The Celts, the Pannonians and the Dacians
(1st-2nd century)
Around 230 explored structures — houses, storage pits, trenches and several structures of unknown purpose — belong to a settlement that can generally be dated to the second half of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. The inhabitants of this settlement lived in dugouts and semi-dugouts of various types. Thus among 30 or so of the found houses we can differentiate: 1. oval dugouts slide 26,30 with dimensions of 3 х 2.5 to 5 х 3.5 m². 2. oval dugouts slide 34, 35, 36 with earthen stoves and pillars for roofs slanting in two directions, with dimensions of around 3.5 х 3 m³. 3. rectangular semi-dugouts slide 25 with technical drawing and animation, and slide 27,28,29 with rounded corners, that can also have pits for pillars for roofs slanting in two directions, with dimensions of 4 х 2 to 5 х 2.5 m; 4. rectangular semi-dugouts slide 31, 32, 33 with rounded corners, earthen stoves and a central roof pillar, with dimensions of around 3.5 х 3.5 m. Numerous storage pits slide 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 are of various shapes, frequently of large dimensions, holding up to 7 m³. The beam slide 42 stretching diagonally from the direction of the shore line has been researched so far in the length of around 50 m. It probably represents the foundation of a wooden fence, but the area that it encompassed is unclear. Most of the dug-in complexes slide 43, 44, 45, 46 forming up to five mutually connected wholes, that is five dug-in structures of various shapes, cover the area of up to 90 m2. The purpose of these wholes is unclear, although clay yards can be thought of. Some almost whole pottery can be located here, slide 58, as well as whole animal skeletons. Examples are skeletons of dogs slide 56, but of deer as well slide 55, 57, 57а . Among rare wooden finds are charred knife sheathes slide 59.
Almost all of the explored structures contained a large amount of discarded pottery sherds. This pottery bears all the markings of late La Tène pottery, with grey polished vessels made on a swift wheel as the most frequently represented type. This type of pottery was also manufactured in the settlement itself. At first parts of dried but unbaked crockery were found in several structures on the southern outskirt of the explored area photo 6, pieces of clay into which unsuccessful pieces of pottery were rolled photo 7, test of clay for baking photo 8 , pieces of a grid from a pottery kiln, as well as pottery deformed in the baking process photo 9 . The most recent excavations in 2004 and 2005 have discovered two workshops with seven pottery kilns slide 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 54а, 54b and technical drawing. They are partly dug into the ground and the grids of the kilns themselves were made by applying a thick layer of clay to a construction woven of reeds. So massive and heavy, this construction rested in the middle upon a supporting wall, which divided the fireplace of the kiln into two parts.
The gray polished pottery made on a swift wheel is represented in various shapes of table and packaging pottery. Most numerous are bowls that can be found in two basic types — bowls with „S“ profiles of the rim photo 10 and bowls with an upright and straight upper part — biconal photo 11. Bowls are frequently decorated on the inside by polished wavy or horizontal lines. Apart from bowls, also present are pots photo 13 that were probably used for the storage of food, pythos, chalises with one or two grips. photo 14, as well as jugs photo 15. There are rare finds of pieces of sieves photo 16. Such pottery is sometimes decorated by the polishing of unusual motifs photo 17, and not wavy lines as was most customary, photo 18 or a net photo 19.
Painted pottery was also used as table crockery, in the shape of chalises photo 20, jugs and pitchers photo 21 and bowls. Painting was mostly done in white and red, and more rarely in brown.
Cooking pots were mostly made on a swift wheel, of clay with the addition of ground shells photo 22. Of similar shape are pots with graphite photo 23 in the mixture of the clay, which could have been used for special purposes. Both the one and the other were decorated with etched-in criss-crossed lines.
In a far smaller percentage there is also pottery made by kneading, of clay with fire-clay and organic matters. Of shapes we have pots and a smaller number of lids photo 24. Among the pots we can differentiate two groups — neckless pots, with indrawn rims, decorated with a comb photo 25 and pots with a slightly outspread rim, decorated by plastic strips, button-like knobs and etched-in wavy lines photo 26. The second group of pots can be linked to Dacian origin, while the first is the most frequently represented in the Pannonia region, west of the Dacian territory.
Together with this pottery of late La Tène characteristics also found, though very rarely, were sherds of Roman pottery photo 27, among which pythos are the most represented.
Usually on sherds of polished pottery we can sometimes find etchings made later on — graffiti. The most frequent motif is that of the cross photo 39, and there are also lines and representations of unclear symbolism photo 40, as well as those that might have been made accidentally or by using a piece of pottery as a surface on which food was cut photo 41. Some of the cross etchings were made before baking, such as the example on the bottom of a graphite pot and a pot with ground shell photo 42.
Of smaller pieces of broken pottery, with a finer or less fine finishing of the edges “tokens” were frequently made photo 33 , the true purpose of which is unknown, but which might have been used in some kind of game. Such objects are familiar from La Tène settlements in Moravska (Moravia), but their purpose was not determined for certain there either. The tokens were very rarely made especially of fresh clay photo 28 . In keeping with the numerousness of various types of pottery, most frequent are tokens made of polished vessels photo 29, and quite rare are those made of painted vessels photo 30 , as well as those of other types photo 31. On some very rare example we can see that holes were bored in the center of these objects photo 32, so that it is unclear whether they might have been disks for spinning wheels, the making of which was not completed.
There is an exceptional find of a damaged toy — a rattle photo 80 made of baked clay, in the shape of a flattened sphere. Since it is of larger dimensions than an object that could be held by a small child, it was probably hung above the crib, to which a hole in the middle testifies. Alongside the rattle a small ball was found, and there were probably more of them.
