Rome, Constantinople

and
Newly-Converted Europe
Archaeological and Historical Evidence

Volume I
U ŹRÓDEŁ EUROPY ŚRODKOWO-WSCHODNIEJ / FRÜHZEIT OSTMITTELEUROPAS

Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas, Leipzig

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa
Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów

Rada Redakcyjna / Herausgebergremium

Andrzej Buko, Christian Lübke, Małgorzata Rybicka

Redakcja Serii / Redaktion der Reihe

Matthias Hardt, Marcin Wołoszyn

tom 1, część 1 / Band 1, Teil 1

 Rome, Constantinople
and
Newly-Converted Europe
Archaeological and Historical Evidence

edited by
Maciej Salamon, Marcin Wołoszyn, Alexander Musin, Perica Špehar

in cooperation with
Matthias Hardt, Mirosław P. Kruk, Aleksandra Sulikowska-Gąska

Kraków – Leipzig – Rzeszów – Warszawa 2012

 U ŹRÓDEŁ EUROPY ŚRODKOWO-WSCHODNIEJ / FRÜHZEIT OSTMITTELEUROPAS
Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas e.V., Leipzig
Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa
Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów

Redakcja tomu / Redaktion des Bandes

Maciej Salamon, Marcin Wołoszyn, Alexander Musin, Perica Špehar,
Matthias Hardt, Mirosław P. Kruk, Aleksandra Sulikowska-Gąska

Recenzenci tomu / Rezensenten des Bandes

Eduard Mühle, Günther Prinzing

Tłumaczenia / Übersetzungen
Autorzy / Autoren, Alexey Gilevich, Monika Dzik oraz / sowie
Anna Kinecka (j. angielski / Englisch), Katarzyna Łyp (j. niemiecki / Deutsch),
Alexander Musin (j. rosyjski / Russisch)

Weryfikacja językowa / Sprachverifizierung

Marcin Bednarz, Anna Kinecka, Doris Wollenberg

Skład / Layout
Irena Jordan

Obróbka graficzna / Graphik

Autorzy / Autoren oraz / sowie Irena Jordan,
przy udziale / unter Mitwirkung von Jolanta Ożóg, Rafał Janicki

Projekt okładki / Layout des Umschlages

Irena Jordan, Rafał Janicki

Zdjęcie na okładce / Photo auf dem Umschlag

Bizantyńska stauroteka (X / XI w.) z Ostrowa Lednickiego,
zbiory Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy (Foto: R. Kujawa)
Byzantinische Staurothek (10. / 11. Jh.) aus Ostrów Lednicki,
Sammlungen des Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy (Photo: R. Kujawa)

Druk tomu I / Druck von Band I

Poligrafia Inspektoratu Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego, Kraków

Dystrybucja / Distribution
Leipziger Universitätsverlag
Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego

© Copyright by Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas e.V., Leipzig 2012
© Copyright by Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa 2012
© Copyright by Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów 2012

ISBN: 978-3-86583-659-5
ISBN: 978-83-89499-85-1
ISBN: 978-83-936467-0-8
 The present volume is the result of cooperation of institutions named here:

Polish Academy of Sciences

Committee for the Research in Antique Culture Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology
Byzantine Commission = National Committee of the AIEB Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw

Leipzig Centre for History and Culture

of East Central Europe (GWZO), Leipzig

Institute of History Institute of Archaeology

Jagiellonian University, Cracow University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów

Institute for the History of Material Culture Institute of Archaeology

Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade

Sponsored by:
 CONTENTS

Editors’ Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................. 17

Jonathan Shepard
Rome, Constantinople and Newly-Converted Europe: Archaeological and Historical Evidence.
Some Introductory Remarks ............................................................................................................................................ 23

I.1 HISTORY:
ROME, CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE NEW BORDERS
THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
Jerzy Strzelczyk
Missionsstrategie und Missionspraxis der westlichen Kirche im frühen Mittelalter ...................................................... 33
Maciej Salamon
Byzantine Missionary Policy. Did It Exist? ..................................................................................................................... 43
Matthias Hardt
Frühe Grenzen im Blick der europäischen Mediävistik .................................................................................................. 55

I.2 HISTORY:
SEARCHING FOR ROME AND CONSTANTINOPLE
FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH
Jenny Albani
Painted decoration of the church of St. Onoufrius near Genna, Crete ............................................................................ 69
Georgios Th. Kardaras
Christian symbols among the nomads, 5th-8th century A.D. ............................................................................................ 79
Georgi N. Nikolov
Die Christianisierung der Bulgaren und das Mönchtum in der Familie des Khans Boris I. Michail
im 9.-10. Jahrhundert ..................................................................................................................................................... 91
Angel Nikolov
Making a new basileus: the case of Symeon of Bulgaria (893-927) reconsidered ........................................................ 101
Lumír Poláček
Mikulčice und das Christentum in Mähren im 9. Jahrhundert ....................................................................................... 109
Béla Miklós Szőke
Kulturelle Beziehungen zwischen Mosaburg/Zalavár und dem Mittelmeerraum .......................................................... 125
Márta Font
Lateiner und Orthodoxe: Völker und ihre Gewohnheiten. Das Beispiel des mittelalterlichen Königreichs Ungarn ......... 143
Vincent Múcska
Zur Frage der großmährisch-byzantinischen Tradition im früharpadischen Ungarn –
Möglichkeiten der Interpretation ................................................................................................................................... 153
Petr Sommer
Der Heilige Prokop, das Kloster Sázava und die sogenannte altkirchenslawische Liturgie in Böhmen ....................... 161
Jitka Komendová
Rus’-Czech Relations during the Middle Ages as a Historiographical Problem ........................................................... 169
Christian Lübke
Ottonen, Slaven und Byzanz .......................................................................................................................................... 175
Sabine Altmann
Grenzüberschreitungen am westlichen Rand Ostmitteleuropas –
Die Saale als Grenz- und Kontaktzone zwischen Frankenreich und slawischer Fürstenherrschaft im 9. Jahrhundert ...... 183
Stanisław Rosik
Greeks and Romans in pagan Wolin. Integrating the Barbarians into the collective memory
of the Latin West at the time of the conversion of the Slavs ......................................................................................... 195
Marian Dygo
A Letter from Matthew, a Bishop of Cracow, to Bernard of Clairvaux
“on the Conversion of Russians” (1145?) ..................................................................................................................... 203
Darius von Güttner-Sporzyński
The archetypal crusader. Henry of Sandomierz, the second youngest son of Bolesław III ........................................... 215
Andrzej Buko
Byzantine cultural enclave in Central Europe? An example of the mortared tower
complex at Stołpie (south-eastern Poland) .................................................................................................................... 233
Alexey Chernetsov
Paradoxical hierarchy of civilizations (Medieval Russian concept) .............................................................................. 251
Maja Gąssowska
Der Heilige Olaf und Holmgård – Novgorod als Grenzraum zwischen
Ost und West im 11.-12. Jahrhundert ............................................................................................................................. 263
Jukka Korpela
Die Christianisierung der finno-ugrischen Peripherie Europas:
Zwei Theorien und unangenehme Tatsachen ................................................................................................................. 275
Jörn Staecker
Drei Magier auf einem gotländischen Bildstein.
Die Perzeption des Epiphaniethemas in der Wikingerzeit ............................................................................................. 287
Anna Waśko
Pagans in Erik’s Chronicle and in the Revelations of Saint Birgitta ............................................................................. 305
Volodymyr Bak
Die Weihe Kyrillos II. (1242-1281) zum Metropoliten der Rus’ in den 40er-Jahren
des 13. Jahrhunderts: ein Ereignis aus den kirchenpolitischen Beziehungen zwischen
Halič-Volyn’ und dem Byzantinischen Reich ................................................................................................................ 311
Sebastian Kolditz
Christliche Missionsbestrebungen und Konversionsansätze gegenüber den
Steppenvölkern, insbesondere Pečenegen und Kumanen .............................................................................................. 319

