The Beginning of The Middle Ages in The PDF

Millennium 10/2013
Jahrbuch zu Kultur und Geschichte

des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr.
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The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Florin Curta
Abstract: The recent understanding of the transition from Antiquity to the early Middle
Ages is based on the model of the transformation of the Roman world, established in
the 1990s through a five-year research program funded by the European Science
Foundation. The model, however, has never been tested on the Balkans, despite the
importance of that region for the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe. The article
deals with the short seventh century between 620 (the date of Emperor Heraclius
withdrawal of the Roman armies) and 680 (the date of the Bulgar migration into the
northeastern Balkans). On the basis of recent progress in numismatic research, as well
as in the study of so-called Byzantine belt buckles, the article explores the evidence
of building and rebuilding in ancient cities, coins and hoards, rural settlements, and
burials (either isolated or in cemeteries) discovered in the Balkan region, which could
be dated between 620 and 680. The archaeological evidence is incontrovertible: during
the seventh century, the Balkans, especially the central and northern areas seem to have
experienced something of a demographic collapse, with large tracts of land left without
any inhabitants. The first open, rural settlements in the Balkans in more than 150 years
appeared in the north, along the valley of the river Danube, and were most likely in the
borderlands of the Avar qaganate and its sphere of influence. The evidence of
cemeteries indicate significant clusters of population in the western BalkansGreece,
northern and central Albania, and Istria. Although next to nothing is known about the
associated settlements, many isolated burials and cemeteries were associated with ruins
of old basilicas, which suggest that those were Christian communities.
Much has been written in recent years about the continuity between Antiquity
and the Middle Ages. Few are those who would now challenge the model of the
transformation of the Roman world established in the 1990s through a fiveyear research program generously funded by the European Science Foundation.1 The results were published in fourteen volumes of a special book series
edited by such prominent scholars as Walter Pohl, Chris Wickham, Ian Wood,
Neil Christie, Richard Hodges, Evangelos Chrysos, and Miquel Barcel.2 There
1
For dissenting voices, see however B. Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of
Civilization. Oxford 2006 and P. Heather, Empires and Barbarians. The Fall of Rome
and the Birth of Europe. Oxford 2009.
The series was published between 1997 and 2004 by Brill under the title Transformation of the Roman World (see http://www.brill.nl/publications/transformationroman-world, visit of May 14, 2012). The phrase may have been inspired by L. White,
Transformation of the Roman World. Gibbons Problem After Two Centuries (UCLA
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Contributions, 3). Berkeley/Los Angeles
1966. The concept has been recently developed and somewhat modified in R. Mathisen
146
Florin Curta
has so far been no attempt to test the model on the Balkans, a region which is
also conspicuously absent from Chris Wickhams book on Europe and the
Mediterranean between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Age.3 Nonetheless,
such an exercise is much needed, if only to see what results, if any, may be
obtained that would inform our understanding of the beginning of the Middle
Ages in Europe.
Before proceeding, a number of clarifications are necessary. While it is
relatively easy to define the Balkans as one of the three main peninsulas of
southern Europe, bounded to the west by the Adriatic and Ionian seas, to the
south by the Mediterranean, and to the east by the Black and Aegean seas, it is
much more difficult to delineate the northern border of the region. For the
purpose of this paper, I chose to set the boundary on the Danube, from the
Delta all the way to the confluence with the Drava, then following the Drava to
its source in the Eastern (Carnic) Alps. The main reason for this choice is less
geographic, and more historical, political, and cultural, as the Hungarian Plain
to the north of the river Drava was occupied by the Avars between ca. 600 and
ca. 800.4 It has long been noted that the Avar qaganate did not expand into the
Balkans, and that the archaeological markers of an Avar presence appear only
sporadically south of the Drava River.5 A few Avar finds in the Balkans do not
fundamentally change that conclusion.6 At any rate, including the Hungarian
D. Shanzer (eds.) Romans, Barbarians, and the Transformation of the Roman World.
Cultural Interaction and Creation of Identity in Late Antiquity. Farnham/Burlington
2011.
C. Wickham, Framing the Early Middle Ages. Europe and the Mediterranean, 400 800.
Oxford 2005, 5: I excluded the Slav lands, both in the Roman empire (in the Balkans)
and outside it, because of my own linguistic weaknesses. Throughout his book,
Wickham nonetheless deals extensively with developments in Greece.
W. Pohl, Die Awaren. Ein Steppenvolk im Mitteleuropa 567 822 n. Chr., Mnchen
2002; W. Pohl, A non-Roman empire in Central Europe: the Avars, in: Regna and
Gentes. The Relationship Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and
Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World (ed. H.-W. Goetz J. Jarnut W.
Pohl). Leiden/Boston 2003, 571 595.
L. Trbuhovic, Avar finds from Sirmium and the surrounding region, in: Sirmium.
Recherches archologiques en Syrmie (ed. N. Duval E. L. Ochsenschlager V.
Popovic). Beograd 1982, 67 74 with fig. 6; I. Bna, A npvndorlskor s a korai
kzpkor trtnete Magyarorszgon, in: Magyarorszg trtnete I. Elzmnyek s
magyar trtnet 1424-ig (ed. G. Szkely). Budapest 1984, 310 346 with pl. 25; P.
Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmnzen der Awarenzeit (cf. fn. 5) 153 with n. 55.
P. Ivanov, Avarski nakhodki ot Severozapadna Balgariia. Problemi na prabalgarskata
istoriia i kultura 3 (1997), 272 282; K. Filipec, Kasnoavarski ukrasni okov (falera) u
obliku veprove glave iz Siska. Godisnjak Gradskog Muzeja u Sisku 3 4 (2002 2003),
117 46; M. Inkova, Avarski inovacii v starobalgarskata kultura? In: Prof. d.i.n. Stancho
Vaklinov i srednovekovnata balgarska kultura (ed. K. Popkonstantinov B. Borisov R.
Kostova). Veliko Tarnovo 2005, 99 112. See also Cs. Blint, Voltak-e Avarok az
147
Plain in the analysis would have complicated things unnecessarily, as the

archaeology of the Avar age in the Carpathian Basin deals with a comparatively
much larger corpus of data, which raises radically different questions.7
The seventh century was a period of crucial significance in the transformation of the Roman into a Byzantine (i. e., medieval) Empire. By 600, the
Empire extended over the entire Mediterranean region, of which the Balkans
represented an important component. Before 700, the Empire lost most
territories in the Mediterranean, and the Balkans were largely outside its
borders, except a few coastal areas. This may explain the disappearance of the
Balkan region from the radar of the written sources. To be sure, the Balkans
figure prominently in the History of Theophylact Simocatta, who wrote in
Constantinople in the late 620s or early 630s.8 However, the last events in the
region explicitly mentioned in his work are those surrounding the revolt of
Phocas in 602. Theophylact has nothing to say about what was going on in the
Balkans before and after the Avar-Persian siege of Constantinople in 626. The
Chronicon Paschale and Theodore Synkellos focus only on events in the capital
and its immediate hinterland.9 The same is true for the only source written in the
seventh century in the Balkans, the Miracles of St. Demetrius. The unknown
author of the second collection of homilies wrote at some point during the last
two decades of the seventh century, but his concern was with the events in
Thessalonica and the citys hinterland.10 The little we know about what was
happening in the central Balkans, particularly in Bulgaria, comes from the
9
10
. Mikic). Beograd
Adrin? In: Spomenica Jovana Kovacevica (ed. R. Bunardzic Z
2003, 55 60.
F. Daim, Avars and Avar archaeology, in: Regna and Gentes. The Relationships
Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World, (ed. H.-W. Goetz J. Jarnut W. Pohl). Leiden/Boston
2003, 463 notes that countless archaeological finds, more than 60,000 graves, some
hoards and settlements permit us to reconstruct the Avar culture from the period of
first settlement to the decline of the Avar Empire.
For the date of the composition of Theophylacts History, see T. Olajos, Les sources de
Thophylacte Simocatta historien. Leiden 1988, 11; M. Whitby, The Emperor Maurice
and His Historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare. Oxford 1988,
39 40.
Such as the failed Avar attempt to ambush and kidnap Emperor Heraclius, an episode
for which see A. N. Stratos, Le guet-apens des Avars. JB 30 (1981), 113 135.
The mention of July 25 of the fifth indiction and of the emperors war with the
Saracens makes it possible to date the siege of Thessalonica at the center of the second
collection of homilies to July 25, 677 (Miracles of St. Demetrius II 4.255 [214 Lemerle]).
For the date of the composition of the collection, see O. V. Ivanova, Chudesa Sv.
Dimitriia Solunskogo, in: Svod drevneishikh pismennykh izvestii o slavianakh (ed. S. A.
Ivanov G. G. Litavrin V. K. Ronin). Moscow 1995, 203. For the Miracles of St.
Demetrius as a historical source, see A. K. Iliadi, Ta ha}lata tou ac_ou Dglgtq_ou yr
istoqij]r pgc]r. Epidqol]r jai Skabij]r epoij_seir emte}hem tou Doum\beyr. Trikala
2003.
148
Florin Curta
Chronography of Theophanes, who wrote in the early ninth century. His account
of Balkan affairs, especially the migration of the Bulgars, was based on an
earlier, now lost Syriac chronicle.11 The dearth of historical information
highlights the importance of archaeology for the understanding of the dramatic
changes taking place in the seventh century in the Balkan Peninsula. The
chronology of those changes relies on two key events the general withdrawal
of the Roman army and administration around 620, and the arrival of the
Bulgars in ca. 680. The former was a direct consequence of the military
engagement with the Sassanians in the East, while the latter resulted in the
creation of an early medieval state which changed the entire political and
military configuration in the region.12
I have therefore decided to focus on the archaeological record which could
safely be dated between 620 and 680. Such a chronological resolution is now
possible because of major progress in three separate, yet parallel fields of
research. First, the publication of a corpus of coin hoards from the Balkans and
Asia Minor with termini post quos between 491 and 713 clearly shows that after
ca. 620, hoards appear only in the coastal regions close to Constantinople.13
Second, Mechthild Schulze-Drrlamms two-volume study of the large collection of so-called Byzantine buckles and belt mounts in the Roman-Germanic
Museum in Mainz has vastly improved our understanding of the chronology of
those artifacts, which can now be restricted in certain cases to between 25 and 75
years.14 Finally, much work has been done lately for the refinement of the
11 I. S. Chichurov, Vizantiiskie istoricheskie sochineniia: Khronographiia Feofana,
Breviarii Nikifora. Teksty, perevod, kommentarii. Moskva 1980, 107; R. Scott, The
Byzantine chronicle after Malalas, in: Studies in John Malalas (ed. E. M. Jeffreys B.
Croke R. Scott) (Byzantina Australiensia, 6). Sydney 1990, 41. See also Pavel V.
Kuzenkov, Khronografiia Georgiia Sinkella-Feofana Ispovednika: khronologicheskii
aspect, in: Jamisjiom. Iubileinyi sbornik v chest 60-letiia profesora Igoria Sergeevicha
Chichurova (ed. M. V. Gracianskii P. V. Kuzenkov). Moskva 2006, 156 168.
12 I. Bozhilov, Razhdaneto na srednovekovna Balgariia (nova interpretaciia). Istoricheski
pregled 48 (1992), nos. 1 2, 3 34; D. Ziemann, Von Wandervolk zur Gromacht. Die
Entstehung Bulgariens im frhen Mittelalter (7.9. Jh.) (Klner historische Abhandlungen, 43). Kln/Weimar/Wien 2007.
13 C. Morrisson V. Popovic V. Ivanisevic, Les trsors montaires byzantins des Balkans
et dAsie Mineure (491 713) (Ralits byzantines, 13). Paris 2006, 92 map 8 ; 93 map 9.
For seventh-century coin finds in the Balkans, see also F. Curta, Byzantium in Dark-Age
Greece (the numismatic evidence in its Balkan context). Byzantine and Modern Greek
Studies 29 (2005), 113 46, at 116 fig. 1.
