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Recent years have brought plenty of reports about new discoveries made in central and southern Poland concerning locally issued Celtic coins in gold and Roman Republican silver coins. In some cases they have been found at the same sites. Therefore, the question is to what extent can we examine jointly the use of Celtic coinage and Roman silver coinage in the territories inhabited by the people of the Przeworsk culture and the Tyniec group during the final years of the1st century BC and the early years of the 1st century AD. For the time being, very little is known on the subject. The only thing that can be said with a probability bordering on certainty is that in some parts of this region both types of coins were used during the same period. Additionally, the reservation that the phenomenon of the use of Celtic coins may have ended sooner and may have been more limited in terms of territory must be taken into account. Local coinage activity and import of Roman silver should be connected with some kind of Celtic activity. It is also not impossible that the influx of Republican denarii to the region to the north of the Carpathians and the Sudetes had more complex reasons. The more so because the local late Celtic coinage activity has been examined only within the Boii context,and that other elements may come into play in the territory lying to the north of the mountain ranges, like the activity of other Celtic tribes and of the Dacians. At present, there is little else to do but wait for new coin finds that could shed more light on the subject.
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The early-medieval burial ground of Wawrzeńczyce was discovered by accident in 2003. As a result of the performance of five excavation operations, 1,610 m2of the site’s area were explored, with the outcome of 546 pre- and early-historyartefacts. As many as 129 skeletal burials were also unearthed over the entire area under exploration. Nearly a half of them (63) contained funeral fittings. In total, 21 medieval coins and some modern-era coins, unrelated to the burial ground,were found in 19 burials. Definitely the largest group comprised coins from German mints, particularly pennies from Saxony (so-called Sachsenpfennige).Polish coinage was represented by three coins: two pennies of Władysław I Herman(1079–1102) and one from the Duchy of Głogów in the name of ConradSpindleshanks (1177–1180/1190) or Bolesław I the Tall (1163–1201). Two coinsfrom Hungary, in the names of Kings Stephan I (997–1038) and Andrew I (1046––1060), were found as well (significantly, the first Hungarian coins ever foundin the burials of the historic province of Lesser Poland). The burial ground hadbeen used most likely from the latter half, or possibly from the final quarter, ofthe 11th century, until presumably as late as the first quarter of the 13th century.
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The Austrian pfennigs had played a significant role in the Moravian monetary system since as early as the mid-12th century. The penny coinage of Moravia had been in a crisis at that time and the Austrian pfennigs had practically replaced the local currency. Since the reign of Vladislaus Henry [Vladislav Jindřich], Margrave of Moravia in the years 1197–1222, pennies of the pfennig type had been minted in the territory of Moravia. This particular coinage was modelled on the Austrian pfennigs of the period. During the first half of the 13th century, the latter coinage reached Moravia in considerable amounts, as attested by the structures of the large hoards found there, especially the coins of Leopold V (1177–1194) and Leopold VI (1198–1230). Beginning from the 1240s, the Austrian pfennigs would begin to lose their importance in the Moravian coin system, while the local coinage was gaining in prominence. The structure of the hoards had changed at that time as well. The Austrian pfennig became an occasional and supplementary addition to the local coinage. Once again, during the reign of King of Bohemia and Margrave of Moravia Přemysl Ottokar II (1251–1276), there had been a more intense in flow of the Austrian pfennigs into the territory of Moravia, though not to an extent comparable to the first half of the 13th century. It is confirmed by some hoards from the period that contained only the Austrian pfennigs, with no Moravian coinage at all.The inflow of the Austrian pfennigs reached its peak in the years 1278–1283, following the death of Přemysl Ottokar II, when Moravia was ruled by his rival, the Duke of Austria Rudolf of Habsburg.
