A non-invasive XRD-XRF portable system for Archaeometry based on Angle and Energy Dispersive XRD (Hybrid XRD) plus XRF has been previously proposed by the authors. It gathers an attractive compromise between analytical performance and measurement time, as well as a higher energy penetration with respect to conventional Angle Dispersive XRD (ADXRD). Penetration to inside layers, usually perceived as an inconvenient for non-invasive portable XRF or XRD analyzer, can instead be informative for the proposed hybrid XRD-XRF system to perform depth profiling analysis. This hybrid configuration harness from the redundancy of the data, in the sense that a single XRF or XRD specimen, taken at the same sample point, appears in multiple spectrograms to account for data counting statistics. On this work, the performance of the system on standard reference material, as well as the identification of pigments in the surface layer of paintings is evaluated. Specific Hybrid data processing was conceived to examine the layer structure of the painting, by distinguishing signal patterns of the exposed and the under layers. The system is ventured for the first time to the study of pictorial artworks in coffin and cartonnage samples from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi. Prussian blue pigment in a modeled painting is also discussed.
The first research of medieval tombstones on the territory of the municipality of Osmaci began in the first half of the 20th century. By 1970, eight sites with a total of ninety-seven medieval tombstones had been discovered. Recent terrain research correlated with the use of the Geographic Information System revealed a significant number of new necropolises. On the territory of the municipality of Osmaci, there are twenty-six necropolises with a total of two hundred and sixteen medieval tombstones. The most common are stelas, which makes up 59.26% of all monuments. According to that, the area of the municipality of Osmaci differs from other areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where tombstones in the shape of sarcophagi are most represented. The ornaments contain twenty medieval tombstones. The most common motifs are crosses and crescents that appear on stelas. In addition to that, relief presentations of the sun, spirals, S-spirals, grapes, rosettes, twisted ribbons, sword, lily were also discovered. According to the shape of the monuments and decorative motifs, it can be concluded that the medieval tombstones in the municipality of Osmaci belong to the East Bosnian stonemason's school.
The article studies the question whether bishop Caesarius of Arles (503–542) could be the owner of a leather belt with an ivory buckle from the Museum of Antique Arles. The issue is the absence of narrative sources directly proving that idea. High price of the object did not match the bishop's ascetic reputation. Still that did not preclude that someone from the closest circle of his associates or supporters could make that gift to Caesarius. The article studies the ornament of the movable ring of the buckle and the iconographic type of the plot of the Resurrection of Christ carved on its surface. Some parts of the belt, its decoration and manufacturing techniques find parallels with various artifacts (buckles, sarcophagi, diptychs) stored in other museums or discovered during archaeological excavations in Gaul. A review of the elements of the liturgical vestments of the clergy of Late Antiquity led to the conclusion that the belt could not have a liturgical status. On the basis of narrative sources related to the life and work of Caesarius, the author makes assumptions about the possible extra-liturgical contexts of wearing such a belt. The data presented in the study make it possible not only to attribute the belt to the period of bishop Caesarius's life, but also to consider the latter as the most likely owner of the thing.
The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of the monuments of the old cemetery in the Dagestan village of Aglobi. These sites were hardly studied before. The central place in the cemetery is occupied by a large domed mausoleum with a burial inside. Unlike the vast majority of other Dagestani mausoleums, the building in Aglobi is made of bricks. In our opinion, the mausoleum was originally built in the late Middle Ages (XV-XVI centuries), and at the very beginning of the XVIII century. it was repaired, as evidenced by an inscription dated 1114 / 1702–03. The study of the epigraphy of the mausoleum made it possible to establish both the name of the person buried in it, who was a Sufi (feast), and the name of the organizer of the repair and restoration work. The latter is marked with the social term mujavir, which was first recorded in the epigraphy of Dagestan. The carried out analysis of the grave monuments indicates that the formation of the cemetery took place over several centuries. The old grave monuments of the cemetery chronologically cover the period from the Late Middle Ages to the middle of the 19th century. The study of the monuments includes an analysis of their typology (sarcophagi, rectangular-vertical steles), decorative elements. For the first time, the Arabic-language epigraphy of the Aglobi monuments is introduced into scientific circulation. It was established that the style of the epitaphs, the external appearance and decorative design of the grave monuments of the cemetery have direct analogies with the monuments of the Derbent zone, the historical regions of South Dagestan, and also Shirvan.
The purpose of this paper is not to shed a measure of light on Greek, but rather on Roman stonemasonry, and the latter only within the context of the production of funerary monuments in Dalmatia. The first funerary monuments in Dalmatia were stelai. A particular kind of simple, architectural stele developed in Greek towns. Something seen most commonly in Narona, as well as in Salona and elsewhere on occasion, is that the Greek type of stele was accepted before there was any strong influence from Italy. These stelai obviously belonged to wealthy families, which commissioned burial monuments that would cost an entire fortune on their own. Accompanying the soldiers that served in Dalmatia, who were stationed in legion camps (Burnum and Tilurium) at the start of the 1st century, came monumental and richly decorated monuments, which often featured military symbolism and tools. The sarcophagus began its life in Dalmatia around the middle of the 2nd century, except for isolated examples from the 1st century. The largest source of locally made sarcophagi matches a period within the 3rd century, when the standard became the three-piece front face (a central inscription field with two empty fields on its sides or a tabula for reliefs, usually in the form of erotes with a reversed torch). Military inscriptions regarding the quarries at Trogir and on Brač are clear evidence that the trade was not in the hands of private enterprise. Soldiers were not available to other private and civil institutions, as they were paid directly by the emperor, and were thus tasked with jobs that they were trained to do in the army. This is why none of these city-like settlements had an actual civil government with municipal functionaries.
This work examines how Roman marble were reused into religious and civil buildings beetween the IVth-Xth / XIth-XVth centuries in some centers of Campania. The aims of this research were threefold: I. to establish a corpus around the spolia of old centers of Campania. II. to consider the problem of continuity and the revival of the past in new buildings through the codification of new religious and politic aesthetic. III. to demonstrate the origin of spolia from ancient centers of Campania and not only from Lazio' centers. The evidence of some unpublished materials (as sarcophagi and capitals), preserved mainly in local Museums, or reused in Medieval Churches and in the streets of cities, contribute to better delineate our knowledges about Campania spolia, before known from authoritative studies on the subject. The use of spolia in Campania is interesting to understand the survival of the ancient Roman society of Campania during the Longobard and Norman dominations. We can also describe the difference between the reuse of earlier building materials or decorative sculpture on new momuments in South and North Campania, looking at the spolia found in Capua (for example, coming from the marbles of the Amphitheatre or Theatre in Santa Maria Capua Vetere), Sessa Aurunca and Teano and Salerno-Amalfi' coast. The origins of spolia are from imperial-roman Theatre and Amphitheatre very rich in marble to be reused, from imperial necropolis of republican centers of Campania, restored by Traiano and Adriano emperors, but also from important villae around Naples and Flegrean Bay. In the Medieval age, the coastal cities acquire the materials through maritime trade: from Paestum to Salerno-Amalfi to Naples-Pozzuoli-Ostia-Roma, but also through regional routes: Nuceria-Capua-Benevento, full of roman spolia.