II.1 ARCHAEOLOGY:
ROME, CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE GRAVES
THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
Sebastian Brather
Pagan or Christian? Early medieval grave furnishings in Central Europe .................................................................... 333
Aleksandra Sulikowska-Gąska
Funeral rites in Ruthenian iconography ......................................................................................................................... 351
Justyna Straczuk
Death beliefs and practices among peasant inhabitants of the Catholic-Orthodox
borderland in Belarus: an anthropological perspective .................................................................................................. 363

II.2 ARCHAEOLOGY:
SEARCHING FOR ROME AND CONSTANTINOPLE
FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH
Natalia Poulou-Papadimitriou, Elli Tzavella, Jeremy Ott
Burial practices in Byzantine Greece: archaeological evidence
and methodological problems for its interpretation ....................................................................................................... 377
Perica Špehar, Orhideja Zorova
Christianity on the territory of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, 11th to the 13th century:
archaeological evidence from burial sites ...................................................................................................................... 429
Lyudmila Doncheva-Petkova, Maria Christova
La transition du paganisme au christianisme, reflétée dans les nécropoles du IXème-Xème siècle en Bulgarie ............... 447
Maja Petrinec
Croatia between the East and the West – evidence from early medieval graves ........................................................... 461
Tina Milavec
Sacred places? Eighth century graves near sixth century churches at Tonovcov grad (Slovenia) ................................ 475
Stefan Eichert
Zu Christentum und Heidentum im slawischen Karantanien ........................................................................................ 489
Elisabeth Nowotny
On the confessional situation between the Frankish Empire and Moravia in Carolingian times.
Focus on archaeological sources from Lower Austria ................................................................................................... 503
Petr Hejhal, Michal Lutovský
In agris sive in silvis… Secondary medieval burials in ancient barrows in Bohemia ................................................... 517
Anna Mazur, Krzysztof Mazur
Des tombes à inhumation du Haut Moyen Age en Petite-Pologne:
le cas de la nécropole de Wawrzeńczyce ....................................................................................................................... 525
Jacek Wrzesiński
The Dziekanowice cemetery – Christians cultivating venerable traditions .................................................................. 535
Przemysław Urbańczyk
A ‘Roman’ connection to the oldest burial in the Poznań Cathedral? ........................................................................... 553
Joanna Kalaga
The early medieval hillfort at Sąsiadka in the light of 1930s-1950s research. Current status
of post-excavation analysis of the archival record in the University of Warsaw .......................................................... 567
Jerzy Kuśnierz
Das mittelalterliche Körpergräberfeld auf dem Burgwall von Gródek (altrussischer Volyn’) in Anbetracht der
erhaltenen Grabungsdokumentation des Vorstandes zur Erforschung der Červenischen Burgen (1952-1955) ............ 579
Michał Dzik
Bi-ritual burials in the central Bug river basin during the Middle Ages ....................................................................... 603
Łukasz Miechowicz
Coins in the Western and Eastern Slavs burial practices in the Middle Ages –
relicts of pagan beliefs or a sign of Christian traditions? .............................................................................................. 613
Vsevolod Ivakin
Burial grounds and graves in medieval Kiev (10th to 13th century) ............................................................................... 625
Przemysław Sikora
Die ostslawischen Bestattungssitten zu Beginn der Christianisierung am Rande der
christlich-orthodoxen Welt am Beispiel Weißrusslands aus archäologischer Perspektive ............................................ 639
Anna Barvenova, Kristina Lavysh
Burials in churches from the 11th-14th centuries on the territory of Belarus:
influence of Christianization on the costume of the elite in the Western Rus’ principalities ........................................ 661
Eugenijus Svetikas
Latin Christianisation in the Orthodox Christian Grand Duchy of Lithuania
in late 14th and 15th centuries: a puzzle of historical facts and archaeological data ....................................................... 677
Roberts Spirģis
Archaeological evidence on the spread of Christianity to the Lower Daugava area (10th-13th century) ........................ 689
Vitolds Muižnieks
Archaeological evidence of 14th-18th century burial practices on the territory of Latvia .............................................. 713
Heiki Valk
The Zhalnik Graves: Evidence of the Christianization of the Novgorod and Pskov Lands? ........................................ 737
Vladislav Sobolev
On the process of formation of Early Rus’ burial culture in the Novgorod Land ......................................................... 751
Stanislav Bel’skiy, Ville Laakso
New archaeological evidence on the Christianization in Karelia in the 13th-15th centuries
(Northern Lake Ladoga region, Russian Federation) .................................................................................................... 767
 СОДЕРЖАНИЕ

Предисловие составителей .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Джонатан Шепард
Рим, Константинополь и новая Европа: археологические и исторические свидетельства.
Некоторые предварительные размышления ............................................................................................................... 23

I.1 ИСТОРИЯ:
РИМ, КОНСТАНТИНОПОЛЬ, НОВЫЕ ГРАНИЦЫ
ВВЕДЕНИЕ В ПРОБЛЕМУ
Ежи Стржельчик
Миссионерские стратегии и практики Латинской Церкви в раннем средневековье .............................................. 33
Мачей Саламон
Существовала ли миссионерская политика в Византии? .......................................................................................... 43
Матиас Хардт
Границы в исследованиях средневековой Европы ..................................................................................................... 55

