailed account of Stare's argument, as expressed in an interview in 1974, see Joan M. Todd and Marijean H. Eichel, "The Baltic-Adriatic Amber Trade: New Evidence," Third Inter- national Baltic Conferenee (Stockholm 1975) in press.

11. August Hedinger, Die vorgesehichtlichen Bernsteinartefakte und ihre Herkunft (Strassburg 1903).

12. These have been discussed in detail in Curt W. Beck, "Analysis and Provenience of Minoan and Mycenaean Amber. 1," CkBS 7 (1966) 191-211; cp. also fig. 1 in Curt W. Beck, "Amber in Archae- ology," Arehaeology 23 ( 1970) 7.

13. Donald E. Strong, Catalogue of the Carved Amber in the Depart- ment of Creek and Roman Antiquities of the British Museum (London 1 966) 14- 1 5.

14. Hedinger does not give the archaeological context of his samples. All finds are dated "Hallstattzeit." The analyses were run in a commercial chemical laboratory by Hundeshagen and Phillip. Ten additional amber finds in Hedinger's work, from Aquileia, Hallstatt and southern Germany, are not included in Table 1.

316 Bronze and Iron Age A mber A rtifacts/ Todd, Eichel, Beck, and Macchiarulo

Figure 2. Location of amber finds analyzed in 1974-75.

horizontal "shoulder" between 8.0 and 8.5 microns followed by an intense absorption peak, is typical of well-preserved samples; Spectrum No. 196 shows considerable weathering, but is recognizable as Baltic amber by computer classification;'7 Spectrum No. 194 is too far decomposed for certain identiElcation.

The infrared method of provenience analysis is em- pirical and independent of any uncertainties which still attach to the chemical composition and botanical orig-in of Baltic amber;'8 it is a "Elnger-printing" technique based solely on the comparison of archaeological amber finds with a very broad data base of about 3,000 amber samples of known geographic origin.

17. Curt W. Beck et al., "Determination of the Origin of Greek Amber Artifacts by Computer-Classification of Infrared Spectra," in Robert H. Brill, ed., Science and Archaeology (Cambridge, Mass. 1 97 1 ) 235-240.

18. Laurie J. Gough and John S. Mills, "The Composition of Suc- cinite (Baltic Amber)," Nature 239 ( 1972) 527-528.

The present report is the Elrst part of a systematic study of Yugoslav amber artifacts. During the summer of 1974, 35 samples of archaeological amber excavated in the Yugoslav provinces of Bosnia and Croatia were collected for provenience analysis.'9 All of the amber artifacts from which samples were taken are presently in the possession of the cooperating museums, with the exception of the necklace from Rijeka which is lost.

Six major geographic areas are represented by the samples and these divisions are used in arranging the data in order to assist the reader to visualize the geographic complexities involved and to point out some

19. The samples were taken by Todd and Eichel. We would like to express our sincere appreciation for assistance and cooperation given us by our Yugoslav colleagues. We wish to thank particularly Dr. Borivoj Covic, Zemaljski Muzej, Sarajevo; Dr. Milica D. Kosoric, Muzej Istocne Bosne, Tuzla; Dr. Ruzica Drechsler-Bizic; Arheolovski Muzej, Zagreb; Dr. Boris Bacic, Arheolo^ski Muzej lstre, Pula; I)r. Radmila Matejcic, Narodni Muzej, Rijeka; Prof. Ivan Marovic and Dr. Zeljko Rapanic, Arheoloski Muzej, Split.


physical possibilities of contact and influence. The areas are discussed generally from west to east and important river courses mentioned are shown on the accom- panying map (FIG. 2). The dating is that of the primary and secondary archaeological literature cited and is subject to considerable uncertainty and controversy.20 The results of the provenience analyses are summarized in Table 2.

I. The Istrian Peninsula and the Kvarner Islands The Istrian Peninsula lies at the head of the Adriatic

Sea and the nearby Kvarner Islands were referred to by the ancient Greeks as the Electrides (Amber Islands). Six samples were taken from the Istrian Peninsula and six from the island of Cres in the Kvarner islands. Both the Bronze and Iron Ages are represented: Bronze Age amber in the peninsula (including Early Bronze Age at Sosici) and Iron Age (Hallstatt B and C) on the islands. All of the spectra are those of Baltic amber (succinite).

(l ) Vrcin, Istria, (44.52 N, 13.55 E)2 1

Five amber samples were taken from the necropolis of Vrcin. Vrcin is located on the Istrian Peninsula north of Pula in an area of karst topography. It is well located for sea connections with the Po delta and plain,22 but overland routes toward Dalmatia, coming from the head of the Adriatic Sea, or from the interior through Postojna (the ancient Pear Tree Pass), would tend to avoid the peninsula, and filnd their terminus either at Trieste or Rijeka.

20. Prehistoric chronology in Yugoslavia continues to be in flux. "In the last five years new ways of looking at the evidence, new methods of dating and excavation have meant that a critical reappraisal of the whole body of evidence has become desirable. . ." John Alexander, Yugoslavia Before the Roman Conquest (New York 1972) 9. For one such reappraisal of early Balkan chronology, see Colin Renfrew, Before Civilisation: The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe (London 1973) 91-98; for later periods see Otto-Hermann Frey and Stane Gabrovec, "Zur Chronologie der Hallstattzeit im Ostalpenraum," Actes du Vllle Congres International des Sciences Prehistoriques et Protohistoriques (Beograd 1971) 193-218 and Klaus Kilian, "Bemerkungen zur Chronologie der Frtihen Eisenzeit und zum Beginn der Hallstattzeit in Italien und Nord-West Jugoslawien," ibid. 220-231.

21. Latitude and longitude coordinates for all locations are taken from United States Department of the Interior, Office of Geography, Gazetteer No. 55, Yugoslavia: Official Standard Names approved by the United States on Geographie Names (Washington 1961).

22. For important new developments in Italian studies of the ancient amber trade, also using infrared spectroscopic analysis, see Nuccia Negroni Catacchio, "Lo Studio della Problematica dell'Ambra nella Protostoria Italiana: Nuovi Risultati," Atti della XV Riunione Scien- tifica dell'lstituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria Verona-Trento (Firenze 1973) 47-52.