The proposed study is based on a multidisciplinary approach combining archeology, history, art history and epigraphy. It defines funerary monuments as sculptures signaling the location of graves and / or celebrating the dead's memory. The sarcophagi, as well as roughly hewn blocks that sometimes mark the medieval burials, as undecorated items, are therefore excluded from this classification. In the diocese of Limoges, the medieval funerary monuments include a heterogeneous set of shapes (slabs, recumbent, saddleback tombstones, steles.) and materials (stone, metal). The corpus analyzed includes 148 elements dated with certainty from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, and 135 that can potentially be attributed to that period. The first chapter is devoted to methodological aspects. It opens with a typological description, put in perspective by a reflection on the hazards of conservation. The biological phenomenons are quickly reviewed to dwell specifically on human destruction, most particularly during the two historical periods generally incriminated: the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution. Alongside the logic at work within the destruction, one can not overlook the major role in the transmission of reused gravestones. As for heritage safeguard measures, they are not limited to material conservation of objects, but also extend to different inventory work. This is an opportunity to highlight a rich regional historiography on the subject, but also to remind the unrecognized government missions in the field. The inventory implementation strategy, data collection, computer processing and structuring in the catalog records regarding this particular study are then detailled. Against common habits, a special effort was made on the analysis of the dating methods, those being a major issue in the analysis of medieval tombstones. Finally, the criticism of the sources once completed, a historiographical overview on medieval funerary monuments puts into perspective the problems developed for the Limousin's ...
Ivakin Gleb, Tomashevsky Andrey, Pavlenko Sergey Use of pyropiiyllite and quartzite in the building works in Southern Rus The results of long-term investigations on the territory of Ovruch Volost (district) realized by the Ovruch expedition and latest excavations in Kiev on the sites of the Archangel Michael Monastery, the Dormition Church of the Kiev Cave Monastery and the Tithe Church let the researchers raise a question about the use of pyrophyllites and quartzites from Ovruch in the building works in Southern Rus. On the territory of the Ovruch-Slovechno mountain ridge entire regions, sites, settlements and workshops that once specialized in slate industry have been discovered. Also, the medieval open-cast mines have been found and investigated. The exploitation of the main varieties of pyrophyllitic slate used to be practiced in those places. The unique complex of natural resources, on the one hand, and favourable social, political, religious and economic conditions, on the other hand, made the start of the Ovruch slate industry possible. The very mineral, i.e. pyrophyllitic slate, has many useful natural qualities. The slate industry is distinguished by the high degree of the development of the manufacture process, the high level of standartization and good quality of the manufactured products. The volume of the manufactured products and used material was outstandingly enormous. At the same time, the products manufactured from pyrophyllitic slate were associated with a high status and high price. One of the main fields in the structure of the Ovruch pyrophyllitic industry was supply for the construction of monumental churches and palaces. Pyrophyllite was used in their foundations, walls, stairs, cornices of arches, bases and capitals of the columns, templons, lintels, gallery thresholds, decorated carved slabs, flat floor slabs and slabs for opus sectile and others. This material was also used for sarcophagi and tombstones. This paper is an attempt at remodelling the quantity, volume and weight ...
La reafirmación del modelo político-administrativo ciudadano tras la fase arcaica colonial abre una nueva etapa de prosperidad en la antigua fundación tiria. El esplendor de Gadir en el s. V a.C. se refleja en los textos clásicos y en los hallazgos arqueológicos y, sin embargo, nuestros conocimientos sobre el desarrollo histórico de la ciudad de época púnica son muy limitados. El horizonte arcaico comienza a esclarecerse tras los hallazgos del Teatro Cómico que han sacado a la luz los restos de la fundación tiria y, sin embargo, la ciudad posterior continúa siendo una gran incógnita. ¿A qué lugar se traslada la población una vez que se abandona el asentamiento primitivo? ¿Quiénes son los individuos enterrados en los excepcionales sarcófagos antropoides? ¿Qué relación jerárquica existe entre el asentamiento insular y los situados en tierra firme? ¿Qué papel jugó la industria y comercialización de las salazones? Los interrogantes planteados son múltiples y no hacen más que evidenciar la incapacidad del paradigma tradicional para explicar el desarrollo histórico de la Gadir postcolonial y la necesidad de buscar nuevos modelos interpretativos. ; The reaffirmation of the citizen's political-administrative model opened up a new stage of prosperity in this ancient city of far western Spain. The splendour of Gadir in the 5th century B.C. has been revealed in classic texts and archaeological findings. Clearly, our knowledge of the urban morphology and historic development of the Punic city is quite limited. As for the Archaic period, we must rely on information provided by excavations conducted under the city's Teatro Cómico, which have revealed remains from the Tyrian settlement, but the subsequent city remains a great unknown for researchers. Where did the population move to after abandoning the primitive settlement? Who is buried in the exceptional anthropoid sarcophagi? What hierarchical relationship existed between the population living on the islands and that living on the mainland? What was the role of the salted fish industry and its commercialization? Numerous questions arise, suggesting the inefficiency of the traditional paradigm in explaining the historical development of Gadir in postcolonial times as well as the need to find new interpretive models.
