Archaeology of A.D. 600-900in print please write to tt ABSTRACT permanently in Croatia in the late sixth and early seventh centaur! Brudy proceeded by employing the epistemol°gy of R G Collingwood, aimed at understanding the thought behind the past act. his study deals with the material remains of the Slavs wh analysis of the main documentary sources was undertaken, with #1 Seeuetediickifdsaling “with the problem Of the arrival of the Croats 4m particular. After this the reliability and character of the archaeologics: Peterial was assessed and the question of the Croats’ arrival was resolved: by interaction of the documentary and material sources. Egiieceistictructore of the Slevic settlers wie examined through the Peeerety materiel. sestrictions upon the burt 1 of children in Dalmatia and Patieid Mjatelnoted and the general nature of the groups giving rise to the Peexeeideentsblished. Levels of complexity varied between cemeteries. Eeeeinsiien) of the economic system wae largely restricted to Gnderatanding pottery production, and in spite of the low level of evidence Seiancs was made. with regard to ideology the material evidence for phe onversion of the Slavs to Christianity was © amined from the basis of known patterns elsevhere in mediaeval Furope- Finally the analysis of power networks in Croattai, society was undertaken using the framework developed by Michae) NASD (1986). The increase in Social complexity and stratification during the period was a result both of the growth of permanent military and political structures that the Slavs needed to maintain their position, and the effect of the proximity to Frankish and Byzantine empires.h F 1 INTRODUCTION ....-- r E 1,1 Introductory Remarks ... . 1.2 Definition of the Study Area 1.2.1 The kingdom of Croatia 1.2.2 A Cultural Limit .. - area i 2 1.2.3 A pragmatic choice . Greene ; ical Conditions .. - feet ene’ super: Land Forms ...- + : * The Dinaric Region . : ' The Coastal Region . The Danubian Plain . . . The Croatian and Bosnian Hills Soils ros ee Climate se eee ena e . Temperature... FY hos} en I - Bempnstic metcfeil 4... : i at Bled 0 The Effects of Geophysical hout 7 : tion for coping a 3.11 Agriculture and settlement 1.3.12 Communications . i" 1.313 Inter-regional contacts. 2 Croatia Until AD 600 ....-- 1.4.1 Prehistory ...-.-- 4.2 The Coming of Rome . . - 4.3 Later History ....- 4.4 Romanisation .... - istorical Background of the study 5.1 First Steps ....--- Ss Le a da ae ie (%), and Judith Hun Between the Wars .. +. + Post-war Work .-- +--+ 4 The Thread of Nationalism 1.6 Lines of Attack .--+++-+ rastle i chapman a dg 200N THEORY ....~ e oo a) gly ‘Archaeological | ‘theory in croatia: _ 2.2 A Theory for Archaeology? . - + | Post-processualiam and Collingwood th 2.3.3 2.3.4 Integrati‘The Keszthely Culture . . - ‘The Karantanian-Kottlach Culture The Bijelo Brdo Culture Other influences... - Comparisons .....- 4.9 General Dating Considerations 4.10 The Arrival of the Croats . . 4.10.1 Traces of the Migration 4.10.2 On the Migration of the Croats MeROMAIWHGHER f 96s. ee § THE SOCIETY OF THE CROATIAN SLAVS .....- ~~ 5.1 Social Structure: First Approaches ... . 5.2 Social Structure From the Cemeteries .. . 5.3 Social Structure From the Procopian Account 5.4 The Process of Analysis ......~ G4. Organisation .......- 5.4.2 Method of Procedure .... 5.4.3 Problems and Biases. . Gender and Age Characteristics of Ravni Kotari Cemeteries Nin Cemeteries ....... Dalmatian Cemetery Summary Istrian cemeteries .... - Pannonian Cemeteries ... - General Comments ...... Mater Cemeteries .......-. ». Later Cemeteries Comments .......- General Conclusions: Male and 0 Graves of Children ..... 1 Double Graves .......- Dalmatian Summary .....~ Istrian Sumary ......~ Pannonian Summary ...... 4 Presence/Absence Conclusions . numbers and distribution +1 Grave Goods Numbers: Conclusions 12 On the Numbers of Objects With Individuali 3. Distribution of Object Categories — ti-Dimensional ScalingNETWORKS IN CROATIA Introduction Military Power Political Power Economic Power Ideology ..- Conclusions 9 CONCLUSIONS She 9.1 Introductory 9.2 Summary .. 9.3 Wider Implications 2 9.4 Prospects for Further Work in Croatia 9.5 Final Remarks Appendix A :ms. beet 1.1 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS IntRDUCIOR the subject of the present study is the material culture of the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, Istria and Pannonia between the AD 600 and AD 900. For the most part this consists of funerary mal from the starohrvatska doba, the Old Croatian period. jdentification is unfortunately problematical and it will be easier for the moment to refer to the material culture of the Slavic settlers of praecene and) not to. adopt a closer ethnic identification until the proofs have been examined. Neither, when referring to the Slavic settlers, should it be thought that the indigenous inhabitants had no part to play in the forming of the material culture, but a8 yet the assessment of their role is difficult.) The attempt will be made to go rom the material culture to gain some greater understanding of the society of the depositing groups, its organisation and the nature of its interactions with the other ethnic and political groups in the area. Such questions have formed some of the basic research themes of many people studying the early mediaeval period and a brief examination of them is in order here. he early mediaeval period was a time of considerable change both in political and military organisation and in the ethnic groupings of Europe, such that the map of Europe in AD 1000 was drastically different Grom the. situation as it was at the tine of the Roman Empire. Even Where there was no major movement of population the social organisation fad changed, and in many parts of Europe the predominant ideology of the population had changed from a range ‘of, beliefs that encompassed both. ppeistianity and various forms of paganism, to & firmly established and united Christianity, with an organisation that stretched across Europe. Change had also taken place in social organisation; the Imperial Roman. system in some parts and the tribal organisation which existed for the most part outside it had both given way to a ‘multiple acephalous federation’ of states (Mann 1986, 376) - While not all of these states eventually produced modern nation states the national identities of some tations are perceived to lie in the events of this period. One - there. thingads (to,.de found io in the Baeee and Eastern Europe Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bulgars, Hungarians, ° ‘and Slovaks look back to this period as the t: There has been a re-creation of identity in theal Pp yolitics. far as the ai" st} bto e. OF udy- establish answer, may ! < ° above. First sstions the basic cultural sequence; many of these hav been de probably not finally. Then there is archaeological mater ater written material which can be used as a basis for explorat the archaeological record. At this point it is possible to both’ old problems, which range from how social structure may be deduced the archaeological record, to how did conversion to Christianity affect the lives of Slavic settlers and how did the indigenous population interact with the incomers? Treatments of these problems might then be fed back into the situation that existed in Britain where all of the above questions apply, if for Slav we substitute Saxon or Germanic. Secondly, there are features that are specifically interesting in Croatia because of its position, in particular the four-part interaction between the Slavs, Byzantines, Avars and Carolingians the effect of Which upon the inhabitants of the area is not properly understood. Thirdly, and finally, there has to be the fascination of the area for its own sake, the specifics of the study. If there is no interest in this then there is no point in looking at it. It should be clear by now that there is considerable potential for investigation. In this first chapter the necessary groundwork to analysis will be erried out, beginning with a clearer definition of its boundaries from the set of possible boundaries that exist for consideration. Once the limits have been established the physical geography of the area will be considered as longer term constraints upon the history of the area. thie will 4nvolve both the actual structure of the landmass and then the EifaaGiosiyeristions that exist across the area With this laid out, consideration will then be given to the archaeological and historical situation preceding the arrival of the Slavs in Croatia - an essential process if at any point the relations of the indigenous population and Pie incomers are to be treated. Having delineated the natural and human situation in the area up to the period of the Slavic invasion, the Gevelopment. of the archaeological study of the period will be examined to assess and attempt to understand the reasons for any biases in the exposed archaeological record. Finally the course of the rest of this study will be laid out. DEFINITION OF THE STUDY AREA Any study needs some form of boundary and one that i regard to the particular intention of the ttudy. Chrono starting date for this study falls at about AD 600, e large portions of the yzantine empire by the t gro The closing mit ) takea However, . recent authors are not prepared to be lineation of the boundaries of Croatia, and pr re hesitant, but realistic picture, given ‘the sources. Kiaié (1975, map IV, reproduced on figure 1. Coastal occupation from the Raa to Trogir, much as Si8ié, Bee ee prenent day Zadar) still “part of the Byzantine tl Galmatia along with the island of Pag and the islands of the Seetigetegos-rbedeiniand~-that “the: differnet in views is mos striking; where Sidi¢ was prepared to allocate all the territory to Bulgarian frontier as Croatia, Klaic indicates that much of it was politically unorganised territory and as such not to be included within Peoatia. Given such a difference in view to what actually constituted Croatia and the inherent problem of associating @ political entity with a material culture group, the choice of the kingdom of Croatia as the study area is unlik ‘. Further, the area of Istria Digest the (mvexial culture of the Kingdom of Croatia but was not {incorporated into it at any point. Some other poundary is needed. .2 A Cultural Limit At first, the employment of the bounds of an archaeological culture as those of the study area seems a useful possibility, placing one unit under examination. If that were 50 then the Starohrvatska {Old Croatian) culture would be the obvious choice. An area defined on this basis could just about include Istria as that culture did make advances into the area by the end of the defined period, and at least one major cemetery of that character exists in Istria. Yet, in a period where historical entities exist, how much point is there in adopting a culture which does not represent one unit of political action nor probably one of ethnic composition? Regretably it is necessary to pass on. 1.2.3 A_pragmatic choice Perhaps inevitably, the last choice is bound to be the right one. There probably is not a given entity in the past that will define the study area, though both the ‘eventual area of the kingdom and that of the culture group provide substantial help in determination, A prag c choice should be able to co-ordinate the best aspects of produce a useful working definition. A suitable choice is the day Socialist Republic of Croatia (SR Hrvatska) which extend! coast from the gulf of Kotor in the ‘South to Umag, and inla Sa Drava and Danube (Figure 1.3 This cres heartland of the 0) d Croat:gThe initial impression given by a map of Yugoslavia is of a two | old ea division, between the Northern, Danube drained, area of the lowland and the Southern, mountainous areas occupying the remainder of the co To an extent such a division applies to Croatia, extending as it does in a sideways V, with one arm stretching from the Danube border with Serbia to the Western coast of Istria and the other, thinner, arm extending down the Adriatic to the mouth of the bay of Kotor (see figure 1.5) The simple division between mountain and plain does not actually hold up particularly well and Pounds (1969, 624) describes six main regions Which may themselves be subject to subdivision, of these six, four occur in Croatia, being: The Dinaric Region The Coastal Region Danubian Plains Croatian and Bosnian Hills. A description of each follows. 