14 M. Schulze-Drrlamm, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen und Grtelbeschlge im Rmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums. Teil I: Die Schnallen ohne Beschlg, mit
Laschenbeschlg und mit festem Beschlg des 6. bis 7. Jahrhunderts (Kataloge vorund frhgeschichtlicher Altertmer, 30.1). Mainz, 2002, and Byzantinische Grtelschnallen und Grtelbeschlge im Rmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum. Teil 2: Die
Schnallen mit Scharnierbeschlg und die Schnallen mit angegossenem Riemendurchzug
149
chronology of over 60,000 Avar-age burial assemblages. Peter Stadlers studies,

especially his recent book, employed a sophisticated statistical method
(correspondence analysis) for the seriation of some 4,000 burial assemblages
to obtain firm dates, which he then correlated with radiocarbon dates from the
same burials, in order to establish for the first time a solid chronology of the
entire Avar age, with three tiers (Early, Middle, and Late), each subdivided into
periods dated within well defined intervals.15 Meanwhile, Joanita Vrooms
studies have considerably improved our understanding of certain categories of
the early medieval pottery in the Aegean region, such as the Glazed White
Ware.16 However, the production of that ware did not start before the late
seventh century, and only peaked in the following century. Moreover, well-dated
ceramic assemblages, however, are rare for the period after ca. 620 and no way
exists so far to obtain for such assemblages the degree of resolution now
possible for certain categories of metalwork.
Cities and forts

The only traces of transformation in the Balkans have been found in urban
centers. However, only a few of those changes may be dated with any degree of
accuracy to the seventh century. The Old Metropolitan church in Mesembria
des 7. bis 10. Jahrhunderts (Kataloge vorund frhgeschichtlicher Altertmer, 30,2).
Mainz 2009.
15 P. Stadler, Quantitative Studien zur Archologie der Awaren I. Wien 2005; P. Stadler,
Avar chronology revisited, and the question of ethnicity in the Avar qaganate, in: The
Other Europe in the Middle Ages. Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans (ed. F. Curta)
(East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages 450 1450, 2). Leiden/Boston
2008, 47 82. For critical remarks on Stadlers chronology see F. Curta, Review of
Quantitative Studien zur Archologie der Awaren I, by Peter Stadler (Wien, 2005).
European Journal of Archaeology 9 (2006), no. 1, 139 141; P. Tomka, Neue Impulse in
der Archologie der Awarenzeit. Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (2008), no. 2, 485 488.
16 J. Vroom, Byzantine to Modern Pottery in the Aegean. An Introduction and Field
Guide. Utrecht 2005; R. Hodges J. Vroom, Late antique and early medieval ceramics
from Butrint, Albania, in: La circolazione delle ceramiche nellAdriatico tra tarda
Antichit e alto Medioevo. III Incontro di studio CER.AM.IS (ed. S. Gelichi C.
Negrelli). Mantua 2007, 375 388; J. Vroom, Pottery finds from a cess-pit at the
southern wall in Durrs, central Albania, in: C
anak. Late Antique and Medieval Pottery
and Tiles in Mediterranean Archaeological Contexts. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Late Antique, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman Pottery and Tiles in
Archaeological Context (Canakkale, 1 3 June 2005) (ed. B. Bhlendorf-Arslan A. O.
Uysal J. Witte-Orr). Istanbul 2007, 319 334. See also J. W. Hayes P. Petridis, Rapport
rgionaux: Grce, in: 7o Diehm]r Sum]dqio Lesaiymij^r. Jeqalij^r tgr Lesoce_ou,
Hessakom_jg 11 16 Ojtybq_ou 1999. Pqajtij\ (ed. Ch. Bakirtzis). Athena 2003, 529
536.
150
Florin Curta
(Nesebar) was rebuilt in the early 620s, as attested by two graffiti on the eastern
wall of the sanctuary and on the western face of the southeastern pillar,
respectively. Both were scratched by the masons working on rebuilding the
superstructure. One of them contains the date June 10, 618.17 In Athens, the
Erechtheion was turned into a three-aisled basilica in the early seventh century,
at the same time as the conversion into churches of the Temple of Hephaistos in
the Agora and the Temple of Artemis Agrotera by the Ilissos.18 The tetraconch
in the Library of Hadrian was rebuilt as a three-aisled basilica during the second
half of the seventh century, perhaps for Constans IIs visit of 662/3.19 The old
colonnade of the Stoa of Attalos was subdivided into rooms. In room 6,
hundreds of terracotta roof tiles recovered from the fallen debris of the house
destroyed at some point in the 630s were piled in neat rows for possible re-use.
These alterations have been coin-dated to the reign of Constans II.20 Similarly, a
group of rooms in the northwestern corner of the Bath at Isthmia have been
built in rough masonry. One of them had a cooking hearth, another had an
apsidal structure at the south end. The associated quern stones bespeak the rural
character of the occupation.21 The ceramic material from those rooms includes
single-handled pots thrown on a tournette with vertically or diagonally combed
ornament. The belt buckle of the Boly-Zelovce type, if truly found together with
the pottery, points to a seventh-century date. Indeed, similar pottery has been
found on the southern side of the northeastern gate at Isthmia together with a
coin struck for Constans II in 655/6.22 Very little is known about the seventhcentury occupation at Corinth, but the Panagia Field excavations produced
evidence of glazed pottery, especially fragments of Glazed White Ware chafing
dishes made in Constantinople between the late seventh and the late eighth
century.23 The second occupation phase inside the fort at Dokos an islet in the
Argolid Bay is coin-dated to the reigns of Constans II and Constantine IV. The
17 S. Stanev Z. Zhdrakov, The Old Metropolitan Church in Nessebar/Mesembria after
new epigraphical 7th century evidence, Archaeologia Bulgarica 13 (2009), no. 1, 87 102.
18 M. Kazanaki-Lappa, Athens from Late Antiquity to the Turkish Conquest, in: Athens
from the Classical Period to the Present Day (5th century B.C.-A.D. 2000) (ed. Ch.
Bouras M. B. Sakellariou K. S. Staikos E. Touloupa). New Castle 2000, 200.
19 A. Frantz, The Athenian Agora. XXIV: Late Antiquity: A.D. 267 700. Princeton 1988,
73.
20 T. Leslie Shear, The Athenian Agora: excavations of 1972. Hesperia 42 (1973), 397.
21 T. E. Gregory, An Early Byzantine (Dark-Age) settlement at Isthmia: preliminary
report, in: The Corinthia in the Roman Period Including the Papers Given at a
Symposium Held at the Ohio State University on 7 9 March, 1991 (ed. T. E. Gregory).
Ann Arbor 1993, 149 160.
22 T. E. Gregory, The Hexamilion and the Fortress (Isthmia V). Princeton 1993, 41, 85, and
123.
23 Vroom, Byzantine to Modern Pottery (cf. fn. 16), 63. Such pottery has also been found
in Athens: Hayes Petridis, Rapport rgionaux (cf. fn. 16), 531 figs. 7 8 and 10 11.
151
Church of St. John the Theologian and the adjacent cemetery with cist graves
have been attributed to this phase, but no further details exist either on the
building or on the graves.24 Farther to the north, the Church of Hagia Sophia in
Thessaloniki was built on top of an earlier basilica just before 620. However, its
impressive dome belongs to a second building phase, which is dated to 690/1 by
the accompanying inscription.25 An inscription is also the basis for the dating of
the Church of the Holy Spirit in Skrip, on the island of Brac, off the Adriatic
coast. The inscription mentions both Pope Vitalian (657 672) and Emperor
Constans II (641 668), so the building of the church must have taken place at
some point between 657 and 668.26
Judging from the meager evidence available so far, it appears that the
building activity in the surviving centers in the Balkans was reduced to a
minimum. If anything was (re)built at all, that would have been, more often than
not, a church. It is nonetheless surprising that so many alterations can be coindated to the reign of Emperor Constans II. As a brief look at the distribution of
coin finds will show, this is by no means an accident.
Coins and hoards

The numismatic evidence strongly suggests that after 620 the Balkans entered a
relatively long period of political instability and sharp demographic decline.
There are only fourteen coins struck for Emperor Heraclius between 620 and
641 three of gold, four of silver, and seven of bronze. Of the latter, four are
from mints other than Constantinople one from Ravenna, the other three from
Alexandria. The distribution of those coins shows a sharp contrast between gold
in the north and in the valley of the river Morava, on one hand, and bronze on
coastal sites, on the other hand (Fig. 1).27 Only two coins struck for Heraclonas
24 A. K. Kyrou, Peqipkam^seir ac_ym keix\mym jai l_a \cmystg. jastqopokite_a stom
Aqcokij|. Peloponnesiaka 21 (1995), 113.
25 Ch. Bouras, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Architecture in Greece. Athens 2006, 62.
26 P. Chevalier, Salona. II. Ecclesiae Dalmatiae. Larchitecture palochrtienne de la
province romaine de Dalmatie (IVe-VIIe s.) (en dehors de la capitale, Salona)
(Collection de lcole franaise de Rome, 194). Roma/Split 1995, 276 278; R. Buzancic,
Quelques chantiers de constructions du VIIe sicle aux environs de Salone, aprs la
chute de la ville. Hortus Artium Medievalium 9 (2003), 195 and fig. 1.
27 K. M. Edwards, Corinth. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of
Classical Studies at Athens. Cambridge 1933, 131; M. Thompson, The Athenian Agora.
Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at
Athens. Princeton 1954, 70; E. Oberlnder-Trnoveanu, Monnaies byzantines des VIIeXe sicles dcouvertes Silistra, dans la collection de lacadmicien Pricle Papahagi,
conserves au Cabinet des Mdailles du Muse National dHistoire de Roumanie.
Cercetari numismatice 7 (1996), 119; Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmnzen (cf. fn. 5),
152
Florin Curta
are known from the Balkans, one from Silistra (Bulgaria), the other from an
unknown location in Istria.28 The record for the reign of Constans II, Heraclius
grandson, is radically different. There are many more bronze, than either gold or
silver coins struck between 641 and 668. All silver and most of the gold coins
have been found in Dobrudja, the region between the Danube River and the
Black Sea (Fig. 2).29 As for bronze, the difference between coins struck for
Constans II and those struck for his grandfather is considerable. Over 900
specimens of the former are known from Athens and Corinth alone, although
such coins also appear on sites on the eastern and especially the western coast of
the Balkan Peninsula.30 With only seven exceptions (six coins from the mint in
24 25 and 73 74; P. Somogyi, New remarks on the flow of Byzantine coins in Avaria
and Walachia during the second half of the seventh century, in: The Other Europe in the
Middle Ages. Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans (ed. F. Curta) (East Central and
Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages 450 1450, 2). Leiden/Boston 2008, 92; V.
Ivanisevic, La monnaie palobyzantine dans lIllyricum du nord, in: Mlanges Ccile
Morrisson (ed. J.-C. Cheynet). Paris 2010, 451; K. Stanev, Monetnata cirkulaciia v
rannosrednovekovna Trakiia, nachaloto na VII-nachaloto na IX vek, in: Istorikii 4.
Nauchni izsledvaniia v chest na profesor Ivan Karaiotov po sluchai negovata 70godishnina (ed. I. Iordanov R. Angelova R. Angelova K. Konstantinov
T.Todorov). Shumen 2011, 119. For an additional coin struck in 640/1 and found
somewhere in Dobrudja, see Gh. Poenaru-Bordea I. Donoiu, Contributii la studiul
patrunderii monedelor bizantine n Dobrogea n secolele VII-X. Buletinul Societatii
Numismatice Romne 75 76 (1981 1982), nos. 129 130, 238.
28 Oberlnder-Trnoveanu, Monnaies byzantines (cf. fn. 27), 120; R. Matijasic, Zbirka
bizantskog novca u Arheoloskom muzeju Istre u Puli. Starohrvatska prosvjeta 13 (1983),
226.