Na osnovu sačuvane izvorne građe obrađuju se radovi na restauraciji i prezentaciji jugoistočnog dijela Dioklecijanove palače u Splitu usredotočenog na monumentalni carev mauzolej i njegov neposredni okoliš. Obuhvaćeno je vrijeme druge polovice 19. stoljeća pa do Prvog svjetskog rata u doba austrijske uprave pokrajinom Dalmacijom. To je bilo vrijeme radikalnih promjena u odnosu na graditeljsko nasljeđe koje su se ogledale od zaštite pojedinačnih građevina do urbanih cjelina, od usmjeravanja na najstariji i najvrijedniji antički sloj k integralnom uvažavaju kasnijih ostvarenja pa i onih manjeg umjetničkog i povijesnog značaja. ; In the 19th century, the historical centre of Split, particularly the part inside the perimeter of Diocletian's Palace, was densely populated, with narrow lanes, dark and airless. The most important Antique buildings, the Temple, the Peristyle, the Vestibule and the Mausoleum were in a fairly good state of preservation, but had been completely neglected. In addition, they had been stifled by houses built on later that so encircled them that they could be seen from no direction. The whole of the area was poorly explored, and it was only in the middle of the century that any very great interest was shown in the remains of the Roman palace; still, however, little was done in the way of protection and presentation. The situation continued to deteriorate, and it was not until 1873 that the Ministry in Vienna sent down three professors to Split to determine the situation and propose a solution for putting it in order. At the beginning, attention was devoted to the Antique buildings, the oldest and most valuable stratum. The most complicated situation was in the eastern temenos of Diocletian's Palace, in the consecrated space that with its wall enclosed the emperor's tomb. At that time, in and immediately around it, was a series of more recent, ordinary buildings that completely blocked off and stifled the monumental building of the former Mausoleum, now the Cathedral. The Viennese experts, headed by Dr Alexander Conze, submitted a report about the operations on the Mausoleum required and the demolition of a large number of worthless buildings around it, in order for the Roman building to appear in its proper prominence. On the western side of the eastern temenos was the open space of the Antique Peristyle, which was used as the church square. They were divided from each other by a colonnade supporting semicircular arches. Behind them, in the space of the temenos, in front of the Mausoleum, there was a sequence of buildings that had their main facades built in between the Roman columns. These were the chapel of St Roch, 16th century, and next to it, that of St Barbara, 17th century, and then after that southwards a café building and the private house of the Petrini. Along the whole of the northern side of the temenos, extending from west to east, was the building of the old episcopal palace built in the 17th century, with its two small wings towards the south. It was partially built on the Roman portico lining the street, and partially on the Decumanus of the imperial palace. It was too dilapidated for the bishops to live in anymore. With the narrow street in front of it, it was encumbered with the passing of pedestrians in this much-frequented and cramped part of the city, which had grown rapidly in the 19th century. On the eastern side in the extension of the Cathedral was a choir, put up in the 17th century. The extension was in a half of its area within the temenos, while the second half came out of it through the wall outside. South of the Mausoleum, abutting onto the outer side of the wall of the temenos, were private buildings, a sacristy and the Early Medieval Chapel of St Matthew. The chapel was demolished in 1880, and the sarcophagi of the archbishops of Split that had been in it for centuries were moved to the side of the altar in St John's Baptistery. At that time small buildings, numbers 450, 472 and 473, close to the Vestibule of Diocletian's own quarters were pulled down so that the rotunda could be renovated, and for there to be a view onto the Mausoleum on that side as well. Putting in order the neglected space of the eastern temenos, hemmed in with buildings, and its immediate surroundings, was the most demanding problem within the compass of Diocletian's Palace. A systematic solution was addressed only in the early 20th century, when, in 1904, a Standing Commission for Diocletian's Palace was set up, to meet every year in Split. It had representatives of local and regional government, and experts from Vienna. The biggest problem in terms of scope, position of complexity and from the viewpoint of the new conservation principles, was the building of the old bishop's palace, with its modest intimations of Baroque that extended to the north of the Mausoleum. The building hindered the flow of pedestrian traffic in this very busy part of the city and hid the view of the Mausoleum. There were major discussions about its future. Views diverged about the new approach concerning the need to keep up historical units, and the requirement that this part of the city should be provided with better conditions of life with respect to traffic and sanitation. In the 19th century, all the buildings that had occluded the Mausoleum, apart from the old bishop's palace, had been torn down. But the problem was not solved until 1924, when the building burned down. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, the Cathedral and the medieval bell tower were thoroughly restored, according to a drawing by the Viennese architecture Alois Hauser, who also oversaw the works. Today the space of the eastern temenos is almost completely freed of later buildings and thus the most important stratum from Antiquity has been given prominence. But this has its drawbacks, because a large part of the south east quadrant of Diocletian's Palace, bereft of its buildings, became empty and featureless, the picturesque charm of the setting having been destroyed.
The proposed study is based on a multidisciplinary approach combining archeology, history, art history and epigraphy. It defines funerary monuments as sculptures signaling the location of graves and / or celebrating the dead's memory. The sarcophagi, as well as roughly hewn blocks that sometimes mark the medieval burials, as undecorated items, are therefore excluded from this classification. In the diocese of Limoges, the medieval funerary monuments include a heterogeneous set of shapes (slabs, recumbent, saddleback tombstones, steles.) and materials (stone, metal). The corpus analyzed includes 148 elements dated with certainty from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, and 135 that can potentially be attributed to that period. The first chapter is devoted to methodological aspects. It opens with a typological description, put in perspective by a reflection on the hazards of conservation. The biological phenomenons are quickly reviewed to dwell specifically on human destruction, most particularly during the two historical periods generally incriminated: the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution. Alongside the logic at work within the destruction, one can not overlook the major role in the transmission of reused gravestones. As for heritage safeguard measures, they are not limited to material conservation of objects, but also extend to different inventory work. This is an opportunity to highlight a rich regional historiography on the subject, but also to remind the unrecognized government missions in the field. The inventory implementation strategy, data collection, computer processing and structuring in the catalog records regarding this particular study are then detailled. Against common habits, a special effort was made on the analysis of the dating methods, those being a major issue in the analysis of medieval tombstones. Finally, the criticism of the sources once completed, a historiographical overview on medieval funerary monuments puts into perspective the problems