The samples from Vrcin were taken from a museum display in the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula. Other than the legends and drawings in the display, this material is unpublished. Finds are believed to date from the Late Bronze Age. They were excavated from tumuli constructed of stone. Typical is Tumulus B, 1.6 m. high and 1.4 m. wide, which contains one stone cist. Objects were deposited in individual and separate locations. Thirty pieces of amber were found in all. Twenty-seven of these appear to belong to distinct necklaces, from which samples were taken. There were also three small separate beads which were too fragile to sample. Found in the grave with amber was one needle-like rod of bone and fifteen bronze ornaments, mostly spirals.

The largest necklace has eleven beads, the largest bead 26 mm. in diameter, 15 mm. thick; the smallest bead 14 mm. in diameter. The beads have very small suspension holes. The sample taken from the largest bead consisted of small fragments of almost perfectly transparent, orange-brown amber. The spectrum (3375) shows oxidation but is clearly recognizable as that of Baltic amber (succinite).

Two samples were taken from a necklace of nine beads, all of very irregular shape and rough texture. B. Bacic of the Pula museum considers that they may have been burnt. The largest bead has remaining dimensions of 39 x 28 mm. with a thickness of 28 mm. It may have been nearly spherical; its central boring has a maximum diameter of 8 mm. The smallest bead now has a diameter of 13 mm. and a thickness of 5 mm.; its central boring measures 4 mm. The large bead gave a sample that was translucent, but not transparent, orange- brown in color. The spectrum (3371) shows a clear Baltic amber (succinite) pattern with a perfectly horizontal "shoulder." A sample from another bead was quite transparent, light orange without any opaque portions and shows a very strong absorption pattern of Baltic amber (spectrum 3370).

Another group of four beads includes a large lentoid bead (D. 23 mm., Th. 10 mm.). The smallest in this group is a ring bead with a diameter of 8 mm. and a large central boring of almost 6 mm. The samples, taken from the ring bead, consisted of small fragments, some of them perfectly transparent and of a bright orange color. The spectrum (3372) shows a weak but quite distinct absorption of Baltic amber.

A final group consists of three dark red beads. The sample was taken from a roughly circular bead of 20 mm. diameter and a thickness of 17 mm., oblate in shape. The central boring is large, ca. 6 mm. The sample was reddish-brown in color and translucent. Two spectra of this sample were taken. The first (3373) in- dicated some weathering, but had a strong pattern of Baltic amber. A second spectrum (3374) of a darker

318 Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifaets/ Todd, Eichel, Beek, and Macohiarulo

Table 2. Summary of provenience analyses. Sample

Number Spectrum Computer Number Classification IdentiSlcation

I. The Istrian Peninsula and the Kvarner Islands

( I ) Vrcin

Y8 Tumulus B necklace of 9 beads Tumulus B largest of 9 beads above Tumulus B ring bead Tumulus B rough bead Tumulus B necklace of 11 beads

3370

337 1

3372

3373 3374

3375

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Y9

Y 10

Y 11

Y 12

(2) Sosici Y 13

(3) Osor Y 14

Y 15

Y 16

Y 17

Y 18

Y 19

Tumulus "Zamnjak" bead

Grave 6 amber on bronze pin Mladin fig. Xlll Grave 6? amber on bronze pin unpublished Grave 6 amber on fibula Mladin fig. V111:5 Grave 5 amber on fibula Mladin fig. V111:2 Grave 6 amber on fibula Mladin fig. Vlll:l Grave 6 necklace of 26 beads

3376A doubtful 3376B doubtful

3377

3378

3379

3380

338 1

3382

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

II. Kastav (4) Kastav

3400 Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Y 37 grave necklace

III. The Lika District (5) Kompolje and Vlasko polje

Y 34 Kompolje, Grave63 3397 beads

Y 33 Vlasko polje 3396 beads

(6) Prozor Y 35 Grave 25

jug-shaped beads Y 36 Grave 39

fragments

3398

3399

-

-


Sample Spectrum Number ldentification Number

I V. The Split A rea and the Island of Brac

3401

Computer Classification

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

unidentifiable

Baltic succinite

may be recent pine resin

unidentifiable

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

Baltic succinite

(7) Urjanic Solina Y 38 Grave I

biconical bead

(8) Zaganj-Dolac Y 39 Grave 4

bead Y 40 Grave 3

bead Y 41 Grave 4

bead

3402

3403

3404

3389

3393

3394

Plateau

3390

3391

3395

3392

Pritoka Grave 95 disc Grave 145 amber on FIbula Grave 191 disc

(9) Y 26

Y 30

Y 3 1

V. The Glasinac (10) Sokolac

Y 27 Brezje necropolis Tumulus 1, Grave 2 necklace

( I I ) Sjeversko and Taline Y 28 Sjeversko, Tumulus Vll

incised plate Y 32 Sjeversko, Tumulus B

beads Y 29 Taline

irregular lump

VI. The Drina River Valley ( 12) Rocevic

Tumulus 111, Grave 5 3369 bead, diam. ca. 6 mm.

O Tumulus 111, Grave 5 3383 bead, diam. ca. 25 mm.

I Tumulus V1, Grave 1 3384 bead

3 Tumulus 111, Grave 3 3386 bead

5 Tumulus 111, Grave 5 3388 bead,diam.ca. 12mm.

(13) Padjine 2 T

be

(14) Tuzla 4

Y 7

Y 24

Y 2

Y 2.

Y 2.

Y 2

Y 2'

umulus 1, Grave 2 ad

3385

3387 random find necklace of 29 beads

320 Bronze and Iron Age A mber A rtifaets/ Todd, Eichel, Beek, and Macchiarulo

fragment, is weaker, but still recognizable as Baltic amber.

(2) Sosici, Istria (45.17 N, 13.45 E)

Sosici lies at the head of a bay on the western coast of Istria, in an area of karst topography and is well placed for sea connections with the Po delta and plain and for transit trade with the islands of the Kvarner Gulf. Overland routes toward Dalmatia would likely avoid the Istrian peninsula, having their terminus instead in the area near Trieste or Rijeka.