29 B. Mitrea, Dcouvertes rcentes de monnaies anciennes sur le territoire de la RPR.
Dacia 7 (1963), 599; E. Oberlnder-Trnoveanu, Monede bizantine din secolele VII-X
descoperite n nordul Dobrogei, Studii si cercetari de numismatica 7 (1980), 163;
Oberlnder-Trnoveanu, Monnaies byzantines (cf. fn. 27), 104 and 120; E. TeoklievaStoicheva, Mediaeval Coins from Mesemvria. Sofia 2001, 44; Somogyi, New remarks (cf.
fn. 27), 113 with n. 89; Ivanisevic, La monnaie palobyzantine (cf. fn. 27), 451. For
additional coins from unknown locations in the Bosna region and in Dobrudja, see I.
Mirnik A. Semrov, Byzantine coins in the Zagreb Archaeological Museum
Numismatic Collection. Anastasius I (A.D. 497 518)-Anastasius II (A.D. 713 715).
Vjesnik Arheoloskog Muzeja u Zagrebu 30 31 (1997 1998), 199; Gh. Poenaru-Bordea
R. Ocheseanu, Tezaurul de monede bizantine de aur descoperit n sapaturile
arheologice din anul 1899 de la Axiopolis, Buletinul Societatii Numismatice Romne
77 79 (1983 1985), nos. 131 133, 193 194.
30 Thompson, Athenian Agora (cf. fn. 27), 70 71; Edwards, Corinth (cf. fn. 27), 132 33;
A. Avramea, Le Peloponnse du IV-e au VIII-e sicle. Changements et persistances.
Paris 1997, 74. For other finds, see N. A. Mushmov, Moneti, in: Madara. Razkopki i
prouchvaniia. Sofia 1934, 446; I. Dimian, Cteva descoperiri monetare pe teritoriul
RPR, Studii si cercetari de numismatica 1 (1957), 197; Mitrea, Dcouvertes rcentes (cf.
fn. 29), 599; Gh. Poenaru-Bordea, Monede bizantine din Dobrogea provenite dintr-o
mica colectie, Studii si cercetari de numismatica 4 (1968), 406; R. L. Hohlfelder, A
conspectus of the early Byzantine coins in the Kenchreai Excavation Corpus. Byzantine
153
Carthage and one from Syracuse), all those bronze coins are folles (40-nummia
pieces) struck in Constantinople. Both the surge in the number of coins and
their peculiar distribution have been explained in terms of the presence of the
fleet in Greece during Constans IIs visit on his way to Sicily, in the early 660s. If
the emperors stay in Athens must have been a major event, Constans IIs
portrait also appears on one of the five control stamps on the back of a silver
plate found in northern Bulgaria, in Rakhovica, very far from Greece.31 It is
difficult to explain the presence of this piece of Byzantine silverware so far to
the north, especially in the absence of any contextual information. One cannot
exclude the possibility of this plate reaching northern Bulgaria somewhat later,
perhaps under the reign of Constantine IV, under the guise of a gift for a Bulgar
chieftain.32
Only 61 coins of Constantine IV are known from the Balkans, of which 50
are of bronze (Fig. 3).33 Except six specimens from Sicily, one from Ravenna,
Studies 1 (1974), no. 1, 75; Gh. Poenaru-Bordea R. Ocheseanu, Probleme istorice
dobrogene (sec. VI-VII) n lumina monedelor bizantine din colectia Muzeului de istorie
nationala si arheologie din Constanta. Studii si cercetari de istorie veche si arheologie 31
(1980), no. 3, 390; Poenaru-Bordea Donoiu, Contributii (cf. fn. 27), 238; F. Tartari, Nj
varrez e mesjets s hershme n Durrs. Iliria 14 (1984), no. 1, 241; G. Custurea, Unele
aspecte ale patrunderii monedei bizantine n Dobrogea n secolele VII-X. Pontica 19
(1986), 277; A. Hoti H. Myrto, Monedha perandorake bizantine nga Durrsi. Iliria 21
(1991), nos. 1 2, 104 105; Gregory, Early Byzantine (Dark-Age) settlement (cf. fn. 21),
153; Gregory, Hexamilion (cf. fn. 22), 123; G. Hoxha, Skhodra, chef-lieu de la province
Prvalitane. Carb 40 (1993), 566; Kyrou, Peqipkam^seir (cf. fn. 24), 112; I. Mirnik,
Numizmaticki nalazi u Dubrovniku (prethodni izvjestaj o bizantskom novcu), in:
Etnogeneza Hrvata (ed. N. Budak). Zagreb 1995, 172; Oberlnder-Trnoveanu,
Monnaies byzantines (cf. fn. 27), 104 and 120; Avramea, Le Peloponnse 74; I.
Iordanov A. Koichev V. Mutafov, Srednovekovniiat Akhtopol VI-XII v. spored
dannite na numizmatikata i sfragistika. Numizmatika i sfragistika 5 (1998), no. 2, 69;
Mirnik Semrov, Byzantine coins (cf. fn. 29), 199; Teoklieva-Stoicheva, Mediaeval
Coins (cf. fn. 29), 44 45; Gh. Poenaru-Bordea R. Ocheseanu A. Popeea, Monnaies
byzantines du Muse de Constanta (Roumanie). Wetteren 2004, 128; Zh. Zhekova,
Rannovizantiiski moneti ot Shumenskata krepost (491 681 g.). Antichnaia drevnost i
srednie veka 35 (2004), 99; Curta, Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece (cf. fn. 13), 126;
Ivanisevic, La monnaie palobyzantine (cf. fn. 27), 451.
31 The stamp represents Constans II and his son, the future emperor Constantine IV. This
suggests a date between 659 and 668 for the plate. See T. Gerasimov, Deux plats en
argent de haute poque byzantine trouvs en Bulgarie. CahArch 16 (1966), 218 219;
217 fig. 3 4.
32 For Byzantine silver as gifts (or bribes) to the Bulgars, see F. Curta, Invasion or
inflation? Sixth- to seventh-century Byzantine coin hoards in Eastern and Southeastern
Europe. Annali dellIstituto Italiano di Numismatica 43 (1996), 114 115.
33 For gold and silver coins, see H. Nubar, Monede bizantine descoperite n satul Istria
(reg. Dobrogea). Studii si cercetari de istorie veche 17 (1966), no. 3, 605; OberlnderTrnoveanu, Monnaies byzantines (cf. fn. 27), 105 and 163; Poenaru-Bordea
Ocheseanu, Probleme istorice dobrogene (cf. fn. 30), 194; Hoti Myrto, Monedha
154
Florin Curta
and two from Rome, all other bronze coins for which sufficient information
exists are from the mint in Constantinople.34 The largest number of bronze coins
is from Athens 30 specimens, a small fraction of the total number of coins
struck for Constans II and found on the site.35 The number of coins struck for
Emperor Justinian II during his first reign (685 695) is even smaller. Only five
coins are known, two of gold and three of bronze (Fig. 4).36 Two of them have
been found in Istria, a region devoid of any such finds dated to the reigns of the
previous emperors.
The distribution of hoards with a terminus post quem within the seventh
century confirms the picture drawn on the basis of single finds (Fig. 5).37 Out of
34
35
36
37
perandorake byzantine (cf. fn. 30), 105; Somogyi, Byzantinische Fundmnzen (cf. fn. 5),
78; G. Custurea, Monede bizantine dintr-o colectie constanteana. Pontica 31 (1998), 291;
Mirnik Semrov, Byzantine coins (cf. fn. 29), 201.
N. Banescu, La vie politique des Roumains entre les Balkans et le Danube. Bulletin de
la section historique de lAcadmie Roumaine 23 (1943), no. 2, 193; Dimian, Cteva
descoperiri monetare (cf. fn. 30), 197; Poenaru-Bordea Donoiu, Contributii (cf. fn. 27),
238; Matijasic, Zbirka bizantskog novca (cf. fn. 28), 226; E. Oberlnder-Trnoveanu
E.-M. Constantinescu, Monede romane trzii si bizantine din colectia Muzeului
judetean Buzau. Mousaios 4 (1994), no. 1, 331 332; Kyrou, Peqipkam^seir (cf. fn. 24),
112; Oberlnder-Trnoveanu, Monnaies byzantines (cf. fn. 27), 120; Avramea, Le
Peloponnse (cf. fn. 30), 74; V. Dinchev, Zikideva an example of Early Byzantine
urbanism in the Balkans. Archaeologia Bulgarica 1 (1997), no. 3, 66; TeoklievaStoicheva, Mediaeval Coins (cf. fn. 29), 45. For an additional coin from an unknown
location in Istria, see Curta, Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece (cf. fn. 13), 130.
Thompson, Athenian Agora (cf. fn. 27), 71.
Thompson, Athenian Agora (cf. fn. 27), 71; G. Gorini, La collezione di monete doro
della Societ istriana di archeologia e storia della patria. Atti e memorie della Societ
istriana di archeologia e storia della patria 22 (1974), 146; Poenaru-Bordea Donoiu,
Contributii (cf. fn. 27), 238; Matijasic, Zbirka bizantskog novca (cf. fn. 28), 231; Stanev,
Monetnata cirkulaciia (cf. fn. 27), 120.
F. Bulic, Skroviste zlatnih novaca, nasasto u Nereziscima. Vjesnik 43 (1920), 199; I.
Mirnik, Skupni nalazi novca iz Hrvatske IX. Skupni nalaz Heraklijevih zlatnika iz
Zrmanje. Vjesnik Arheoloskog Muzeja u Zagrebu 23 (1990), no. 2, 163 171; V.
Penchev, Kolektivna nakhodka ot medni vizantiiski moneti ot vtorata polovina na VII
v., namerena v Nesebar. Numizmatika 25 (1991), nos. 3 4, 5 9; I. Iurukova,
Sakrovishteto ot Akalan. Numizmatika i sfragistika (1992), nos. 1 2, 10 16; V.
Radic, Nalaz srebrnog novca careva Iraklija i Konstanca II iz zbirke Narodnog muzeja u
Beogradu. Numizmaticar 17 (1994), 78 80; I. Mikulcic, Sptantike und frhbyzantinische Befestigungen in Nordmakedonien. Stdte-Vici-Refugien-Kastelle. Mnchen 2002,
112; I. MAROVIC, O godini razorenja Salone. Vjesnik za arheologiju i historiju
Dalmatinsku 99 (2006), 253 272; Morrisson Popovic Ivanisevic, Les trsors
montaires byzantins (cf. fn. 13), 118 119, 147, 158, 198, 227 228, 274, and 357; M.
Hadzi-Maneva, Coin hoards from the late 6th and 7th century discovered in the
Republic of Macedonia, in: Byzantine Coins in Central Europe Between the 5th and
10th Century. Proceedings from the Conference Organized by the Polish Academy of
Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Rzeszw under
the Patronage of Union Acadmique International (Programme No. 57 Moravia
155
sixteen hoards known so far, most have been found in the coastal region,
although there is also a very interesting concentration of three hoards
(Valandovo I and II, and Gradec) in the valley of the Middle Vardar, in
present-day Macedonia. Given that the termini post quos for two of them are
within the last years of Constans IIs reign, this may have something to do with
the emperors policies of pacifying the hinterland of Constantinople and
Thessalonica, the two major cities the Empire still had under control in the area.
In addition to coin hoards, the Balkans have also produced two hoards of
dies, one from Croatia, the other from Greece. The Croatian hoard was
accidentally found at some point after World War II in Biskupija. It consists of
26 dies for mounts of various sizes and ornamentation.38 The most important
from a chronological point of view is the die employed for the production of
earrings with star-shaped pendant, a type of dress accessory to which I shall
return shortly. For the moment, it is important to note that no earrings have so
far been found in Croatia with pendants such as that produced with the die from
Biskupija. Nor are mounts known from anywhere else in the Balkans which
resemble the Biskupija dies, a sign that this is probably not an artisans set of
tools, but an assemblage with a more special, perhaps ritual significance. This is
also true for the hoard found in or shortly before 1924 in Velestinon, in Thessaly.