developed for the Limousin's corpus.The second chapter focuses on the mechanisms at work during the production of the monuments. A sociological analysis of the deads represented on the monuments provides first answers by highlighting, not only the expected time lag between clergy and laity, but also differences between the secular clergy and regular clergy. The recipients are sometimes responsible for purchasing their funerary sculpture, but the order and cost of the monument is more often supported by family, whether carnal or spiritual. Little is known regarding the work of craftsmen, but it nevertheless deserves to be presented. After two chapters contextualizing the object of study, a third chapter summarizes the interpretation of the subject, from symbolic to practical aspects. The funerary monuments of the diocese of Limoges give to see the dead through the prism of their devotion and their integration in medieval society. Such memorial choices go along with a new form of spiritualization, that culminates through the use of architectural metaphors to represent some faithful as the "living stones of the Church." The ones most directly mentioned are represented by a portrait that does not stop with their earthly life, and extends to the afterlife. By the location of their grave, they are both present here and beyond. The funeral monument can therefore be considered as a staging that transforms the memory associated with the dead and the devotion of the living. Limousin's corpus indeed implies all the members of the Christian community, united in the caritas that is the dogma of the communion of saints. The mechanisms of the heavenly intercession and prayers of the passer-by, but also what they should get away with pious education. ; L'étude proposée repose sur une approche pluridisciplinaire associant archéologie, histoire, histoire de l'art et épigraphie. Elle définit les monuments funéraires comme des sculptures signalant l'emplacement de tombes et/ou célébrant la mémoire de défunts. Les sarcophages, de même que les blocs plus ou moins équarris qui marquent parfois les sépultures médiévales sont donc exclus de cette classification, car il s'agit d'éléments non décorés. Dans le diocèse de Limoges, les monuments funéraires médiévaux regroupent un ensemble hétérogène de formes (dalles funéraires, gisants, pierres tombales en bâtière, stèles…) et de matériaux (pierres, métaux). Le corpus analysé compte 148 éléments datés avec certitude des XIe-XIIIe siècle, et 135 potentiellement attribuables à cette période. Le premier chapitre est consacré aux aspects méthodologiques. Il s'ouvre par une description typologique, immédiatement mise en perspective par une réflexion sur les biais de conservation. Les causes biologiques sont rapidement passées en revue pour s'attarder plus précisément sur les destructions humaines, avec une réflexion sur les deux périodes historiques généralement incriminées : les guerres de Religion et la Révolution française. Parallèlement aux logiques à l'œuvre dans les destructions, on ne saurait négliger le rôle majeur des remplois dans la transmission des pierres tombales. Quant aux mesures de sauvegarde du patrimoine, elles ne se limitent pas à la préservation matérielle des objets, mais s'étendent également aux différents travaux d'inventaire. C'est l'occasion de mettre en lumière une riche historiographie régionale sur le sujet, mais aussi de rappeler les missions méconnues de l'État en la matière. Le propos est ensuite resserré sur la présente étude : il explicite la stratégie d'inventaire mise en place, la collecte des données, leur traitement informatique et leur structuration dans les notices du catalogue. À rebours des habitudes, un effort particulier est également porté sur l'analyse des méthodes de datation car elles constituent un enjeu majeur – tant par sa difficulté que par son importance – de l'analyse des monuments funéraires médiévaux. Enfin, une fois la critique des sources achevée, un bilan historiographique sur les monuments funéraires médiévaux met en perspectives les problématiques développées pour le corpus limousin. Le deuxième chapitre est centré sur les mécanismes à l'œuvre lors de la production. L'analyse sociologique des défunts représentés sur les monuments funéraires offre déjà de premiers éléments de réponse en mettant en évidence non seulement un décalage chronologique attendu entre clercs et laïcs, mais aussi des différences entre clergé séculier et clergé régulier. Ces destinataires sont parfois à l'origine de l'achat de leur sculpture funéraire, mais celle-ci est plus fréquemment prise en charge par la famille, qu'elle soit charnelle ou spirituelle. Du travail des artisans, on ne sait que peu de choses mais elles méritent toutefois d'être présentées. Après deux chapitres contextualisant l'objet d'étude, le troisième synthétise l'interprétation du sujet en partant de la symbolique pour cheminer jusqu'à la pratique. Les monuments funéraires du diocèse de Limoges donnent à voir les défunts par le prisme de leur dévotion et de leur intégration dans la société médiévale. On voit avec ces choix mémoriels s'amorcer une spiritualisation qui culmine avec le recours à des métaphores architecturales pour représenter certains fidèles en « pierres vivantes de l'Église ». Ceux qui sont évoqués plus directement sont également sublimés par un portrait qui ne s'arrête pas à leur vie terrestre et qui se prolonge au contraire pour intégrer leur devenir céleste. Par la localisation de leur tombe, ils sont à la fois présents ici-bas et au-delà. Cette mise en scène par les monuments funéraires transforme à la fois le souvenir associé aux défunts concernés et la dévotion des vivants. Le corpus limousin implique en effet l'ensemble des membres de la communauté chrétienne, unie dans la caritas qu'est le dogme de la communion des saints. Les mécanismes de l'intercession céleste et des prières des passants, mais aussi ce que ces derniers devaient en tirer comme pieux enseignement.
U radu se analizira antička keramika pronađena na lokalitetu dvor knezova Iločkih pri iskopavanjima 2001. godine. Utvrđeno je da se radi o rimskoj keramici koja se datira od druge polovine 1., pa sve do kraja 4. stoljeća. ; When the Romans conquered the area around Ilok in the first century AD, it became part of Lower Illyricum. After Trajan's division of Pannonia into Upper and Lower sections, Ilok, i.e. Cuccium, was part of Lower Pannonia until Diocletian's division. Diocletian divided Lower Pannonia into Pannonia Valeria and Pannonia Secunda. The center of Pannonia Secunda was Sirmium, and Cuccium belonged to this province. Cuccium was an important point in this part of the Limes, because it defended the Empire where the Danube was easy to cross. The site of the fortress itself has still not been discovered, but it is mentioned as Cucci, Catio, Cuccio, Cuccium, Cuccis castelum. On the other side of the Danube there were barbarian tribes: the Sarmatians and the Iazigians. The Romans adapted their military approach in order to be able to conquer them more easily, so they placed their cavalry and infantry along this part of the Limes. Thus in Cuccium the following units were stationed: "Cuneus equitarum promotorum" and "Equitas sagittarii" (ŠARANOVIĆ-SVETEK, 1966/67, 61-65; BATOROVIĆ, 1994, 11, 12; JANKULOV, 1952, 16; VULIĆ, 1939, 73). Traces of the rich history of Ilok were found in the broader territory of the town in the rescue excavations and construction works, and almost always a part of these finds related to Antiquity. Thus a number of pottery fragments, inscriptions, coins, reliefs, sarcophagi, etc. were found. The pottery that was analysed here is connected with the material found in the systematic archaeological excavations conducted by the Institute of Archaeology in 2001 in the castle of Ilok's princes. The excavated artefacts are highly fragmented and modest, which makes a thorough analysis impossible. The excavations were conducted in the courtyard of the castle, which was covered with earth that was brought subsequently from different