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The article is an overview of a set of money boxes acquired in the course of excavations conducted in the Old Town of Krakow. The artefacts come from both intact objects (cesspits), as well as from redeposited layers.The money boxes are made of clay and were formed on the potter’s wheel; a low-speed or high-speed potter’s wheel in particular cases. The simplest objects are of a rotund or bulbous shape, but the most impressive one resembles a cup on a stem with a foot topped with a kind of “lid”. The decorative elements of the moneyboxes are limited to a color (monochrome) or neutral glazing, engraved horizontallines or protruding clay strips imprinted with oval depressions (fingerprints).All of these artifacts have been more or less damaged. Their destruction probablyoccurred while removing the coins deposited inside; this was done by break--ing out the upper part of the object using some kind of tool (e.g. a knife) placed inthe slot for inserting coins.Dating of objects was based on morphological features, and, where it waspossible, even on the cultural context. On this basis it was found that the collectionincludes objects both from medieval and modern times.
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For centuries Mount Athos, was a place where the cultures of Greece and Bulgaria met and interacted as a result of the mixed cloisters. During the Ottoman rule mount Athos was the custodian of the common orthodox tradition whilst later, during the 19th century, it was the place where the Balkan peoples became conscious of their national identity and begun constructing their national myth. It is therefore completely natural that artists in search of a national expression in art would seek their inspiration there. Among the Greeks we encounter the names of F. Kontoglou, A. Asteriades, S. Papaloukas, P.Ren- gos and among Bulgarians, V.Zahariev, I. Lazarov and especially C.Lavrenov who spent 100 days in Mount Athos in 1935 and created more than 20 pieces directly inspired by his stay there and continued to work on subject-matters of the Holy Mount until the end of the 1940s. This article examines the way C. Lavrenov reaches the idea of constructing ‘national art’ going through the different stages: form his first efforts in the Art Nouveau style, to the exploitation of concrete Byzantine iconographic models and the representation of his hometown Plovdiv with the means of the old Byzantine and Post-Byzantine style. As in the works of many other artists of the period, Greeks and Bulgarians, the architecture of the National Revival period (that is 18th and 19th century urban architecture) is used here as a proof of national differentiation. The meeting of Canko Lavrenov with Polykleitos Rengos in Thessaloniki, in 1935 is one of the few pieces of evidence we have of direct contact between the two countries’ artists. Lavrenov appraisal of Rengos’s works, which, according to him, ‘keep close to the Byzantine prototypes’, are shown to have contradicted the assessments of the contemporary Greek art historians. Furthermore this study will point to some similarities in the themes, composition, and points of perspective in their paintings. In this way the artistic and political project to form a “self-consciously nationalist” art from the materials of a common heritage is laid bare.
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The article is written as an addition to the previous article by N. Fonyakova. It gives some different considerations on the motifs and symbolism of the subject depicted on the vessel from Kotski. It is necessary to state that these motifs and subjects are not pertinent only to the Khazar culture, but also occurred among the Early Hungarians (esp. the motif of decoration of the rim of the vessel) and among the cultures in Central Asia for a long time. The author’s idea is that it is not possible to give any prevalence of one or the other interpretation of the subject, being discussed either as a representation of a “Heroic combat with the Hero-virgin” or of a “Initiation Combat between the King and the Pretender”, though she is more inclined towards the first view. The basic conclusion is that this subject can be attracted towards the reconstruction of the (Proto)bulgarian mytho-poetic model.