The amber was found in the tumulus "Zamnjak" which is surrounded by a ring of stone 13 m. in diameter and 2 m. high. There is a single grave at the center of the tumulus. The grave is constructed out of six stone slabs, up to 8 cm. thick. The interior of the grave measures 100 x 70 x 70 cm. and is covered with a stone slab 165 x 95 x 13 cm. In the grave were the skeletons of two adults and one child, all buried in a contracted position (whether sitting or Iying could not be deter- mined). The grave appears to have been a family grave with successive burials. The grave floor is covered with small pebbles from the nearby seacoast. The orientation of the grave is exactly N-S. At the south side of the grave are fragments of a ceramic dish with four handles and an opening (35 cm.) larger than its height (17.5 cm.). Ceramic fragments dating from the Bronze Age were also found between the grave and the circle of stone. In the grave itself were two (a photograph shows only one) amber beads, parts of a bronze spiral-ring necklace (26 cm. Iong), and the bones of small birds.23

The single amber bead on the bronze necklace gave a sample of fine dust, orange-brown in color. Two spectra (3376 A and B) were made. The first shows several unusual features: (a) absorption between 6.2 and 6.3 microns, only partially resolved from the usual band at 6.1 microns; (b) incomplete resolution of the methylene and methyl bending bands just below and above 7 microns, respectively; (c) weak but distinct absorption at 8.0 microns. Nevertheless, the absorption pattern between 8 and 9 microns fits that of Baltic amber. A second spectrum still showed broadening of the absorption band at 6.1 microns but the methylene and methyl bands were well resolved and the absorption between 8 and 9 microns has the characteristic pattern of Baltic amber. The uncommon features of these spectra are very likely caused by contaminants, but the identification of this bead as Baltic amber should be considered doubtful. 23. Boris Bacic, "Tumuli iz Broncanog Doba na Maklavunu i Zamnjaku u Juznoj Istri" (Bronze-Age Tumuli on Maklavun and Zamnjak in Southern Istria), Jadranski Zbornik 4 (1959/1960) 203 and FIg. 6:1.

(3) Osor (44.42 N, 14.24 E)

Osor is on the western side of the island of Cres, on a very narrow channel dividing the islands Cres and Losinj. It is sheltered from the dangerous NE wind, the bura, which even in summer can make the northern Adriatic extremely dangerous for small craft. It is in a position to communicate easily with the southern part of the Istrian peninsula, with Rijeka, and (through its central position on Cres), with the other islands of northern and central Dalmatia.

The amber samples from Osor came from Graves 5 and 6 in a tumulus dated Hallstatt B-C.24 The tumulus is rectangular, 10 m. long and 6 m. wide. The top has been disturbed and the height was difficult to deter- mine. The wall of the tumulus is of broken stone and earth. The graves are made of five stones, four for the sides and fifth on the top. Most of the graves have one skeleton; one has two. The bodies, both children and adults, are in a contracted position. Three appear to be men and three women; the others cannot be deter- mined. The graves are generally oriented N-S, with the head to the north. Grave 6, from which five amber samples were taken, lay in the middle of the tumulus, with the other graves artranged in a pattern to form a right angle. This grave contains the majority of jewelry: armbands, fibulae, rings, brooches and necklaces. The metal work is bronze. Ceramic fragments are not found in the graves themselves, but outside. Two of the amber samples from Grave 6 were from pieces mounted on bow fibulae. The first25 was a very dark, reddish-brown, barely translucent fragment (spectrum 3379). The second26 gave a light-orange and transparent sample (spectrum 3381). Both had a very strong pattern characteristic of Baltic amber. A third sample was taken from a necklace of 26 beads.2' The sample was taken from the largest bead. It was transparent, reddish- orange and showed a perfect pattern (spectrum 3382) of well-preserved Baltic amber with a horizontal shoulder at 8.0 to 8.5 microns and a weak but distinct absorption at 11.25 microns. The beads were mostly of the ring type, although the largest bead had a smaller hole and several deep gashes cut into the surface.

One sample was taken from a very attractive and complex long ceremonial needle described as an "Italian-type fibula with disc." This type of fibula was only found in Grave 6. It is 44 cm. long and has a thin

24. Josip Mladin, "Iskapanje Ilirskog Tunlula u Osoru na Otoku Cresu" (Excavation of an Illyrian Tumulus at Osor on the Island Cres), Jadranski Zborr!ik 4 (1959/1960) 21 1-240.

25. Ibid., fig. VIII:S.

26. Ibid., fig. VIII: 1.

27. Ibid., fig. XI:3.


museum director, Radmila Matejcic, ceramic beads of the same shape as the amber were found in the grave, along with bronze fibulae. Even though this was a very large and long necklace, it is the only amber in the collection. The finds are unpublished. The necklace was recently stolen, but there is a photograph of it in the Rijeka Museum. The sample was taken from fragments which were left. The spectrum (3400) indicates the sample is Baltic amber.

III. The Lika District

{S) Kompolje and Vlasko polje

Kompolje is located in the northern part of the Lika Valley near Otocac, 44.52 N, 15.12 E. It is in a fertile karst polje,32 with good connections via a short route with Senj on the Adriatic coast, and with the Korana River valley which runs through the Kordun plateau to its connection with the Kupa River near the Kupa-Sava confluence. To the south there was an ancient route through the Zrmanja River Valley to central Dalmatia; to the north a series of depressions leads to the Pear Tree Pass and on to the Danube basin.