Disks for spinning wheels were also made of clay. They could have been made separately, of fresh clay photo 34, some were even decorated, or of pottery sherds photo 35. Some of them were found in an uncompleted state photo 36.
On several sherds of kneaded pottery textile imprints can clearly be seen photo 12.
Tubular and pyramid-shaped weights photo 37 were also made of clay and might have been used to affix roof coverings of reed and hay. Two interesting objects photo 38 for now remain without a precisely defined purpose, but they could be presumed to have been used for the finishing of some clay surfaces, perhaps the outer walls of houses or of larger pottery.
Apart from the object made of clay, knives, scissors and other iron objects were also found in the structures, as well as whetstones, millstones and objects made of bone and horn, among which skates and awls.
Some of the objects of various materials made up the useful or decorative parts of the clothing of the inhabitants of “Stari Vinogradi”. Among the useful parts of the clothing we can include bone buttons, photo 43 , part of an iron belt made of links photo 44, iron belt straps photo 45, and fibulae. They are most frequently legionary photo 46, rather more rarely La Tène photo 47 and Pannonian-Noric photo 48. Among useful details of clothing we could also include bronze links photo 49 that might have had the function of belt separators.
Among decorative parts of traditional clothing we can single out beads of clay photo 50 and glass photo 51, chains (amulets) of stone photo 52 and bone photo 53, bracelets of glass photo 54, bronze photo 55, iron photo 56 and silver photo 57. Among the decorative objects we should certainly include the find of one silver saltaleon photo 58 and a lead brooch photo 59.
The population also used money to a certain extent, which is testified to by the find of only two pieces of Celtic money photo 60 .
Of other metal objects we should note bronze sewing needles photo 61 , pieces of pottery handles photo 81 , and two objects of unclear purpose photo 62 , while of bronze objects clamps were found, photo 63, a hook? photo 64 , sheep shears photo 65 , and knives photo 66 . The fact that some of the bronze objects were made in this very settlement of “Stari Vinogradi” can be seen by the finds of small casting vessels of graphite photo 67 , that were used to cast bronze.
At least some of the objects of bone and horn were also made picture 2/9 in this settlement, testified to by half-finished products photo 68 , made of these materials. Of finished products we are familiar with skates photo 69, some kind of tool for the smoothing of leather photo 70 , picture 2/10 awls photo 71, objects that were probably used for the weaving of fishing nets photo 72 picture 2/4 , and an object that resembles a whistle was also found photo 73. The purpose of the modified deer horn with a circular opening photo 74 is as yet unknown.
Among stone objects most numerous are whetting stones photo 75, and pieces of milling stones photo 76, and there are also rare finds of flint photo 77.
The period of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD in Bačka are not known well enough as yet, and so the finds from the settlement in Čurug must be compared to the closest known settlements of the same period in Srem. Thus the pottery shows similarity to the pottery from phases VIb and VIc at Gomolava near Hrtkovci, as well as with the contemporaneous ceramics from the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD with several other native settlements in Srem.
Fibulae of the late La Tène type is a frequent find in south Pannonia, and is dated to the end of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. Legionary fibulae, several of which were found in Čurug, are dated from the second half of the 1st century AD to the beginning of the 3rd century AD, but also to the first half of the 1st century AD...
The link from the astragal belt from Čurug is most akin to the belt from Dunaszekcsö-а, dated to the La Tène D phase. Similar, but slightly smaller links were found in Srem, in settlements from the second half of the 1st century BC.
A bracelet made of glass, almost identical to those from Čurug, was found in Srem, in a settlement from the second half of the 1st century BC.
Dating of this settlement in Čurug to the second half of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD has only been performed in general. The variety of the location as well as of the movable archeological finds perhaps tells of a multi-ethnic composition of the population. This just goes to confirm the general historical data on the Scordisci, Dacians, Pannonians and other peoples and tribes in this area map 2. Only after a detailed analysis of the finds and the processing of all the wholes will it be possible to more precisely determine the time of the origin and the dying off of this settlement, as well as the ancestry of its population.
Settlement of the 1st-2nd Century
Only ten or so structures belong to the following period, which probably covers the end of the 1st and the 2nd century, among which is one house, slide 47 with technical drawing , while the rest are storage pits and structures of other purposes. Of pottery we still have only polished pottery with late La Tène characteristics, but of somewhat altered forms photo 78. Sherds of Roman pottery also appear Table 1/1-3, which are dated to the end of the 1st and the 2nd century AD.
Apart from this pottery made on a swift wheel, two groups of pottery made by kneading were also found in several units. One of them has fire-clay in its faction Table 1/13-15, while the other is without additions, with polished inner and outer surfaces Table 1/11-12. The dating of these units with kneaded pottery is not entirely reliable. A piece of a glazed Roman dish was found in one of the structures along with the kneaded pottery, which can be dated to the middle and the secondhalf of the 2nd century AD, but also a bronze bracelet photo 79 belonging to the end of the 2nd and beginning of the first half of the 1st century BC. The closest analogies for the kneaded pottery are sporadic finds of this kind in Srem, from the end of the period BC and beginning of the period AD.
Слајд 47 са техничким цртежом: Основа и пресеци полуземуницеSlide 47 with technical drawing: Base and cross-sections of semi-dugouts
Photo 78: Chalice
Photo 79: Bronze Bracelet
Table 1/1-15: Ceramics of the 1st-2nd century