sites, thus excluding the possibility of stratigraphy in the analysis of the goods. The finds of Roman pottery in the Roman Province of Pannonia are connected with the invasion of the Roman army and the Italics in this area. Trade and contacts with distant regions were made possible by roads and rivers. In the beginning, trade was related only to military camps and other military facilities, as well as the newly settled towns, and only after a while did it include the local population (LENGYEL, RADAN, 1980, 330-332). This might have happened under the rule of the Emperor Augustus during the transition from the Old to the New Age or after the Pannonian-Dalmatian rebellion in the first half of the first century. Such pottery has already been found at several sites in Pannonia (DAUTOVA-RUŠEVLJAN, 1986, 72), so that it is possible that it exists in the territory of Ilok. In the earliest stage, all goods needed by the soldiers and the civilians came to Pannonia from Aquileia or from other parts of northern Italy across Aquileia. There are not many finds from this earliest period, and some of the existing rare finds are fragments of pottery with thin walls, a jug with one handle and a pot in the La Tène tradition that might have served as an urn (Pl. 2, 8, 16, 17). In the second century products of western workshops are present in Pannonia as well, and they are predominant until the crisis in the mid-third century. The representatives of this period are examples of sigillatae from the Rheinzabern workshop (Pl. 1, 1-3), and as local production became increasingly intense, there are also local imitations of sigillatae (Pl. 1, 4, 5). Products from other neighbouring provinces were not imported in significant quantities. Most of the finds can be dated to the third and the fourth centuries. There are many fragments of glazed pottery in dark green and brown, jugs (Pl. 2, 9), bowls (Pl. 1, 6, 7), and a mortaria (Pl. 2, 12-15), which is frequent in this period in Pannonia, when glazed pottery was massively produced even in Pannonia itself; apart from that, there is also pots (Pl. 3, 24-31) and lids (Pl. 3, 18-23). After the death of Emperor Valentinian in 375 there was stagnation in development, reconstruction, trade and production. By the time of the invasions by barbarian tribes, i.e. the Goths and the Alans, the developed Roman civilization in this area in the first half of the fifth century went through changes in the composition of its population as well as in lifestyle. According to the treaty of 405, a part of Pannonia came under Alaric's rule, which brought Roman life in this part of Pannonia to an end (PINTEROVIĆ, 1970, 82). Without specific research it is not possible to determine when and where exactly the fortress was erected, how life surrounding it developed, and how it stopped functioning. From the time immediately after this there are only a few finds, the most significant being that of a pair of silver Ostrogoth fibulae from the fifth century. Pottery was found in this excavation, and it can be approximately dated from the middle of the first to the end of the fourth century. It should be noted that the earliest pottery is the smallest in number, and the pottery from the third and fourth centuries the largest. We encounter pottery of a different origin, from local workshops, as well as Roman pottery under the strong influence of local manufacturers, i.e. pottery in visible Celtic tradition, imitations of Roman pottery and imported Roman pottery produced in different workshops. Such material is present also in the remaining part of Lower Pannonia; therefore it was to be expected that it would be found in Ilok as well. The material is unfortunately rather modest and fragmented, so one cannot gain a clear picture of everyday life or of the entire extent of trade connections and the relationship between the citizens of Cuccium with the rest of the Roman Empire. It is clear that in the beginning there were connections with Italy, the influence of the La Tčne heritage is felt. Later they were connected with the Rhineland (the areas of Pannonia and Noricum were the main export destinations of the Rheinzabern workshop (VIKIĆ-BELANČIĆ, 1962/63, 95; FREMERSDORF, 1937, 167-172)) and products of local provincial workshops were used. In order to reach better and more complete conclusions, further research is necessary, because due to modest materials at present this is impossible, and the fragments can only build a framework which can help in further analysis. Cuccium was probably not as big and as developed as Cornacum or Cibalae, but owing to its position it was of extraordinary significance and it represents one of the vitally important points on the Danube limes. This is what necessitates additional research.
U istraživanjima kasnosrednjovjekovnoga dvora knezova Iločkih pronađena je raznovrsna antička materijalna ostavština koja obogaćuje dosadašnje skromne spoznaje o Cucciumu i limesu u hrvatskome Podunavlju. U iskopavanjima 2002. godine otkriven je paljevinski grob s drvenom arhitekturom u kojem su se nalazili prilozi dvojakoga podrijetla. Autohtono podrijetlo u latenskoj kulturi mlađega željeznoga doba pokazuju lonci zaobljenoga tijela izrađeni rukom i zdjela S-profilacije. Sjevernoitalskoga podrijetla su zdjelica tankih stijenki, keramička svjetiljka, staklena posuda te ostali prilozi koji zajedno s Klaudijevim novcem datiraju grob u sredinu 1. st. Na osnovi nalaza posuda izrađenih u latenskim tradicijama pretpostavlja se kako je u grobu bila pokopana osoba starosjedilačkoga podrijetla, dok importirani prilozi svjedoče o ranoj romanizaciji južne Panonije i dunavskoga limesa. O postojanju složenoga pogrebnoga rituala svjedoče izdvojeni ostaci kultiviranih biljaka domaćega i uvoznoga podrijetla koje su bile položene u lonce. ; The high Danube bank near Ilok, which is situated on the western slopes of Fruška gora, was continuously settled in all prehistoric periods, and after that - as the finds analyzed herein indicate - in the Roman time, but Ilok experienced its peak in the Late Middle Ages, in the period of Nikola and his son Lovro. The beginning of excavations in Ilok's upper town is particularly significant for reveal of the topography of Roman Ilok, which remained almost completely unknown due to a small number of finds. Data about the Roman settlement of Ilok (Cuccium) are preserved in several Itineraries, with different forms for the settlement's name. Thus Notitia Dignitatum mentions two cavalry units, Cuneus equitum Promotorum and Equites Sagittarii, in Cuccium of the 4th century. The excavations of the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb began in 2001 in the extension of the eastern wing of Odescalchi Castle, to be continued in 2002 towards the west to encompass the lawn in front of the castle (Fig. 1). In preloess layer SJ 224 (10YR 4/3) in the southern part of the excavated area, filling SJ 229 was isolated. This filling is the first in a number of preserved fillings of the larger prehistoric pit SJ 306 which by finds was dated to the beginning of the Early Iron Age. In prehistoric filling SJ 229 another younger rectangular filling SJ 230 (5Y 4/3) was identified, whose western edge was damaged by recent burial in lime pit SJ 216, whereas the southern part lies outside the margin of the excavated area. Filling SJ 230 is part of the Early Roman grave SJ 273. Along the southern profile of the dig in filling SJ 230 a smaller burial SJ 270 and filling SJ 269, which caused no major damage to the grave (Fig. 5), were identified. The bottom of the grave with finds remained preserved, and the lack of incinerated human remains is possibly due to the fact that they are situated in the southern part of the grave, which has not yet been excavated, even though it is highly possible that they were destroyed in an earlier intervention in the grave filling. All grave goods were found in the eastern part of the grave (Fig. 2, Fig. 4). In the middle of the grave, close to the top of SJ 230, a hollow shafted iron axe (Pl. 2, 7) was found, which on account of