An amber sample was taken from a very rich Japo- dian grave.33 During excavations in 1955-56 in Necrop- olis I in Kompolje, the second strata graves were dated Hallstatt C and D.34 Amber was found in 20 of the 83 graves. The most interesting for amber studies was Grave 63, at a depth of 0.8 m., which contained an almost destroyed skeleton with traces of charred planks on which the body lay. The grave was oriented E-W with the head toward the east. It was not possible to tell whether the body was male or female. Along with several ornate bronze FIbulae, a well-carved bronze "needle," and fragments of dark-blue glass, were over 648 pieces of amber, g probably from necklaces of

32. Lika polje conforms to the classic definition of a "karst polje'' as a large depression with a conspicuously flat floor of alluvium, which is aligned in the direction of major tectonic lines, is drained sub- terraneously, and is characterized by horizontal and surface dissolu- tion of the limestone from which it is formed. For discussions of the characteristics and mode of formation of karst poljes, cfAlarjorie M. Sweeting, Karst Landforms (New York 1973) 194-204 and Milan Herak and V. T. Springfield, eds., Karst.- Important Karst Regions in the Northern fIemisphere (New York 1972) 220-245.

33. The Japodes or lapyges were an Illyrian-speaking people of central Dalmatia; Alexander, op. cit. (in note 20) 111-112. The Romans also applied the name lapyges collectively to a group of Illyrian- speaking peoples in SE Italy; Polybius 3.88.

34. Ruzica Drechsler-Bizic, "Rezultati Istrazivanja Japodske Nekropole u Kompoiju 1955-56 Godine" (Results of Excavations in the Japodian Necropolis in Kompoije in 1955-56), Vjesnik Arheo- loskog Muzeja u Zagrebu [3] 2 (1961) 109.

disc at the top, a bronze spiral bow, a single, four- cornered, vertebra-shaped piece of amber, carefully carved, and another flat thin disc of bronze at the bot- tom.28 The sample fragments are transparent, light- orange and show no weathering. The spectrum (3377) was strong and corresponds to that of Baltic amber.

A sample taken from a second Elbula of this "Italian" type (also from Osor) in the museum collection,29 but unpublished, had a thin tan weathering crust, but the transparent, light-orange fragments showed a strong pattern of Baltic amber (spectrum 3378).

An amber sample was also taken from Grave S. In this grave were two skeletons, a man and a woman. The man was evidently buried Elrst and the body pushed aside when the woman's body was added. A bow Flbula with amber was found at the left shoulder of the woman, along with a small square bronze ring.3" The sample is reddish-brown and translucent. The spectrum (3380) indicates some oxidation but is clearly that of Baltic amber (succinite). The methyl absorption at 7.25 microns is somewhat sharper and more intense than usual, and there is a weak absorption at 7.8 microns; these two features may indicate slight contamination of the sample with a synthetic conservation material, lac- quer or glue.3l

II. Kastav, (45.22 N, 14.21 E)

(4) Kastav

Kastav is near Rijeka, close to the route leading to the interior and to the ancient Pear Tree Pass which connects the head of the Adriatic through the Ljubljana-Maribor-Ptuj regions with the Drava River and the central Danube drainage system. It is at the head of navigation on the Kvarner Gulf where the river for which Rijeka is named leads into the interior. There is also a pass through the Velika Kapela Mountains to the Kupa drainage basin, and thence to the Sava- Danube systems.

The sample was taken from a large amber necklace found in a 3rd century B.Cw man's grave, excavated in 1972. The necklace lay around the neck of the body. The beads are roughly barrel-shaped; according to the

28. Ibid., fig. Xlll.

29. The museum label states that this find is also from grave 6, but Mladin, op. cit. (in note 24) mentions and illustrates only one fibula of this type.

30. Mladin, op. cit. (in note 24) fig. V111:2.

31. Curt W. Beck, Gretchen C. Southard and Audrey B. Adams, "Analysis and Provenience of Minoan and Mycenaean Amber, 11. Tiryns," GABS 9 ( 1968) 8-1 1.

322 Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifacts/Todd, Eichel, Beck, and Macchiarulo

various lengths. All of these Elnds lay near the upper part of the rib cage and stomach. The spectrum (3397) shows that the amber is Baltic succinite.

A second amber sample was taken from very recent, as yet unpublished excavations in Vlasko polje, another part of Kompolje. This amber was found in a variety of shapes and several almost whole beads were given to us to analyze. The amber was found outside the graves, an important exception. Some of the pieces were decorated wath dots and concentric circles. The sample from this amber is reddish-brown in color, transparent and with a thin weathering crust. The spectrum (3396) showed the sample to be Baltic amber.

(6) Prozor 045.02 N, 15.12 E)

Prozor is in the northern Lika basin near Otocac, in a fertile karst polje. From its central location in the valley, routes lead north through a series of depressions in the northern Velika Kapela mountains to tlw Pear Tree Pass and the connecting route towards the Dan- ube. To the west, over the Velebit mountains, the route ends in the area near Senj on the Adriatic coast. Senj is aImost d\irectly east of Osor on Cres. Connection from Prozor to the east, to the upper valley of the Korana River, a tributary of the Kupa, can be made through a pass over the eastern encircling mountain rim, past the lakes at Plitvice. To the south, there is a route which uses the Zrmanja River valley to its mouth on the Adriatic near Zadar and Nin.

In 1971-72 excavations revealed 76 graves, 71 with inhumations and FIve cremation burials. The dead were buried in various ways; most of them were laid on planks, loosely encircled with crude stones and covered with earth.35 Grave 25, 0.4 m. deep with a N-S orientation, was not a very well-constructed grave. Only the skull (at the south end) and some bones from the upper and lower extremities were found. Near them were three spectacle FIbulae of bronze wire and eight well-made, jug-shaped amber beads of various sizes, the largest about 15 mm. The sample was taken from fragments of the beads and the spectrum (3398) showed it to be Baltic amber.

Grave 39 was even closer to the surface, 0.29 m., but had a well-constructed loose stone cover.36 No body was in the grave, but there was a very large and ornate bronze and amber Elbula with amber pendants. In addi- tion there were five fragments of amber. Whether they

35. Ruzica Drechsler-Bizic, 'iNekropola Prahistorijskih Japoda u Prozoru kod Otocac" (Prehistoric Japodian Necropoles at Prozor near Otocac), Vjesnik ArFeoloskog Muzeja u Zagrebu [3] 6/7 ( 1973/1973) 48.

