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On funerary rites of Hellenistic Issa – an early pilum find and its cultural significance
Marina Ugarković
orcid.org/0000-0002-1134-7531
; Institut za arheologiju, HR, 10000 Zagreb
Sažetak
During excavations at the ancient necropolis
which proceeded at the Vlaška njiva site in the town
of Vis in 1983, an iron pilum (javelin), a throwing
weapon used by infantry soldiers, was found in one
of the graves. This is currently a unique weapon find
which is associated with the physical remains of Hellenistic
funerary rituals practiced in Issa on the island
of Vis, a Greek urban settlement in the central part
of the eastern Adriatic seaboard. Its context consists
of partially devastated burial assemblages, in which
the skeletal remains of two bodies and ceramic goods
dated to the late 4th and first half of the 3rd century BC were documented. Typological analyses of the actual
pilum suggest that this was one of its early variants,
which should be dated to the 4th century BC, and indicate
that this is a unique find in the central part of the
eastern Adriatic seaboard and its hinterland. The use
of similar type of weapon has been documented in the
Etruscan-Italic and Celtic-Iberian cultural spheres,
and the pilum was an integral component of equipment
in the Roman republican and imperial armies.
In the latter context, it is important to stress that the
early pilum from Issa is older than the thus far oldest
known Roman pilum from the 3rd century BC. The
closest analogy to the item itself, as well as the cultural
practices of the ritual depositing of similar weapon
type into a grave with the deceased during a funeral
has been recorded among various indigenous communities
on the Apennine Peninsula, most often in the
graves of men of various ages, so this find is most
likely a reflection of contacts with the opposite shore
of the Adriatic and its hinterland. The association between
weapon and death offers some insight into a
thus far unknown aspect of Issaean funerary customs
and backs the view of a diversity of cultural identities
of the residents of Issa as a component of dynamic
interactions in the central Adriatic zone.
Ključne riječi
eastern Adriatic; Issa; Hellenistic necropolis at Vlaška njiva; 4th and 3rd centuries BC; Hellenistic pottery; early pilum; weapons and funerary ritual; cultural identity and contacts
Hrčak ID:
193071
URI
Datum izdavanja:
29.12.2017.
Posjeta: 2.500 *