1.3.2 The Dinaric Region Some 30 km North of Rijeka a system of mountain ridges and plateaux | begins, which extend the whole length of the Southern arm of Croatis The mountainous region broadens as it runs South, reaching @ ms width of 160 km, It is formed of limestone of Triassic and Cretacit periods and, with the varying ages, comes complex folding (ibid, 6 The differing hardness of the limestones produces in gent “West to South-East trend. Drainage of the area is, for — part, towards the Danube with the principal ris : th-Eastern margin, and only minor streams flowing The main features of the pl ux, aCne rorms g the . anc 1 of o the on Of velebit Limski Kai the Jul lowland, i the land oe, drops down ag = ta _ The Eastern arm of Croatia lies between the highland of Slovenia and the lowland area of the Hungarian Plain, part of the drainage 0: Danube, and contains the Sava, and the valley of the Drava. Much ¢ ground lies below 150 m but the plains of the two rivers are dividec the Hills of Slavonia, a belt of highland which descends from about m in the West to some 450 m in the East. These hills are not one unit, but a series of separate units, which make up a continuous divide; they are nearer to the Drava than the Sava and consequently the descent in ° Podravina is abrupt. A number of small streams drain into the Drava but only a few tributaries flow in the wide valleys to the Sava. The hills consist of tertiary rocks surrounding outbreaks of ancient crystalline rocks which, as the result of erosion, have a rugged appearance with steep-sided valleys and ravines. The valleys of the Drava and the Sava, the Podravina and Posavina, border the Slavonian hills to the North and South. Originally gulfs in the tertiary sea that once covered the area, they have since largely filled with sediment and also alluvium from the meandering rivers. Both the rivers have low gradients with the Sava at 115 m above sea level at Zagreb and the Drava at 165 m above sea level at VaraZdin, consequently there is considerable meandering on the plain producing three types of land. First, there is the meander belt itself, secondly, a marshy zone, liable to occasional floods as it borders the meander belt, and thirdly, well drained areas beyond the marsh zone. The meander belt may reach 4 width of 4 km while the marsh zone is in places as wide as 8 km. As well as these features both river plains have many meander cut-offs and the remains of abandoned courses (Admiralty 1944, 34). The very Eastern end of Croatia falls into the Hungarian Plain proper, which consists of a series of level plains and low terraces which are the result of alluvial deposits and wide spread bands of loess deposits that reach thicknesses of 40 m. 5 The Croatian and Bosnian Hills In the area between the Dinaric system and t narrow belt of hill country which extends for 520 km basin to the Ibar valley, with a maximum ‘ath of characterised b atl eee, short sectic Eeather when the temperature may fall below freezing an for as long as three weeks. In summer the weather n ainless with high humidity near the sea (Admiralty 1944 following). Generally the effect of the sea is to moderate the extremes of temperature. In the coastal regions the bura whi from the North or North-East is the most violent wind system, real speeds of over 100 km/h, affecting both shipping and land transport.” 1 Jinaric The Dinaric region forms a transitional zone, cutting off as it does : r the Mediterranean areas from the Continental areas, and its own climate — pene BS a falls into neither pattern. The main characteristic is very heavy : rainfall with less sunshine than the other areas, a higher cloud ‘region has frequency and greater rain days frequency (about 50%). Winter sees |, such as a heavy snowfall whilst summers are cool. pla 3 5 Be ice ‘ exposed rock, Es es “ 2 The Eastern Highland region extends into the highland regions of degraded and Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia and has a continental mountain type of m with the climate with heavier summer than winter rainfall, with low winter temperatures and about 30% rain days (ibid). The Danube lowlands, into which the Eastern edge of Croatia falls, has a straight continental climate, this is a uniformly distributed climate in terms of rainfall and temperature. In winter cold winds bring sub-zero temperatures and in the summer there are long spells Of hot dry weather. = eriebe : to produce these 1.3.8 Temperature ; R ‘done upon In the coastal region the mean temperature varies upon average : ie : between 5 degC in the North to 10 degC in the South of the region during : - 7 the winter, but further inland there is a rapid decline in temperature, P } so that the mean in January at Knin is some 2 - 4 degC colder than that on the coast (ibid, 233 and following). In summer, although the Adriatic tempers the heat, there are usually three to five hot m with the mean July temperature being 24 degC, though the range ibenik runs from 12 - 38 degC. Again there is a cooling effect altitude and the averages at Sin} (330 m above sea-level) a1 degC lower than at Split. In the valleys the considerable am exposed limestone tend to retain heat, and so _ temperature. a aemperature the rapid pid fall in tween the ear, while the eive between \e mountains arby polja- fect Croatia, num, and the erally true, autumn and c by the physical communications, and6th millenium BC that reached as far as Vucedol (ib: very little penetration of the mountains. For the appear ground stone tools and considerable quantities coastal region received the Impresso or coastal neolith: Mediterranean, again producing ground stone tools and the ox Blongm tie narrow stxi the shell-impressed pottery at sites such as Smiléié and Tin Pttetiowland is a very nar P ee Phd the coast, this was supplanted by the Danilo culture, again © 1. It is access = th i oe sea (flourishing c 5 M to 3500 BC), whilst inland the Vinta ions in the interior ee that began its long development with a mixed economy that spread int Beene Vimited _ ceoatia (ibid, 39). The final phase of the neolitnic Ss represe Stee access to the still-surviving Vinta culture, the central European Lengyel Re eke Reens Kot ps E and, on the coast, the Danilo persists while the Hvar culture Bad, \Obrovac — eS . with painted pottery, indicating Greek and Italian contacts. ans in, 4 from that of the Roman Although characterised by use of bronze, stone tools continue in wide use during the bronze age. In Northern Yugoslavia the Baden-Peéel ¢ BEN eS) sinjsko spread from Hungary after 3000 BC, bringing with it increased us Meehous ch Bes of bronze, whilst the Baden-Lasinja group eventually spread as eesily oon. a. Dalmatia. The middle bronze age was characterised by the ee eolia, cr = Te he culture of Northern Croatia and Bosnia which produced elabo: ur, ins Scrs ae animal models. The climax bronze age of 1450-700 BC saw am ans i ot are bronze production, the operation of long distance trade routs ae : ess to the sbvious influence of the Urnfield culture of central Europe Sieeeercue of its Villanovan of Italy. Towards the end of the period objects influence appear on the coast in the post-Mycenaean hiatus (ibic following). ively produce several areas (for example the The pre-roman iron age, was @ period of great increase influences, as Dalmatia properly ertered the Mediterrs Attestine culture flourished in Istria, while in | hillforts were constructed in some numbers. For the groups are known, the Illyrians appeared (a con interpretation) as well as smaller groups ak regions coast, and the Japodes inland (ibid, 122). al region lies on Hvar and Vis provoked change and event connect notorious along the Dalmatian coast. — the Sava and Sree valleys and Ist: fa were sent against the Goths in Dalmatia. Ba 11 taken and successfully held until the ge ete hed ‘ was suc y g ‘iiyria being established resistance (ibid, 426). Mian wars of 214-148 = : However, even as the Gothic problem was being dealt were beginning to raid the provinces of the emp territory with a measure of permanence. In reaction to © began fortifying the lower Danube. The arrival of Baa resulting in che intensified the problems of Byzantium, though after a @ eat and the neighbouring Avars turned their attention more Westwards. overrunning of Dalmatia and the destruction of most cities including Salona. The cities and islands rema ane hands were formed into the theme of Dalmatia with an archon at three seasons under the oversight of the Exarchate of Ravenna (ibid, 437) — S Number of tribes — ? in particular the The situation in Pannonia (the portion South of the Drava & a and concern here) worsened earlier for, unlike Dalmatia, it was eograd stands today. province and so subject to all the attacks of the seco Zadar) and older centuries which eventually caused considerable destr tion 0 vith car cal route t¢ wh w pegete and the loss of many citizens. Under the fourth cen area Hee eS ‘kan pr = Pannonia was divided into four, with Pannonia Savia and Pa : ies Pret lying South of the Drava. The numerous later barbarian +> the establishment of Huns, Goths and Alans as fed and part of Savia, though the exact relations between S barbarians and the local population is not clear, but it is g "2 0) Roman administration remained. However, the arri the main body the Huns resulted in their obtaining sole federate status ant 2 Pannonia Prima, Secunda and Savia as part of their | tory. Following the Hunnic defeat at the hands of their allies a c le Der Goths settled in Pannonia and began to exp nh Suppress nm the be eek an Dalmatia i of the fourth le ury had little The Goths were not to maintain their ge , in 527 the | he South of the gu largely 1 and the Gepi scheme of— atl oe ee i . did not bi ioe a! 0 es egir at oe advan. “Ways crea ae invasi advance. > Creating upon its b nce, ting upon its mie a a cn a. borders conditions suitable for 5 T “pm — Europe had reached a stage g to extend their control M envisaged is that of a s of gift giving. Medes, r have access to surplus el eh tice a surplus into desirable eee substantial growth of : centred on Camulodunum, ‘rade with Rome in such 4 Haselgrove is atehood or was still 4 Eventually tter view. but even following that tained as the basic units ; the Roman desire ¢t° Of gathering taxation Cial assistance’ that 8 (Agricola 21) could be i to the process of attempt may be e ‘amined must be t rltoOri. di | the invasion ere we find that into +t to the he. jee) 1, but at an earlier stage, and ie identified, question is difficult to answer in detail, but such have are t 5 : \ jo and how did the growth of towns t hat native elites were maintained in th administration passed through them, this being th practise. One further hint towards this may be found b location of towns. It is not possible in the coas attribute the growth of towns to the presence of I is very little army activity in the area after the first ph is noticable is that on the Ravni Kotari the municipia were locat the sites of iron age centres such as at Nin, Karin and Zadar and following). Here the most rapid urbanisation took pla foundation of iron age developments. In Pannonia, Siscia, i one of the most important cities, was a noted pre-invasion Thus, in these areas at least the native centres continued us provide an indication of the continuity of the native under the imperial system. In the longer term the processes of Romanisation continued, ™ gradual growth or establishment of other towns and cities until third century Dalmatia could be regarded as urbanised ( However, even at this time there remained areas in the inte! near Doclea where city organisation and administration Overall, the five or 80 centuries of uninterrupted cultural influence considerably changed the soc: political systems of iron age Dalmatia and Pannonia, 9 end, to the society that the Avars and Slavs overran seventh centuries. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1.5,1 First Steps The study of the archaeology a hundred years old, h centenary of thecroatian Archaeological Society in Zagreb; between the National Museum in Zagreb and Nuber | 31). Later excavation took place at Bijelo Bed q : : Temainder of the cemetery was revealed (Ercegovié 19 ages Mees Cyeir prdo was not the first site of the early mediaeval perd Pees, marun, 2 Brunsmid published three smaller cemeteries at # ‘ me a recognising the archaeological connections with Hungs=sam 3f these excavations Gu een eee scavation continued in the area until the First World Wary S Istrian archaeology began with a classical bias but im 1895))as Mais vrata near Buzet a small cemetery of eight early Slavic graves was Pie = his found, dating to the middle of ninth century (Marusié 1986, 97), andiaaa ei Pee yer: 1898 a rich langobardic warrior grave was found at BreSaé near ‘Buzet ae tee E ¥ (ibid, 91). As well as the cemeteries a number of early mediseval im and Gradac that marked palaeo-Christian churches were investigated throughout Istria. the name a Croatian prince Branimir ess cae scovery wl according to Gunjaca (1976, Mag Fels Peceeeeeebeaciunitics when a railway nimber of frequents peer sees nin. the period between the two world wars forms the second es, to which | eee yan Beeaconework archaeological exploration of the early Croatian period, extent cd don was paid. Further, @ 1941 when the Germans invaded Yugoslavia. At the start oft} used slabs were found the three areas fell under different governments, with eee (.. -CLAV) and and Dalmatia being part of the kingdom of Yugoslavia and Is' “Other inscriptions were Italy. Zadar, the main city of North Dalmatia, and Rijeka wer lian meen s tim enclaves. is le eeeece = aeevee discovered, - found in them. South Slav unity very little seemed to change in ba . mediaeval period in Dalmatia, with Lujo Marun remaii Supported by public Society until 1925. Although the second seri 87 Marun founded the Prosvjeta was begun, very little important work ined its president period. The most significant for the “histori discovery, in 1928 at Sopot, . ion ment Branimir. BeloSevié (1980, 16) h significant investigations in Nort World War, though the Bihaé socie'| after liberation from of work has _ been o i stitutions, the Muze] Croatian archaeological al Museum in Zadar (AMZ) In 1948 €riza near Nin, which were ely excavated cemetery took exploratory work in 1955 began systematic rable amount of work in the ton teams in the 1955, 1956 ¥ aSié Maklinovo Brdo, excavation took place Pag as well as around © of Zdrijac, a large om 1969 until 1977 re-opened excavations al collections were from the earlier ites from those Archaeological origins to he be hardly be called a strategy) and the interpretat: This led to a stress upon the excavation of churches, likely to provide the evidence of cultural acl inscriptions and impressive carving. A concel architecture was thus put in place. Belosevié (1980 the bias towards the tenth and eleventh centuries ine based around churches, and the consequent lack of earlier phase regarded generally as the pagan period. this chronological bias is the influence of the earlier n it in fact been discarded from the study or does it sti work which is being done? ; Cc q ‘Ee hich we " + - Inevitably an answer to this question must look at direction of government, and in 1962 Tito stated: ; 'T would note that the process of integration should not ¢ nationalities of the cultural and other positive their traditions. But, with the unification of nat forms of culture emerge and take shape, in the sense culture being created at the level of unity. : So far as archaeology is concerned such a view of the national traditions in Yugoslavia results in the achieveme Croats’ being stressed, and a very positive aspect put u culture discovered by archaeology, which demon: (1980, 14) refers to as 'materijalne i duhovt Dalmaciji’ (the material and spiritual cv re Dalmatia). A nationalistic, or perhaps 4 ge lly be detected from Marun to the present day, and ¥ it is not very significant there are occas: attribution of a material culture becomes a . pride infects scholarship. ghout th origi ae the Bre E a WO —— Tri i . ie the work. pateied Si Tea There is thrtd overall power systems operating in Croatia. — , last, for a comprehensive understanding of the p ideology, economic activity, political relatio ig needed before their interrelation can be accurately emes were suggested 48 i petea i ae Before all these themes may be treated, the theore ical et os th ie a a analysis must be set out, building both a general theory and — IPE oe Se devetopm theory for individual areas. Documentary material, which may not intended to start useful information, must be assessed and transmuted int ft eee Srtectak Bot form. Then the archaeological material itself must be consaae poe ete erta a ere, order that its reliability, the nature of any observable biases a La eepapey the soc* accuracy of first level inferences (those concerning dating © st, beginning at @t known. These processes will occupy chapters 2-4 and the to a regional view already detailed chapters 5-8. Chapter 9 will contain ae eo the whole. It conclusions, attempt to apply them in the broader regional context, which status depended, suggest lines for further research, i level of differentiation a rough the material culture i change of the social a. ee Es 1 = = _— Will be undertaken leological priority st, and there is han for economic economy if the a this context the ietion and consumption, ad The nature of the concerning the onsequence more ceantra] a ‘a ‘@ature + the 3 -A2LMLE in the study of comprises the realiaing... iT) the popula - Cne nature 4] ad goods Qraveeg 7 a Howeverhardship to agree with, but beyond that, what more has bee First there has been the publication of a set of graves been fitted into the general pattern of the archaeological the period (which for the most part consists of cemeteries wi graves). Secondly there is the establishment of the date © material, so that the physical remains so laboriously recovere their place in the general scheme of early mediaeval archa Thirdly the origins of some items of material culture t determined. The few coins found (Byzantine and Carolingian) Onsidering statements drawn fr the easiest objects to place, for they are specific as Sp lass « g from the investigation of individually, and can be fixed into wider patterns with some accuré re as well as enabling other items to he dated. The other use ) attributable items is the determination of contacts with the surroun the general tenor of the culture groups. Carolingian swords reveal such a connection, and ently in the works of Janko jewellery shows that not only was Byzantine material itself av in most of his publications but also that it constituted a very strong influence upon the indige ous commissioners and manufacturers of jewellery. This study has deve op into a deep concern with typology and the completion of ‘corpuses, particularly of the more easily attributable military mate al Jelovina, 1986). The completed works can then be used to lu Dalmaciji.’ details of the dating of objects and eventually cemeteries a. om some of the ritual behaviour of the group has been revealed; ee. of burial, the deposition of grave goods, as well as some of Mure of the Croats upon the soil of gruesome aspects, such as decapitation and the placing of Spas by thi es he mean by the some graves. eee ‘6d some deep insight into the : ae Oa “That the cemetery How then do these remains represent the mate al groups has bee? culture? A first reaction is ‘poorly’. While th e Croats? He does and the manner of burial are revealed t ’ ea Bilstan ple the phrase in a full representative of the whole material culture, s ly a port . oi Sort on the cemetery °f of the cemetery material which has undergone decay processe: 1. deposition. It includes nothing from the se : sites and i significantly filtered sub-s hat ‘ti st to excavated group into thi jescribe any obscure or stzgain some vi he foeaie he Byz: ew of i he Slavs and t! Sy: the interacti i ion of t! Rather more specific, but wholly in the same characte the was t by Gunjata int follows: © the death of king Zvonimir. Gunjaca i : summaris ‘When Croatian hist: an explanati Oriography got st i : was up eee complicated a es oa Beyeng.to. f ere to. s0lve th ee ; ee ee ets remains of the on eS And i “aicir1 ji ae Ga a oe ring by the people a information stated that the king ' of K assembly there, on a the village of Kosovo. ie king was kil fae ae See calisd etre eaemee ties holding The verification Ry ta the exlatence of eee Ceti sings scovery of traces of historical fact d ch buildings rere ith a eee cerended | on the neces (Gunjaéa 1976, a undertaking too was This reliance historic « upon the os ttt arene nt?) Provide ‘evidence’ The two main threads of Croatian archaeology have been described an¢ two 1, how then can the: ways to y be underst. Mi er eneite cennisgcerucaceie eee ‘ ual, culture, and second s might understand by the ee an 5 t any t held sway in Britain the restraints in the light of ave b ee eect tee. T° begin with rae 2 There is, if penal culture could be taken not perhaps the Quslightly ditterent view of the ‘collective’ eee culture of Childe, but engaged, is ee culture, in which the in the eee oye ultimately to the van be understood The manner in which a by two analogies, one sate an organism is taken, a society) ia sta) particular Aaa! by cal solution for the composition of the he group from the r the nature of t the enlightenment achieved BY a knowledge of the ence of the characteristics. Im ca to the composition of tl Such might be an explanation for the claims py BeloSevit. However, the © (culture, etc) Consuteds team the analogies ggested in his work: ove! ing, example, -ontaining the basic objects provide access than anything implements, ornaments; wstantly recurring together: a ciated traits we. shai a ;. We shall assume such @ s - pots, a comple ure gt is the ial express jlde 1929, v-vi lishment of cultures is at ths in Croatia, and produces e advent of the ‘Mi 1 the 1950’s before th the archaeology can be characterised as being a" = culture history archaeology, t understanding and explanation he perceives in proces Processual archaeology effectively held the effect 0 norms and rules of behaviour to be minimal, they wer actor subject to them. However, the relation of the act are complex, there need not be one simple interaction, actors recognise and attempt to adhere to norms, they can reshape, reconstruct and reinterpret those norms processual puppet status to that of individuals whos: norms, The problem of equi-finality that caused p archaeology is tackled by Hodder in his second dic that the process put forward as explaining the dev patterns, usually adaption of some kind, does not that particular form occurs and thus a sought. On this basis the achieved explani to the specific situation rather than distribution. Processual archaeology is a mate odder has stressed t social, the subject 1 historical understanding understanding of the past. _ becomes Post-processual archaeology a a 2 ral .oproach can be by a statement of Hodder’ s referrin to his ov and ofom - Colt gwood should come again ‘ ee is remarkable, and in part chaeological thought. The istory, from archaeology 4° hard science (under the as something separate and ogy is archaeology’ (1978, t. Yet the separation between ed on the perception of laeology seen as being in lingwood. He held that ource material but by its He defined archaeology 3° written’ sources, Of, more the events into which the 133). ‘These views wert® .as the 'gcientific’ he promise of knowled9® ly valid route. es ® Bdens on iol ee ee co Part of a general a iis inferential question and ‘which are not given S$ concerned with the yat first seem far it Collingwood himself @ two points may now 4 as 1... our authorities tell us that on one day | and on a later day in Gaul; they tel journey from one place to another, but we il a perfectly good conscience (Collingwood 1961, 240). —_ rip Such a simple example may seem trivial but it is the finding things not specifically written down. From ther easily made that if information not given may be obtaine a sources then it may come from unwritten sources as well is not restricted in its subject range. Indeed Colli treated historical problems with archaeological data- thing is the correct addressing of questions €0 } enables history to proceed. The problem is the unit and aim of research, whether it Hadrian’s Wall work?’ or ‘what form did the Croat soci From the problem stem the questions that must be asked answer, not to deal at first with the whole problem pu in toa series of questions with short term sol cumulatively answer the jnitial question. By constraints of culture history and the inapplicab usefully replaced. 