The hoard appeared in the late 1920s on the antique market in France and has
since been dispersed, with many items (some of bronze, others of lead) ending
up in the museum collections at Princeton University. A votive hand has been
auctioned in the 1990s at Sothebys.39 Among the items kept in Princeton, an
animal-shaped die has very good analogies in late sixth- and early seventhcentury hoards of silver and bronze from the Middle Dnieper region (Fig. 6).40
Several other dies and lead models for mounts are in the shape of dancing
men.41 Another lead model shows two churchmen, possibly monks (Fig. 7). A
38
39
40
41
Magna), Krakw, 23 26 IV 2007 (ed. M. Wooszyn). Krakw 2009, 51; P. Somogyi,

Byzantinische Fundmnzen der Awarenzeit. Ergebnisse und Mglichkeiten. Ph. D.
Dissertation, Etvs Lornd Tudomnyegyetem (Budapest 2011), 215 225.
S. Gunjaca, Postojanje jednog centra za izradivanje starohrvatskog nakita. Vjesnik za
arheologiju i historiju Dalmatinsku 56 59 (1954 1957), no. 1, 231 232; J. Korosec,
Ostava broncanih matrica za otiskivanje u Biskupiji kod Knina. Starohrvatska prosvjeta
6 (1958), 29 33 and pl. II.2 for the earring die.
D. Kidd, The Velestnon (Thessaly) hoard a footnote, in: Awarenforschungen (ed.F.
Daim). Wien 1992, 509 515.
B. Sz. Szmoniewski, Cultural contacts in Central and Eastern Europe: what do metal
beast images speak about? In: Ethnic Contacts and Cultural Exchanges North and West
of the Black Sea from the Greek Colonization to the Ottoman Conquest (ed. V.
Cojocaru). Iasi 2005, 427 and 439 fig. 2. F. Curta, Still waiting for the barbarians? The
making of the Slavs in Dark-Age Greece, in: Neglected Barbarians (ed. F. Curta)
(Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 32). Turnhout 2011, 438 with n. 114 argues that the
bronze pieces in the Velestinon hoard are dies, not mounts.
J. Werner, Slawische Bronzefiguren aus Nordgriechenland. Berlin 1953.
156
Florin Curta
third one showing a woman holding a baby on her lap and a harp in her left hand
is the pair of an identical bronze die (Fig. 8).42 A seventh-century date for the
entire assemblage is secured by the fragmentary die for a strap end with an
interlaced ornament most typical for the late Early and early Middle Avar
period (Fig. 9).43
Chronological guides
The chronological ordering of the archaeological evidence pertaining to the
seventh century is primarily based on finds of so-called Byzantine belt
buckles.44 The Balgota and Bologna classes are each represented by nine
specimens known from the Balkan region.45 The former class was named after
the specimen with monogram on the terminal lobe found in grave 7 of the
42 For the corresponding die, see Werner, Slawische Bronzefiguren (cf. fn. 41), pl. 3.1.
43 M. Nagy, Ornamenta Avarica II. A fonatornamentika. Mra Ferenc Mzeum Evknyve.
Studia Archaeologica 5 (1999), 279 316.
44 J. Werner, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen des 6. und 7. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung
Diergardt. Klner Jahrbuch fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte 1 (1955), 36 48. Werner gave
names to most classes of Byzantine buckles.
45 Balgota class: Athens (K. M. Setton, The Bulgars in the Balkans and the occupation of
Corinth in the 7th century. Speculum 25 [1950], 522 fig.); Brkac (B. Marusic, Nekropole
VII. i VIII. stoljeca u Istri. Arheoloski vestnik 18 [1967], 347 pl. VI.6); Budva (D
.
Jankovic, Srpsko Pomorje od 7. do 10. stoleca. Beograd 2007, 36 and fig. 28.5); Durrs, 3
specimens (Tartari, Nj varrez [cf. fn. 30], 230 231; pl. II.28.4; pl. IV.1, 4); Fazana (B.
Marusic, Kratak doprinos proucvanju kontinuiteta izmedu kasne antike i ranog sredjeg
vijeka te poznavanju ravenske arhitekture i ranosrednjovjekovnih grobova u Juznoj
Istri. Jadranski zbornik 3 [1958], 337 with pl. III.2); Koman (H. Spahiu, Varreza
arbrore e Kalas s Dalmacs [Grmime t vitit 1961]. Iliria 9 10 [1979 1980], 30 31
with pl. V.12); and Mejica (M. Torcellan, Le tre necropoli altomedioevali di Pinguente.
Firenze 1986, pl. 21.1). Bologna class: Athens, 2 specimens (J. Travlos A. Frantz, The
church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite and the palace of the archbishop of Athens in
the 16th century. Hesperia 34 [1965], no. 3, pl. 43a); Brkac (B. Marusic, Ranosrednjovjekovna nekropola na Vrhu kod Brkaca. Histria Archaeologica 10 [1979], no. 2, pl.
II.10); Chinitsa (Avramea, Le Peloponnse [cf. fn. 30], 90 and pl. IV d 1); Corinth (G. R.
Davidson, The Avar invasion of Corinth. Hesperia 6 [1937], 231 fig. 2 A); Koper (S.
Ciglenecki, Tracce di un insediamento tardo [VI-IX sec.] nei siti della tarda antichit in
Slovenia, in: Il territorio tra tardoantico e altomedioevo. Metode di indagine e
risultati. 3o Seminario sul tardoantico e laltomedioevo nellarea alpina e padana,
Monte Barro, Galbiate [Como], 9 11 settembre 1991 [ed. G. P. Brogiolo L.
Casteletti]. Firenze 1992, 55 pl. I.2); Polace and Solin (Z. Vinski, Kasnoanticki
starosjedioci u Salonitanskoj regiji prema arheoloskoj ostavstini predslavenskog
supstrata. Vjesnik za arheologiju i historiju Dalmatinsku 69 [1967], 29 fig. a and pl.
XX.8); Thessaloniki (G. Gounaris, W\kjimer p|qper ap| to ojt\cymo tym Vik_ppym jai
tgm jemtqij^ Lajedom_a. Byzantiaka 4 [1984], 57; 56 fig. 2d).
157
Crimean cemetery in Balgota.46 In Italy, such buckles appear especially on the

eastern (Adriatic and Ionian) coast and in Sicily. In grave 90 of the Castel
Trosino cemetery, one such buckle was associated with belt mounts of the
Civezzano type which may be dated to the first decades of the seventh century.
A similar dating may be advanced for the specimen from grave 16 in
Campochiaro-Vicenne.47 Such buckles also appear in the western Mediterranean region, in Spain (San Pedro di Alcantara) and in the Balearics (Ibiza).48
They are also attested in Crimea, at Skalistoe and at Simeiz.49 In Hungary they
first appear during the Early Avar period (the earliest specimen may be that
from grave 19 in Rkoczifalva, which was associated with a stirrup with
elongated attachment loop), but remained in use throughout the second half of
the seventh century. The specimens from grave 4 in Budapest-Tihnyi tr and
grave 92 in Nov Zamky may be dated to the late Early and Middle Avar
period. A dating to the Middle Avar period may be assigned to the assemblage
in grave 52 in Szeged-Kundomb, which produced a belt buckle of the Balgota
class and a belt set of silver sheet. Finally, the specimens in graves 9 and 1281 in
Tiszafred-Majoros are both dated to the second half of the seventh century.50
This is confirmed by the assemblage in grave 29 in Durrs, which, in addition to
a buckle of the Balgota class, has also produced a coin struck for Emperor
Constans II in 654/5.51
Although the Bologna class was named after a find in northern Italy, buckles
of this class appear especially in the South and in Sicily. With just one exception,
all are made of bronze.52 In the eastern Mediterranean, buckles of the Bologna
46 N. I. Repnikov, Nekotorye mogilniki oblasti krymskikh gotov. Izvestiia imperatorskoi
arkheologicheskoi kommissii 19 (1906), 41 and fig. 16.
47 E. Riemer, Romanische Grabfunde des 5.8. Jahrhunderts in Italien. Rahden 2000, 159.
48 B. Haas R. Schewe, Byzantinische Grtelbeschlge im Germanischen Nationalmuseum. Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums und Berichte aus dem Forschungsinstitut fr Realienkunde 6 (1993), 258.
49 E. V. Veimarn A. I. Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik. Kiev 1993, 57 fig. 36.18; A. I.
Aibabin, Pogrebeniia konca VII-pervoi poloviny VIII v. v Krymu, in: Drevnosti epokhi
velikogo pereseleniia narodov V-VIII vekov. Sovetsko-vengerskii sbornik (ed. A. K.
Ambroz I. Erdelyi). Moskva 1982, 169 fig. 2.8; V. B. Kovalevskaia, Poiasnye nabory
Evrazii IV-IX vv. Priazhki. Moskva 1979, 23.
50 . Garam, Funde byzantinischer Herkunft in der Awarenzeit vom Ende des 6. bis zum
Ende des 7. Jahrhunderts. Budapest 2001, 99.
51 Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 230 231.
52 Riemer, Romanische Grabfunde (cf. fn. 47), 160. A buckle found in Cutrofiano
(Salento) is a replica of the specimen from Polace: B. Bruno P. Arthur V. Camilleri
F. Curta M. L. Imperiale S. Matteo L. Piepoli M. Tinelli, Larea cimiteriale e il
casale in localit S. Giovanni Piscopio, Cutrofiano (Lecce). Archeologia medievale 35
(2008), 222 fig. 20.5. A specimen is known from a burial of the Santa Vittoria dei Serri
cemetery in Sardinia, for which see P. G. Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina tra VI e VII
secolo. Oristano 1998, 182 fig. 179.
158
Florin Curta
class have been found on Crete, Lesbos, and Samos, but also at Anemurion and
in Constantinople.53 In one of the graves excavated at Samos, a buckle of the
Bologna class was associated with two coins struck for Phocas and another
struck for Constans II in 652/3. A second specimen was found in grave 3
together with two coins struck for Heraclius in 611/2 and 613/4.54 Such buckles
also appear in the Black Sea region, e. g. at Kerch.55 A late sixth- or early
seventh-century date is supported by the assemblage in burial chamber 381 in
Skalistoe, which produced a buckle of the Bologna class and Martynovka
mounts of Somogyis classes A6 and A9.56 However, another specimen was
found on skeleton 1 in burial chamber 763 of that same cemetery together with
an earring with grape-shaped pendant, dated to the seventh century.57 This date
is further substantiated by the specimen found in grave 29 in Durrs together
with a coin struck for Emperor Constans II in 654/5.58
As many as 25 buckles of the Boly-Zelovce class are known from the
Balkans.59 Named so by Ursula Ibler after two sites in Hungary and Slovakia,
53 N. Poulou-Papadimitriou, Bufamtim]r p|qper : g peq_ptysg tgr Less^mgr jai tgr Eke}heqmar, in: Protobyzantine Messene kai Olympia. Aktikos kai agrotikos khoros ste
Dytike Peloponneso. Praktika tou Diethnous symposiou, Athena, 29 30 maiou 1998
(ed. P. G. Themelis V. Konti). Athena 2002, 132 133 with pl. 8 ; J. Russell, Byzantine
instrumenta domestica from Anemurium: the significance of the context, in: City,
Towns, and Countryside in the Early Byzantine Era (ed. R. L. Hohlfelder). New York
1982, 142.
54 W. Martini C. Steckner, Das Gymnasium von Samos. Das frhbyzantinische
Klostergut. Bonn 1993, 124 125.
55 Aibabin, Pogrebeniia konca VII-pervoi poloviny VIII (cf. fn. 49), 167 fig. 1.15.
56 Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 87 fig. 60.17. For the Martynovka mounts, see P. Somogyi, Typologie, Chronologie und Herkunft der Maskenbeschlge: zu den archologischen Hinterlassenschaften osteuropischer Reiterhirten
aus der pontischen Steppe im 6. Jahrhundert. Archaeologia Austriaca 71 (1987), 121
154.