36. Ibid., 34.

might have been part of the fibula is not certain. The sample taken for analysis was from the fragments and the spectrum (3399) showed it to be Baltic amber. Both of the graves from Prozor appear to be Hallstatt D.37

IV. The Split Area and the Island of Brac

(7) (Jryanic Solina The town is near the ancient town of Salona (modern

Solin), 44.33 N, 16.30 E, in central Dalmatia. Coastal routes, coming through the channel between the islands of Brac and Solta (Splitska Vrata- "the gate to Split") from either the north or south, enter the interior through the pass at Klis, which is within 10 km. of the harbor at Solin. The pass at Klis is the only easily traversed gap in the coastal massif between the Zrmanja River canyon to the north and the Neretva River to the south. Once through the pass at Klis, there are a series of depressions leading SW-SE which connect with the Zrmanja and Neretva valleys, as -well as passage towards the east.

Grave I, in Vranjic, which is close to Solin, was FIrst excavated in 1926.38 Three skeletons, one young girl and two adults, were found buried in a contracted position. It is not known whether the grave was under a stone tumulus or not because it was located in a disturbed area from which marl had been extracted. In 1960 Marovic published a study of the objects in the grave, compared them with analogous objects found in the coastal territory and in the hinterland, and he believes that the grave finds can be dated to Hallstatt B or to Phase I of the Liburian culture group.39 In the grave was a necklace of sheet bronze with corrugations, a bronze circlet necklace a bronze twisted choker made from three strands of bronze wire, four two-bow fibulae, bronze spectacle fibulae, a bronze ring made from three spiral coils still in place around a finger bone, 17 bronze rings, loose bronze wires and five disc-shaped glass-paste beads. There were three beads of amber: one discoid and two bi-conical in shape, with holes drilled through them.40 The sample was taken from one of the biconical beads and the spectrum (3401) showed the amber to be succinite (Baltic amber).

37. Ibid., 49.

38. Ivan Marovic, "Prahistoriski nalozi na podrucju Solina" (Prehistoric Finds in the area of Solin), Vjesnik za ArheologtSu t Historiju Dalmatinsku 62 (1960; publ. 1967) 6, note 5.

39. Ibid., 28.

40. Ibid., 9, fig. 2:2-4.

Journal °f Field A rchaeology/ Vol. 3, 1976 323

however, go north, through the Korana-Kupa system to the Sava flood plain; or west, through the pass between the Plitvice lake system and Lika polVe. From the northern Lika, one route (the shortest) would cross the narrow Velebit range and have its terminus near Senj on the NE Adriatic coast. The second route would pass through the southern Lika plain to the canyon of the Zrmanja River, and thence to the Adriatic near Zadar or Nin.

The very rich Elnds of the necropolis Jezerine near Pritoka constitute one of the most complete excavation programs in Yugoslavia. In the Jezerine necropolis 551 graves were discovered in the excavations of 1890-92: 223 inhumations and 300 cremation burials, two of which were with urns. The burning of the dead evidently took place on the burial ground itself. Five cross- shaped burning places with a width of three meters were found with ashes, coals and scorched earth.43

The Jezerine finds are divided chronologically into four phases from ca. 800 s.c. to 110 s.c., and the amber samples were taken from graves belonging to Phase III (360-250 s.c.).44 An important and unusual devel- opment in amber ornaments is represented in some of the graves of this period: a flat plate-like disc of amber incised with a four-sided cross on one side. No hole is discernible. A sample was taken from one of these amber discs found in Grave 95 of the Jezerine necropolis. A bronze spiral fibula was found with it.45 The amber disc was perhaps at one time circular but is now broken around the edges and measures 53 x 55 mm. The sample consists of transparent orange fragments. The spectrum (3389) shows some oxidation, but has the distinct pattern of Baltic amber.

A second sample was taken from a similar amber disc found in Grave 191 at Jezerine, but not published. This amber piece also belongs to Phase III and is also about 5 cm. in diameter. The sample was a very small fragment; the spectrum (3394) is weak and not identifiable as Baltic amber.

A third sample from Jezerine was taken from Grave 145, also belonging to Phase III. Found in the grave was a piece of engraved bronze, 3.7 cm. long; 16 amber beads with round and ovoid shapes with holes drilled in the middle; and one large (16.6 cm.) fibula of bronze, ornately carved with two animal heads and a large piece of amber in the center, with one hole in the middle.46

43. Zdravko Maric, "Die Japodischen Nekropolen im Unatal," Wissenschaftliche Mitteilumgen des Bosnisch-Herzegowinischen Land-

esmuseums. N .S., 1 (A) ( 197 1 ) 19.

44. Ibid., 28-34.

45. Ibid., fig. II:22-24.

46. Ibid., fig. 111:1.

(8) Zaganj-Dolac

The site is near Sumartin, on the island of Brac (43.18 N, 16.53 E) in the central Dalmatian island group. Located on the eastern end of the island, only 10 km. from the mainland, it has good sea connections with the Cetina River canyon route to the interior (through the mouth of the river at Omis) and with the route through Solin (Klis) by way of the Bratcki Kanal (Brac channel). In the winter, the bura, the north wind, is very strong in the Bracki Kanal and ships which venture to sail in that wind even today take the route through the more protected channel which separates Brac from the neighboring island of Hvar. In the summer, when the vast majority of sailing was done, the bura is rare and the Bracki Kanal is a protected passage. Towards the south there are safe and sheltered channels as far as the Neretva River: through the Hvarski Kanal, the sea route could stay within the channels between the islands and the mainland to the Zrmanja River mouth, or to Osor on Cres. West and south, ancient sailors could island-hop via Vis and the Tremiti islands to the western shore of the Adriatic near Termoli, Italy.

Three samples of amber were taken from Zaganj- Dolac, where four stone-slab graves were discovered. The bodies were buried in the contracted position. One of the samples was taken from Grave 3, which was dated to the 6th/5th centuries B.C. The grave contained bronze bracelets, buttons, pins, chains, and fragments of Illyrian pottery and one bow fibula with an amber bead. This was the only amber in the grave;4' the spectrum (3403) is that of Baltic amber.

