Original scientific paper
The problem of interpretation of the decorated whetstones from the Glasinac area
Blagoje Govedarica
; Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, DE, Berlin
Abstract
The question of the significance and dating of the
whetstones with decorated sockets from the so-called
princely graves in the Glasinac Plateau is considered.
An extensive analysis of the find context in this and
in other areas has shown that the first whetstones appeared
as grave goods in the early fourth millennium
BC, at a time when the first copper-alloy daggers
and knives that required occasional sharpening also
appeared. This combination of whetstones and daggers
constitutes a set of linked finds that indicate a
warrior, symbolizing the sharpness and power of his
weapons. This symbolism came to its full expression
in the Iron Age, with the appearance of iron swords that were often accompanied in graves by whetstones.
Thus, instead of the Bronze Age combination of whetstones
and daggers, the combination of swords and
whetstones appeared as warrior symbols that continued
an older tradition. The decorated whetstones from
the Glasinac area and other parts of Eurasia where
they appeared should be considered in this same context.
Thus, it is highly unlikely that these were “sceptres,”
i.e., signs of individualized authority, as is often
thought, but rather the expression of an old warrior
tradition which was present to the fullest extent in the
rich graves of the Iron Age aristocracy.
Keywords
whetstone; sword; warrior symbol; princely grave; Glasinac; military aristocracy
Hrčak ID:
192982
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2017.
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