I.2 ИСТОРИЯ:
В ПОИСКАХ РИМА И КОНСТАНТИНОПОЛЯ
С ЮГА НА СЕВЕР
Ени Албани
Настенные росписи XIV в. в церкви св.Онуфрия (Генна, остров Крит) ................................................................. 69
Георгиос Ф. Кардaрас
Предметы с христианской символикой у кочевников в V-VIII вв. ........................................................................... 79
Георги Н. Николов
Христианизация болгар и монашество в семье хана Бориса I – Михаила (IX-X вв.) ............................................ 91
Ангел Николов
Становление нового василевса: новый взгляд на правление Симеона Болгарского (893-927) .............................. 101
Люмир Польачек
Микульчицы и христианство в Моравии в IX в. ....................................................................................................... 109
Бела Миклош Сыке
Культурные контакты между Блатенградом/Мозабругом/Залаваром и Средиземноморьем ................................ 125
Марта Фонт
Латиняне и православные: люди и обычаи средневековой Венгрии ...................................................................... 143
Винсен Мучка
К вопросу о моравской традиции в Венгрии эпохи первых Арпадовичей –
возможности интерпретации ...................................................................................................................................... 153
Петр Соммер
Святой Прокопий, Сазавский монастырь и «старославянское богослужение» в средневековой Чехии ............. 161
Йитка Комендова
Русско-чешские отношения эпохи Средневековья как историографическая проблема ....................................... 169
Христиан Любке
Оттониды, славяне и Византия .................................................................................................................................... 175
Сабинэ Альтман
Пограничье на периферии Центральной и Восточной Европы: река Зале как граница и контактная
зона между Франкской империей и славянскими княжествами ............................................................................. 183
Станислав Рощик
Греки и Римляне языческого Волина: варвары в коллективной памяти латинского
Запада в эпоху христианизации славян ..................................................................................................................... 195
Мариан Дыго
Послание Матфея, епископа Краковского, к Бернарду Клервоскому «об обращении русских» (1145?) ............. 203
Дариус фон Гютнер-Спожински
Образцовый крестоносец? Генрих Сандомирский, младший сын Болеслава III .................................................. 215
Анджей Буко
Каменная башня в Столпье (Юго-Восточная Польша): византийский культурный анклав
в Центральной Европе? ............................................................................................................................................... 233
Алексей Чернецов
Парадоксальная иерархия цивилизаций (древнерусский взгляд) ........................................................................... 251
Майа Гонссовска
Святой Олав и Хольмгард-Новгород как культурное пограничье между Востоком
и Западом в XI-XII вв. ................................................................................................................................................. 263
Юкка Корпела
Христианизация Северо-Восточной Европы: две теории и неудобные факты ..................................................... 275
Йорн Штекер
Изображение трех волхвов на поминальном камне c Готланда: восприятие христианских
сюжетов в языческом мире ......................................................................................................................................... 287
Анна Ващко
Язычники в Хронике Эрика и Откровениях св. Бригитты ...................................................................................... 305
Владимир Бак
Поставление Кирилла II (1242-1281) митрополитом вcея Руси в 1240-х гг. в контексте
религиозно-политических связей Галицко-Волынской Руси и Византии .............................................................. 311
Себастьян Колдиц
Христианская миссия и христианизация степных народов в истории печенегов и половцев ............................. 319

II.1 АРХЕОЛОГИЯ:
РИМ, КОНСТАНТИНОПОЛЬ, ПОГРЕБАЛЬНЫЙ ОБРЯД
ВВЕДЕНИЕ В ПРОБЛЕМУ
Себастьян Братер
Язычники или христиане? Раннесредневековые погребения с инвентарем в Центральной Европе ................. 333
Александра Суликовска-Гонска
Тема погребения в древнерусской иконографии ..................................................................................................... 351
Юстына Страчук
Заупокойные верования и обряды сельского населения православно-католического
пограничья Белоруссии в антропологической перспективе .................................................................................... 363

II.2 АРХЕОЛОГИЯ:
В ПОИСКАХ РИМА И КОНСТАНТИНОПОЛЯ
С ЮГА НА СЕВЕР
Наталья Пулу-Пападимитриу, Елли Тсавелла, Джереми Отт
Погребальный обряд византийской Греции: данные археологии и методологические
проблемы их интерпретации ...................................................................................................................................... 377
Перица Шпехар, Орхидея Зорова
Христианство на территории Охридской архиепископии в XI-XIII вв.: свидетельство
археологии погребального обряда ............................................................................................................................. 429
Людмила Дончева-Петкова, Мария Христова
Процесс перехода от язычества к христианству в Болгарии по материалaм раскопок
некрополей IX-X вв. .................................................................................................................................................... 447
Майа Петринец
Хорватия между Востоком и Западом по данным средневековых некрополей ...................................................... 461
Тина Милавец
Священные места? Погребения VIII в. близь позднеантичной церкви Тоновцева града
(Словения, VI в.) .......................................................................................................................................................... 475
Стефан Айхерт
Христианство и язычество в Карантании .................................................................................................................. 489
Елизабет Новотны
Конфессиональная ситуация на границе Франкской империи и Моравии в эпоху Каролингов
по археологическим памятникам Нижней Австрии ................................................................................................. 503
Петр Хейхаль, Михал Лютовски
In agris sive in silvis… Cредневековые впускные погребения в древних курганах Чехии .................................... 517
Анна Мазур, Кшиштов Мазур
Раннесредневековые погребения в Малопольше – некрополь Вавженчице .......................................................... 525
Яцек Вжешиньски
Некрополь в Декановичах – христианское развитие древних традиций ............................................................... 535
Пшемыслав Урбанчик
«Римские» элементы древнейшего погребения кафедрального собора в Познани? ............................................ 553
Иоланта Кальага
Средневековое городище в селе Сансядка: обзор археологических исследований 1930-1950-х гг.
по материалам архивного собрания Варшавского университета ............................................................................ 567
Ежи Кушнеж
Средневековые погребения городища Грудек (древнерусский Волынь) в свете архивных документов
Научной Комиссии Польской Академии наук по изучению Червенских городов (1952-1955) ........................... 579
Михал Дзик
Неполные трупосожжения в погребальном обряде центрального Побужья эпохи средневековья ................... 603
Лукаш Мехович
Монеты в средневековом погребальном обряде западных и восточных славян: пережитки
язычества или влияние христианства? ...................................................................................................................... 613
Всеволод Ивакин
Погребальные памятники древнерусского Киева X-XIII вв. ................................................................................... 625
Пшемыслав Сикора
Славянский погребальный обряд ранних этапов христианизации на окраинах восточно-христианского
мира на примере Белоруссии – археологический подход ........................................................................................ 639
Анна Барвенова, Кристина Лавыш
Погребения в храмах на территории Белоруссии XI-XIV вв.: роль христианизации в формировании
костюма элиты княжеств Западной Руси ................................................................................................................... 661
Евгениус Светикас
Латинская христианизация православных земель Великого княжества Литовского
в конце XIV-XV вв.: исторические факты и данные археологии ............................................................................ 677
Робертс Спиргис
Археологические свидетельства о распространении христианства в низовьях
Западной Двины в X-XIII вв. ...................................................................................................................................... 689
Витольдс Музнекс
Археология погребального обряда XIV-XVIII вв. на территории Латвии ............................................................. 713
Хейки Валк
Жальники: свидетельство христианизации Новгородской и Псковской земли? ................................................... 737
Владислав Соболев
Проблемы формирования древнерусской погребальной культуры Новгородской земли ..................................... 751
Станислав Бельский, Вилле Лааксо
Новые археологические свидетельства о христианизации Приладожской Карелии в XIII-XV вв. ..................... 767
 Rome, Constantinople and Newly-Converted Europe. Archaeological and Historical Evidence
M. Salamon, M. Wołoszyn, A. Musin, P. Špehar, M. Hardt, M.P. Kruk, A. Sulikowska-Gąska (eds.)
U źródeł Europy Środkowo-wschodniej/Frühzeit Ostmitteleuropas 1,1
Kraków-Leipzig-Rzeszów-Warszawa 2012, vol. I, p. 461-474