its position compared to other finds is supposed to have entered the grave by digging through the older prehistoric strata, thus not belonging to the grave goods. On the bottom of the grave, filling SJ 268 (2.5Y 5/6) was isolated which belongs to the thin layer of preserved wooden architecture (Fig. 2-3), on whose remains in the north-eastern corner of the grave two hand-made pots with a rounded body and a flat rim and bottom (Pl. 1, 1-2) were found, as well as fragments of a wheel-made bowl with an S profile (Pl. 2, 1). In the corner of the grave, fragments of a dark-grey bowl with thin walls (Pl. 2, 6) and a play-token of dark blue glass paste (Pl. 2, 1) were found. A part of the bowl was also in a pot laid slightly more to the south (Pl. 1, 2). Around both pots numerous seeds were identified, which is why the complete content of the filling around the vessels and their filling is flotated. In the eastern part of the grave there were fragments of a glass vessel, probably a funnel or a glass (Pl. 2, 4). Fragments of a ceramic lamp (Pl. 2, 5), a bronze earring (Pl. 1, 3), a fragment of a bronze needle (Pl. 1, 5) and an iron rivet (Pl. 2, 8) were found in the south-eastern excavated part of the grave. Also in that part of the grave a bronze artefact, which probably represents a vessel's handle fastening system (Pl. 1, 4), and Claudius coin (Pl. 1, 6) were found. Beneath the remains of planks, filling SJ 272 (5Y 5/4) was isolated, which contained no grave goods. The excavated part of grave SJ 273 is rectangular-shaped with rounded corners with dimensions of 2.12 m (W-E) and 1.88 m (N-S up to the dig profile). The results of research indicate that all the grave goods were lain on the bottom of a wooden case, the existence of which is proved not only by SJ 268, but also by four uncovered post holes, one in each corner (SJ 277 and SJ 295), and two more in the middle of the western and eastern side of the grave respectively (SJ 275 and SJ 293). Although the southern part of the grave was not excavated, it can be assumed that post holes were in the south-eastern and southwestern corner of the grave. All the holes are quadrangular, and in the bottom part they become octagonal to make post driving easier. The results of floatation of part of the filling around the ceramic vessels laying in the north-eastern part of the grave and the filling of pots indicated the existence of a complex funeral custom which is reflected in the presence of a relatively large number of isolated cultivated plants. Archaeobotanical analysis showed that among grave goods there were cereals (barley, millet, and different types of wheat), leguminous plants (lentil and vetch) as well as a large number of "fruit" objects (melon/cucumber, fig, apple/pear cherry/sour cherry/sloe, plum, elder and vine grape). The fig and probably the melon were imported to the Ilok since they are cultivated in warmer (sub)Mediterranean areas, whereas the other sorts were probably cultivated in the surroundings of Ilok. All of the cereals and vetch are carbonized, i.e. they were intentionally or unintentionally burned. Apparently they were laid onto a funeral pile. The remaining "fruit" finds were calcified, i.e. they were laid into the grave fresh or dried, probably when laying the human remains and other grave goods. With the exception of the fig, which had to be dried due to long transport from the Mediterranean region, the remaining fruits could have been laid fresh. Apples, pears, plums, sour berries and elder berries as well as vine grapes and melons ripen at the same time of the year, i.e. in the early autumn, which suggests that the burial took place in that season. Still one has to keep in mind that "fruit" objects could have been kept in dried state for a relatively long time. The remains of a Roman grave were found in the excavations of 2002, indicating the existence of a cemetery, which had been unknown until now. The grave contained a cremation burial, with grave goods that were laid on the bottom in the north-eastern corner and along the eastern side of the wooden case, rectangular in shape, which was probably made of oak wood (Fig. 4). The answers to questions on the chronological position, ethnic determination and the origin of the finds shall be given after an analysis of the grave goods, which can be divided in two groups, the first represented by three ceramic vessels made following the tradition of the La Tène culture, and the other group of finds which are northern Italic imports and which, along with the coin, make dating of the grave possible. These finds consist of a ceramic bowl with thin walls, a glass vessel, a ceramic lamp, a bronze earring and a glass paste play-token. The same origin can be assumed concerning the finds that were preserved only in fragments such as a bronze handle fastening system of a vessel and a needle. On the basis of their shape and technological characteristics, the two hand-made pots with rounded bodies and the wheel-made, S-profiled bowl are connected with the tradition of the La Tène culture. The dark grey to dark brown pots with an admixture of quartz and chuff in abundance, have a rounded body, a flat rim beneath which there is a horizontal groove and a flat bottom (Pl. 1, 1-2). These are situla form pots, for which there are numerous parallels in the Late La Tène Scordiscs settlements in eastern Slavonia and Syrmia, found also in Early Roman strata and graves. Of similar origin is also the S-profiled, wheel-made bowl with a rich admixture of quartz (Pl. 2, 1) that was also found in the north-eastern corner of the grave. The hand-made pots with rounded bodies and the S-profiled bowl represent the Late La Tène heritage of the Scordiscs and testify to the presence of an autochthonous population in the Early Roman sites of the 1st century, whose traditions are the strongest in the shapes, techniques and methods of decorating coarse pottery. As indicated by the finds from the settlement layers in Vinkovci, Osijek and Srijemska Mitrovica, the local craftsmen continued the production of recognizable shapes, thus satisfying the needs of the indigenous population. Those forms were decorated by familiar motifs by applying combed or broom-shaped ornaments and by polishing. Ceramic ware with autochthonous features was preserved until the period of the Flavians, suggesting the existence of indigenous peregrine communities which preserved the achievements of their own material culture up until the end of the 1st century, but due to intensified romanization in the 2nd century this autochthonous trait The second and larger group of finds from the grave testifying to the romanization of the indigenous population of Cuccium. This group consists of Early Roman import artefacts, which arrived at Limes by the well-known Sava valley trade route from the northern Italic region. The dark grey bowl with thin walls and two horizontal ribs (Pl. 2, 6), the ceramic lamp with a voluted nose and a rosette ornament (Pl. 2, 5), and a glass vessel, most probably a funnel or a glass (Pl. 2, 4) represent imported grave goods which are not only chronologically sensitive but also point to the direction of the cultural and economic effects of the Roman conquest of the Drava, Sava and Danube interfluve. Ceramic ware with thin walls appeared in the eastern Alps and the middle Danube in the Tiberian period along with Padanian sigillata at the time of the first military conquests. Different shapes and ornamentation methods were identified, of which bowls decorated in barbotine technique are the largest in number. Typical of southern Pannonia is intensive import in the Claudius-Flavius period, when the peak of production was achieved. With the Flavian period, the production in the local workshops of Sirmium, Emona and on Gomolava began, in which shapes, ornaments and facture of the imported specimens were imitated. At the end of the 1st century the quality and the number of vessels with thin walls declined, but their production continued until the middle of the 2nd century. The ceramic lamp with