3.3 The Thought behind the Act If for Collingwood history was to prot concerned with human thought, not with mere inal performed by human beings and thoughts. In Collingwood’s syst separates historical acts, which chronological events such as given a pseudo-his orical fo is by internal nentrethi: it nking of it # is the internal the present. And the past mentary material, but lodges ane @ recovered. The relevance @ More apparent, for the route to cal ‘runs through it. only by 1 stone axe solved is the exe‘? ed along with other axes t observed it remains a dead roblems es. al Human record, in move beyond axes to settlements and which _ processual thought then, 3° for phenomen? ght=provoked action, eve? form of wheat or maize is the ie Pr However, (© be made between ae . hey are somewhat at ‘of view we can is determined by what appetites, it s is a natural thin ey col which these wention and The consequences of adopting a Coll those of post-processual archaeology a8 a whé¢ important ones being that the the individui no longer a poor dupe of the madly rushing © actor, attempting solutions to problems. .4 Integration The rest of this chapter will determine th and contain the basis of theory and methodology nee led one. Although these aspects of interpretation do of as they are of course parts of the same events and the operate in the spheres of ideology, econcayr politi will be considered separately, not because it is an. accurate of their interaction, but because such a view is not possible. The interaction and cross influences: considered through the medium of Mann's 80 Collingwood’s theory will not be mentioned in every be taken as underlying these more specific points. — SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION once the possibility of obtaining some mea: the social structure of a group. from the archaeo been admitted the question arises as o hot gathered. ‘The answer given will depend firs archaeological material and secondly upon } the investigator. held to be usefu and settlement evidence, with the often than the latter. Because material available in Croatia, be examined first a set/ cere ‘of sy 5 , ary in two : 1 in referents giv . ways i) 73 (2) in the number and kinds 7 ching upon the number and type d the complexity of the persona. Taking 40 gh degree of isomorphism ire and the complexity of = Of persons occupying rect way of testing the 2 ilable so four classes Be established. The settled wice as many categories 45 a that with increasing zed become more abstract. “suggested the initial gnificant the disruption in mortuary ritual. | published in 1971, and and further propositions €neral laws. Comparisons could be matched with ds of analysis were which investigates ng degrees of faieis). AS more led and hypotheses were ie series of social developing, but the cemetery rituals and layout rights. But in death the matrilineal line the husband ... the pattern of death reinfc is only part of what exists in practise am concern’ (Hodder 1982, 143). Also the younger 2 in the Sudanese economy and new patterns of settlement and J tinue, of stability, cooperation and continuity in labour — nd (ibid, 142). . ae There is a fundamental difference of theory here — post-processualist and the functionalist-materialist who 8 man’s extra-somatic means of adaption. Given the adaptive — application of cross-cultural laws determine, OF for the proce: predict, the method of adaption employed. The post-processua. that the laws do not work and that there is an unbridged ga subsistence strategy of a society and its social orgar statistical link may exist but, what explanation is there fo one? The post-processualist seeks it in ideology. In the case of the Nuba (ibid.) it is a high purity and pollution. Death is regarded as a pollu must be controlled. The more important an indi social links s/he has, the greater the pollution death, and it is only because of this that age, identified. It is the concepts of purity whi which relates causally, not to the organisations but to the ideology. This inevitably conforms t stress upon ideology and shatters the m remains had become. Shanks and Tilley approach in their study in diff fo as +b 7 al E aimed the fference:! a body and the physica. cepted as symbo. erences,ey 2 the stout-hearted reply is m0. = lex views of burial, to see # ving, a series of actions performed # ef this burial will be, in some part, * r P f the burying group, as the constituet - eee @eath and produce the acts of ae acts and thoughts it will not individual items, for the patter d a ae solely from th hie Mg Of symbols demands at lees € grammar, the ways in which symbols) ogether. pias. Iie grammar among the Kayapo Indian Man analysis of the Holywell ® ries. Submitting the data fre Grave goods, Pader four! cee in the patterning fr0° lOwever when artifact locati oe ly identified on the m néd'was not absolutely cleat ed ctor variability ¥° ere was a signification of “the deviant grave, visibl® “order, needed further hed up the possibility lopt in attempting , ain that ut is also 3° ehension of * al remains, of patterns of exploitation of resources such as studies have been carried out upon pottery SFOuRs and tl and increasing complexity of the industries has been note for the Roman period. —— the economic has a fundamental importance in the un societies, being a sphere of activity which’ seeunes for effort and thus (when taken at its widest meaning) regulate human activity. For there is no need to limit the economic to the industrial or to fiscal policy, rather it embraces the ‘me production’, both the maintenance of life, primary concern OF people past and present, and the procurement of the items which mak iife worth maintaining. Given that basis, the economic activity ¢ Croats is important for a full understanding of the socie without the belief in some form of economic determinism economy as the prime mover of all activity. It necessary to delineate the areas of the economic wl examined and to comment briefly upon what may be achi most directly related to mere survival, there exist the a gathering circuits, the obtaining of sufficient orga sustain life, permit its propagation and p Srganisations as exist. How is the mates 1 ob! question has been studied for many societies, but excej qe had not xeally been addressed to the Old. ro. because the evidence has not existed. Settlement ex cemetery excavation and no sample of faunal mate and analysed. Site catchment analysis is fs determining the economic potential avail cctablishment of the constraints that act t no work of this type carried oul oe oa€rpretation Lnree centuri. Cor much t material is diffic ult Study must be largely bia techniques employ acture it seems probable that mation in this area exists. § re evade the possibil ed, for yen ity sources and the pattern ° production is consider e field of metalworking, building there is LE ponseca’s Supposition of the gene = - ae Produced material, ey i examined, the jewell ) the so-called luxury items t orks, or in those of ‘Means by which it reache ed. put ittle ral the ery hat the d the or further comment. Among ht to have a direct econo on € information can ubject of the gene development of t! is not for lack in the field | archaeological ssible bases de as suc elations. en countr in *Moanhanma : 40 Namme mic ral ade of of ly: of h of His ies systems which at some point interacted to the d success of the other. Exactly when it happened so the various means of assessing the physical e events and decisions must be considered. The physical remains of Christianity can be substan buildings which are characteristic and easily iden their shape can be recognised analogically for the c doctrine and practise gave 4 strong impetus to observi rules for form and structure. Even if the buildings remain, decorative features, often pieces of church ‘fur screens, ciboria and baptistries are frequently foun previously churches stood. Additionally, smaller items tha taken to indicate ideological adherence are found, specifically designed objects such as chalices to Further there is some textual evidence relati crosses. mainly of a later date, situation, for example je but occasi if bishops are recorded as then bishoprics would have existed previously. Compared to Christianity the pagan ideology of understood, as their beliefs previous to particularly carefully recorded. Very their ideology, and a Slav world view is a precario Most of the the early work concentrated upon the deities worshipped by Slavs, but they produce litt: with the survivals of names in folklore OF ¢ significant for Croatia will be the remains action in the cemeteries. This of goods in the burials. has been seen as a direct dem belief in an afterlife, an aft e) ired such items as W the spirit, it is “belief in some poor] Ly = Aration of the new ideology must be nderstand the ideological chang ‘the understanding of thought behiné On dn the field of ideology the mind ' procedure is to a substantial pat real extent ° “tees However, ict of burial , This should preven hat pagans had grave goods e fact that this is not Baiiifderstanding of ‘H it enable a subtle analysis 1 aspects of life. niger ee = e invaluable, As mo AL = POLITICAL ORGANISATION — Be e early mediaeval period tant reference to the ts of kings or the pattles of this accounts are events and not with the If a better picture some form of proper likely to be 2 =s of the political once again a moving snees, ‘The exercis? ic ingenuity 3 £1 -8 needed once é€lopment unravel] nde he 2B < key to political organisation. However this is not start. Political organisation is, more than many othe of human acts. It is not to be seen as entirely the human thought working deliberately from beginning to end, an area understand the political organisation is full or partial, of political acts. i but the areas for examination can be outlined. Two groups in which human acts have a part and produce co ie to understand the t behind it, and for the archaeologist the first part of the identify those parts of the archaeological record which ar things” aoe This promises to be no | of evidence for political systems can be del first is the visible trappings of political organisation, consists of the slighter traces that are recognisable as discrepé in the broader range of archaeological material. The visible trappings of a political organisation cove a from coinage to palace structures, with much else in betwee! objects with writing on, are the