Stručni rad
On Roman houses and household objects at Osijek
Danica Pinterović
Sažetak
When in 1966 the net for heating installations at Osijek was being constructed long the streets Oreskoviceva and Miljanoviceva, ditches cut through Roman walls of houses on numerous places, and from the ditches, masses of building material and plenty of house hold objects were thrown out. From the beginning of the 18th century, when Slavonia was being renewed and restored to new life after the Turkish rule up to the present day, on innumerable occasions at different places in the streets of the lower town it has been dug for various communal purposes. Therefore the Roman strata have long since been destroyed and for this reason no systematic archaeologic investigations were planned here. However, anything that had been observed while inspecting the work was noted and evidenced and the collected finds were brought into the museum. In the adjoining map one can see the mentioned streets where from A to F, south in the Oreskoviceva and from G to K north of it, places are marked where the ditches cut across the walls. In the Miljanoviceva the walls were evidenced but not draw on the map, because they were utterly destroyed so that their direction was no longer recognizable.
In this paper special attention is given to numerous finds of the terra sigilla- ta. In fig. 1 fragments are shown of plain sigillata with stamps of three masters: DRAVCI M; S. ANVILLI MA; P ... (Primitius ?). — The fragments of the decorated sigillata revealed (what we had already known from previous studies and publicati¬ons) that to Osijek — Mursa — products had been imported from workshops at Lezoux in Gaul which could be attributed to the well known masters CINNAMVS, ALBVCIVS and PATERNVS (fig. 2, 1—7). Another group of sherds may have belon¬ged to products of masters who worked at Rheinzabern or at the neighbourly workshops, such as CERIALIS, IANVARIVS, COMITIALIS, FIRMVS or PVPVS (fig. 3, 1—7). It is highly possible that in this group we have some sherds that could be attributed to the Westerndorf or even Siscia workshops (fig. 3, 5—7). — The oval-shaped goblet that bears a cut decoration of ears and blades (fig. 4) is known to be a product from Rheinzabern from the second half of the second century, to which many analogies in various museums exist. — The oil-lamp (fig. 6) is an Italic import from the first half of the first century, while the other lamps (fig. 7, 1—7) belong to the type of the so-called firm-lamps. Among the latter we find some masters’stamps such as: ATI(meti), FESTI, FORTIS, LVCIV(s) and VIBI(anus) that can be dated with the first to the third century. The fragment of a two-nosed lamp may have belonged to the third century (fig. 7, 8). These lamps seem to have been produced in industrial and trading centres of south Pannonia, like Poetovio, Siscia, Cibalae, Sirmium, among which a lively traffic and turn-over of goods developed. — Then, an example of locally produced ceramoplastic was found, the fragment of a bird-statue (fig. 5, 3). It is assumed that Mursa had workshops for ceramoplastics as have revealed several finds of moulds and their casts that are kept in our museum.
Numerous finds of glass fragments are also discussed here and displayed by photos (fig. 8, 9, 10), while an attempt has been made to show how it could be determined, from only tiny pieces of glass, what the original of them looked like. On the whole, analyzing the make and shape of glass fragments, the conclusion could be made that most of this glass material came to Mursa as an import from the workshops at Cologne in the course of the second and third century. As examples are mentioned: a rib-bowl and two other well-shaped bowls (Pl. I, 1, 2, 4); the dolphin-shaped handle that is known to have belonged either to a cylindrical or hexagonal flask with a long neck and simple rim (the type of the »Eau-de-Cologne« bottle), or else to a small ball-shaped bowl for oil, perfume or rouge (PI. Ill, 13, 13a); fragments of bottoms that belonged to cups (PI. Ill, ¡7 18); bent and fluted handles of variously shaped wine-bottles (PI. Ill, 14, 15). The fragments belonging to small bottles or bowls may have just been containers for perfume or rouge imported from eastern workshops (PI. II, 6, 7, 8). — Frag. ments from long-necked, prismatic and narrow flasks among our finds belonged to the type that was produced from the second to the fourth century in Gaul and Italy (PI. II, 9). The type is called »Mercury-flask« since often a relief of Mercury is seen at the bottom of it. — The ball-shaped bottle can also be attributed to an Italic workshop (PI. II, 10). — Thus a review has been obtained of the glass ware that was imported to Mursa from the East and West, although it is not excluded that glass was produced also in Pannonian provincial centres, of which we do not yet have sufficient evidence.
The bulk of the ceramics is shown by drawings and photos (Pis. IV—XII, fig. 11, 12). They represent the most wide-spread types used at Mursa as well as rare specimens. The most common types are attributed to potters’ workshops of the south of Pannonia or of places along the Danube (especially Aquincum) when a lively exchange of their goods with Mursa developed in the course of the romani- sing process. By all evidence local potters also existed here.
The rare pieces are discussed separately since they were imported from other western provinces: there is a sherd of a goblet from Raetia (PI. IV, 6); a sherd of an atramentarium (ink-stand) from Rheinzabern (PI. V, 2); sherds of two craters from Italy (PI. VII, 11. VIII, 1); sherds of various amphora-types (PI. VIII, 2, 3 IX, 1, X, 1, 2).
A great amount of sherds belonged to plates and dishes and they are mostly sigillata-imitations of south Pannonian industrial centres. Grey and black ceramic pieces are numerous and speak of plates, dishes, pots, strainers, of jugs and of a pot-stand (Pis. V, 5—8, VI, 1—7). Two nearly completely preserved examples of a rough make in grey colour were among the finds, i. e. one goblet and one jug (fig, 11). Of a rough make are also a fragment of a melting-pot (PI. VII, 3), a lid (PI. VII, 4) and other fragments of dishes and pots (PI. VII, 5—10). — In the group of the yellow, red and brown ceramics we find the same make and shapes as are represented in Pannonian collections everywhere; they are types influenced by Roman and Greek patterns. One well-shaped, although damaged, two-handled vessel is shown in fig. 12. Characteristic are: numerous sherds of large egg-shaped pots for storing of wine, oil, vinegar or of dry food (PI. X, 3—7); sherds of mortars (Pl. XII, 7, 8, 11); and of very typical censers which always show traces of a white engobage and bear a waving plastic or incised decoration (PL XII, 6, 9, 10).
Six bone hair-pins and one needle were among the findings (fig. 5, 4—6); then iron-objects, keys, a knife, nails, pegs (fig. 13); also a bronze lunula (PI. II, 13).
With this paper it was aimed at gaining an insight into the inventory of typically romanised households at Mursa.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
237532
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.5.1975.
Posjeta: 252 *