57 Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 157 and fig. 116.12.
59 Athens: Travlos Frantz, Church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite (cf. fn. 45), 167;
pl. 43e. Bukl: S. Anamali, Nj varrez e mesjets s hershme n Bukl t Mirdits.
Iliria 1 (1971), 217 with pl. VII.1. Butrint: E. Nallbani, Three buckles from the late
antique period, in: Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys, 1994 99 (ed. R.
Hodges W. Bowden K. Lako). Oxford 2004, 398 and 399 fig. A3.2. Corinth, 4
specimens: Davidson, Avar invasion (cf. fn. 45), 235 fig. 6C-D; G. R. Davidson, The
Minor Objects (Corinth, 12). Princeton 1952, pls. 114.2186, 2188, 2190. Durrs, 3
specimens: Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 230 231 with pls. II.28.1, 2 and IV.6. Edessa,
Philippoi, and Thessaloniki: Gounaris, W\kjimer p|qper (cf. fn. 45), 47, 55 fig. 18b, 57,
and 56 fig. 2e, c. Koman, 4 specimens: A. Degrand, Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie. Paris
1901, 263; H. Spahiu, Gjetje t vjetra nga varreza mesjetare e Kalas s Dalmaces. Iliria
1 (1971), pl. IV.6; P. Traeger, Mittheilungen und Funde aus Albanien. Zeitschrift fr
Ethnologie (1900), 46 and fig. 3c. Kruje, 2 specimens: S. Anamali H. Spahiu, Varrza e
159
respectively, the class includes buckles, which may be regarded as imitations of

luxury (i. e., gold) specimens, such as found in the Kratigos hoard.60 The hoard
also includes 32 solidi, 28 of which have been struck in Constantinople for
Emperor Heraclius, the latest between 616 and 625.61 Buckles of the BolyZelovce class have been found at Sardis, in Syria, in Cyprus, and in Sicily.62 A
strongly corroded specimen was found on the Yass Ada shipwreck, which sank
in or shortly after 626.63 Four specimens are known from four different burial
chambers of the large cemetery at Skalistoe in Crimea, but buckles of the BolyZelovce class have also appeared in the Suuk Su and Uzen-bash cemeteries.64
Local imitations have been found on several sites in Spain.65 Two specimens are
60
61
62
63
64
65
hershme mesjtare e Krujs. Buletin i Universitetit shtetror t Tirans 17 (1963),

no. 2, 6 and fig. 1; 58 pl. XII.1. Lezh, 3 specimens: C. Praschniker A. Schober,
Archologische Forschungen in Albanien und Montenegro. Wien 1919, 22 23; 23
fig. 34; F. Prendi, Nj varrze e kulturs arbrore n Lezh. Iliria 9 10 (1979 1980), 167
pl. XXI.1, 3. Mejica: Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 66 with pl. 14.4. Porec : A.
Sonje, Kasnoanticki i srednjevjekovni nalazi iz Poreca. Jadranski zbornik 5 (1962), 176
with pl. I.1. Razdelna: U. Fiedler, Studien zu Grberfeldern des 6. bis 9. Jahrhunderts an
der unteren Donau. Bonn 1992, pl. 59.11. Trebenishte: V. Lakhtov, Arkheoloshko
iskopuvanie na Trebenishko kale kaj seloto Trebenishte Okhridsko 1953 1954
godina. Likhnid. Godishen zbornik na Narodniot muzej vo Okhrid 2 3 (1959), 23 24
with pl. VI.1. Unknown location in northern Albania: F. B. Nopcsa, Beitrge zur
Vorgeschichte und Ethnologie Nordalbaniens. Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus
Bosnien und der Herzegowina 12 (1912), 193 and fig. 60. Another, unpublished
specimen from Koman is in the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Cambridge
(inv. 1927.467.8).
U. Ibler, Pannonische Grtelschnallen des spten 6. und 7. Jahrhunderts. Arheoloski
vestnik 43 (1992), 140; E. Prokopiou, Bufamtim]r p|qper ap| tgm Alaho}mta jai tgm
Pakai\ Sukkoc^ tou Jupqiajo} Louse_ou, in: He Kypros kai to Aigaio sten archaioteta
apo ten proistoriko periodo hos ton 7o aiona m. Ch., Leukosia 8 10 Dekembriou 1995
(ed. D. Christou D. Pileidou M. Hieronymidou G. Chatzisavvas E. Dousi).
Nicosia 1997, 339; V. Varsik, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen im mittleren und unteren
Donauraum im 6. und 7. Jahrhundert. Slovensk Archeolgia 40 (1992), no. 1, 89.
I. Baldini Lippolis, Loreficeria nellimpero di Costantinopoli tra IV e VII secolo. Bari
1999, 229 and 37; Morrisson Popovic Ivanisevic, Les trsors montaires byzantins (cf.
fn. 27), 386 387.
J. C. Waldbaum, Metalwork from Sardis: the Finds Through 1974. Cambridge,
Mass. 1983, 119 with pl. 44.691; Prokopiou, Bufamtim]r p|qper (cf. fn. 60), 335 and 337;
336 fig. 1.2; 338 fig. 2.2; P. Orsi, Sicilia bizantina. Roma 1942, 114 fig. 391.
S. Womer Katzev, Miscellaneous finds, in: Yassi Ada. A Seventh-Century Byzantine
Shipwreck (ed. G. F. Baas F. H. van Doorninck). College Station 1982, 277.
Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 12 fig. 5.27; 48 fig. 29.4; 59
fig. 38.19; 76 fig. 51.18; Repnikov, Nekotorye mogilniki (cf. fn. 46), 14; pl. XII.17; E. A.
Aibabina, Ob etnicheskoi atribucii mogilnika Uzen-Bash. Materialy po arkheologii,
istorii i etnografii Tavrii 3 (1993), 360 361 with pl. II.6.
W. Ebel-Zepezauer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen auf der Iberischen Halbinsel, in:
Festschrift fr Otto-Herman Frey zum 65. Geburtstag (ed. C. Dobiat). Marburg 1994,
209 210.
160
Florin Curta
known from a large find in northwestern Iran, and the specimen from the burial
chamber 113 in Mokraia balka in Transcaucasia was associated with coins struck
for the Sassanian king Khusro II and for Phocas.66 Beyond the northern frontiers
of the Empire, buckles of the Boly-Zelovce class have been found at Sarata
Monteoru in southeastern Romania; at Pastyrske on the Middle Dnieper
River; at Romen, in Left-Bank Ukraine; and at Shokshino, in Mordovia.67 The
class appears in Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania (Transylvania) in Avar-age
assemblages, often in the company of weapons. The specimen from grave 88 in
Radvan nad Dunajom has been found together with a strap end dated to the late
sixth and early seventh century. However, another specimen is known from
elovce, which produced a saber, a most typical weapon for the
grave 564 in Z
Middle Avar period.68 All other specimens from Hungary and Transylvania may
be dated to the Middle Avar period.69
The largest number of seventh-century buckles found in the Balkans (48) is
of those belonging to the Corinth class.70 A specimen of that class from Turkey is
66 M. Schulze-Drrlamm, Neuerwerbungen fr die Sammlungen. Jahrbuch des RmischGermanischen Zentralmuseums 33 (1986), 913 914; B. Genito, Some evidence from
Iran: on some Iranian and Central-Asiatic connections with Eastern Europe. Acta
Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 45 (1993), 155 fig. 2; SchulzeDrrlamm, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (2009), (cf. fn. 14), 77 78.
67 Fiedler, Studien (cf. fn. 59), 85 fig. 12.6; A. A. Bobrinskii, Kurgany i sluchainye
arkheologicheskie nakhodki bliz mestechka Smely. St. Petersburg 1901, pl. V.8, 9; M. Iu.
Braychevskyy, Novye materialy nakhodki VII-VIII vv. n.e. na Pastyrskom gorodishche.
Kratkie soobshcheniia Instituta Arkheologii AN USSR 10 (1960), 107 fig. 1.07.3; A. V.
Cirkin, Shokshinskii mogilnik. Sovetskaia Arkheologiia (1972), no. 1, 175 fig. 10.2; O.
M. Prykhodniuk, Tekhnologiia vyrobnytstva ta vytoki iuvelirnogo styliu metalevykh
prykras Pastyrskogo gorodyshcha. Arkheolohiia 3 (1994), no. 2, 66 fig. 3.2.
68 Ibler, Pannonische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 60), 140; Varsik, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 60), 87.
69 Garam, Funde (cf. fn. 50), 101.
70 Aphiona, 3 specimens: H. Bulle, Ausgrabungen bei Aphiona auf Korfu. Mitteilungen
des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 39 (1934), 222
fig. 26.20, 21, 24. Athens: Setton, Bulgars (cf. fn. 45), 522 fig. Brkac, 2 specimens: B.
Marusic, Staroslovenske in neke zgodnjesrednjeveske najdbe v Istri. Arheoloski vestnik
6 (1955), 110 with pl. V.6; B. Marusic, La necropoli alto medioevale sul colle Vrh presso
elega: B. Marusic,
Brkac (S. Pancrazio). Grada i rasprave 13 (1985), 21 22; 31 pl. II.1. C
Zgodnjesrednjevesko grobisce v Celegi pri Novem gradu v Istri. Arheoloski vestnik 9

10 (1958 1959), nos. 3 4, pl. VI.2. Corinth, 8 specimens: Davidson, Avar invasion (cf.
fn. 45) 232, 234 236, 232 fig. 2, and 235 fig. 5; Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59),
pl. 114.2192, 2193, 2195, and 2196; Ch. K. II Williams J. Macintosh J. E. Fisher,
Excavation at Corinth, 1973. Hesperia 43 (1974), no. 1, 11 and pl. 2.8. Daskaleio,
Korakonissi, and Plateia: Avramea, Le Peloponnse (cf. fn. 30), 89 90; pl. IV a 2, IV b
6, and IV c 2. Durrs, 4 specimens: Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 230 231 with pl.
II.28.6, and pl. IV.2, 3, and 5. Koman: Spahiu, Gjetje t vjetra (cf. fn. 59), pl. VI.5. Kruje,
3 specimens: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 6 and fig. 1; 58 pl. XII. 5; S.
161
in the collection of the Roman-German Museum in Mainz, but belt buckles of

the Corinth class have also been found in Crete.71 They are also known from
southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia.72 In the western Mediterranean region, a
buckle of the Corinth class is known from Spain.73 In Crimea, several specimens
are known from the large cemetery in Skalistoe, but such buckles have also
appeared in Aromat, Artek, Bakla, Balgota, Chersonesus, Eski Kermen,
Sakharna Golivka, Suuk Su, and Uzen-bash.74 Moreover, a golden specimen
auctioned in 1988 is said to be from Crimea as well.75 Given that the specimens
71
72
73
74
75
Anamali, Oreficerie, gioielli bizantini in Albania: Komani. CARB 40 (1993), 443; p. 445
fig. 4.2. Lezh, 4 specimens: Praschniker Schober, Archologische Forschungen (cf.
fn. 59), 22 23; 23 fig. 34; Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 127 and 167 with pl. XXI.4, 6.
Majsan: C. Fiskovic, Antichka naseobina na Majsanu. Prilozi povijesti umjetnosti u
Dalmaciji 24 (1984), 13 fig. Nezakcij: B. Marusic, Varia archaeologica prima. Histria
Archaeologica 11 12 (1980 1981), 53 54 with pl. VIII.3 4. Novigrad: B. Marusic,
Neki nalazi iz vremena seobe naroda u Istri. Jadranski zbornik 5 (1962), 165 166 with
pl. V.1 2. Rose: M. Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen zu sptromanischen Funden in
Sddalmatien und Montenegro, in: Reliquiae gentium. Festschrift fr Horst Wolfgang
Bhme zum 65. Geburtstag (ed. C. Dobiat). Rahden 2005, 308, 310, and 306 fig. 2.8. Sas,
4 specimens: Jankovic, Srpsko Pomorje (cf. fn. 45), 27, 28 fig. 13.11 13, and 30 fig. 15.1.