The other amber samples were taken from Grave 4, dated to the 5th century B.C. The form of Grave 4 is not known but the contents were brought to the Archae- ological Museum in Split in 1958. They included white and blue glass beads, a bronze fibula and chain, and two amber beads, small, oval and rather flat, with small holes in the middle.42 One of these samples was shown by the spectrum (3402) to be Baltic amber; the other (spectrum 3404) was unidentifiable.

(9) Pritoka

Pritoka is located at44.47 N, 18.41 E, south of Bihac, near the Una River. Towards the south and east, passage is possible through the karst depressions and over the intervening mountains to the area around Sarajevo and the Glasinac plateau. Easier routes,

41. Ivan Marovic, "Zeljeznodobni Grabovi u Zaganj Dolacu kod Sumartina na Otoku Bractu" (Iron Age Graves at yaganj Dolac near Sumartin on the Island Brac), Vjesnik za Arheologiju i Historiju Dalmatinsku 65/67 ( 1963/1965) 1 1-12.

42. Ibid., 25 and fig. VI1:2-3.

324 Bronze and Iron Age Amber ArtiSacts/Todd, Eichel, Beck, and Macchiarulo

The Elbula is in excellent condition and is the most sophisticated piece of jewelry made with amber from which we took a sample. The sample consisted of only enough amber to prepare one spectrum (3393) which is quite unlike those of any archaeological amber speci- men we have analyzed. The hydroxyl absorption is very intense. The strongest carbon-oxygen single band absorption occurs at ca. 8 microns, a feature common to recent pine resins.47

V. The Glasinac Plateau

(10) Sokolac The town is at 43.56 , 18.48 E, in the Glasinac region

east of Sarajevo between the Javor, Devetak and Tara Massifs. From here, there are connections west, via mountain passes to the region where the Neretva River debouches from its canyon into its floodplain and then through the plain to the Adriatic and the central Dalmatian islands, with sea connections both north and south. To the east, a short journey connects with the western Morava, part of the Morava-Danube drainage basin. To the north, another short journey connects the region with the Drina system and its connections both east and west along the Sava plain.

An amber sample was taken from the nearby Brezje necropolis, Tumulus 1, Grave 2, belonging to Glasinac, Phase III.48 It was evidently part of a necklace; the average diameter of the beads was 6 mm. The sample consists of small fragments of various colors from light orange to dark brown, and of various degrees of transparency. Two spectra were taken. The first spectrum was not recognizable as Baltic amber because of gross contamination with clay materials. A second spectrum (3390) of another fragment of the same sample had the absorption pattern of Baltic amber.

(11 ) Sjeversko and Taline

Sjeversko is located in the valley of a tributary of the Drina River, just "under the nose" of the mountain Ilija at 42.52 N, 18.08 E. Sjeversko is about 25 km. east of Sokolac, is part of the same Glasinac plateau region, and offers the same connections described above in sub- section (10).

47. This sample is the only one which lends experimental support to the contention of Stare, op. cit. (in note 10) that "artificial amber" was manufactured in Yugoslavia in prehistoric times from the resin of living conifers. While that is evidently not true of all the other Yugoslav amber finds we have analyzed, the present sample suggests that it may have been done occasionally and that Stare's hypothesis is an unjustif1ed generalization from a few isolated cases.

48. Alojz Benac and Borivoj Covic, Katalog Prehistoriske Zbirke Zemalskog Muzeja u Sarajevo (Sarajevo 1957) pl. 23.

Tumulus B at Sjeversko is representative of the rich Glasinac culture.49 A tumulus of the central type, it has two graves, each with a single skeleton, one of a woman and the other of a child.50 The child's grave contained 350 beads of blue glass paste and some metal wire fragments. The woman's grave had 271 small beads of blue glass paste by the upper part of the arm, along with a bronze buckle by the right arm. Two spectacle fibulae were found by the left hand and near them were 30 small beads of amber. The sample was taken from one of these beads. The fragments were reddish-brown in color, opaque and with a weathering crust. The spectrum (33Q5) shows a very strong pattern of Baltic amber.

Tumulus VII was excavated at the turn of the century.5' It was built of stone, sand and earth. In the SE corner of the tumulus were a few fragments of bones. Scattered over the entire SE corner were a great number of artifacts, including four bronze buckles, a bronze needle from a fibula, three bronze finger rings, a round bronze bead, a biconical bronze bead, a bronze button and a round bead of chalcedon. There were 358 various pieces of amber in many different shapes, some cylin- drical, about 35 mm. long, some shell- and jug-shaped; some flat and incised with circular patterns. All were drilled and evidently parts of necklaces. There was also a small clasp of rolled gold with embossed decoration weighing 0.8 grams as well as numerous fragments of painted ceramic vessels. This is the only grave of the Glasinac culture in which amber and gold were found together. The sample was taken from one of the incised flat pieccs. It consists of several large fragments which are reddish-orange in color and perfectly transparent. The interior of the largest fragment is still light yellow. The spectrum (3391) is strong and has a nearly perfect pattern of Baltic amber.

Taline lies close to Sjeversko at the foot of the mountain Ilija and has the same geographical connections. Tumulus I at Taline was 8.5 m. wide and 0.75 m. high and built of stone and earth. In the middle of the tumulus was a cremation and the remains of an un- cremated body. Found in the graves were fragments of

49. Alexander, op. cit. (in note 20) 113-118, describes the variety and richness of the Glasinac culture, including fortified single-rampart hill-settlements and valley communities where houses were raised on piles to form a series of terraces. He cites the working and exportation of gold and silver as a possible source of wealth.

50. Borivoj Covic, "Glasinac 1957: Rezultati Iskopovanja Tumula Glasinackog Tipa" (Glasinac 1957: Results of Excavations of Tumuli of the Glasinac Type), Glasnik Zemalskog Muzeja u Sarajevu, Arheologija Nova Serija 14 (1959) 23-84.

51. Franjo Fiala, "Untersuchung Pr-ahistorischer Grabhugel auf dem Glasinac," Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien und der Herzegowina 6 (1899) 25-26 and figs. 40-43.