Maja Petrinec

Croatia between the East and the West –

evidence from early medieval graves

Abstract. Croatia between the East and the West – evidence from early medieval graves. Present-
day Croatia is situated in the contact zone of several large European natural-geographic units: the
Pannonian-Peripannonian, the Dinara highlands and the Mediterranean unit. These diverse natural
and geographical characteristics of its individual regions are also reflected in the diversity of its
cultural-historical heritage across the ages and, in particular, during the Middle Ages. Therefore,
to present any of the archaeological periods is not possible without the division into three regions:
southern Croatia, Dalmatia, where the first Croatian state was established during the Middle Ages,
northern Croatia, linked directly to events taking place in the Carpathian Basin, and Istria, as
a geographically unique space which is separated from the Kvarner Gulf by the relief barrier
consisting of Mountains Ćićarija and Učka.
The afore-mentioned geographical division is a result of the interweaving of different cultural,
political and ecclesiastic influences from the West and the East, which are reflected in the heritage
of medieval grave-fields (8th to 13th century) in the entire territory of Croatia.
The review is based on the attempt to give details on the grave-fields in general, but also in terms
of individual grave finds, in the context of historical and political developments in the afore-
mentioned territory.

Present-day Croatia is situated in the contact zone of several large European natural-geographic units:
the Pannonian-Peripannonian, the Dinara highlands and the Mediterranean unit (Fig. 1). These diverse natural
and geographical characteristics of its individual regions are also reflected in the diversity of its cultural-
historical heritage across the ages and, in particular, during the Middle Ages. In this regard the presentation of
any archaeological period is not possible without the division into three regions: southern Croatia, Dalmatia,
where the first Croatian state was established in the Middle Ages, northern Croatia, linked directly to the events
taking place in the Carpathian Basin, and Istria as a geographically unique space, separated from the Kvarner
Gulf by the relief barrier consisting of Ćićarija and Učka.
The afore-mentioned geographical division is a result of the interweaving of different cultural, political
and ecclesiastical influences from the West and East, which are reflected in the heritage of medieval grave-
fields (8th to 15th century) in the entire area of Croatia.
The entire territory of present-day Croatia was an integral part of the Roman Empire already since
the 1st century. It was initially within the united province Illyricum, which was divided into Dalmatia and
Pannonia in the 1st century. Northern Croatia became part of Pannonia and southern Croatia became a part


On history of Croatia in english, cf. Goldstein 2004.

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Maja Petrinec

Fig. 1. Map of the Western Balkans with the mentioned sites; drawn by M. Petrinec.

of Dalmatia. The Istrian territory west of the Raša river lay directly in Italy, or more precisely, within the
10th Italic region (Regio X, Venetia et Histria). Later administrative divisions placed northern Croatia within
the provinces of Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, and from 296, the provinces of Pannonia Savia
and Pannonia Secunda. After the division of 395, the territory of present-day Croatia remained within the
borders of the Western Roman Empire. The afore-mentioned Roman divisions also affected the borders of
later medieval national and state formations in each of the three territories named earlier.
Since the beginning of the 5th century various peoples invaded the Roman provinces which lay in what
today is Croatia. Visigoths settled along the Sava river and passed through Dalmatia on their way to the
Apennine peninsula. The Huns established a state in the Pannonian Danube region which encompassed also a
fragment of the area of eastern Croatia. Numerous refugees from Pannonia sought shelter in Dalmatia which
remained within the Western Empire until 437 and became part of the Eastern Empire in 454. The same year,
Marcellinus took power in Dalmatia and ruled independent of both empires. Although the Western Roman
Empire officially ceased to exist in 476 independent Dalmatia managed to survive until 480 when, with the
death of Julius Nepos, the history of the Western Empire in Croatia finally came to an end.

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Dalmatia and Pannonia Savia came under the rule of Odoacer, leader of the Germanic troops in Italy,
while the Gepids settled in the eastern part of northern Croatia between the lower course of the Drava and
Sava rivers. The Ostrogoths, led by Theodoric, moved through Pannonia and the Sava river plain towards
Italy. In 493, Dalmatia and Pannonia Savia became part of the Ostrogoth kingdom in Italy, which conquered
also Pannonia Secunda in 504. The Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian initiated a war against the Ostrogoths
in 535 and gradually expelled them from both provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia. This was part of his
attempt to regain the territories of the former Western Roman Empire. After the end of the Byzantine-Gothic
wars, the territory of present-day Croatia entered the Eastern Roman Empire to which it belonged until the
Avar-Slav invasions.
This is a brief historical overview of the territory which was gradually colonized by the Slavs during
the 7 and 8th century. The period which followed which in Croatian historiography is usually referred to as
th

“two dark centuries of Croatian history”.

At the same time, the situation was not identical everywhere on the territory of present-day Croatia.
Shortly after the occupation of Sirmium in the summer of 597, Roman Dalmatia was invaded by the
Avar Khagan Bayan. During his invasion, Bayan conquered 40 forts and settlements. Pope Gregory I wrote
to Maxim in Salona (Documenta Historiae..., 53, p. 258-259; cf. also Goldstein 1995, 92), expressing his
concern and pity because of the inconveniences with the Slavs, who were invading Dalmatia and Istria. This
Avar-Slav invasion is well documented by individual archaeological finds.
In the area of northern Croatia, they are as follows: the princely grave from Čađavica (Županija
Virovitica-Podravina, Croatia), as the southernmost find, the so-called Slavic fibula from Stenjevac (Zagreb,
Croatia) which is at the same time the westernmost find of this type and the clover-shaped fittings from Sisak
(Županija Sisak-Moslavina, Croatia; on this topic cf. Vinski 1971).
In the area of the former Roman Province Dalmatia, they are as follows: earring of inverted pyramid
type from Velika Kladuša (Una-Sana Canton, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), a hoard of pressing
moulds from Biskupija (Županija Šibenik-Knin, Croatia), two hoards of coins of the Byzantine emperor
Heraclius from Salona (Županija Splitsko-dalmatinska, Croatia; on this topic cf. Marović 1984).
The two coin hoards are particularly significant considering that they are the only source which
documents the spread of Slavs/Croats to the territory of Roman Dalmatia. De Administrando imperio of
the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus places this event into the same period as the reign of
Emperor Heraclius (610-641; cf. DAI, 31, p. 147-153).
First of all, I would like to refer to the situation in Istria. It must be emphasized that Istria was under
Byzantine power during the 7th and 8th century, except during 751 and 774, when the rule was taken over by
the Lombards. The first wave of Slav colonisation in this area is well documented by grave-fields close to the
town Buzet (Županija Istarska, Croatia) in the Istrian hinterland (Marušić 1967). These are row cemeteries
(the so-called Reihengräberfelder) without a sacred building and date from the 7th and 8th century. They were
used by the remaining indigenous Roman and the newly arrived Slav population. Next to finds of individual
ceramic pots and iron arrows, distinctive pagan funeral customs indicate the presence of Slavs, such as fires
that were made inside and around the graves, and stone plates placed on certain parts of the inhumation
burial. The finds are mostly local products modelled on the works of late antiquity. Items of contemporary
Byzantine origin are present only in small numbers. They are mostly Byzantine belt buckles from the 7th and
8th century, cast earrings with three loops from local workshops (known as the Brkač-Buzet type; cf. Marušić
1987, 81-83), rings displaying Christian symbolism, fibulae with equal arms, pins-hairpins, pins with a fan
head, necklaces with glass beads, bone combs and some examples of glass dishes of North Italic origin.
One of the youngest graves in these grave-fields is dated by a silver pierced half-siliqua of Constantine V
Copronymus (741-775). The period of Lombard rule did not leave any important traces in the archaeological
heritage of Istrian grave-fields because this Germanic people were not ethnically present in the peninsula.
However, the situation in northern Croatia is quite different. The easternmost part, from the Danube
river to almost the line Osijek-Vinkovci, can be considered as part of the Avar Khaganate at least from the
middle or from the second half of the 7th century (Vinski 1958). This is documented by graves of horsemen
from Zmajevac (Županija Osijek-Baranja, Croatia), Osijek (Županija Osijek-Baranja, Croatia) and Stari
Jankovci (Županija Vukovar-Srijem, Croatia), and by some finds from Bjelo brdo (Županija Osijek-
Baranja, Croatia). Several large and systematically explored Avar burial grounds in the vicinity of Vinkovci