Tigani, 5 specimens: N. V. Drandakis N. Gkiolis Ch. Konstantinidi, Amasjav^ sto
Tgc\mi L\mgr. Praktika tes en Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias 136 (1981), 251 with
pl. 182 c ; N. V. Drandakis N. Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi tgr L\mgr. Praktika tes en
Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias 135 (1980), 250, 253, 255, and 256; pl. 148 e.
Unknown location in Croatia: K. Simoni, Funde aus der Vlkerwanderungszeit in den
Sammlungen des Archologischen Museums in Zagreb. Vjesnik Arheoloskog Muzeja u
Zagrebu 22 (1989), pl. 6.9. Unknown location in Albania: Nopcsa, Beitrge (cf. fn. 59),
193 and fig. 59. Veli Mlun, 3 specimens: Marusic, Nekropole (cf. fn. 45), 338 and 347 pl.
VI.9; Vinski, Kasnoanticki starosjedioci (cf. fn. 45), pl. XVIII.1, 2. The specimen from
an unknown location in northern Albania has a monogram on the terminal lobe, which
reads (in Greek) Lord, have mercy (Anamali, Oreficerie 443).
M. Schulze, Neuerwerbungen fr die Sammlungen. Jahrbuch des Rmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 32 (1985), 731 fig. 43; Poulou-Papadimitriou, Bufamtim]r p|qper
(cf. fn. 53), 131 132 and pl. 7.
Baldini Lippolis, Loreficeria (cf. fn. 61), 232; Riemer, Romanische Grabfunde (cf.
fn. 47), 156 and 422; Orsi, Sicilia (cf. fn. 62), 144 fig. 39e; 185 fig. 88b; 189 fig. 95; O. von
Hessen, Byzantinische Schnallen aus Sardinien im Museo Archeologico zu Turin, in:
Studien zur vorund frhgeschichtlichen Archologie: Festschrift fr Joachim Werner
zum 65. Geburtstag (ed. G. Kossack G. Ulbert). Mnchen 1974, 549 and 550 fig. 3.2 8;
Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina (cf. fn. 52), 150 and fig. 153.
Ebel-Zepezauer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 65), 209.
Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 15 fig. 7.24; 31 fig. 17.205.1; 51
fig. 31.279.33; 54 fig. 34.284a.23; 63 fig. 41.21; 67 fig. 44.4; 140 fig. 103.11; 160 fig. 119.3;
163 fig. 122.1; Aibabin, Pogrebeniia konca VII-pervoi poloviny VIII (cf. fn. 49), 172;
Repnikov, Nekotorye mogilniki (cf. fn. 46), 14 with pl. XII.20.
E. Riemer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen aus der Sammlung Diergardt im RmischGermanischen Museum Kln. Klner Jahrbuch fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte 28 (1995),
784.
162
Florin Curta
from burial chamber 129 in Skalistoe and from Chersonesus are miscasts,
Aleksandr Aibabin has advanced the idea of a local production of such buckles
in Crimea.76 In Hungary and Slovakia, belt buckles of the Corinth class appear
in Early Avar assemblages.77 However, Mechthild Schulze-Drrlamm believes
that there is no evidence that buckles of the Corinth class could be dated either
to the sixth or to the first half of the seventh century.78 This is substantiated by
the situation in grave 29 in Durrs, which in addition to a buckle of the Corinth
class also produced a coin struck for Constans II in in 654/5.79
Because of their usually small size, the belt buckles with cross-shaped plate
may have served both for the belt and for the shoes (or even for the purse).80
Specimens of this class have been found in Constantinople, in Syria, and in
Cyprus.81 The buckle from grave 5 in Samos was found together with 3 coins
struck for Emperor Heraclius, the latest in 613/4.82 Belt buckles with crossshaped plate are also known from Sicily.83 In Crimea, such buckles have been
found at Aromat, Chersonesus, Chufut Kale, Eski Kermen, Skalistoe, Suuk Su,
and Uzen-bash.84 Two specimens from Skalistoe have been found in association
with belt buckles of the Bologna and Corinth classes, an association substantiated by the assemblage in grave 53 in Suuk Su, which also produced
buckles with cross-shaped plate and of the Corinth class. In contrast to the
situation in Sicily and Crimea, the number of belt buckles with cross-shaped
plate found in the Balkans is much smaller than that of buckles of the Boly76 A. I. Aibabin, O proizvodstve poiasnykh naborov v rannesrednevekovom Khersone.
Sovetskaia Arkheologiia (1982), no. 3, 172.
77 Garam, Funde (cf. fn. 50), 99.
78 Schulze-Drrlamm, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (2009) (cf. fn. 14), 23.
81 Russell, Byzantine instrumenta domestica (cf. fn. 53), 142; Varsik, Byzantinische
Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 60), 85; M. Kazanski, Qalat Seman IV, 3. Les objets
mtalliques. Beirut 2003, 46 and 110 fig. 2.12; Prokopiou, Bufamtim]r p|qper (cf.
fn. 60), 335 and 336 fig. 1.8.
82 Martini Steckner, Das Gymnasium (cf. fn. 54), 127 128.
83 Orsi, Sicilia (cf. fn. 62), 114 fig. 39d; 184 and fig. 87b; Baldini Lippolis, Loreficeria (cf.
fn. 61), 233; F. Maurici, Ancora sulle fibbie da cintura di et bizantina in Sicilia, in:
Byzantino-Sicula IV. Atti del I Congresso internazionale di archeologia della Sicilia
bizantina (Corleone, 28 luglio-2 agosto 1998) (ed. R. M. Carra Bonacasa). Palermo 2000,
515.
84 K. K. Kosciushko-Valiuzhinich, Izvlechenie iz otcheta K. K. Kosciushko-Valiuzhinich o
raskopkakh v Khersones Tavricheskom v 1900 g. Izvestiia imperatorskoi arkheologicheskoi kommissii 2 (1902), 29 fig. 32 and 87 fig. 39; V. V. Kropotkin, Mogilnik Chufut
Kale v Krymu. Kratkie soobshcheniia Instituta Arkheologii AN SSSR 100 (1965), 111
fig. 44.5; Aibabin, O proizvodstve (cf. fn. 76), 174 175; 170 fig. 3.5; 173 fig. 4.8;
Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 83 fig. 57.1; 87 fig. 60.18; 92
fig. 64.37; 140 fig. 103.4.
163
Zelovce or Corinth classes. Only 10 specimens are so far known.85 Equally small
is the number of buckles with insect-shaped plate.86 The class was first dated to
the seventh century by Joachim Werner.87 A buckle with insect-shaped plate was
found in a double burial in Sofiana near Gela (Sicily) on one of two skeletons,
the other being associated with a belt buckle of the Bologna class.88 Such buckles
are known from southern Italy, Crimea, Cyprus, Transcaucasia, and southern
Spain.89
Only six buckles with U-shaped plate are known so far from the Balkans.90
The U-shaped plate is often decorated with the image of an animal. A golden
specimen from a hoard of Sicilian origin now at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington
was associated with a pendant similar to that from the Pantalica hoard, in which
the latest coins are those struck for Emperor Constans II.91 Such buckles appear
in Cyprus, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Spain and the Balearics.92 Only one specimen is
so far known from the Crimea.93 Small is also the number of buckles of the
85 Athens, 3 specimens: Setton, Bulgars (cf. fn. 45), 522 fig.; Travlos Frantz, Church of St.
Dionysios the Areopagite (cf. fn. 45), pl. 43a. Brkac : Marusic, La necropoli (cf. fn. 70),
25 and fig. 14; 32 pl. III.1. Constanta: A. Radulescu V. Lungu, Le christianisme en
Scythie Mineure la lumire des dernires dcouvertes archologiques, in: Actes du XIe Congrs international darchologie chrtienne. Lyon, Vienne, Grenoble, Genve et
Aoste (21 28 septembre 1986) (ed. N. Duval F. Baritel PH. Pergola). Rome 1989,
2576 and 2578; 2577 fig. 8. Korakonissi, 3 specimens: Avramea, Le Peloponnse (cf.
fn. 30), 89 90; pl. IV b 1 3. Spetsai: Avramea, Le Peloponnse (cf. fn. 30), 90; pl. IV e
1. Tigani: N. Drandakis N. Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi tgr L\mgr. Praktika tes en
Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias 139 (1984), 254 with pl. 149e.
86 Corinth: D. I. Pallas, Donnes nouvelles sur quelques boucles et fibules consideres
comme avares et slaves et sur Corinthe entre le VI-e et le IX-e sicles. Byzantinobulgarica 7 (1981), 296 297; 296 fig. 2. Rose: Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf.
fn. 70), 309; 306 fig. 2.7. Tigani: Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1980) (cf.
fn. 70), 252.
87 Werner, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 44), 38 fig. 3.3, 4.
89 Schulze-Drrlamm, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (2009) (cf. fn. 14), 37 fig. 16.
90 Butrint: Nallbani, Three buckles (cf. fn. 59), 398 and 399 fig. A3.1. Corinth, 2 specimens:
Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59), pl. 114.2220 21. Durrs: Tartari, Nj varrez (cf.
fn. 30), 230 wth pl. II.28.3. Kruje: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 58 pl. XII.3.
Tigani: Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1980) (cf. fn. 70), 250.
91 Baldini Lippolis, Loreficeria (cf. fn. 61), 227 and 40.
92 Prokopiou, Bufamtim]r p|qper (cf. fn. 60), 335 and 338 fig. 2.1; Vinski, Kasnoanticki
starosjedioci (cf. fn. 45), 32; Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina (cf. fn. 52), 182 fig. 179; Orsi,
Sicilia (cf. fn. 62), 114 fig. 39 a, c, f; 184 fig. 87a; 185 fig. 88a, c; Ebel-Zepezauer,
Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 65), 209.
93 N. I. Repnikov, Razvedki i raskopki na iuzhnom beregu Kryma i v Baidarskoi doliny v
1907 godu. Izvestiia imperatorskoi arkheologicheskoi kommissii 30 (1909), at 114
fig. 15.12.
164
Florin Curta
Pergamon class found in the Balkans.94 The class was named after the site on
which a number of specimens have been found, which were later acquired by the
Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam.95 The Roman-German Museum in
Mainz has also acquired buckles of the same class from Turkey.96 Such buckles
appear in northern Italy, Sardinia and as far west as Morocco.97 In Crimea, belt
buckles of the Pergamon class appear in Artek, Balgota, Chersonesus, Chufut
Kale Eski Kermen, Koreiz, Skalistoe and Uzen-bash.98 A belt buckle of the
Pergamon class is known from an inhumation of the large cemetery excavated at
Brody, near Kungur, in the Perm region of Russia.99 The dating of the
Pergamon class rests on the assemblages in graves 90 and 116 in Castel Trosino,
which produced such buckles and mounts of the Civezzano type dated to the
first decades of the seventh century. Of the same date must be the specimen
from grave 16 in Campochiaro (Molise), which was associated with a belt mount
with damascened decoration. Later specimens are known from grave 320 in
Kirchheim/Ries and grave 67 in Gyd. The latter produced also two belt buckles
with strap director of the Oberpiebing and Untereching classes, both dated to
the last decades of the seventh century.100 The assemblage in grave 23 in Athens
shows that Pergamon buckles must have coincided in time with specimens of the
Boly-Zelovce and Bologna classes.
Ranked third in terms of the number of buckles known from the Balkans
(16), the Syracuse class was named after the site in Sicily with the first known
finds.101 Buckles of this class have been found in Constantinople and on various
94 So far, only four specimens are known, three from Athens (Setton, Bulgars [cf. fn. 45],
522 fig.; Travlos Frantz, Church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite [cf. fn. 45], pl. 43a)
and one from Ston (Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen [cf. fn. 70], 306 fig. 2.3).
