Mediating Marginality: Mounds, Pots and Performances at the Bronze Age Cemetery of Purić-Ljubanj, Eastern Croatia

Cover
Frontispiece
Copyright Page
Contents Page
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgements
Preface
	A look at the research of prehistory in the Spačva-Ljubanj-Studva interfluve
	Archaeological/historical research in Cvelferija in recent times
Introduction
	Chapter 1
Research History, Survey and Excavation Strategy at Purić-Ljubanj
	Excavation strategy
	Research history and initial survey at Purić-Ljubanj
	Geophysical survey at Purić-Ljubanj
	GPS and topographic survey at Purić-Ljubanj
	Surveys and trial excavations on other mounded cemeteries in the area
	Chapter 2
Figure 1.1: Initial GPS survey data from Purić-Ljubanj.
Figure 1.2: Damaged mound.
Figure 1.3: The excavation area.
Figure 1.4: The extent of the excavations.
Figure 1.5: Position of trenches on Tumulus 1.
Figure 1.6: Position of trenches on Tumuli 2 and 3.
Figure 1.7: Results of geo-radar and resistivity surveys.
Figure 1.8: Diagnostic pottery from Trial Trench 1, the first conclusive evidence to be found at Purić-Ljubanj (drawing: Lisa Waldock).
Figure 1.9: Results of the gradiometry survey (50cm resolution) conducted at Purić-Ljubanj in 2019.
Figure 1.10: DEM and contour models of the Purić-Ljubanj cemetery.
Figure 1.11: Map of mounded sites discovered in the Spačva Forest to date.
Figure 1.12: Lidar scanning of four sites was conducted in 2016. Site J (top left), site C (top right), site D (bottom left) and site B (bottom right).
Figure 1.13: The shapes of the eighteen mounded cemeteries in the Spačva Forest measured in 2017 (the shapes of sites B and I are not visible due to their small size).
Placing Purić-Ljubanj in its Local and Regional Context
	Regional Bronze Age chronologies, groups, and research history
	Belegiš II group
		Belegiš II sites
		Belegiš II burial practice
		Typical finds of Belegiš II group
		West-Serbian variant of Vatin
		West-Serbian variant of Vatin sites
		West-Serbian variant of Vatin burial practice
		Typical finds of the west-Serbian variant of Vatin
	Late Bronze Age groups in Županjska Posavina
	Conclusion
	Chapter 3
Figure 2.1: Late Bronze Age groups in the region (after Ložnjak Dizdar 2005: 35).
Figure 2.2: Belegiš urns: a) Belegiš I; b) Belegiš II (after Coxon 2018: 109).
Figure 2.3: The areas of Tumulus and Belegiš (I and II) Cultures in Vojvodina (after: Tasić 1974, Pl. 24).
Figure 2.4:  Map of Belegiš II sites in Croatia (after Forenbaher 1991: 48).
Figure 2.5: A typical Belegiš burial – Kaluđerske Livade (Petrović 2006, after Ljuština 2017: 349).
Figure 2.6: Belegiš II (Pseudoprotovillanova) urns (after Forenbaher 1988: 25).
Figure 2.7: Most common types of Belegiš II pottery in eastern Slavonia (after Forenbaher 1991: 58).
Figure 2.8: Side-by-side comparison of Gava and Belegiš II urns. Left: Gava; Right: Belegiš II (after Forenbaher 1988: 30).
Figure 2.9: Area of the west-Serbian variant of Vatin.
Figure 2.10: Map of the west-Serbian variant of Vatin cemeteries in Serbia. Left: Middle Bronze Age; Right: Late Bronze Age (after Dmitrović and Ljuština 2013: 166, 170).
Figure 2.11: A typical burial of the west-Serbian variant of Vatin group (Tumulus 1 at Dubac, after Nikitović 1999, Pl. V).