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(Županija Vukovar-Srijem, Croatia) date from the 8th century, mostly its second half (Otok, Privlaka and
Stari Jankovci). A series of individual and mostly stray finds from this area can also be added to the afore-
mentioned group. Two recently discovered finds indicate the presence of Slavs in this area as well. They are
two cremation graves, one in the area of Vinkovci (Županija Vukovar-Srijem, Croatia) from the 7th-first half
of the 8th century, and another, from the vicinity of Belišće (Županija Osijek-Baranja, Croatia) dated to the
8th century (Sekelj-Ivančan, Tkalčec 2006; Filipec 2008).
The archaeological picture is considerably more vague in the rest of northern Croatia. We can say that
not a single grave-field has been discovered so far which could be dated reliably to the 7th or 8th century.
A similar conclusion could be drawn also for southern Croatia. However, one very important historical
source mentions a new situation in the backcountry of the eastern Adriatic coast. Namely, Pope John IV sent
Abbot Martin to Dalmatia and Istria with the task to collect the relics of martyrs and to redeem captured
Christians (Documenta Historiae..., 166/1, p. 277). These relics, which were brought to Rome, were placed
in the Chapel St. Venantius in the Lateran, which was decorated with mosaics on this occasion and has
been preserved until today. Almost all the saints on the mosaic were taken over from the church in Salona,
respectively from its history when it was persecuted by Diocletian in 304 (among the saints is also St.
Domnius, the bishop, martyr and patron saint of Split). An exception is a saint from Istria, who does not
belong to the afore-mentioned circle (St. Maurus, bishop and patron saint of Parentium/Poreč). The mission
of Abbot Martin, the papal delegate, confirms without any doubt the presence of the newly arrived Slav
population. It is also interesting that the mission took place during the pontificate of John IV (640-642)
immediately after the rule of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, who reigned until 641, and during the time
of the Slav/Croat colonisation to the Adriatic coast.
Referring to the question of the archaeological picture of the respective period, it is quite difficult to
find a more sound chronological reference on the basis of grave finds or to extract material which would at
least closely date them to the 7th or 8th century.
The oldest archaeologically confirmable layer are cremation grave-fields, whose occurrence must
be linked to the newly arrived Slav population, due to the fact that the burial custom of cremation is
incompatible with the tradition of the indigenous Christian population in Dalmatia and also with the Avar
one, who practiced skeleton burial (Petrinec 2009, 15-17, 311-320). Cremation grave-fields continue to be
a phenomenon not sufficiently explored and examined by Croatian medieval archaeology. Due to the lack
of chronologically sensitive finds, a more precise age determination is not possible in their case. The only
conclusion to be made on the basis of stratigraphic data of some certain sites is that cremation graves are
older than skeleton graves, dated reliably to the period around 800.
Regarding the skeleton grave-fields overlying the cremation ones, it is also difficult to isolate graves
datable reliably to the 8th century, since most of these sites were continuously used until the mid-9th century.
So far, about 60 grave-fields have been discovered and systematically explored and there are approximately
50 more graves known from sites insufficiently analysed archaeologically which represent individual graves
or individual finds from the same horizon. It must be emphasized that exploration at the afore-mentioned
sites mostly was not accompanied by analyses of bio-archaeological evidence or similar research which
could have contributed significantly to their age determination.
These grave-fields also belong to the row type (the so-called Reihengräberfelder) without a sacred
building (Fig. 2). They indicated more or less distinctive pagan burial customs and like cremation cemeteries
need to be linked with the newly arrived population (Slavs).
The majority of graves were provided with pottery and iron objects, e.g., small iron knives, arrows,
flintstones, awls and a smaller number of sickles and axes used as tools (Petrinec 2009, 17-35). They were,
all and without exception, difficult to date. With regard to the total number of graves at some of the fully
investigated grave-fields which did not continue beyond the mid-9th century (including the large grave-field
with 400 graves at Ždrijac [Županija Zadarska]; cf. Belošević 2007), it must be assumed that a significant
number of burials belongs to the 8th century. It is almost unfeasible that such a large graveyard could have
taken form in only 50 years. Considering the uniformity of the burials and grave finds, it is not possible to
draw conclusions on the number of graves belonging to the indigenous population. Even though the territory
was formally ruled by the Byzantine Empire, there are no finds at all which indicate a Byzantine provenance
or the spread of Christianity from coastal cities.

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Fig. 2. Civljane, Županija Split-Dalmacija, Croatia. Early mediaeval row cemetery (the so-called Reihengräberfeld) from
the 8th to the 9th century; Photo by Z. Alajbeg.

