Other
Trial excavations in Mali Bilač 2011
Marko Dizdar
orcid.org/0000-0003-3964-9002
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Hrvoje Potrebica
orcid.org/0000-0002-5474-4254
; Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The trial excavations of the prehistoric site in Mali Bilač located on the western slopes of Dilj on the eastern part of the Požega basin were carried out during April 2011 (Fig. 1). In 1993, armament (swords in the scabbards, spears, shield bosses), parts of costumes (fibulae) and fragments of bronze and ceramic vessels were found by chance at the local cemetery; these finds probably belong to the dual warrior grave from the earlier phase of the Late La Tène period (LT D1).
The small scale trial excavations in 2003 have not resulted in the discovery of any new graves, except for the findings collected from the destroyed grave 1. In April 2011, after the area around the cemetery was destroyed by construction works, the remaining area around the cemetery was fully explored. During the excavations the remains of two incineration graves that confirm the assumption of the existence of Late La Tène cemetery were discovered on the highest, southern part of the ridge.
Only the bottom parts of grave pits were preserved. In grave 2 a part of the bronze pin was found, probably a part of a fibula, and in addition S-shaped bowl and fragments of another vessel, probably kantharoi. The smaller pile of burned bones was deposited south of the bowl (Fig. 5). Only few ceramic fragments were preserved in the grave 3. Trial excavations have confirmed the former knowledge about the chronological picture of the cemetery in Mali Bilač, which, according to the findings from a ruined grave, belongs to LT D1 period, i.e. to the second half of the 2nd and the beginning of 1st century BC.
Keywords
Late La Tène; the Požega basin; cemetery; armament; pottery
Hrčak ID:
106359
URI
Publication date:
12.6.2012.
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