most obviou inscriptions, a king setting up an inscription declares himself as on coinage indicates either his status or aspiration. { by the very fact of being issued can indicate political and economic organisation. Of a simil the insignia that may be found with individuals, recognisable objects that have an indication status. On a far larger scale are admin complexes, what are more traditionally ref such as that built by Charlemagne at Aachen Yeavering and Cheddar. Besides their exist of importance by their siz i be distribution of these 6&: administered by them,higher level and more abstract Authoritative Diffused for such analysis is needed, 4 : al also suitable for comparative work Intensive army command structure general strike - ame ee that can draw in all other spheres i previc ‘ton to ideology, state development and the , perl Ly pyres get things done. All of the wn together by the use of power a relati i me ee eon ct coves ne 13). But with that he also states that human beings are societal ch set Sevdeeinitions and frameworks not social and thus societies are not the unitary phenom that _ the eben dei : 7 a ae ioe His volume, The Sources 0 are usually taken to be. Coupled with this 48 the concept ©: ‘= hod of paalyeis nad a set ° interstitial rise, the frequent means of changer for a society analysis organise sufficiently to prevent the rise of new networks that P ae - for the new needs of particular groups. = Extensive | militaristic empire market exchange Figure 2.1 Mann's Division of Social Power Types unitary, | ind intersect: Don are constituted of multiple ‘e pt works They are not Whilst the IEMP power types could be further defined th done here for it is more important to consider the appl ca model to the early mediaeval period. Mann's first v power relations from their beginnings to 1760, and becaui scope the period receives a short amount of attention, filling in the gap between the end of the Roman Em the European Dynamic. Consequently the trea cursory. The barbarian kingdoms were established wanted the fruits of civilization, but upon invading capable of providing the extensive organisation wh: civilization. As a result the Empire col apsed formed which kept such parts of the i adapted to small decentralised units. r the empire were rapidly converted to accepted Roman civilization without ns human goals. Mann‘s r om kingdoms came the situatio b acephalous federa ta waiting to put Capiod it is an important quest iol Ve the traditional use of tht ae _ framework into which the i, secondly, what may be called th : ach which accepts the natur’ of ts aed possible use and the? ence Ene. archaeological materi# os & tacitly dealt with at earlie the historical sources as @ e€ archaeological material *° a holes as possible. = © independent criticis™ St the archaeology remails ateteoit is. the archaeolog | error. In consequence: ice is hamstrung. Worse the ation may actually result in : examples of this was the mum’ to AD 446 (Bede chronology besides tH pant rchaeological materia Mes a difficult busines’: m alloted to document§ justified. If a narrativ® e useful to have . such as econ be enlightene? d bishops: The d not hold it of written 2° ae n would not inquire. (Collingwood 1961, 277) eg gent lema Collingwood himself did not consider that a statement was, accepted as the truth about a particular event, rather it Ww object of investigation. While this might be satisfactory statement of principle can it be upheld in practise has decided that there may be circumstances when the may be ignored. Cc J Arnold in his book ‘Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England’ deliberately avoids the historical evidence, unl the majority previous Dark Age studies...There undoubtedly great dangers in attempting to wring truth historical material which is frequently in the form \ tradition and rarely contemporary. Such documentation is to be distorted and it is a matter for debate wh archaeological patterning can be fitted to the neb information that it provides. (1984, 6)’ ‘This book are not good enough for tl The ‘written sources’ s not enough by way of a - material in this case. so they might 4s position? The taint of pessimism lurks ther as England where 80° much has gone astray by © sources’ it may be permissible to attempt an acc * wider aspects of life which the tren wl ' do not t< ive drive. € ; io / ! e British case, jt appears to be a dangers©, allowing for corruption ce between the situation unde as? SOURCES CHAPTER THREE DOCUMENTARY. MATERIAL 1y have therefore made a heap of all that I have found’ declaration at the sources sources (1980, a mediaeval writer, start of hié compilation Os ikem 9). That may have been @ suitable pr put it will not suffice for the present the primary task is not to construct 2 complete hist only sources which province of Dalmatia, among the Slavs in are either directly relevant - subsequent events and the political the area, of which give Gebsssanaau the Slavs will be examined. A detailed | .1 Byzantine Writers The majority of the the form of chronicles, javia has been published by (by republic), and chr i mention the Balkan territorie: Consequently most of Byzantines. Into this the mater: category of wr: John the Rector, Eugarius and Theo 4s that. of Menander Protector, excerpts. ct 2)Ww ww ) failed to prevent effective! gs, as fullsome in praise ft ation, record his build 3 well as providing topographic : ork as ‘the richest treasury of xth century’ (1978, 5). Give! “and Procopius’ place neat the wild @ s to Slavs in this period, e ©Who is unrivalled as a sour’ © Byzantine emperor Constant’” The importance of his works be “significance of his wor! aoe 5 Gallic Wars for the Celt* S (quoted in Antoljak 1978, 17): the second son of Le 9£ wedlock he was later came joint emperor wit ied in ap 913 stantine was under th mother and gever® Lepencl® instruction to be written, and writing four WOrkKS gathering took place, with envoys, provincial go" ambassadors being made to write down what they ew (Jenkins, 1967, 10). His own works were a life of his (vita Basilius), 4 work on the themes of the empire (D an account of the ceremonies and liturgies of the court — and a book dedicated to his son, Rhomanos II, giving h handling the nations surrounding the empire (De Administ: henceforth cited as DAI) . It is this last work wh settlement of the Slavs, the arrival of the Croats and Se of the events up to the mid tenth century. The composition of the DAI can be seen as the result Of | first the Byzantine predilection for manuals (such as Constantine's father wrote), the general atmosphere of Constantine Porphrogenitus fostered and his own partic his son should be able to benefit from his own and o experience. That it began as a didactic treat: se of unlikely, and it has been suggested (Jenkins 1 12) originally a parallel work to De Praefect provisionally calls peri Ethnon. If this is the intended to bea description 0 and how they came proceeding about the c starting from the north. was changed and the historical c i sections indicating how foreign policy had pr continue. Unfortunately the new materia Toynbee, in spite of a deep regard for ( emperor mistaken in attempting to t book. Be that as it may, students of frustrated by his attempt. 7goed Inscriptions oi 3 ‘the. Go! in ai Ue arrival in ae no Antae eee in Europe, enables the locati! Se ced, whilst the latter mentions the the border area (eg Book " After the last inscriptions of the Antique period ha’ behind (the sarcophagus of the nun Joana at Salona) i PE Gregor even a eo However, neither provides #) ninth century with the conversion of the Croats to Chris alkans. A final writer in this cated J inscriptions re-appear in the contexts of churches. See) sion the advances of the Slavs into point in examining each, but it is sufficient to note tt been of considerable use in setting out the order © (Gunjaca 1976, xviii). PROCOPIUS when t : in do not eo ete Because of the form of De Bello the Slavs do not | aPE “is indeed so, and it is only concerted narrative, but rather as they play @ part ine Se 5) sources 2 passages dealing with the Slavs are for the most part Fes + The Ljetopis Popa Dukljani their raiding into Roman territory, or their employment as m Seether, source (£xo8 by the Romans, though there are deta Wards the end of the ninth barbarians and one section of ethnography - important than this is the considered separately. (The text used was the trans. lowing a withdrawal erot Dewing, using the text edited by Haury. Procopius fr : as Sclaveni thoughout his works and this has been main y of the church 2° z : = jough he deals with the sections. References are given by book, chapter and, ©urce only for church affair such as Branimir t when dealing with lona, and the synods iternal and externa 3.2.1 Slavs as mercenaries 'Martinus and Valerian arrived the most of whom were Huns, Scl above the Ister © I. yer not far fThe remaining references to Slavic invasions mentio who revealed that the intention had been to capture Slavs who overran the empire ‘with complete fr irreparable damage in all Europe, not merely plunderin sudden raids but actually spending the winter as il own land and having no fear of the enemy’ of Slavs who defeated a large Roman army outside Adrian eed to their advantage a oo a great number of them Pen ak in the same chapter the *treats and may have been involved che Slavs Mmetaetion are peeing # From these references, and from other writers, of Capacity that is made most of. Slavic raids upon the empire can be constructed, a! Le 5 igi te bad ground and Peed ant itself important it does not assist in the uns y Pbeir number a are prac a ae organisation of the Slavs or their society, for th te save that oe a. Be not ‘great throng of Sclaveni’ (VIII xXxV 1) is not des ee we 1 on t ee must be some measure of organisation to enable th 8 Romans to att ely Slavic area; together and to be able to counter such armies as the By eT ack. against them. Suspicions may be entertained that som ite ctiv form of organisation existed but proof, at least from t set gs «61 Procopius, escapes us- 4 3.2.3 Slavs Among Other Barbarians _ : Several of the passages in this category hav hd 4 =. «. Be iccs the area occupied by the Slavs in the sixth 80 fell oy 7 the Eruli, following their defeat by the L eee kis ndered rin Za 7 homeland across ‘all the nations of the ’ peed oe8 tEe bashers. oeecsey [the Eruli) (vI xv 2). As the Eruli eventually ar: . cakes ened: the rica aven: the Romans. For ® that the nations of the Sclaveni extended a Erw tae taved ee _. T , as it happened, of central Europe. In anoth place venly c ‘Y gx : | the adjoining number of other nations: 4" i Now the ul battle with y defeated ased one and— ted. First he e he emt s- oa t heard of taking refuge among the Slavs » be “become| king failed in’epi led in spite of the support of Eventually a Te gaily after further adventures he retired once Tr rkable if the Slavs had not taken P# olitics, S, and t 2 al his narrative confirms the unremarkable. Te is a ‘the fina “otherwis, final refe: 5 Mae eta ne ssable teference which provides the most usef) ail igression peck the Slavs. Procopius inclu i have gone to war, middle of a complex narrative sce) mong thes the Antae have been defe name of | Poe, a youth named Chilbudi ve (taken es © have him returned: oman general and that ee as ci x all Seed ebokeand xeached the entiz ia eae assembled to discuss the ae Matter be made a pub) Hit would come to them from the perce Of the Roman generé) eee ‘Sclaveni and the Antae 2"° hey have lived from of old under erything which involves theit is refered to the peopl?’ ) practically speaking | ancient times the same @ that one god, the they Roman general. Eventual in appearance. For they are men, while their bodies are neithe: indeed do they incline entirely all slightly ruddy in colour. And they Lives no heed to bodily comfort, just as the Massage! them, they are continually and at all times covered however they are in 70. FesPees pase or evil-doer the Hunnic character in all its simplicity~ ctually had a single name in the @ Spori in olden timesy becaus yy inhabit their li aveni and Antae ai for they were both calle Suppose, living apart f2ceiae another, the: ina sporadic fashion. And $n consequence of this amount of land, for they Gnhabit the greatest part great So much then may be said “c northern bank of the Ister. these peoples (VII xiv) ot og It is not difficult to see why Procopivs has been regarded as the most important sources £05 the South Slavs, £0F 5 their lives are touched upon. What then of the Sclaveni first thing is that they are sufficiently similar to | together without any need foe differentiating the Charest from the other, | they ae similar, have the same ancient times had the same customé and once were desig name. Whether this was the case is beyond the 3! discussion, but that Procopius considered it 80 is usef qThe Sclaveni then, are tall stalwart meny te i that colour can be seen undse the filth rushing into battle with. thei 3 and javelin, It is notable that Procop that leads to the suspicion th t More interesting isemocracy but a lack of politial 3.3.2 Chapter 29 to the spent chapters conc ion in the rst of the ed the gituati This is the fi =! che Sl —ae ee ef deity ther source Ree ay Wty Of the Sclaveni is accurate, and althoust Riigasr tt eat, Enns Ene zone oe ene See ' © other accurate, and although procopius oe! almatia an e rest © e Balkans. sid aon Day. Th in its narrative, the discussion of the situation in D ia being tt interrupted by events in Lombardy which involved both Basil d AL Croats and other Slavs. him Perun (Leze 1984, known * 867-886) and some number of the — e gives (passim) are un te p all into the category ° othe! y sour arious deities are known fre ; ' Lines 1-14: ; 'difference between other nations, their origin of life’ he inevitably begins this chapter on D put of the Romani, tre previous i person 3 t a desire to inform h As Constantine has s and cus Peer ! ! i ee ett or EO ethnogenesi esis, ore useful than the story containitl rather than the ethnogenesis is the origin benificent £0 2 -De Miter + mm DE ADMINISTRANDO IMPERIO. Z <§=<——=_ fathers or the Romani it is the emperor Diocletian, ce, who passed his name on to anothe satisfactory: as histe i is a’ S a series both city and pala oundation myth f the it is late Roman reality and foun al As af distortion 9° misconceptions. ' ol , etian gs ow: 9 already ree ®s for the acknowledged that Da ge I one of the most importat ‘PEErs dealing with : can be used a e basi! - he ifically Rae the Sout *Storical s Pests Sigaeb The two correct aspects of the ta4o) ; | ies ca le situation 9 - os dealin palmatia, and his construction of th e. J his th nity. le 2m Croatia ar > flourish. The main ones are as follk 9 particul : Producing -_— = J =P, 4 ee arly on | eS Sc a I ; . : i the Croats 2a ls : . he ah a i 1 ' imat settle ere in! oe f ‘hat - his itl t i itthe Diocletians’ was built and the nearby area take their an Illyrian city, captured dts name Doclea transformed Given this mutation ‘named. isplays both a capacity f ind also very litt em from the situation of the original dition. If the story has & chapter 30 or a document from ‘and the informant or author of ies then it would be the impression of graphy of the coast ould really be placing Klis is more likely to informant tha sfully pr Dalmatian original, either in thi which th this origi reasonable fc the whole c put very little idea any distant river for th acter it recei native reaction to utter dismissal of the account is an salvage much as possible. This has been Undsetanas by Ne accepts the recently established Yatel date for Mestruction of Salona. Marovié (1984) suggests that the city survived ortil the AD 630’s, and did not fall during the initial Avar advance towards Constantinople, thus rejecting the previous date of shortly efter AD 614. Given the later date, which also fits in with the mission of John of Ravenna to rec! captives, JakSié suggests that there Mae a temporary frontier on the river Petina, The Romani would have held this tfter the fall of the Danube limes, the capture of Sirmium in the AD eg0's, and the advance of the Avars and Slavs into other areas of Dalmatia and the Byza: qf this were so then the guard would have been set here an have been a frontier post guarding the approa ona and the coastal area towards Trogir. This is a valiant attempt to resche the Constantinian account, m 1a¢ to cover most of the reasonable facts and reinterpret harrative. Yet in spite of this there remains the feeli initial account is ‘unrecoverable, it is too shot thy _be saved. A temporary ee xisted oncher in or slightly before the that time ‘Dalmatia and the pees nectiuni, Terbouniotes, F6 also called Pagani ***’ However, given the tia and the various icuna may be filled to Of Heraclius.. .Dalmatie 80 called Pagani were ine describes all the out that the | of Byzantium. The E the incompetent It is Lines 217-295: Following the Basilian intermission the material dealing with the Romani and their cities continues with a description of the cities and notable facts about their populations. It is not necessary to deal with this in detail. All that should be noted is that the time elapsed since the foundation of Ragusa should probably be amended from 500 to 3 ars, which would give AD 649 as the date of foundation, and that every etymology that Constantine attempts is wrong. Whilst the islands and cities have for the most part been identified, the order of their naming is not very ordered and some islands, notably Ugljan are not named. However, given Constantine’s admission that there are ‘very many others of which the names are not intelligible’ neither order nor omissions are worth further mention. At this point the run of the Constantinian material is interrupted by chapter 30, which proceeds to repeat the narrative of the fall of Salona and goes on to the arrival of the Croats in Dalmatia and further details of their life. +3 Chapter 30 the arrival of the Croats and information concerning their and geographical situation. Toynbee thought Constantine mudd and a poor editor, and the insertion of chapter 30, if of course Constantinian interpolation, would justify this judges@s the Danul Tf there is any Boundary it is Because the two vers ° r o similar an identical source h ed t in 29 derived from 30. This is p le t h n is a poor redaction of 30. h z confusions present ; i credibility by This short h wildest theorising and most ir 2 results of all parts of DAI, relating as it d e f the Croats. In order to sider the qu ° a 1 of the Croats as fully as possible the account of thei 31 will also be dealt with at this point With the Avars in Dalmatia, the Croats suddenly appear, springing from where the Belocroats (White Croats) now (mid tenth century) live (Belocroatia being somewhere near Bavaria). As might be expected the Croats do not simply arrive, they come laden with the requisite genealogical information that no respectable migrating group would dare to leave behind. These seven siblings (a strangely perfect number} Kloukas, Lobelos, Kosentzis, Mouchlo, Chrobatos, Touga and Bouga, split off from the main body of Croats and proceded to Dalmatii On their — arrival they fought the Avars, defeated them, and settled ¢ in Dalmatia, now to be known as Croatia. In chapter 31 the a to seek the protection of the emperor Heraclius, the Avars out of Dalmatia and settle in the depopulated omen teen 2 sectW migrations were there? One and from the Cazpathiant: 9. en Hungary: 1. Two, an Avaro-Slavic and then + About the Eastern Carpathian’ Pannonia: 7. About the end of the Alps: Ee ae \0f divergence shown by this summary, and tht Published since it was Rea tied by Beccda, it ES to the problem of the arrival of th avoid the fray and concentrate uP tely, this cannot be done, for t" mvasion, or the appearance of ® the Avars would make a difference to * ‘ott fas Paes that the archaeolog astad ‘@ffect of the Arrival upon the age dence a final view can not na As the archaeology is to fhould also be considere should be presumed to pe and the for all featu thaeology has moved away f° Migration or invasion, * Wetter is the present vier iced with the historian so far, put forward as accurate without secondary source veral hundred mile lavs and the Southern and Weste*’ the Alut, th? (ibid, 10). i cope considerably pids, and th ‘a. the Sherbowitz-Wetzor 1973, 53), and a state calle about Krakov in Little Poland in the mid t eleventh century sources from Germany record placemat THrvat’, ‘Chruvati’ near Halle and ‘Churbate! and Records of the archbishopric of Prague record two t opposing banks of the Labe, ‘Chrovatd @b ale: produces further toponyms and concludes that they ar records of Croat presence but rather indicate Pp Barada’s position is that the Croats, one tribe, or more li el of tribes of Slavic or Antic character, were settled in Easte tntil AD 565, when they allied themselves mith the Avars ia West and South. In this alliance the Croats moved when and eventually took part in the invasion of Dalmatas revolted against the Avars, possibly with Bysantine helps sass) AD 626, the time of the Avar defeat at the gates of Constantinop! references to the five brothers and two sisters Barada views as confusion involved with the sources and the normal Byzantine) treating ethnonyms. ‘ a! Since Barada published these views the dating of he fall of has been pushed forward to the AD 6390's (and) Raima Heraclian invitation is considerably diminished, but the of his theory remains; the Croats arrived along with the rebelled against them. The migrations are kept to0m tenarkable manner. But what of Kloukas, Lobelos, Rosenbl Chrobatos, Touga and Bouga? Are they only the result of author’s confusion? els Grégoire considers the names to be eponyms which will to where the Croats originated and provides suggestions for 4 the seven: Lovelos=Lublin, Kosentzes=Kosice, Kloukas=Crakow or Glogau, Dvornik regards these daring suggestions’ unfortunately ‘they a various other suggestions have been made, names Mouchlo and Koszentzes and even Got name, If Grégoire’s etymologis geographical location? The simp! prop up the location of White Cr and later, glances of any use and that ethnogenetic one it are Sarmatian as Dvorx Bulgarian prince. ing to - ax Khan Bea aets saber ot cites him as the motive force behind the mig Of Kouber (Kouver)- instigator of their conversion to Christiar a i; the exiles decided to leave, substantial amount of evidence for the existence of Some five or six battles before reaching independent sources (ibid, 283 onwards), @! = This final set of events occurred around belief in the DAI account. When Barada claims » Suggested for the other two. The a is unsupported, Dvornik views the 29/31 narrati Wy Grégoire; Chrovathos or Chorouathos as being independent thus giving the necessary ort t firm friends’ = Be cence account. If that is indeed true then it is one more Ehing)& “Khan of the Avars, defeated hin in favour of a separate migration of the Croats. ventual ei . nee ccate to complicate an already confused situation the a the seventh century for the arrival cf the Croats he challenged by Margetié, and his views have been endorsed : has abandoned her earlier position. Margeti¢, in common BP aeircrnik fetezts recent commentators, dismisses the account of Croat ‘; 31 as being utterly untrustworthy. It is seen as rationalisation of their claim to authority over the Croa the narrative of 30 is of any use in the establishment surrounding the migration of the Croats. Along wit given date for the migration: the Heraclian one. When id t take place? Klaié observes, ‘I believe he is right when generally-held belief that the Croats arrived immediately ai I iescinen Briss of Salona’ (1985, 37). Margetié dates the Croat migration ee egnal 1* the eighth