Important changes on the entire territory of today’s Croatia occurred at the end of the 8th century, caused
by the expansion of the Frankish State towards the west. In 788, Istria came under Frankish rule. Between 791
and 796, Charlemagne was at war with the Avars in Pannonia. From 803, the Croats recognized the sovereignty
of the Frankish leaders. Conflicts between the Frankish State and the Byzantine Empire as to the supremacy
over the territory of southern Croatia arose at the beginning of the 9th century and were settled by the Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle in 812, which set the border between the two empires on the Cetina river. This river became
at the same time the easternmost border of Croatia, whereas the coastal cities (Split [Županija Split-Dalmacija,
Croatia], Trogir [Županija Split-Dalmacija, Croatia] and Zadar [Županija Zadar, Croatia]), organized in the
new political unit Byzantine Dalmatia, remained under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor. Croatia’s western
border was set on the Raša river in Istria (like the earlier Roman border between Dalmatia and the 10th Italic
region [Regio X, Venetia et Histria]).
During this period change is observed in the row cemeteries (the so-called Reihengräberfelder) mentioned
earlier. These changes are the consequence of a gradual process of social stratification. And so, within these
grave-fields a class of what is known as tribal aristocracy becomes visible through finds which reflect the
developments then taking place on the eastern Adriatic coast (Petrinec 2009, 17-56). Croatia’s position on
the border of two great empires is reflected in a peculiar way by the grave inventories; richly furnished male
graves, equipped with weapons and equestrian equipment of western Carolingian type (Fig. 3), and women’s
graves with precious metal jewellery, definitely of contemporary Byzantine provenance. At the same time, the
spreading of Christianity through Frankish missionaries from Aquileia started is also documented by grave
inventories. During this period the entire territory of present-day Croatia, from the Adriatic coast to the Drava
river, was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Aquileia.
The situation in northern Croatia is not less interesting. During and immediately after the Frankish-Avar
wars, the highest concentration of sites, but also of individual finds, is observed, once again, in the easternmost
part of today’s Croatia, in the region on the river Danube. There are several important and systematically
explored grave-fields that can be linked directly to the period of Avar dominance in the Carpathian Basin.
It can be assumed that this area was also an integral part of the Khaganate during the Late Avar Period.
Particularly important are two, unfortunately as yet unpublished, grave-fields in the vicinity of Vinkovci
(Županija Vukovar-Srijem, Croatia): Privlaka-Gole Njive and Otok-Mandekov vinograd (Mandek’s vineyard;
for this topic cf. Šmalcelj 1981). Both grave-fields contain burials that can be dated to the mid-8th century, but
also burials from the 9th century. Of special importance is the horseman grave with the so-called large phalerae
with damascene and gilded decorations.
These finds are less frequent west of the Baranja and Syrmia region, and some sites, where they occur,
cannot be assigned to the Avars or belong to the period after the Frankish-Avar wars, during which the Avar power
definitely was crushed. We may also conclude that there are no sites which can be dated reliably to before 800.

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Fig. 3. Biskupija, Županija Šibenik-Knin, Croatia. Two pairs of early Carolingian spurs from the 8th/9th century;
Photo by Z. Alajbeg.

By analyzing the map of sites, we arrive at interesting conclusions. It can be noticed that the late
Avar finds are most numerous at strategically important positions along the Drava and Sava rivers. It should
also be noted that late Avar objects occur together with objects of the western type at some of these sites
(Prelog [Županija Međimurje, Croatia], Kruge [Zagreb, Croatia], Požeški Brestovac [Županija Požega-
Slavonia, Croatia]), but also, that some items of late Avar provenance were discovered within grave-fields
which ought to be assigned to the Slavs and not Avars (Velika Gorica [Zagreb, Croatia]). When finds of the
Blatnica-Mikulčice type (Velika Horvatska [Županija Krapina-Zagorje, Croatia], Sisak [Županija Sisak,
Croatia], Križevci [Županija Koprivnica-Križevci, Croatia]) are added to these findings, but also those of
early Carolingian provenance (Varaždin [Županija Varaždin, Croatia], Podsused [Zagreb, Croatia], Ozalj
[Županija Karlovac, Croatia]), then the territory of the vassal Slav principality is outlined (Filipec 2002-
2003). This principality is mentioned in Frankish sources during the time of Ljudevit Posavski, who was
given the reign over Lower Pannonia. However, the Bulgarian navy entered the Drava river already in
827. The eastern part of the region between the Sava and Drava rivers came under Bulgarian rule, while
the western part remained under direct Frankish power (Filipec 2009). So far, there are no finds in this
region which could be directly linked to the Bulgarians, although they controlled the south-eastern parts of
Pannonia until the second half of the 10th century.
Let us return to southern Croatia. By the end of the 8th or possibly, the beginning of the 9th century,
the Croatian Principality, and later kingdom, started to form in the backcountry of the northern and central
Adriatic coast, which preserved its independence under the reign of the Trpimirović-Dynasty until the
beginning of the 12th century, when it entered a personal union with Hungary. However, the coastal cities
remained under Byzantine power until the mid-11th century. Contact between Byzantine cities and Croatia
in the hinterland was inevitable, which is also confirmed by historical sources. Already at the beginning of
the 10th century, the bishop of Split became the metropolitan not only of the Byzantine themata Dalmatia,
but also of whole Croatia. This was decided at the synods in Split, which were also attended by the Croatian
King Tomislav. Although inhabited by Romans, Split also attracted Croats from the surrounding area who
gradually populated the city and were present in the upper ranks of society already during the 10th century.
The Archbishop of Split was John, son of Tvrdatah, and his Croatian origin is evident. Jelena, member
of the patrician family Madi, became the wife of the Croatian King Mihajlo Krešimir II (949-969). The
grave inventories of this period (mid-9th to the end of the 11th century) offer an entirely different picture

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Fig. 4. Lobor, Zagreb, Croatia. Reconstruction of the wooden church from the 9th century; after K. Filipec (2010, Fig. 4).

Fig. 5. Gornji Koljani, Županija Split-Dalmacija, Croatia. Mediaeval graveyard 9th-15th century; Photo by Z. Alajbeg.

as compared to the earlier periods. The spread of Christianity which continued since the 9th century led to
the building of many churches in Croatia as donations of Croatian rulers, who had their names engraved as
inscriptions in Latin on the church furnishings (Delonga 1996). Members of early feudal nobility started
being buried next to the churches their graves furnished with luxurious female jewellery (Petrinec 2009,
70-97; cf. Fig. 4). The grave finds consisted mostly of large temple-rings (ring diameter 6-8 cm) made of
precious metals in sophisticated filigree and granulation technique (Fig. 5). Although there is no direct

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evidence, it is assumed that the earrings were produced by workshops in coastal cities, where they were made
for the ruling class of the Croatian Principality and adjusted to the taste of the clients. In a broader sense,
these rings can be considered therefore products of Byzantine goldsmiths. Individual pieces of jewellery
also appear in the horizon in grave-fields from this period which can be attributed to Byzantine goldsmith
workshops of that time (forms known as “rings with dome-shaped crowns”, decorative applications and
oval pendants decorating the border of garments). Male graves contained iron spurs modelled on earlier
Frankish spurs, probably a local product. Similar ornaments were discovered also in other grave-fields of the
common population. Grave goods are generally rare. They are mostly jewellery and metal dress accessories,
which proves that the population had converted to Christianity during this time en masse. The grave-fields
in question continued in use approximately until the middle or the last third of the 11th century.
Regarding the situation in northern Croatia, the archaeological image from the mid-9th century
(when the grave-fields of the type Brodski Drenovac [Županija Požeško-slavonska and Turopolje] ended)
until the mid-10th century and the beginning of the Bjelo brdo Culture was entirely unknown until lately.
The gap is filled, to some extent, by finds from a recently explored site – the sanctuary of St. Mary of the
Mountain in Lobor in the Croatian Zagorje (Filipec 2007; Filipec 2010). There, on the remains of an early
Christian church, at first, a grave-field developed in the 9th century, then, a wooden church (Fig. 6) and
with time, a stone-built three-nave basilica. The church continues in use even today although it underwent
various modifications during the Middle Ages and the post-medieval period. The most significant fact is
that a grave-field was developing around the church immediately after its construction, in used from the
8th until the 19th century. The oldest grave is a cremation burial, datable to the late 8th century, partly lost to
the construction of the wooden church. It is quite interesting that the graves are chronologically followed
by a layer with graves furnished with objects (jewellery) which were, so far, usually not dated before the
mid-10th century, i.e. before the age of the Bjelo brdo Culture, and which were also discovered at other
sites across the present-day northern Croatia.