reddish-brown coating and volute nose, two grooves on its shoulder and a rosette ornament (Pl. 2, 5) is also of northern Italic origin; its fragments were found at the eastern margin of the grave. The lamp find, along with other imports, suggests the acceptance of Roman lifestyle traditions and funeral customs. The described lamp belongs to the Iványi I type, which encompasses specimens with volute triangle-shaped nose, a relief figure in the middle concentric grooves on the rim. According to D. Iványi's classification, the lamp from Ilok belongs to the third type, its basic feature being a broader voluted nose dated to about the middle and the last quarter of the 1st century or to the 2nd century. According to Loeschcke's classification of ceramic lamps with an angular nose and volutes, the Ilok find corresponds to type I, variation b, characterized by a somewhat narrower top of the nose than with lamps having volutes, whereas the shoulder profile with two grooves is of type IIb. The angular ceramic lamps with volutes of the Iványi I, or Loeschcke I type, from Pannonian sites, represent a northern Italic import from the beginning of the 1st century, when they arrived along with the Arentino and northern Italic sigillata of the Augustan and Tiberian periods. The finds of voluted lamps, as well as of ceramic ware with thin walls, in military camps on the Danube (Zemun, Novi Banovci, Surduk) prove that they were imported to satisfied the needs of the army, but also for the higher social class of the autochthonous population, as indicated by the richly cremation grave from Ilok. Production in local Pannonian workshops began in the second half of the 1st century, as finds of moulds in Sirmium, Mursa and Poetovio suggest. Their occurrence in south Pannonian sites can be followed also in the 2nd century, up to the beginning of the 3rd. The smaller vessel, probably a funnel or a glass, made of greenish glass with a horizontally inverted rim (Pl. 2, 4), the fragments of which were found along the eastern margin of the grave, also suggests northern Italic origin. Just like the voluted lamp and the bowl with thin walls, the vessel came to the Danube limes through Aquileia, which in the 1st-2nd centuries was an important production center, but at the same time it was a commercial port for goods coming from other production centers, from where it was imported into the eastern Alpine and Danube regions. In the north-eastern corner of the grave there was also a play-token made of dark blue glass paste (Pl. 2, 1), which is supposed to have served for playing and which was dated to the 1st century. In the grave, a greenish glass bead was found as well (Pl. 2, 3). Metal grave goods and coin were preserved (Fig. 4) in the south-eastern excavated part of the grave, on the remains of poorly preserved wooden planks. The little bronze74 ring with an irregular rectangular cross-section has its one terminal looped, whereas its other terminal is missing (Pl. 1, 3). Its description corresponds with the type of Roman bronze earrings in the shape of wired annulets with different cross sections, with looped or clipped terminals. Simple earrings in the form of a wired ring that used to close by inserting the small hook through the loop were documented in a longer period, and they differ according to the shape of the pendant hanging from the ring, whose shape remained almost unchanged. The fragment of a bronze needle (Pl. 1, 5) was probably part of a bronze fibula. In the immediate vicinity of the earring there was another object, the function of which is not sufficiently clear. It might have been a handle fastening system of a bronze vessel (Pl. 1, 4) consisting of a leaned ring with an oval outline and a round cross-section, beneath which there is trifoliate sheet metal with rectangular terminals and a rivet hole in the upper part. The ring is separated from the bottom part by a rib, on which there are two horizontal grooves. In the immediate vicinity, a smaller iron rivet (Pl. 2, 8) was found with a short spike with a rectangular cross-section that might have served for fastening a handle. Apart from the described finds, another import in the grave are also the remains of the fig and the melon, found along with other archaeobotanical samples in the north-eastern part of the grave and in the fillings of both pots. The figs could not be cultivated in the southern Pannonian area due to inclement climatic conditions. Since figs could not have been kept fresh for a long time, it was not possible to transport the fruits across larger distances, therefore probably the figs arrived to Cuccium dried. The figs, along with the remaining ceramic and glass finds, were imported for the needs of the settled Italic, but also indigenous population, who were not unfamiliar with Italic goods. The largest part of archaeobotanical artefacts accounts for wine grape seeds. The question of the origin and cultivation of wine among the Illyrians with the mentioned antique sources was thoroughly analysed by M. Zaninović. The Pannonian production of small quantities of wine and the bad quality of its production is mentioned by Dion Cassius (49.36.2), which is also confirmed by Strabo's quote (VII.5.10) that the regions above Dalmatia are mountainous and cold and that vineyards can seldom be found there. The finds of amphorae dated in the beginning of the 1st century, which came along with the wine across Aquileia, testify to imports of wine to Sirmium, which was supported by settled Italics and by the indigenous population. Wine cultivation in Pannonia was intensified in the second half of the 3rd century, in the period of Probus, when soldiers planted selected grapes on the slopes of Fruška gora (Almus Mons). The discovery of grape seeds in pots in the grave in Ilok prove the earlier existence of vineyards on the western slopes of Fruška gora already in the 1st century, although it is possible that the tradition of wine cultivation in the Ilok region is considerably older. The laying of different kinds of cereals and fruits combined with ceramic and glass vessels of twofold origin into the grave suggests the existence of a complex funeral rite, which is still inadequately understood in the southern Pannonian territory in the Early Roman period. Numerous parallels to all described finds from the grave in Ilok were documented in the Danube region, which enable the dating of the grave in the middle of the 1st century. This is also confirmed by the find of Claudius coin (Pl. 1, 6). Although the grave has not been completely excavated, the grave goods and remains of grave architecture enriched the existing understanding of the process of romanization of the Croatian Danube region, testifying to the relation of the indigenous population towards the newly arrived achievements of the Roman culture. Of particular importance for the ethnic determination of the burial are three ceramic vessels from the northeastern corner of the grave, two hand-made pots with a rounded body (Pl. 1, 1-2) and the S-profiled, wheel-made bowl (Pl. 2, 1). The described vessels can be compared with the material heritage of the La Tène culture, which in the middle Danube is connected with the Scordiscs. In the described shapes, the continuation of pottery traditions of the indigenous mixed Celtic-Pannonian population is visible, which in the 1st century formed an important ethnic component of the southern part of Roman Pannonia. The second group of finds that suggests northern Italic origin points to the direction of the new ethnic, cultural and economic influences on the eastern part of the Sava-Drava-Danube interfluve in the process of early romanization. Numerous parallels with Early Roman cremation burials from Syrmia, in which ceramic finds produced following La Tène traditions were found, indicate a strong tradition of the autochthonous population up until the end of the 1st century. This means that the mixed Celtic-Pannonian population living in the territory of the middle Danube played an important role in the process of early romanization and