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. 3, 1976 325

iron spears and knives, two bronze fibulae, one bronze double needle, fragments of a bronze vessel, a bronze cylinder-shaped bead, 10 vari-colored enameled beads, two stone discs with holes bored through them, one clay spinning weight, a bone bead, a cowrie-like shell, bored through, two rings of bronze wire and a number of variously decorated ceramic fragments. There were two pieces of amber in the grave: one a finely made, rosette- shaped bead and one large, irregular piece, 80 x 45 x 20 mm. It was bored through, but otherwise not carved in any way.52

The sample was taken from the lump of amber. The sample consists of a few very small fragments of light orange color. Two spectra were made. The first was inconclusive; the second (3392) showed a strong absorption pattern of Baltic amber.

VI. The Drina River Valley

(12) Rocevic

Rocevic is located at 44.33 N, 19.09 E, near the Drina River. To the north, the Drina enters the Sava floodplain within 40 km. of the site, and the confluence of the Sava and the Danube is only a little more than 100 km. to the east. Toward the south and west, there are connections by way of a series of short passes with the Glasinac plateau and the Sarajevo area. West along the Sava River floodplain there is unrestricted passage to the Sava canyon which separates the Ljubljana basin from the Sava plain. By following the Kupa River from its confluence with the Sava near Sisak, one could go via the Kupa-Korana-Lika polje route to the Adriatic near Senj, or via the Zrmanja river through the southern Lika to the central Adriatic near Zadar or Nin.

Five amber samples were taken from the Jezero necropolis near Rocevic, excavated in 1970-71. All of the tumuli in this necropolis were skeleton graves. Four of the samples were taken from Tumulus III which had five graves. All the graves were ringed with large rough stones; some were covered with small stones and then with earth. The dead lay in a contracted position on the left or right side, hands raised to the head and feet bent behind the knees. This evidently was a family tumulus and had been used over a period of time. The finds in Grave 3 belong to Bronze Age D. In the grave were a bronze pin, bronze hair-rings, two bronze armlets, and a broken ceramic vessel with ceramic cover. There were a number of small amber beads and one larger one,

52. Franjo Fiala, "Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung Prahistorischer Grabhugel auf dem Glasinac im Jahre 1895," Wissensehaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien und der Herzegowina 5 ( 1 897) 14-15.

about 30 mm. in diameter.53 The sample was taken from the large bead and consisted of orange-brown opaque fragments. The spectrum (3386) taken from a carefully selected sample free of weathering crust, has a very strong pattern of Baltic amber.

Three samples were taken from Grave 5, which also dates from the late Bronze Age. The grave also contained a broken ceramic vessel with a lid, bronze armlet, and fragments of a bronze spiral. Five amber beads, roughly circular, all in poor condition, appeared to be grouped together. Samples were taken from the largest bead and from one of the smaller beads. The largest bead (D. ca. 16 mm.) gave a sample of bright orange, opaque fragments, with some weathering crust. The spectrum (3369) is weak, but has the characteristic pattern of Baltic amber with a distinct, horizontal shoulder. One of the smaller beads (D. ca. 12 mm.) had a 1-2 mm. thick weathering crust. Its spectrum (3388), made from a clear, interior portion of the sample, has a strong absorption pattern of Baltic amber. A sample was also taken from a single large bead (D. ca. 25 mm.).54 The sample consists of small orange-brown fragments, most of which are opaque and include some weathering crust. The spectrum (3383) of a carefully chosen number of the most translucent fragments has a very strong pattern of Baltic amber.

One amber sample was taken from Tumulus VI at Jezero, Grave 1. This grave dated from a slightly later period, Hallstatt A or Early Iron Age. It contained a bronze armlet, a ring of spiral wire, and fragments of a bronze spiral. There were two irregular amber beads in the grave (D. 14 mm. and 16 mm.)55 A sample taken from the larger bead consisted of a small bit of dark- brown, opaque and apparently well-weathered amber. The spectrum (3384) is weak but has a distinct pattern of Baltic amber.

(13) PadVine Padjine is near Zvornik (44.24 N, 19.07 E), close to the

Drina River. Padjine is less than 20 km. almost due south of Rocevic and offers the same connections as given in sub-section (12).

One amber sample was taken from the Karavlatske kuce necropolis in Padjine, Tumulus I, Grave 2. This was an inhumation burial; the grave was rectangular.

53. Milica D. Kosoric and Dusan Krstic, "Iskopavanje praistorijskih humki u Padjinama i RocevicC 1970-1971 Godine" (Excavation of Prehistoric Tumuli in Padjine and Rocevic in 1970-1971), Clanei i grada za kulturnu istoriju Istoene Bosne 9 (1972) 26-27, plan Illa, Illb, plates 1:4, IV, V.

54. Ibid., pl. Vl.

55. Ibid., pl. Vl 1.

326 Bronze and Iron Age A mber A rtifacts/ Todd, Eichel, Beck, and Macchiarulo

The body had been placed on a layer of stones and smaller stones were used to cover the whole grave. In the grave were a bronze needle, a bronze spiral arm- band, and 11 smaller beads of amber and one large bead (D. ca. 50 mm.). One bead appears to have a V-boring and the large bead has several slashes and holes cut into jt.56

The sample was taken from the large bead. It consisted of small reddish-brown fragments, some translucent, but most opaque. The spectrum (3385) is weak and indicates considerable oxidation, but it has a definite Baltic amber pattern.

(14) Tuzla Tuzla is located in the valley of the Spreca River, a

tributary of the Bosna River, at 44.33 N, 18.46 E. The name of the city reflects the exploitation of salt in the area. The closest connection toward the north is a curv- ing route around the NW end of the Majevica massif, through a depression and a river valley which enters the Sava plain within 50 km. of the city. From the Sava plain, passage both east and west is unrestricted. To the east is the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers at Belgrade; to the west, passage up the Kupa River, from its juncture with the Sava near Sisak, would allow easy passage via the Korana-Lika polje route to the Adriatic near Senj, or through the southern Lika, via the Zrm- anja River, to the Adriatic near Zadar. There is a fairly easy passage south through the mountains to the area of Sarajevo and the Glasinac plateau.

