Original scientific paper
Roman tombstone from the Stari grad site in Ivanec
Juraj Belaj
orcid.org/0000-0001-8953-3820
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Branka Migotti
; Department of Archaeology, Croatian Academy of Science and Art, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Archaeological excavations, carried out since 1998 by the Institute of Archaeology in Stari Grad in the centre of Ivanec, have established long-term human presence at the site, from prehistoric and Roman times to the middle of the 20th century. Among other things excavated in the courtyard of the local Renaissance and Baroque fort were a Romanesque and a Gothic church where burials continued into the 17th century. During the 1998 campaign, a fragment of a Roman tombstone, made from local limestone and decorated with human figures carved in relief on the front and side surfaces, was found as a spolium in the walls of the Gothic church. This text publishes the find for the first time and provides a comprehensive analysis of its iconography, formal typology, dating and the social circumstances in which it came into being. Although, due to its incompleteness, the original appearance of the tombstone remains unknown, we presume it was a corner stone of a tomb or a so-called grave pillar (Grabpfeiler), and date it back to the 3rd century. Along with other items (ceramics, brick, bone, glass), this find provides our first evidence of a Roman settlement on the territory of Ivanec.
Keywords
Ivanec–Stari grad; Roman period; spolium; tombstone
Hrčak ID:
82710
URI
Publication date:
25.5.2012.
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