century or the start of the ninth century, on Eis | - the internal chronology of 30 combined with other informat dent reason on their ‘The important statements for Margetié are thi subject to the Franks in their homeland (ie White Cr arzived and fought the Avars for some years, lat Franks to eventually liberate themselves. events, to which he allows a span of some 0 rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski which bi dating the Croats arrived around AD 795, century when the war of the Avare and Fri Margetié is correct in his dating th political and social institutioy r establishment of the sta' oa centuries but rather de: . Furl occupation of atia ul 1| Given the conéli "questions is ‘the: ct it mg views, an ordered examination of the main area, Jogical Links need to be established etree" pie the rival SWikte Crostialcan not in iteel? be Rather the sf White: ey of White Croatia shows only : aia mot the reality of the migration of lown of the process produces the in ‘The mu Of Slavic tribes } ints are esos peo of Croats and mames “Surbin (Serbs), Moravé cach (Czechs) . Be. other Ma lost source, probably an or Persian traveller Fuled by a king who ab; Khurdab or Jrvat i" Swet Malik and has 3 the Croats with mn slopes of the 8 not sufficient B scale. in his Llowing passage strongly confirms Constantine’s account of Carpathian area, and the place names cited Prev! caibtence of White Croatia in the tenth Genel doubted. Barada’s opinion that the Croat name wi present (mid tenth century) reality, does not holt Pe have been an area occupied by Croats in the tent Did White Croatia exist white Croatia might turn out to be an undmportanl migration occurred in the late eighth century but even ‘considered how far back White Croatia goes. Regrettably most evidence that has been put forward so far does not touch on the of earlier occupation of White Croatia. However, when it how little evidence there is for any aspect Of Northe! n Centra in that period it is not surprising that a blank is drawn. Pr if place names have become fixed enough to be recorded then a length of occupation must be allowed. Yet whetheE the evil applicable to the seventh century is incalculable, the case cai proved one way or the other. Did the Croats Come From White Croatia: Even if it is acc white Croatia sted the problem of the origin of the! “migratio where remains unresolved. It is certainly a possibility thats came from White Croatia, but it is by no means the only ones them come from there would be an easy solution, but how realistic? The temptation to accept it outright is strong, pu worth examining a further possibility, that the Croats) moment might be seen as a Sarmatian group rather than a slavi from the Steppe at some time during the hurly-bur. seventh century and divided, not in White Croatia but before that. These two groups of Croats went separate Poland and the other eventually towards Dalmatia. The indeed of 31, knew of White Croatia, and that th Croat somewhere. An obvious place for them to arriv from w known Croatia. Such a migration would be satisfacto) rounded story. There remains, of course, the © being under Frankish authority in White Cro admits of no easy solution, but could be coun reflecting the realities of he is so mistaken as to cor Yxicon_ i : fee early mediaeval names, but Chrobatos eeraeace ts as than did Old Father Czech Reitenbase ula tices People were to live nearby Presents. On aah ‘Shows the legendary nature of the eg emtazet ion account would ie Himg upon the knowledge that a White Giately necessary to decide which answer * feel T am not nearly as certain he question can at present be Suffice to pass on to the migration theory were t0 have to be seen as a Slavic group wh? on war ret pos para Tetreat towards Pannonia, On. This in fact resemble Hid now to have taken place hough if there was # century date for ® dating question worthy because it mot accept the fully transmitted folk Of folk tradition in For a seventh century aps the Heraclia" r the late eighth of evidence has not so far been considere material. There is a need to examine this, in the late eighth century then the material tar called early Croatian will have to be zeal that the archaeological material has to be p! historical surmises final migration will be deferred until chapter four: T£ there is any inclination to view the contents of 30 as particularly pure source then the beastliness of the Fra Proats should dispel that view. Also it seems to _ the successful rebellion against the Franks and the conversion of the Cro to christianity. The latter process is known to be well underway least. by 800 because of the baptismal font of the duke vySislav, & the time of the revolt the bishopric of Nin was already establishec However the Franks only gained authority in Dalmatia Som the end of the eighth century, which was finally confirmed in the ninth century at — treaty of Aachen (AD 812), and Che) mevaay against the Franks wi successful about AD 876. As a result of this the effects of the Fran) upon the Croats, their political organisation and so forth must considerable, and the development of the feudal system in Croatia is frequently regarded as being a consequence of thils domination. Lines 90-119: This is one of the most important , aa BOgReREe criptions of Croatia in tenth century, setting out bot! its inte organisation, and its position with relation to the other Slav: on the Adriatic coast. The ‘zupanias’, each with its own zupan ¢@ xcept one be identified (see table 3.1). ii Chlebiana Livno Tzetina Cetina Emota Imotski pleba Pliva (on the Vzi Pesenta Petrovac Parathalassia Klis Breberi Nona ‘Taina aurea op ead ieya title that 3 piorelge, is a sseensy icate an authority second to the 1 of es on has been seen as another f the Croats, for it is oats and Serbs, the Wester" S0£ which lay upon the fives their boundaries in tion of the coastal However the inland ja are not accurately sand the Romano-Illyriaa stood, but this brief section © of the cities to survivé The coastal cities by refugees, faced feed the population. *¢ ave a maritime capacity, lands were an obvious land | however, only to be ips once they settled 0” lamed for the xaiding rious for their piracy) On the islands neat i Occupying Brac, Hvar, 8. Given that, and '0f the coast paid jow the cities, in “enough land t° in the previous esented in * ng cities the Zachlumi and3.3.5 Chapter 31 Constantine’s own text resumes with the contil of the settlement of Dalmatia by the Croats after chapter 30. As the question of the migration of #1 dealt with at some length it will not be tackled again part of this chapter is seen as less trustworthy t! completely wrong), and with regards to the Arrival such « probably correct. Leaving aside the migration narrative the chaj be examined from line 31. Lines 31-57: Once again the conversion of the Croats reign of Heraclius and although this is not generally acceptec 1ik points out that there must have been some re-organisation of ecclesiastical affairs as a result of the invasion of the SI cee further, the authority of the Pope over Dalmatia was recognised at time. Inevitably, a later migration of Croats would confute any (ez conversion, but leaves the question of the conversion date general Slavic population unanswered. The rejection of the ol date must also reflect upon the Papal prohibition forbidding the to attack other nations, but permitting self defence, Not content the Papal prohibition Constantine gives the tale of Martin ¢! ‘ootles which reinforced the prohibition. Whether Martin existed, travelle Croatia, or indeed restated the original ban is bees important for the historian is the small section of princely succession that is presented: Terpimer (Trpimir) was t of Krasimir (Kresimir). A rough date can be obtained for this Trpimir was alive in 852, when he signed a decree to ‘the bei efit Church in Spalato. Lines 54-7 contain a reference to Croatian trade in #I trade which, from this statement, included much of Eastern Adriatic. a Lines 58-67: Dvornik (1962, 128) judges the acts taken place between 854 and 860 and th apply only to Dalmatian and not Pannonian Crcausing as many problems as they solve for the B useful document, but its information must caution. 3.4 FROM DOCUMENTS TO ARCHAEOLOGY South Slavic life, beyond the mere enumeration of — succession of rulers, be they dukes, bans, ZUpans, PEAnGGS presented in some measure by Procopius and Constant proceeding to the archaeological evidence the areas re a documentary evidence will meet the archaeological must be sketche “Sia two writers have different strengths, for they stand im ENO) di be traditions; Procopius in the Greek historiographical t mislav, when Croatia reached its stems from Herodotus, and Constantine in the Byzantine tradition manual and the instruction book. Their spheres of usefulne (3 very considerable figur® consequently different. Procopius is more concerned with presenti n feal game may be continued by ethnography of the Slavs, their physical charactenisbiesy be “om the galleys to the rest of religious ceremonies and customs, while Constantine delineates th b political relations with Byzantium in a historical framework. Yet difference of tradition should not be seen as the sole explanatio the variation between them. Inevitably once the Slavs had ceas a raiding nuisance, severe though that might have been, and political units on what was once Byzantine territory, th perception must have changed. It may not be going too far ti there was no need for Constantine to give an account Of Slav and customs when Slavs occupied some three-quarters of territories of the empire. Once more the familiarity of th the recorder frustrates the researcher. There are some aspects of Slavic life that ne: touches upon: the social organisation of the Slavs basic democracy), or the effect of the conversio REMElDalmatian o: Neither do they inform on the subject of internal trade ni of ae the social scale, lundering of white structure, Constantine comes chapter 30- organisation, and the relations between t yn of 30 and Slavs. What then of the middle? This” z documentary ev: lence come together, wh and the site of Jazbine both d It is on these topics tl _writt widencSS CHAPTER FOUR, ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL 4.1 ueriopuction Tn this chapt be given, starti: the sites ex ter an overview of the saterial culture of the 2r¢2 free ahi tt stanioation of tho apatite), disteibstioh : [Bediacral period as well as the tinesca/: of sites will be examined individually in ‘ es towns and fortification sumarised. The next ure groups of the area vill Finally, in the Light of the com “ill deal with the dating of material examination of ti igure ey ce Ne Period so observations 0° tM general conclus ‘xamining a variety of differ’ oe U thei trodiisn patteers ann them. In order to assist ‘ i Gistribution maps for the *" i 1971) Vinski mentions in? from Byzantine citi” na) to Slavic cemeter*' Gothic remains 2° * m is the sparsity in others. Much a5 has a large *° y central B03" ‘concent rat ic" fe concent rat} Sand the ist** “order the next * 0concentrated in Dalmatia and Istria with smaller scatters in Bosnia, Slovenia and Eastern Serbia. The Gepids and 4.3) have complementary distributions as might be expected of antagonistic groups, with the Gepid finds in North-Eastern (mainly the Vojvodina) and the Lombards in Slovenia and parts of Also interesting on this map are the empty areas such as Dalmatia, of Northern Croatia, Bosnia and vast tracts of Southern Yugos] This is best explained by the continuation of Byzantine rule over €l province of Dalmatia. The last map (figure 4.4) reveals an amazing concentration of Avar material in the Vojvodina and neighbouring areas, with some sporadic finds across the rest of the country, and Slavic material concentrated in Dalmatia, particularly Northern Dalmatia, North-Eastern Bosnia and Eastern Serbia. Apart from that there are no