Preliminary communication
Clay and lead spindle whorls from Avar period graves at Nuštar – Dvorac site
Anita Rapan Papeša
orcid.org/0000-0002-0041-1892
; Town Museum Vinkovci, Vinkovci, Croatia
Abstract
During rescue archaeological excavation at the Late Avar Period cemetery in Nuštar clay and lead spindle whorls were found in graves as an interesting grave good. According to the results of anthropological analyses they were found in graves of all age and sex groups (including one male). A total of 33 clay and 3 lead spindle whorls were discovered in 34 graves. Except one discovered on left shoulder, spindle whorls were mainly found at the middle of the body – near the bones of the hand and in the pelvic area (15 pieces) or by thigh or knee (10 pieces), while the rest come from the backfill of the grave. The most common are simple undecorated biconical and round shapes and, when decorated, the decoration appears as shallow incised lines. The range of firing tones ranges from orange through brown to grey. Judging by the other grave goods it seems that social status did not affect the offering of whorls in the grave, since they were found in both poor and richly furnished graves. Spindle whorls, as chronologically insensitive objects, will be processed in terms of grave good in this paper, interpretation of their meaning in relation to gender and age as well as an attempt to reconstruct the use of certain type.
Keywords
spindle whorls; clay; lead; grave good; late Avar period
Hrčak ID:
129335
URI
Publication date:
6.11.2014.
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