formed a constituent part of the ethnic corps of the newly conquered part of southern Pannonia. The indigenous population in larger centers that emerged from Late La Tène protourbane centers, was exposed to more intensive and rapid romanization by the settling Italic population and veterans and common imports, which was accompanied by the achievements of the Roman way of life. Rural Late La Tène communities long held the features of their own material culture, accepting only some of the achievements of the newly founded Roman provincial culture. In the grave in Ilok, imported objects suggesting northern Italic origin were found as well, and they came to the middle Danube by a trade route that was in function earlier – along the Sava River, where in the 1st century BC certain goods were transported for the Scordiscs. This is shown by numerous finds of bronze vessels of northern Italic origin, which in the sites of La Tène culture in eastern Slavonia occur in graves and in the most important fortified settlements such as Dalj, Sotin, Vinkovci and Orolik. The import of bronze vessels took place from Aquileia through Nauportus and Emona, from where along the Sava over Segestica it came to the middle Danube. Strabo (4.6.10; 5.1.8; 7.5.2) described this important prehistoric communication, and the described trade route is also supported by finds of coins from Appolonia and Dyrrhachion, as well as of Roman Republican coins. The use of the well-known trade route, along the Sava towards the East, continued also in the Early Roman period, when Aquileia was the most significant center of the export of pottery with thin walls, terra sigillatae and glass vessels on the markets of Pannonia and Noricum. It can be claimed with certainty that Tiberius' conquest of the eastern part of the Interfluve came running across the Sava valley. The understanding of events after the Roman conquest of eastern Slavonia and western Syrmia is weak due to a lack of site excavations, on which the process of romanization that had started could be followed. Although there were significant military bases of the Danube Limes in the described territory, as well as larger civic settlements in its hinterland, such as Mursa and Cibalae, the material heritage of the first decades of the 1st century is little known. What all the Roman centers in the territory of eastern Slavonia and western Syrmia have in common is that they were erected either in the most significant Late La Tène centers, or in their vicinity. In all mentioned sites, on the Limes as well as in its hinterland, in the Early Roman layers dated to the 1st century, shapes that suggest the continuity of the Late La Tène material heritage prevail. In the first line, the early Roman import was directed to significant Late La Tène Scordisc settlements, where along with ceramic forms made in autochthonous traditions a northern Italic import of the Late Augustan and Tiberian periods occurred. Within the study of imported ceramic vessels, the presence of auxiliary military units, the arrival of merchants and settlements of Italics already in the early 1st century were identified. On the sites along the Limes, northern Italic imports from the Late Augustan and Tiberian periods was not rich in numbers. In the Julian-Claudian period, only auxiliary military units controlling the border existed along the Danube in mobile camps. Imports became more intense only in the Flavian period, when the military units came to the Danube and erected permanent fortresses. This also intensified the romanization of the indigenous population, which was also advanced by the recruitment of the autochthonous population to auxiliary units. Military units were always followed by merchants who satisfied their needs, but also the needs of settled Italics, as well as the upper class of the indigenous population, to whom those goods were not unknown, with imported goods. The Roman merchants were familiar with the circumstances on the market of the Drava-Sava-Danube interfluve and they were the advance contingent of the Roman conquest. The quote of Velleius Paterculus (II.110) that at the beginning of the rebellion in Pannonia and Dalmatia many merchants were killed testifies to the early presence of Roman merchants in this interfluve zone. If one would try to closer determine the ethnicity of the grave found in Ilok, one should look for the answer in Roman antiquity sources dealing with the ethnic structure of the eastern part of the Sava-Drava-Danube interfluve in the pre-Roman period and immediately after the conquest. The middle Danube in the Late Iron Age was populated by the Scordiscs, and after the conquest Roman sources mention some new communities. Thus, in the territory of the Croatian Danube area the Cornacates are mentioned, which Pliny the Elder mentions in his alphabetic index of the communities settled in Pannonia (N.H. III. 148). Since on that occasion communities from the territory of Transdanubia are mentioned as well, which were definitely conquered as late as in the Claudius period, the information on the Cornacates, to whom Cuccium is assigned, corresponds with the time to which the grave from Ilok is dated. The Cornacates as a peregrine community of Celtic-Pannonian origin were settled in the territory along the Danube in the surroundings of Vukovar up to Ilok. The western border towards neighbors - the Breuci - must have been around Vukovar and Negoslavci, where two military diplomas were found, issued to veterans of Breuci origin. The second possibility is that the Cornacates were only the citizens of the settlement Cornacum. Evidence supporting this statement is also found in Pliny's statement (N.H. III. 148) that Sirmium was an oppidum and a community of the Sirmienses and Amantinis, where under the Sirmienses exclusively the citizens of the settlement, which was the center of the Amantinian community, are meant. The final answer to the question whether the Cornacates lived in the territory of Ilok will be found only by an epigraphic find. The results of excavations of the castle of the Ilok in 2001 and 2002 extended the present-day understanding of the topography of Cuccium, and the discovery of the Early Roman cremation grave gave an insight into the process of early romanization of the Limes in the territory of the Croatian Danube region. The Roman settlement laid more to the west than the late medieval palace of the Ilok princes, whereas graves were situated along the roads that led from the settlement, grave sites being indicated by finds of Late Antiquity sarcophagi and brick tombs to the south of today's Ilok. A grave was found to the west of the settlement, on the site of the present Ilok fortress, suggesting the existence of an Early Roman cemetery, where the indigenous population was buried. The finds of two hand-made pots with a rounded body and the wheel-made S-profiled bowl testify to this, indicating a strong tradition of the La Tène culture. The shape of the grave with the remains of a wooden cast has up to the present not been identified at the known Late La Tène Scordisc graves, therefore the question of its origin remains open. The second group of grave goods of northern Italic origin, represented by the bowl with thin walls, the lamp with the volute nose, the glass vessel and other metal and glass finds, points to the romanization of the encountered indigenous population, at the same time, based on the coin finds, dating the grave in the time of Claudius, in the middle of the 1st century. The discovery of the remains of different cultivated plants, out of which some show traces of incineration in and around both pots, testifies to the existence of a complex funeral rite in which, same as in the finds, the traditions of the newly arrived Roman culture intermingle with the material heritage of the autochthonous mixed Celtic-Pannonian population. It is highly conceivable that future research in Ilok shall expand the scarce understanding of the process of romanization and life along the limes in the territory of the Croatian Danube region.