95 K. Neeft, Byzantijnse gespen en riembeslag in Amsterdam. Vereniging van Vrienden
Allard Pierson Museum Amsterdam. Mededelingenblad 43 (1988), 4 6.
96 Schulze, Neuerwerbungen (cf. fn. 71), 731 fig. 43; M. Schulze-Drrlamm, Berichte ber
die Neuerwerbung von 48 byzantinischen Grtelschnallen des 5.7. Jhs. und von 7
byzantinischen Schnallen des 7.10. Jhs. Jahrbuch des Rmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 34 (1987), 801 804.
97 Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina (cf. fn. 52), 182 fig. 179; J. Boube, Elments de ceinturon
wisigothiques et byzantins trouvs au Maroc. Bulletin darchologie marocaine 15
(1983), 290.
98 Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 79 fig. 54.20, 23; 83 fig. 57.12 ;
Repnikov, Razvedki (cf. fn. 93), 113; Aibabin, O proizvodstve (cf. fn. 76), 176.
99 R. D. Goldina N. V. Vodolago, Mogilniki Nevolinskoi kultury v Priurale. Irkutsk
1990, 124 pl. XXVII.12.
100 Riemer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 75), 783.
101 Aradac: S. Nagy Nekropola kod Aradca iz ranog srednieg veka. Rad Vojvodanskih
Muzeja 8 (1959), 55 with pl. I.5. Athens, 2 specimens: Setton, Bulgars (cf. fn. 45), 522
fig.; Travlos Frantz, Church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite (cf. fn. 45), 167 with
pl. 43a. Corinth, 2 specimens: Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59), pl. 114.2185; Pallas,
Donnes nouvelles (cf. fn. 86), 298 and 299 fig. 5b. Daskaleio and Plateia: Avramea, Le
165
sites in western Turkey, in Syria, Cyprus, and Egypt.102 A specimen from grave 3
in Samos was associated with two coins struck for Heraclius, the latest in 613/4,
while another was found in grave 4 together with 2 coins struck for the same
emperor, the latest in 615/6.103 In Italy, buckles of the Syracuse class have been
found on cemetery sites in the north. The specimen in grave 156 in Nocera
Umbra was associated with belt mounts of the Civezzano type, which suggest a
date within the first decades of the seventh century.104 A somewhat later
specimen is known from a female grave discovered in the Church of St.
Emmeram in Regensburg, which also produced mounts with damascened
decoration dated to the second third of the seventh century.105 Buckles of the
Syracuse class have also been found in the western Mediterranean region, in
Spain and in Algeria.106 Such buckles are known from the Crimean sites at
Aromat, Skalistoe, and Suuk Su, where they appear in association with artifacts
most typical for the first decades of the seventh century (earrings with pyramidshaped pendant and belt buckles with strap director of the Ppa class).107 On the
102
103
104
105
106
107
Peloponnse (cf. fn. 30), 89 90; pl. IV a 1 and IV c 1. Edessa: Ph. Petsas, Aqwai|tgter
jai Lmgle_a Jemtqij^r Lajedom_ar, Archaiologikon Deltion 24 (1969), 307 and fig. 320.
Histria: H. Nubar, Contributii la topografia cetatii Histria n epoca romano-bizantina.
Consideratii generale asupra necropolei din sectorul bazilicii extra muros. Studii si
cercetari de istorie veche 22 (1971), no. 1, 209 and 208 fig. 7.1. Mejica: Torcellan, Le tre
necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 64. Musait: C. Scorpan, Descoperiri arheologice diverse de la
Sacidava. Pontica 11 (1978), pl. XI.54. Novigrad: Marusic, Neki nalazi (cf. fn. 70), 165
166 with pl. V.3. Sipar and Veli Mlun: Vinski, Kasnoanticki starosjedioci (cf. fn. 45), 25
with pl. XVI.8, 9. Unknown location in Istria: Marusic, Staroslovenske in neke
zgodnjesrednjeveske najdbe (cf. fn. 70), 109 110 with pl. V.2. Zadar: J. Belosevic,
Nekoliko ranosrednjovjekovnih metalnih nalaza s podrucja sjeverne Dalmacije.
Diadora 3 (1965), 147; 146 fig. 2; pl. I.2. For finds from the eponymous site in Syracuse,
see Werner, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 44), 38; Orsi, Sicilia (cf. fn. 62), 188
and 189 fig. 94 left; Maurici, Ancora sulle fibbie (cf. fn. 83), 515.
M. V. Gill, The small finds, in: Excavations at Sarahane in Istanbul (ed. R. Martin
Harrison). Princeton 1986, 264 265; 264 fig. U; Waldbaum, Metalwork (cf. fn. 62), 118
and pl. 44.689 690; Neeft, Byzantijnse gespen (cf. fn. 95), 5 and 6 fig. 11; Prokopiou,
Bufamtim]r p|qper (cf. fn. 60), 337 and 338 fig. 2.3; Russell, Byzantine instrumenta
domestica (cf. fn. 53), 142.
Martini Steckner, Das Gymnasium (cf. fn. 54), 125 126.
Riemer, Romanische Grabfunde (cf. fn. 47), 149.
Riemer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 75), 779.
Ebel-Zepezauer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 65), 209; C. Eger, Eine
byzantinische Grtelschnalle von der Krim in der Sammlung des Hamburger Museum
fr Archologie. Materialy po arkheologii, istorii i etnografii Tavrii 5 (1996), 347.
Repnikov, Nekotorye mogilniki (cf. fn. 46), 9 10; Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii
mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 51 fig. 31.278.5; I. I. Loboda, Novye rannesrednevekovye
mogilniki v Iugo-Zapadnom Krymu (Bakhchisaraiskii raion). Sovetskaia Arkheologiia
(1976), no. 2, 137. For the dating of the Crimean buckles, see also Eger, Eine
byzantinische Grtelschnalle (cf. fn. 106), 344 345; I. O. Gavritukhin A. M.
Oblomskii, Gaponovskii klad i ego kulturno-istoricheskii kontekst. Moskva 1996, 68.
166
Florin Curta
basis of metallographic analyses of both buckles and miscasts, Aleksandr

Aibabin has advanced the idea that the buckles of the Syracuse class found in
Crimea may have been produced there.108 Beyond the northern frontiers of the
Empire, buckles of the Syracuse class appear in Hungary mostly in Early Avar
assemblages.109 However, a date within the second half of the seventh century
may be advanced on the basis of the grave discovered next to the Kraneion
basilica in Corinth, in which a buckle of the Syracuse class was associated with a
coin struck for Emperor Constans II.
The distribution inside the Balkans of seventh-century belt buckles shows
three clusters of finds, one in Greece, another in central and northern Albania,
and a third one in Istria (Fig. 10). The clusters in northern Albania and in Istria
are confirmed by the plotting on the map of finds of different types of earrings
(Fig. 11). Earrings of the Buzet class appear especially on sites in Istria, but only
occasionally in the southern parts of the Balkan Peninsula.110 The earrings of the
Buzet class may have appeared already during the last decades of the sixth
century, as indicated by a woolen tapestry now in the Dumbarton Oaks
collection.111 However, such earrings are mostly cheap imitations of gold
specimens such as those found in the Chios hoard, which is dated to the seventh
century.112 Such earrings appear on many sites in northeastern Italy, and some of
108 Aibabin, O proizvodstve (cf. fn. 76), 190; see also Kovalevskaia, Poiasnye nabory (cf.
fn. 49), 24.
109 Riemer, Byzantinische Grtelschnallen (cf. fn. 75), 779; Garam, Funde (cf. fn. 50), 95.
110 Abdera: Amasjav^ sta 6bdgqa. Praktika tes en Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias
131 (1976), 131 137, with fig. 99b. Brkac, 9 specimens, and unknown location in Istria:
Marusic, Staroslovenske in neke zgodnjesrednjeveske najdbe (cf. fn. 70), 109 110 with
pls. III.6; V.2, 3, 7, 8, 10; Marusic, Ranosrednjovjekovna nekropola (cf. fn. 45), pl. V.4;
Marusic, La necropoli (cf. fn. 70), 31 pl. II.13, 14. Corinth: D. I. Pallas, Amasjav t/r
basikij/r toO Jqameou. Praktika tes en Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias 127 (1972),
pl. 222a. Ferenci: B. Marusic, Istra i sjevernojadranski prostor u ranom srednjem vijeku
(materijalna kultura od 7. do 11. stoljeca). Pula 1995, 60 and 13 fig. 2. Gradisce and
Koper: Ciglenecki, Tracce (cf. fn. 45), 57 and pls. I.1 and II.1. Lezh: Prendi, Nj varrze
(cf. fn. 59), 165 pl. XIX.2. Mejica, 5 specimens: Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 77
and pls. 15.10 11; 19.12 13; pl. 34.8. Shurdhah: H. Spahiu, La ville haute-mdivale
albanaise de Shurdhah (Sarda). Iliria 5 (1976), 151 167 with pl. XI.5. Solkan and
Zbelovsko Goro: P. Bitenc T. Knific, Od Rimljanov do Slovanov. Predmeti. Ljubljana
2001, 92. Tigani, 2 specimens: Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1980) (cf.
fn. 70), 254 with pl. 148d. Vrsar: Marusic, Neki nalazi (cf. fn. 70), pl. I.2.
111 A.-M. Manire-Lvque, Lvolution des bijoux aristocratiques fminins travers les
trsors proto-byzantins dorfvrerie. Revue archologique 1 (1997), 100.
112 V. Bierbrauer, Invillino-Ibligo in Friaul I. Die rmische Siedlung und das sptantikfrhmittelalterliche Castrum (Mnchner Beitrge zur Vor- und Frhgeschichte, 33).
Mnchen 1987, 157; M. Schulze, Frhmittelalterliche Kettenohrringe. Archologisches
Korrespondenzblatt 14 (1984), 326 and 328. The cheap replica of the earring set from
Chios is the pair of bronze earrings from grave 3 in Brkac, which were equally linked
with a chain (Marusic, Istra (cf. fn. 110), 53 and 54 fig. 37).
167
them were gilded, another indication that most specimens are imitations of
luxury earrings.113 Earrings of the Buzet type have been found in Turkey, Israel,
and Egypt, but also in Sicily.114 By contrast, the earrings with grape-shaped
pendant are most typical for Middle Avar assemblages (ca. 630 to ca. 670) and
do not appear in the Mediterranean region. With the exception of a specimen
from an unknown location in Croatia (now in the Archaeological Museum in
Zagreb), there are no earrings with grape-shaped pendant south of the DanubeDrava line.115 Nonetheless, on the Late Roman and early Byzantine site at
Tulcea (ancient Aegyssus) in northern Dobrudja a mould for such earrings was
found, which implies their local production.116 The earrings with star-shaped
pendant from the Balkan region fall into two separate categories (II B and II C)
of Zlata Cilinsks classification. On the basis of the many specimens found in
the Avar-age cemetery in Tiszafred-Majoros (Hungary), both types may be
dated to the second half of the seventh and the eighth century.117 However, the
earrings of the II B type may be dated on the basis of the Cosovenii de Jos
assemblage, which in addition to one such earring has also produced a luxury
fibula with dentil ornamentation, which is most typical for the first third of the
7th century.118 An earring of the II C type is known from grave 13 in Noslac,
which also produced silver, barrel-shaped beads very similar to those in grave III
in Gmbas.119 The burial assemblage in that grave also included a silver earring
of the II C type.120 Its best analogies are two specimens from the Priseaca hoard,
113 Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 43 44.
114 Baldini Lippolis, Loreficeria (cf. fn. 61), 95 96; Orsi, Sicilia (cf. fn. 62), 145 146; pl.
XI.7; 145 fig. 62b, c.