Fig. 6. Biskupija, Županija Šibenik-Knin, Croatia. Temple-rings, late 9th century; Photo by Z. Alajbeg.

The overall picture becomes more clear when certain grave-fields in today’s northwestern part
of Bosnia are taken into consideration. Southwestern Bosnia is known to have been an integral part of
the early medieval Croatian state. Finds from grave-fields from southwestern Bosnia are identical to the
ones discovered at grave-fields in the hinterland of Dalmatian cities. At the beginning of the 10th century
however, the same forms are observed also in northwestern Bosnia. In terms of historical significance,
the occurrence of finds characteristic for southern Croatia in areas so far north can be associated with the
period of Tomislav’s reign. During this time several important changes occurred. Although the coastal cities

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continued to be formally under Byzantine power, the Diocese of Split became the metropolitanate
for the entire Principality/Kingdom. The Croatian Diocese of Nin was abolished by the decision of
the synods of 925 and 928 in Split which were attended by Tomislav himself. The former Diocese of
Sisak was re-established on this occasion. It is known that Tomislav waged wars against the Bulgarians and
Hungarians; older historiography attributed the unification of southern and northern Croatia to him. This
interpretation is rejected nowadays but it is still likely that Tomislav, at least in partly, expanded his state
towards the north. The grave-fields of northwestern Bosnia (Petoševci [Bosanska krajina region; Bosnia and
Herzegovina], Gomjenica [Bosanska krajina region; Bosnia and Herzegovina]) may actually be considered
as evidence on these developments (Miletić 1967; 1980; Žeravica 1985-1986; Tomičić 2000; 2007). In this
area, next to graves with inventories identical as those from the early 10th century discovered in grave-fields
in the Croatian Principality, are seen finds (mostly jewellery-earrings) unusual in the extensive expansion
area of the Bjelo brdo Culture, with analogies limited to the western part of the territory between the
Sava and Drava rivers. If we take into account that identical forms were recorded at Lobor, in graves that
chronologically succeed directly graves from the 9th century, we may conclude that the occurrence of these
materials in northern Croatia and northwestern Bosnia is a natural continuation of the process which started
in the 9th century and preceded the arrival of Hungarians to the Pannonian Plain and the beginning of the
Bjelo brdo Culture. This conclusion, however, applies only to the western part of present-day northern
Croatia. The situation is quite different in its eastern part, where the outlook of grave-fields attributed to the
Bjelo brdo Culture is markedly different. Far to the east, i.e. at Vukovar, early Hungarian graves occur as
well (Demo 2009). The border, up to which the difference in the archaeological heritage of grave-fields from
the 10th century is visible, ran along the line which extended from the Ukrina river, south of the Sava river,
bypassed the entire valley of Požega and continued, along the Drava river, as far as Valpovo. In this way the
old border between the Bulgarian and Frankish territory in Pannonia from the 9th century now became the
border between the Croatian Principality and the area of present-day Croatia that the Hungarians conquered
first. At the same time, it was also the eastern border of the Diocese of Sisak, which was re-established
during the reign of King Tomislav. When the Hungarian King Ladislaus established the Diocese of Zagreb
around 1094, it followed the same borders, i.e. the borders of the old Diocese of Sisak, the eastern part of
northern Croatia fell under the Diocese of Pécs.
Let us return now to Istria. As I have already pointed out, the border between Istria and the Croatian
Principality followed the old Roman border between the Italic region (Regio X, Venetia et Histria) and
Dalmatia. Already at the beginning of the 9th century and in accordance with the Frankish national policy,
Slavs, who were arriving from neighbouring Liburnia (then part of the Croatian Principality) were intensely
colonising uncultivated and deserted tracts of land in Istria. As conflicts between the settlers and the
disinherited autochthonous Roman inhabitants arose, Charlemagne called the Assembly of Rižana in 804.
The cities received the right of self-government through a settlement, but without the return of the usurped
land. Slav colonization continued so that already in the 11th century the immediate hinterland of the cities
was Slav in language of its inhabitants, which is also indicated by the official names of the roads running
from these towns (via sclavonica). As a margraviate under the administration of Frank vassals, at first Istria
composed the Aquileian march with Furlania, subordinated to the Bavarian dukedom. A series of changes of
feudal rulers followed, in which Istria was seceded from Bavaria and annexed by the Dukedom of Carinthia
in 952. In the mid-11th century, Istria became a separate margraviate, granted in hereditary fief to various
noble families by German emperors.
It is interesting to see how these events reflected on the archaeological heritage of Istrian grave-fields.
Among finds from the 9th century there was a significant series of jewellery (earrings) which were made
following the tradition of earring forms of late antiquity from the 7th and 8th century to which I referred earlier
in this paper. However, gradually we see an increase in forms which are identical with those known in the
Croatian Principality and their occurrence in Istrian grave-fields can be connected with colonists who arrived
from that area (Marušić 1987). Traces of this second Slav colonisation of Istria can be followed up to the far
west as far as Predloka near Koper in today’s Slovenian coastal area (Boltin-Tome 1975). At the beginning
of the 10th century, jewellery, characteristic for the Köttlach Culture, occurred in certain grave-fields, e.g.,
rings with conical ends and crescent-shaped earrings decorated with a carved relief design. Elements of the
Köttlach Culture did not penetrate far east and their occurrence in the Croatian Principality/Kingdom is only

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sporadic. Several examples of Köttlach earrings originate from grave-fields in the Vinodol area (Cetinić 1998).
In today’s northern Croatia, these earrings were recorded only in the grave-field at Šenkovec, Međimurje
region (in the far northwest), Croatia (Tomičić 1978).
Considerable changes in the entire area of present-day Croatia started as early as the second half of the
11th century and were particularly distinctive on the turn of the 12th century. As already noted earlier, northern
Croatia fell under Hungarian power. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Croatian Kingdom became
independent and entered a state union with Hungary. The coronation of the Croatian-Dalmatian King Coloman
Árpád took place in Biograd. In agreement with the Byzantine Empire, Petar Krešimir annexed the coastal
cities Zadar, Split and Trogir already in 1069, which accepted the reign of the first Croatian-Hungarian King
Coloman in 1105. Byzantine Dalmatia has never been a territorial united entity rather, a set of municipalities
headed by Zadar. Their extensive autonomy contributed to the development of the afore-mentioned cities as
free communes. Regardless of the formal power of Croatian and Hungarian rulers, they retained their status,
including the rights to elect councils and statutes and to develop an economy based on commodity money
until the 15th century. Emperor Manuel Komnenos was the last to succeed in establishing Byzantine rule in the
Balkans and, as such, ruled also over most of Croatia and Dalmatia between 1143 and 1180.
By the end of the 11th century, major changes occurred also in the ecclesiastic field. Two worlds, the
East and the West, continued to drifting apart, which was confirmed formally also by the Great Schism of
1054 when the united Christian world was divided into the Catholic West and the Orthodox East. In this
division, Croatia definitely fell to the West, which was soon reflected in the art and architecture by the adoption
of the Romanesque style. The reflection of socio-economic developments and church reforms can also be
determined based on structural changes in burial customs of that time. Burial in row cemeteries (the so-
called Reihengräberfelder) without a sacred building came to an end. Grave-fields situated next to churches
where burial was practiced conducted already starting from the 9th century, took over the function of all other
smaller grave-fields, almost as a rule (Burić, Čače, Fadić 2001; cf. Fig. 7). In this they were transforming into
parish graveyards that remained continuously in use during the entire Late Middle Ages. The long tradition of
goldworking craft of the Dalmatian coastal cities was reflected once more in the grave inventories by a series
of luxurious jewellery made in filigree and granulation technique. It reached its artistic peak during the Gothic
period, as demonstrated by finds of exceptionally luxurious items in graves. As in the Early Middle Ages,
earrings were the most numerous among those finds. In this regard, one archival record from Dubrovnik is very
interesting. It shows that those earrings were called cercellis de argento slavoneschis, which actually refers