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One of the most important archaeological phenomena in Transylvania during the Early Avar Period is represented by the late group of the so-called row-grave cemeteries, named conventionally in the archaeological literature “Band-Vereşmort group”. The scientific research of these cemeteries started at the beginning of the 20th century with the excavations carried out at Band by István Kovács. Since then several other necropolises belonging to the same group have been identified and partially unearthed which led to a relatively intense scientific debate regarding mainly to the chronological and ethnical aspects. Based on literary sources as well as on the archaeological evidence, the early scholars (István Kovács, Márton Roska) ascribed the discussed sites to the Gepidic population, while the graves containing horse bones, situated on the edges of the cemetery at Band, were connected to the Avars. Due to the excavations carried out at Moreşti in the 1950s which resulted in the discovery of a cemetery dated in the Gepidic Period, Kurt Horedt succeeded to elaborate the chronology of the Transylvanian row-grave cemeteries. According to him, the graveyards belonging to the Gepidic Period (group III/Moreşti group) can be sharply separated from the ones dated in the Early Avar Period (group IV/Band-Vereşmort group) both from chronological and ethnic point of view. In his opinion the former belonged mainly to the Gepids and could be placed roughly in the first half of the 6th century, while the latter was assigned to “late Germanic” communities, showing also “nomadic” influence, and dated exclusively in the 7th century. He excluded the existence of any direct link between the two horizons. Horedt’s theory was severely criticized by István Bóna who, unlike Horedt, developed his opinion based on the similarities between the two mentioned groups. The polemics between the two scholars dominated the research on the topic in the 1970s and 1980s. In Bóna’s view, the beginnings of the Band-Vereşmort group could be traced back to the second half of the 6th century, or even earlier, and therefore the existence of continuity between the row-grave cemeteries from the Gepidic and the Early Avar Period was out of question. He ascribed the latter group to the Gepidic communities which survived the Avar conquest in 568 and lived continuously in Transylvania under Avar rule. On the other hand, he connected the burials containing horse bones to the Avars. Later this assumption was generally accepted in the Hungarian archaeological literature. Further arguments for the late Gepidic interpretation of the Band-Vereşmort group were brought by Radu Harhoiu who published the cemeteries from Bratei 3 and Galaţii Bistriţei excavated in the 1970s. He dated the whole group in the second half of the 6th century – first half of the 7th century and considered that these cemeteries were used exclusively by the late Gepids living under Avar rule. The burials with horse bones were interpreted as a result of acculturation of the Gepids which adopted Avar burial customs and artefacts. In the course of approximately 100 years which passed since the publication of the cemetery at Band, the scholars focused on two main topics: chronology and ethnicity. Despite of this debate, in the current state of research both of them are far from being clarified. Taking a closer look, one can observe that the date of the collapse of the Gepidic Kingdom (567) and the Avar conquest in the Carpathian Basin (568) are usually considered a sharp borderline between the ‘Gepidic’ and ‘Avar’ material culture, and therefore between the Moreşti group and the Band-Vereşmort group. In the same time the cemeteries from the Tisza region are placed generally before this date, many times not on archaeological, but on historical grounds. However, several finds seem to belong to the first decades of the Avar Age (e.g. Egerlövő, grave 31 – with a coin of Justin II and Sophia; Tiszagyenda – with a coin of Maurice Tiberius; Kisköre-Pap Tanya, graves 42 and 43; Hódmezővásárhely-Kishomok, graves 1 and 7). In Transylvania the situation is less clear and therefore the question if the Moreşti type cemeteries reached the Avar Period or not remains open. The same problem rises in the case of the date of emergence of the Band-Vereşmort group. Recent results showed that the beginning of the group already in the 6th century is beyond doubt, but still, it is not clear enough to which date it can be traced back. There are a few elements which might indicate a date prior to the Avar conquest, like Noşlac, grave 121 or the stray finds coming from the vicinity of cemetery 3 at Bratei, but there is no evidence that these discoveries belonged to the cemeteries in question. The end date of the Band-Vereşmort type cemeteries is also unclear and is hindered by the fact that most of the graveyards were only partially unearthed. In this regard it seems more expedient to analyze the different cemeteries separately. The latest elements were discovered at Noşlac which reach the 8th century. Concerning the ethnic interpretation a relatively great variety can be observed. However, in this regard the research was seriously marked by the nationalistic approach of the communist era. Beginning with the second half of the 1950s the main task of the Romanian archaeology was to identify the local Daco-Roman population during the Migration Period and Early Middle Ages in order to find a link between the moment of the abandonment of the Roman province Dacia and the Medieval Period. This endeavour led to the emphasizing of the importance of the autochthonous population as well as to the minimizing of the significance of the ‘migratory’ peoples. This approach resulted in the emergence of a set of clichés