A sample was taken of an undated random find in the Tuzla area, a necklace of 29 amber beads.57 The beads are in excellent condition, flat-ovoid in shape and with finely drilled center holes. The largest bead was ca. 22 mm., the smallest 6.5 mm. One bead appeared to have an inclusion of a seed or straw.

The sample was taken from the largest bead. It is bright orange and transparent. Two spectra were made. The first spectrum is weak but shows a pattern of Baltic amber. A second spectrum (3387) of another portion of the same sample has a very strong absorption pattern of Baltic amber.

Conclusions The infrared spectra show that 31 of the 35 finds an-

alyzed are of Baltic amber (succinite); another is probably Baltic, and two finds were unidentifiable

56. Milica Kosoric and Dutsan Krstic, ';Iskopavanje praistorijskih humki u Padjinaina i Rocevicu" (Excavation of Prehistoric Tumuli in Padjine and Rocevic), Clanci i grada za kulturnu istoriju lstocne Bosne 8 (1970) 36 and pl. IV:3.

57. In the Tuzla Archaeological Museum, Catalogue No. 1619.

because the small samples available for analysis consisted entirely of extensively oxidized weathering crust.

While this establishes filrmly that Baltic amber was imported into Croatia and Bosnia during the time covered by these finds, the remaining spectrum, although less than conclusive, lends some support to Stare's contention that imported amber may have been imitated locally by making beads of recent pine resin. But if so, this was clearly the exception rather than the rule.

All of the amber analyzed in this study, with the exceptions of the random find, and the one sample from Kompolje, was found in graves. The amber was found in all varieties of burials: inhumation, cremation, and urn cremation. Generally, it was located very close to the body, and in association with the upper half of the body. Amber was found in the graves of both men and women. Usually it was found in conjunction with bronze artifacts; only once with gold and another semi- precious stone, chalcedon. In several of the graves con- taining amber there were glass paste beads of similar shape with similar markings. At Jezerine, the cross shapes incised on the amber discs are also found carved in bronze. Only one of the graves from which samples were taken contained iron objects, even though more than half of the samples have been dated to the Iron Age.

Most of the amber is found in the form of beads, either in necklaces or as part of bronze fibulae. Most of the ambers from which samples were taken have a suspension hole. Even the amber inlay in a large fibula has a hole bored in the middle. Notable exceptions are the incised flat thin discs from Jezerine. They are perhaps, of all the finds analyzed, the most purely sym- bolic artifacts.

The amber beads analyzed are found in a half dozen shapes with considerable variations. The Bronze Age beads often show very good workmanship, particularly in the making of the holes. Amber is more abundant in Iron Age graves, particularly in the Lika, but the presence of imported Baltic amber during the Bronze Age as far west as Istria and as far east as the Drina Valley has now been established.

Keeping in mind Alexander's perceptive comment about the pattern of excavations in Yugoslavia, one can nevertheless suggest a tentative network of routes by which amber may have travelled. Coming from northern Europe there were several routes which entered the Danube basin and which continued by way of its tributaries toward the Adriatic Sea. The most ob- vious route connecting the Danube with the head of the Adriatic is through the Pear Tree Pass. Beck58 has

58. Beck, op. cit. (in note 16).

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. 3, 1976 327

tested one sample from Slovenia and found it to be of Baltic provenience, but in the absence of additional samples, we hesitate to postulate a route without specific evidence. However, we can state that amber was travelling during both Bronze and Iron Ages on other routes towards the Adriatic.

It is important to note that the upper courses of the tributaries of the Sava River are deeply incised, and hence difficult to navigate, while the intervening mountain plateaus (the planine) served to link the various river valleys. These interfluvial areas were, until Roman times, the major routes to the interior from the Neretva Delta and to the sea coast from the Glasinac plateau.

The position of the Lika, a fertile intermontane basin, during this period could have allowed it to be a major node of communications both with the interior and with the coast. This is reflected, we believe, in the abundance of Iron Age amber found in this area. Although no Bronze Age amber has yet been found in the Lika, the filrst Bronze Age grave was discovered by Drechsler- Bizic during the summer of 1974 and future excavation may well demonstrate the importance of the Lika during this period as well.

Yugoslavia. She is now teaching at Virginia Com- monwealth University, where she is an Assistant Professor of Geography.

Curt W. Beck, Professor of Organic Chemistry on the Matthew Vassar Jr. Chair at Vassar College, has worked on organic archaeological materials, especially amber, since 1964. He is an editor of Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts, a section editor of Chemical Abstracts, editor of the "Archaeometric Clearinghouse'' section of the Journal of Field Archaeology, and editor of Archaeological Chemistry, the symposium volume of the Fifth Symposium on A rchaeological Chemistry. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of A rts and of the Inter- national Institute for Conservation of Historic and A r- tistic Works.

Angela Macchiarulo is an undergraduate student at Vassar College in her senior year. Her major is chemistry, she plans to enter an M. D. -Ph. D. program and to work in medical research.

Acknowledgements. The analytical work at Vassar College was supported by a Cottrell College Science Program Grant of the Research Corporation, Providence, Rhode Island, for which C.W.B. and A.M. wish to express their appreciation. Field research in Yugoslavia by M.H.E. was made possible by an Inter- national Research Exchange Board (I REX) appoint- ment as an exchange scholar in Yugoslavia. She wishes to express her appreciation to IREX, the government of Yugoslavia, and the University of Zagreb for their support.

Joan M. Todd, Professor of Ancient History at San Jose State University, California, is a native of Minneapolis and received her B.S. and M.A. degrees from the Univer- sity of Minnesota. She was the first EJ.S. exchange student to the Free University of Berlin. Her major interest is the relationship of the ancient Mediterranean world with other areas and her doctorate from the EJniversity of Pittsburgh focused on the Greeks and the Persians. In ad- dition to articles on amber, she has also written on Xenophon, Polybius, and philosophy of history.

Marijean H. Eichel completed her B.A. degree in 1969 at San Jose' State University. She received her Ph. D. degree in geography in 1975 at the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation dealt with the historical geography of Dalmatia and the island of Brac, in par- ticular with changing land uses and vegetation in the region, and was based on ten months fieldwork in

bronze and iron age amber from croatia and bih

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