Figure 2.12: Left: MBA west-Serbian variant of Vatin ceramics from Mosinje; Right: LBA west-Serbian variant of Vatin ceramics from Baluga (after Dmitrović and Ljuština 2013: 169, 171).
Pottery Assemblages and Burial Features at Purić-Ljubanj
	Defining pottery and burial at Purić-Ljubanj: an overview
		Fabric Series
	Notes on methodology and terminology
		Presentation of the data
	Pottery and burial: Tumulus 1 (Trenches 1 and 2)
		General nature, description, and deposition of the pottery
		Burial 1/1
		Burial 1/2
		Burial 1/3
		Burials 1/4 AND 1/5
		Burial 1/6
		Burial 1/7
	Building Tumulus 1
		Pottery and burial: Tumulus 2
	Pottery recovered from Tumulus 1 not linked to any specific feature
	Tumulus 2: pottery and burial features
		Burial 4/1A
		Burial 4/1B
		Burials 4/8 (4/2 and 4/9)
		Burial 4/3
		Burials 4/4 A-Q, 4/7
		Burial 4/5
		Burial 4/6
		Burial 4/10
		Burial 4/11
		Burial 4/12
		Burial 4/13
		Burial 4/14
		Burial 4/15
		Burial 4/16
		Burials 4/17, 4/18, 4/19, 4/20, 4/21
		Trench 5 and Trial Trench 2
	Building Tumulus 2
		Pottery and Burial: Tumulus 3
		Burial 3/1
		Burial 3/3 (with 3/2, ¾)
		Burial 3/2
		Burial 3/4
		Burial 3/5
		Pottery from Tumulus 3:
	Building Tumulus 3
	Key themes for further discussion
	Chapter 4
Figure 3.1: Section view of the final burning episode (pyre) on Tumulus 1, demonstrating the ephemeral nature of deposits at Purić-Ljubanj.
Figure 3.2: Schematic section drawing showing key features in Tumulus 1.
Figure 3.3: Schematic section drawing showing key features in Tumulus 2.
Figure 3.4: Schematic section drawing showing key features in Tumulus 3.
Figure 3.5: Plan illustration of Feature 1/1, Tumulus 1.
Figure 3.6: Photographs of (from left to right) carbonised woven matting, overview of Feature 1/1, detailed image of intense burning around the carbonised matting, overview of area in which the carbonised matting was discovered.
Figure 3.7: Burial pit 1/2.
Figure 3.8: Feature 1/4 and 1/5.
Figure 3.9: Exterior and interior view of the cleaned pot from 1/4 and 1/5.
Figure 3.10: Burial pit 1/7 throughout its excavation, and cut marks on deposited human long bone.
Figure 3.11: Illustrated pottery from Tumulus 1.
Figure 3.12: Illustration of the Belegiš chalice from burial 4/1a.
Figure 3.13: Burial 4/1a.
Figure 3.14: Jar form from burial 4/1b.
Figure 3.15: Burial 4/8 (including 4/2 and 4/9).
Figure 3.16: Illustration of pottery from 4/8 (including 4/2 and 4/9).
Figure 3.17: Plan view of burial 4/3.
Figure 3.18: West baulk adjacent to burial 4/3 post excavation, showing disturbed stratigraphy south of 4/4 burials.
Figure 3.19: Pottery within burial 4/3 during excavation.
Figure 3.20a: Pottery from Burial 4/3.
Figure 3.20b: Pottery from Burial 4/3.
Figure 3.20c: Pottery from Burial 4/3.
Figure 3.20d: Pottery from Burial 4/3.
Figure 3.20e: Pottery from Burial 4/3.
Figure 3.20f: Pottery from Burial 4/3.
Figure 3.21: Loess dolls/limestone platform in the west baulk of trench 4.
Figure 3.22: Burial 4/7 during excavation.
Figure 3.23: Stratigraphic sequence at 20 cm intervals through 4/4n, showing the complex nature of the construction.
Figure 3.24: Plan view of calcitic burial settings.