other concentrations of finds. In order to obtain a more objective understanding of the relationships between the distributions on the maps than could be obtained by eye the material was subjected to V coefficient analysis (Hodder and Orton 1976, 203). The V coefficient measures “the relatedness of distributions by means of members’ co-occurrence in quadrats using the formula V = ad-be/+(efgh)* where a -h refer to a standard contingency table. This gives a range of V between -1 (totally uncorrelated) and +1 (totally correlated). A result of 0 indicates neither positive nor negative correlation. In the present case the area was divided into 308 quadrats of 1 cm sides. ‘The results are given in table 4.1. The most striking feature about results are the low levels of positive and negative correlat obtained, particularly in cases when there is a very clear distinction between the distributions concerned. Examples © include the very low figure for Hun and Gepid correlation con: that they are both centred in the Vojvodina, and the low Lombard negative correlation figure, given that there is no quad: co-occurrence. The probable reason for the low figures further than 0.15 from 0 in either direction, is that of empty quadrats have a depressing effect upon effectively mask the trends that may be there nature of the results from the V c e _ another measure to see if clearer so hothe S coefficient provides a better indication of the “spatial relationships between the distributions of the various ethnic groups than does the V coefficient. fal 4.2.3. £: cemetery (BeSlagié 1964) ‘This map from the later mediaeval period gives sites producing parallels for material from the cemetery of Grborezi. According to the ‘usual method this would involve citing most similar objects, thus a ‘large number of sites are given. As the site is in Bosnia it is not surprising that many sites are recorded in central Bosnia, and there is ‘a concentration running North from Split towards Knin. Istria is remarkably empty. 4 General Conclusion The main concentrations that are visible upon maps of distribution hat are wide spread (ie ignoring such things as the lack of Gepid material in most of Yugoslavia because of the limited range of Gepid territory) are in the Vojvodina, Dalmatia and central Bosnia, with lighter concentrations in Istria, Slovenia and Eastern Slavonia. Notably empty areas are found in Western Croatia, much of Serbia proper, Montenegro and large tracts of Bosnia. two independent causes can be given for these variations, firstly that the empty areas really were empty, and secondly that the areas have ot been sufficiently studied by archaeologists. Argument from the first would hold that the potential for settlement in the empty areas was small and so the various groups did not heavily occupy them, oF actually ignored them. For Western Croatia this could be seet as possible, with the potentially arable land occuring only in upland polja. This would not seem to hold for other parts of Croatia or Southern Serbia. The second explanation, depending as it does upon the king methods of archaeologists, is more realistic. In this case the ive inaccessibility of these areas or the small quantity of u either men or money, means that investigation has not been t. Conversely, areas which have already produc ood such as Knin, attract larger proportions of res e is the temptation to believe that — is alway At, dstg absolute a good indication of easily without having to resort the soil. The cemeteries used ke Nekropole, a set tht earlier period (up to and from the tenth century which have never been the ry date is not given. Ov given, Jeaving a total of of first archaeologice! by peasants for cisely by year. 07 the blocks were set '? 1881-90) and offset bY are shown in Figur? hat one main trend is by a considerable at all. The real d may have begu® 10. rd in chapter on was tailing of war, while the archaeologic#! further Vv B v vi vu vi ix| has a peak the early for this Cemetery Biskupija-Crkvina Biskupija-Bratica Biskupi ja~Bukorovica i -Dolovi Biskupi ja-Lopuska Biljane Donje-Begovaca Bijaéi-Sv Marta Bribir-Centar Bribir-Dol Bribir-Novi Put Bribir-Vratnice Benkovac-Podgrade Brnaze Cetina-Sv Spas Danilo-Eraci Danilo-Sematorij Bevrske Devrske-Lezajica Ivosevac Kaié-Glavéurak KaSié-Maklinovo Ka8ié-Mastirine KaSié-Razbojine Knin-Kapitul Knin-Plavno Kol jane-Crkvina Knin-Spas Maljkovo Greblje “Nin-Sv Kriz ‘Nin-Materiza VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XxvIL 1 |3 lay about ‘the obvious the Cemetery Vrh Zin} Mejica Mali Vrh Sv Margerita Celega Poladine Mala Vrata Veli Mlun Frandini VI VII VIII IX + Figure 4.8 Plot of Cemetery Dates For Istrialy Bijelo to find, s not in at t for the Varatdit sed by weapo? a couple o Such object* is lacking is? ‘of grave goods, finds. Bijelo Brd Caroling? There havt Cemetery Veliki Buk Senkovac Varazdin Ludberg Cave Site Prelog Cirkovaljan Bijelo Br¢ revac Privlaka Stari Jankov Klisa-Grobl je Borik Bajer Daljtery lies ough at least ikelihood of "This absence is ed for the period. ing excavatiot s of antique attempt must be made to put this blight into perspective, are Settlements found elsewhere? What trace is there of Procopius’ sporad Slavic dwellings? To be blunt there is considerable evidence from other countries that fad Slavic occupation of the same period. East Germany has produced individual houses, whole settlements and large numbers of defended sites from the seventh century onward (Herrmann 1985, 178-86) - Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria have produced Slavic settlement sites (Vafia 1983), and closer to Croatia recent excavation in Slovenia has produced settlement evidence at Pristava na Bledu (Knific, pers comm). Besides these are @ number of sites excavated in Bosnia. the first settlement (note 2), at Zabljak, was found during the Gecavation of a Roman villa, where, superimposed on the villa, were thick organic layers containing migration period and Slavic pottery, as well as the remains of some dry-stone walling, and a shallow pit. It was not clear whether the pit repre: benhaus or was associated een iehs dey-stone walling. This in its turn is suggested te be the Foundation of a wooden structure. The remains at, Zabljak were not in a very good condition, but were still first excavated early Slavic house in Yugoslavia (Cremosnik 19 0, 111). During the excavation of another villa site at Mu! the remains of seven migration period and Slavic buildings were found g 0). Building 3, the first of consisted of oty layer some 3.5-4 m dn deep, there were some traces of walls having Bes held together by lime mortar, but very little trace of standing walls Eteaselves. In ‘the black layer were found animal Donssy, & bone needle and quantities of crudely made domesti tery. Building 5, set on the banks of the Drina produced two pits al black sooty layer. There was also Slavic pottery, which overall meant that buildings 3/4/5/6 were Slavic and 1 and 7 belonged to the migration period. The structures were dated to the seventh century (ibid, 52-64). Eisarer remains came to light at Jazbine where over 35 pits were found, many of them with traces of postholes surrounding them, enabling certain amount of conjectural reconstruction. yas in some cases difficult to determine whether the jwellings or workshops, though the presence of hi ths fication (1980, 135). These hearths consisted of | between 50-70 cm wide and 5-6 cm deep. The pits thi or nearly 80, and bet ee al ates th from the‘ave when human bones are present, or the grave may be stones. But a settlement, or rather a sporadically set hut, may not be so obvious or easily identifiable. “normally produce human bones, or the obvious stone surrounds of graves, “instead it would present a set of dark stains during ploughing, or @ scatter of pottery, both of which the agricultural worker is quite “capable of ignoring. That in itself would be enough to explain the lack “of excavation when the lack of archaeological survey is also added in. However there is also the question as to whether the archaeologists want to dig settlements, or are cemeteries more exciting? In the light of the experience of Zabljak it is not surprising that the Nin houses were found during the excavation of a cemetery, church and antique buildings. T£ settlements are to be found in Croatia then it will probably be the result of field survey and a careful consideration of the relationships ‘between cemetery and settlement found in other Slav-settled areas. At present the lack of settlement material can only be lamented. The potential information available from such material would be useful in many aspects of the present investigation. As it is, conclusions must be drawn on the basis of what is available. 6 TOWNS, CITIES AND FORTIFICATIONS Setting aside the Byzantine coastal cities, which remained under “direct Byzantine control for a considerable proportion of the period, ‘the physical evidence for the existence of towns and cities among the Slavs in Croatia is limited. It is in fact as bad a situation as that concerning settlements generally. Constantine named a series of towns in Croatia, but very few of them have produced anything besides churches mand ‘cemeteries. Nin, it is true, has produced evidence for some form of Occupation, and that may be considered as a paradigm for the other | Gities. Nin has churches which date from the ninth century, the church E iz (the Holy Cross) and the Episcopal church. ‘There is known to ‘been a zupan based at Nin, and his house is conjectured to he Episcopal church (Vezié 1986, 202). ‘The cemetery aroui ) to this period and only a little way away is the cemeter} Two early mediaeval boats have been rescued from | ié 1969). This is all that remains from tt represented Bee tCULTURAL UNITS A number of archaeologically determined units have been claimed to exist in Croatia during the early mediaeval period; these are the Starohrvatska culture (Old Croatian culture) and the Bijelo Brdo culture. Besides these there are neighbouring cultural groups which oe Produced some of the finds recovered from Croatia and have links with ee the internal groups, these include the Karantanian-Kottlach culture, the ying degrees of Material culture of the Avars and the Keszthely culture. Brief ological groups descriptions of these will be given and some compari drawn. churches that aré vonika, part of 48.1 Starohrvatska culture it), churches of “Structurally, This is the main archaeological culture of almatia and Istria, with some finds also coming in the Pannon. area. gh it is, implicitly by name, and specifically by doctrine, suppose represent the material culture of the C that ne t be whole ac ted, Mor need the question be addressed for the It is sufficient to Say that the Starohrvatska culture is the sur n ‘ial culture of watch the Dalmatian Slavs and u ing late-e inhabitants. The Nor is consequence of this admitted mixture i vic culture which, in its pottery and jewellery in p: nfluence As detailed descriptions of the Star ka cemeteries analysed are given in appendix 1 only a t t given here. Apart from fone known cremation cemetery burials were exclusively inhumations. Graves varied from simple pits to more elaborate ones that were lined with drystone masonary or lar e slabs. Individuals were laid on their backs in an extended posture, arms placed in most cases by the corpses sides, or sometimes on pelvis or chest, whilst legs were only occasionally crossed at knee or ankle. Such grave goods as were J provided were usually placed in close proximity to the body, and in most ases represented clothing or similar adjuncts. Pottery vessels were most frequently placed at the head or feet of the deceased. lority of cases only one individual was buried in a grave, but have been found, though whether they repret serial inhumations is not always determinabl: rinciple behind cemeteries is not always clear, but general aim of linearity. z