which, in slighter degree, persists even today. One of the most important problems is related to burials containing horse bones which generally belong to the latest phase of the cemeteries. These were traditionally connected to a ‘nomadic’ community (e.g. Avars, Cutrigurs). Recently, Radu Harhoiu assigned them to the acculturated Gepids. In this regard the moment of the appearance of the Avars in Transylvania is of great significance. Since Kurt Horedt it is a commonplace in the Romanian historiography that the Avars entered in Transylvania for the first time only at the middle of the 7th century, or at the earliest, around 630. In contrast, Bóna believed that the first Avars reached the Transylvanian Basin already in the first decades after they settled down in the Carpathian Basin. Unfortunately, our present knowledge on this topic does not permit the establishment of the moment when the Avars entered in Transylvania, first of all, because of the reduced number of the well documented and published excavations. On the other hand, the fact that the research has not succeeded in identifying the specific burial customs and artefact types which could be connected undoubtedly to the first generation of the Avars in the Carpathian Basin was totally left out of consideration. Recent studies pointed out that the typical ‘Avar’ material culture was not brought by the Avars from the East, but emerged in the Carpathian Basin after 568 comprising several elements with different cultural roots (e.g. eastern, Byzantine, Germanic, Romanized, Slavic etc.). As it was shown above, the central question of the debate regarding the Band-Vereşmort group is related to the continuity or discontinuity of the Gepidic population in Transylvania in the last third of the 6th century – first half of the 7th century. It was observed already in the 1970s that the discussed cemeteries contained several grave-goods whose origins cannot be found in the material culture of the Gepidic Period, instead they have convincing analogies in the Late Merovingian necropolises from Western- and, mainly, Central-Europe. Taking this into account, the question which rises is if these elements arrived in Transylvania together with their owners colonized from the West, or they are the results of a development of the local communities which had strong relations with the Merovingian world. All these unsolved problems led to a lot of confusions and contradictions in the archaeological literature. This can be attributed mainly to the inflexible use of the concept of ethnic identity by most of the scholars, who considered it to be a rigid and permanent entity which can be identified based on the grave-goods or, in general, on the material culture. However, the archaeological evidence shows a much more complex picture where different cultural elements are in permanent interaction. In this respect a good example is the cemetery at Gâmbaş which was considered the most representative necropolis of the Avars from Transylvania by Kurt Horedt on one hand, and was thought to be a late Gepidic graveyard by Radu Harhoiu on the other hand. According to the present state of research it seems that the material culture of the Transylvanian Basin during this period included several elements of different origins. Therefore, the question asked in the title of this paper remains unanswered. On the other hand, the future research should focus not only on chronological and ethnical, but also on social aspects. To achieve such results new, well documented excavations as well as anthropological analysis are needed.
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The article tries to show fundamental theoretic and cognitive issues, that seem common for archeology and sociology. their existence allows not only to implement a common scienti c discourse, but also it may inspire the growth of each discipline. As far as we are concerned, common re ection upon meaning of “things” for the existence of social world, and recognition of mechanisms that create everyday life is exceptionally inspiring. moreover, both disciplines have similar experiences with multiplicity of theoretical-methodological paradigms and contend with the issue of change and continuity of culture (using different time perspectives).
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The Inuit lives in the areas attending along the Arctic Circle, from the Aleutians and Alaska, the northern part of Canada, to belonging to denmark greenland. the census of 2006 showed there is about 50 thousand of Inuit in Canada. In the second half of the twentieth century they joined the efforts to change the situation of indigenous peoples residing in the territory of Canada. initially marginalized and neglected by the white majority, they were able to resist the dominant culture and maintain their own individuality, and even to earn the right to decide of their own fate. They have successfully used the processes occurring in the international arena and domestic politics in Canada, combining their efforts with those of the American indians. As with other aboriginal people around the world, for the inuit an extremely important issue was the possession and use of land and its resources. the crowning of their efforts was the creation from the areas inhabited by them a separate territory of Nunavut. This paper presents the process of revival of the Canadian Inuit and the current scope of their autonomy. It draws attention to the conditions and processes linking them with the American Indians and the métis, and to the issues and consequences of differences in the fate and status of the inuit. the problem of „land rights” and different from european understanding of it was particularly brought into prominence.
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