Figure 3.25a: nos. 1–4: Pottery from Burial 4/4i and 4/7.
Figure 3.25b: nos. 5–7: Pottery from Burial 4/4i and 4/7.
Figure 3.26: nos. 1–4:  Pottery from Burial 4/4a, c, h and j.
Figure 3.27: 1, 2: Pottery from Burial 4/4n.
Figure 3.28: 1: Pottery from Burial 4/4q.
Figure 3.29: Pottery from Burial 4/5.
Figure 3.30: Pottery from Burial 4/6.
Figure 3.31: 1, 2: Pottery from Burial 4/10.
Figure 3.32: Plan view of burial features in phase 2 of Trench 2.
Figure 3.33: Pottery from Burial 4/11.
Figure 3.34: Burial 4/13 being excavated.
Figure 3.35: Pottery from Burial 4/13.
Figure 3.36: Working photograph of Burial 4/15.
Figure 3.37: Pottery from Burial 4/15.
Figure 3.38: Pottery from Burial 4/16.
Figure 3.39: Plan drawing of the area.
Figure 3.40: Plan view of Burials 4/20 and 4/21, highlighting the area with fingertip impressions in the daub casing surrounding the deposits of bone and pottery.
Figure 3.41: Close-up view of the spread of pottery and bone during excavation.
Figure 3.42a: Pottery from the burial group.
Figure 3.42b: Pottery from the burial group.
Figure 3.43: Pottery from Trench 5, Tumulus 2.
Figure 3.44: Stratigraphy of the east baulk of Tumulus 3 at the end of excavation, note the position of the Pit Burial 3/5.
Figure 3.45: Plan illustration of funeral pyre/Burial 3/3.
Figure 3.46: Section taken through Burial 3/3 prior to its removal.
Figure 3.47: Stratigraphy and position of Burial 3/2 in the south baulk of Tumulus 3.
Figure 3.48: Pottery from Tumulus 3.
Translating Geology, Resources, and Redistributed Materials into Skill and Performance
	Geology
	Introduction
	Resources and redistributed materials
		Clay
		Carbonates
		Wood, scrub, and dung
	Making: skill and performances at Purić-Ljubanj
		Skill and performance
		Making pots
		Making tumuli
		Performances of making at Purić-Ljubanj
	Chapter 5
Figure 4.1: Geological map (after Galović 2014: Figure 2: 115).
Figure 4.2: Pottery being made at Purić-Ljubanj.
Figure 4.3: Students’ pottery warming prior to firing.
Figure 4.4: Photomicrographs showing (top) coarse, (middle) medium, and (bottom) fine examples of clay fabrics used at Purić-Ljubanj.
Figure 4.5: Orange/red (oxidised) carinated bowl and black (reduction-fired) chalice, indicating deliberate firing strategies in play with regard to vessel types at Purić-Ljubanj.
Figure 4.6: Pots from the Belegiš cemetery of Surćin, Croatia showing the potential for variability of skill and thus performances made. Reproduced with the kind permission of The Museum for Archaeology, Croatia
Figure 4.7: Painted sherd from the carinated shoulder of a Belegiš bowl form
Scales of performance at Purić-Ljubanj
	Morphology of Purić-Ljubanj
	Assembling the mounds
		Tumulus 1
		Tumulus 2
		Tumulus 3
	Scales of performance at Purić-Ljubanj
	Building the landscape
	Assembling the ancestors at the margins
	Chapter 6
Figure 5.1: Possible MBA (left) and LBA (right) mounds at Purić-Ljubanj, marked with red dots.
Figure 5.2: A suggestion for the early (possibly MBA) appearance of the Purić-Ljubanj necropolis.
Figure 5.3: Mound-site intervisibility.
Figure: 5.4: Visibility of other mound sites from Purić-Ljubanj.
Mediating Marginality
	Marginality and archaeological research
	Expressions of identity at Purić-Ljubanj
	UAISK’s future plans
	Concluding remarks
References
Index
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