Fig. 7. Cetina, Županija Šibenik-Knin, Croatia. Church of Holy Salvation from the 9th century and its attached mediaeval
graveyard from the 11th-14th century; Photo by Z. Alajbeg.

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 Croatia between the East and the West – evidence from early medieval graves

to the fact that the difference between coastal cities and its hinterland was still highlighted, even after several
centuries (Fig. 8). Certain items discovered in the graves also reflect historical events, such as the two gilded
pectoral reliquary crosses (encolpia) discovered in graves dated to the 11th century. They are archaeological
evidence of Byzantine presence at the eastern Adriatic coast (Burić 1995).

Fig. 8. Cetina, Županija Šibenik-Knin, Croatia. Pair of earrings from the 14th century; Photo by Z. Alajbeg.

The archaeological picture of the grave-fields in present-day northern Croatia is somewhat different.
Grave-fields referred to earlier containing finds from before 950, were continuously and are still in use.
New row cemeteries (the so-called Reihengräberfelder) were established. The inventory of finds does not
differ any longer from the one discovered in the grave-fields belonging to the Bjelo brdo Culture in the
entire territory of its expansion. Those grave-fields show that a Christianized population was buried there
with no pagan elements. The process of erecting churches and relocating graves next to them was completed
by the mid-12th century. By the mid-13th century the latest, items of the Bjelo brdo Culture disappeared
entirely from the graves (Filipec 2003; Simoni 2004). Individual objects belonging to this culture continue
in evidence until the 1240s, i.e. approximately, until the Mongol (Tatar) invasions of Hungary and Croatia
of 1241 and 1242. As early as the 12th century, and particularly during the 13th century, also filigree jewellery
is seen in this area for the first time, but also temple-ring types which were completely unknown there, yet
distinctive for the territory of southern Croatia and Bosnia.
Already by the end of the 15th century, the Turks were increasingly encroaching on the Croatian
territory. After the defeat of the Hungarian-Croatian army at the Battle of Mohács, the Croatian Parliament
elected Ferdinand of Habsburg as their king. From that point on, the history of Croatia was tied to the
Habsburg monarchy. However, the Ottoman Empire expanded more and more towards the west. This
resulted in heavy battles against the Turks on Croatian territory throughout the entire century. In a letter to a
Croatian peer from the beginning of the 16th century, Pope Leo X called Croatia Antemurale Christianitatis
(Bulwark of Christianity). In 1592, as only small parts of today’s Croatia remained free, Croatia was also
referred to as reliquiae reliquiarum olim inclyti regni Croatiae (remnants of the remnants of the once great
Croatian Kingdom; cf. Šišić 1937, 76-78; Kruhek 1995, 49-53; Goldstein 2003, 125). Two great empires
(the Habsburg and Ottoman) established their borders once again on Croatian soil. At the same time, the
Venetian Republic appeared as a third great power in the south of Croatia. The immediate border between
Venice and the Habsburg monarchy ran across the Istrian peninsula. At the beginning of the 15th century,
Dalmatia was sold to Venice for 100 000 ducats. However, as the Turks had conquered the entire hinterland
of the Dalmatian coastal cities, they continued to live as isolated communes. In this way, the situation that
occurred already in the Early Middle Ages was repeating itself again.
Burials in all the medieval grave-fields in southern Croatia ceased in all areas which had been occupied
by the Ottoman Empire in the period from the 15th until the beginning of the 16th century. A similar situation
was present in the eastern parts of northern Croatia.

471
Maja Petrinec

Резюме. Хорватия между Востоком и Западом по данным средневековых некрополей. Современная

Хорватия расположена на стыке трех естественно-географических ареалов Европы: Средиземноморья,
Подунавья и Динарского нагорья. Существующие природные различия нашли свое выражение и в
культурной сфере, прежде всего в эпоху Средневековья. Историческое исследование местных культур
невозможно без параллельного рассмотрения трех различных регионов: Южной Хорватии, совпадающей
с античной Даламцией, где возникло первое хорватское средневековое государство, Северной Хорватии,
находившейся под влиянием Карпатско-Дунайского региона, и Истрии, ограниченной Кварнеским
заливом и горными массивами Карста и Учки. Культурные различия, связанные с проникновением в
регион влияний с Запада и Востока, нашли свое отражение и в археологии погребального обряда. В
настоящей статье делается попытка не только дать сравнительный анализ ряда некрополей в целом, но и
охарактеризовать отдельные находки в контексте исторического и политического развития исследуемых
территорий. Славянское расселение в Хорватии VII-VIII вв. завершилось периодом, именуемым в
историографии «два темных века» хорватской истории. Это время лучше известно по кладам и отдельным
находкам (Велика Кладуша, Бискупья), богатые погребения (Чадавице) оказываются крайне редкими. К
этому времени относятся первые славянские некрополи в Истрии (Бузет), тогда как Северная Хорватия
оказывается под властью авар. В южной части Хорватии, как свидетельствует миссия аббата Мартина,
связанная с эвакуацией христианских реликвий, также проживало славянское население. Точная дата
перехода от кремации к ингумации, как и связь этого процесса с христианизацией, не определимы,
но в IX-X в. происходит трансформация раннесредневековых некрополей в приходские кладбища,
что связывается преимущественно с франкским влиянием, хотя здесь присутствуют и элементы
византийской материальной культуры. Позднее северная часть страны попадает под власть Венгрии,
а схизма 1054 г. окончательно формирует Хорватию как часть западного мира, хотя византийское и
восточное влияния весьма ощутимы на побережье, в частности, в виде присутствия изделий, украшенных
сканью. Следующие серьезные изменения христианской культуры и погребального обряда приходятся
на XV в., когда после турецкой оккупации захоронения на средневековых кладбищах прекращаются, а
культурные зоны существенно унифицируются.

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Address of the Author:

Dr. Maja Petrinec Dr Maja Petrinec

Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments
S. Gunjače b. b. S. Gunjače b. b.
21000 Split 21000 Split
HRVATSKA CROATIA
e-mail: maja.petrinec@mhas-split.hr e-mail: maja.petrinec@mhas-split.hr

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