115 However, two specimens are known from sites just north of that line: Aradac (Nagy,
Nekropola kod Aradca [cf. fn. 101], 62; 48 fig. 4; 91 pl. XXIV.3) and Popava (I. Savel,
Staroslovansko grobisce Popava II pri Lipovcih, in: Srednji vek. Arheoloski raziskave
med Jadranskim morjem in Panonsko nizino [ed. M. Gustin]. Ljubljana 2008, 65 70, at
66 67; 67 fig. 5). For the earring from an unknown location in Croatia, see A. Pitesa,
Katalog nalaza iz vremena seobe naroda, sredjneg i novog vijeka u Arheoloskom
muzeju u Splitu. Split 2009, 44.
116 A. Opait, Aegyssus 76 raport preliminary. Pontica 10 (1977), 309 310 with fig. 7.
117 D. Stasskov-Stukovsk, K vyskytu lunulovych nusnc s hviezdicovym prveskom v
severnej casti Karpatskej kotliny, in: Slovensko a eurpsky juhovychod. Medzikultrne
vztahy a kontexty. Zbornik k zivotnmu jubileu Tatiana Stefanovicovej (ed. A.
Avenarius Z. Sevcikov). Bratislava 1999, 250 98. For the classification of earrings,
see Z. Cilinsk, Frauenschmuck aus dem 7.8. Jahrhundert im Karpatenbecken.
Slovensk Archeolgia 23 (1975), no. 1, 63 96.
118 I. Nestor C. S. Nicolaescu-Plopsor, Der vlkerwanderungszeitliche Schatz Negrescu.
Germania 22 (1938), no. 1, 33 41 with fig. 8.1 5.
119 M. Rusu, The prefeudal cemetery of Noslac (VI-VIIth centuries). Dacia 6 (1962), 272
fig. 2.1.
120 I. Barnea O. Iliescu C. Nicolaescu, Cultura bizantina n Romnia. Bucuresti 1971,
140.
168
Florin Curta
in which the latest coins are hexagrams struck for Emperor Constantine IV
between 674 and 681.121 A local variant with rectangular support of the starshaped pendant is known only from sites in Albania.122Equally restricted to
Albania is the distribution of lunate earrings with open-work ornament. The
Shtish-Tufin earring is a specimen of Baldinis class III 2.123 Such earrings with
facing pheasants are also known from the Mersin hoard, in which the latest coins
are solidi struck for Emperor Heraclius between 630 and 640.124 Lunate earrings
with two pheasants facing a kantharos appear in Sicily, in a restricted region
between Butera, Megara Hyblaea and Acradina.125 In Crimea, such earrings
appear in the burial chamber 771 of the Skalistoe cemetery.126 Two specimens
have also been found in the Middle Dnieper region. One of them is a stray find
from Korsun-Shevchenskyi, the other has been found in a grave near Savintsy,
in the region of Kharkiv, together with a golden belt mount of pressed foil dated
to the Middle Avar period.127 The pair of earrings from Kruje is unique in that
besides the filigree decoration of the pendant, they also display cabochons of
precious stones.128 The closest analogy for the Kruje earrings is that from grave
121 B. Mitrea, Date noi cu privire la secolul VII. Tezaurul de hexagrame bizantine de la
Priseaca (jud. Olt). Studii si cercetari de numismatica 6 (1975), 123 fig. 3.
122 No less than 26 specimens have been discovered in Koman alone: Traeger,
Mittheilungen (cf. fn. 59), 46 and fig. 3d; Th. Ippen, Denkmler verschiedener
Altersstufen in Albanien. Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien und der
Herzegowina 10 (1907), 17 fig. 26,12; 18 fig. 27.5; F. B. Nopcsa, Archologisches aus
Nordalbanien. Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus Bosnien und der Herzegowina 11
(1909), 86 and fig. 6b; Nopcsa, Beitrge (cf. fn. 59), 195 and 194 fig. 69; Degrand,
Souvenirs (cf. fn. 59), 258; Spahiu, Gjetje t vjetra (cf. fn. 59), pl. IV.1 4. Two other
unpublished specimens from Koman are in the collection of the Archaeological
Museum in Cambridge (inv. 1927.467.5). Another is known from Kruje: S. Anamali H.
Spahiu, Varrza arbrore e Krujes, Iliria 9 10 (1979 1980), pl. I.7.
123 M. Korkuti M. Kallfa, Shqiperia arkeologjike. Tirana 1971, pl. 130; I. Baldini Lippolis,
Gli orecchini a corpo semilunato: classificazione tipologica (note preliminare). CARB
38 (1991), 73 and 94.
124 Manire-Lvque, Lvolution (cf. fn. 111), 84 pl. 2 M; Baldini Lippolis, Loreficeria (cf.
fn. 61), 38. For the Mersin earrings, see V. N. Zalesskaia, Pamiatniki vizantiiskogo
prikladnogo iskusstva IV-VII vekov. Katalog kollekcii. Sankt Peterburg 2006, 93 94.
125 Orsi, Sicilia (cf. fn. 62), 122 and fig. 51; 146 and pl. XI.4; 160 fig. 78; Riemer,
Romanische Grabfunde (cf. fn. 47), 68.
126 Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf. fn. 49), 162 fig. 121.27.
127 A. A. Bobrinskii, Kurgany i sluchainye arkheologicheskie nakhodki bliz mestechka
Smely. Sankt Peterburg 1887, 147 with pl. VI.8; Cs. Blint, Die Archologie der Steppe.
Steppenvlker zwischen Volga und Donau vom 6. bis zum 10. Jahrhundert. Wien/Kln
1989, 100.
128 S. Anamali, Die Albaner, Nachkommen der Illyrer, in: Albanien. Schtze aus dem Land
der Skipetaren (ed. A. Eggebrecht). Mainz 1988, 457 fig. 370; Baldini Lippolis,
Loreficeria (cf. fn. 61), 83. For the techniques employed in the production and
decoration of lunate earrings with open-work ornament, see B. Bhler, Is it Byzantine
169
83 in the Linz-Zizlau cemetery, which is dated to the Late Avar period, i. e., after
700.129
A dress accessory most typical for seventh-century assemblages in the
Balkans is the semicircular pendant with open-work ornament and three
suspension loops. Eight out of 19 specimens so far known have been found on
two sites in western Macedonia, while the others come from Albania,
Montenegro, and Croatia.130 The function of those pendants remains unclear,
whether purely ornamental or for hanging objects from the belt.131 In grave 54 in
Kasic, the pendant was found in the region of the chest, and could not have
possibly been associated with the belt. Moreover, the specimen in grave 1 in
Prosek was found in an assemblage, which did not produce any element of a belt
set. Finally, in Sardinia, similar pendants made of gold were hanging from
earrings and their loops served for the attachment of chains and jingling bells.132
The association in Ston of a semicircular pendant with open-work ornament and
three suspension loops with a belt buckle of the Pergamon class is the only
indication we have of seventh-century date for this category of dress accessories.
129
130
131
132
metalwork or not? Evidence for Byzantine craftsmanship outside the Byzantine Empire
(6th to 9th centuries AD), in: Byzanz das Rmerreich im Mittelalter. Teil 1. Welt der
Ideen, Welt der Dinge (ed. F. Daim J. Drauschke). Mainz 2010, 224 231.
H. Ladenbauer-Orel, Linz-Zizlau. Das baierische Grberfeld an der Traunmndung.
Wien 1960, 46 47 with pl. 7.9.
Sv. Erazmo: V. Malenko, Novi arkheoloshki naodi na lokalitetite Kozluk, Gabavci i
Sv. Erazmo. Macedoniae Acta Archaeologica 2 (1976), 224 fig. 3; 234 fig. 14.6; V.
Malenko, Ranosrednovekovnata materijalna kultura vo Okhrid i Okhridsko, in: Okhrid
i Okhridsko niz istorijata (ed. M. Apostolski). Skopje 1985, pl. VII. Radolishte:
Mikulcic, Sptantike und frhbyzantinische Befestigungen (cf. fn. 37), 490 fig. 410.1. For
other finds in Albania, Croatia, and Montenegro, see A. Milosevic, Komanski elementi i
pitanje kasnoantickog kontinuiteta u materijalnoj kulturi ranosrednjovjekovne Dalmacije. Diadora 11 (1989), 349 350 and 351 353 with n. 22; pl. I.1, 2 (Drvenik, Konjsko,
and unknown location in Croatia); J. Belosevic, La ncropole palocroate KasicMaklinovo brdo (Inventaria archaeologica. Jugoslavija, fasc. 28). Bonn 1982, T.54.1
(Kasic); Degrand, Souvenirs (cf. fn. 59), 263; Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 18
fig. 27.4a-b (Koman, 3 specimens); Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 168 pl. XXII.4
(Lezh); N. Doda, Varreza arbrore e Prosekut (rrethi i Mirdits). Iliria 19 (1989), 146
and 164 pl. I.7 (Prosek); Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 306 fig. 2.4 (Ston);
Marusic, Varia archaeologica (cf. fn. 70), 54 with pl. VIII.2 (unknown location in Istria).
A. Milosevic, Komanski elementi i pitanje kasnoantickog kontinuiteta u materijalnoj
kulturi ranosrednjovjekovne Dalmacije, in: Etnogeneza Hrvata (ed. N. Budak). Zagreb
1995, 98 with n. 7.
Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina (cf. fn. 52), 221 fig. 209. Chains and other jingling
pendants were hanging from semicircular pendants with three or four attachment loops
found in seventh- and eighth-century burial assemblages in the Perm region of Russia,
and in the upper Kama region. See Goldina Vodolago, Mogilniki (cf. fn. 99), 133 pl.
XXXVI.10, 17; R. D. Goldina, Lomovatovskaia kultura v Verkhnem Prikame. Irkutsk
1985, 44; 223 pl. XV.3 6.
170
Florin Curta
In the absence of any detailed studies, the chronology of other artifacts, such
as fibulae, is still uncertain. No less than 124 fibulae with bent stem are so far
known from several sites in Albania, Greece, and Macedonia.133 It has been
suggested that those fibulae derive from sixth-century fibulae with bent stem,
even though they are considerably longer and with much wider bows than their
alleged proto-types.134 Similarly, penannular brooches, such as those from
Koman, Mejica, Rose, and an unknown location in Istria appear in sixth-century
burial assemblages in the Balkans, particularly in graves of young women or of
children.135 All specimens known from Hungary are dated to the Early Avar
133 Aphiona, 6 specimens: Bulle, Ausgrabungen (cf. fn. 70), 227 fig. 28; 228 fig. 29; 229
fig. 30. Bukl, 24 specimens: Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 213 218 with pls. V.1 4
and VI.1 3; Derjan and Klos (2 specimens): D. Kurti, Gjurm t kulturs s hershme
Shqiptare ne Mat. Iliria 1 (1971), 269 270 with pls. I and III.1. Koman, 31 specimens:
Traeger, Mittheilungen (cf. fn. 59), 45 and 46 figs. 1, 4, 5; Degrand, Souvenirs (cf. fn. 59),
258; Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 17 fig. 25 and 18 fig. 28.1 3; Spahiu, Gjetje t
vjetra (cf. fn. 59), pl. III.1 7; Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), 29 31 and 36 38
with pl. IV.10, 12; H. Spahiu, Unaza t reja me mbishkrim nga Komani. Iliria 15 (1985),
no. 1, 232 with pl. III.1; Anamali, Die Albaner (cf. fn. 128), 151 and 457 fig. 373. Kruje,
30 specimens: Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 20 and fig. 31.2, 3; Anamali Spahiu,
Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 6 and fig. 1; 13 14; 32 fig. 11; pl. VI. Mijele, 4 specimens:
Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 311, 312, and 313 fig. 4.4 6, 8. Pece, 2
specimens: L. Przhita, Kshtjella e Pecs n periudhn e antikitetit t von dhe mesjet
(rrethi i Kuksit). Iliria 20 (1990), 201 41 with pl. X.5, 6. Prilep, 3 specimens: J.
Kovacevic, Babas, in: Zbornik posveten na Boshko Babich. Mlange Bosko Babic
1924 1984 (ed. M. Apostolski). Prilep 1986, 120 and fig.; Mikulcic, Sptantike und
frhbyzantinische Befestigungen (cf. fn. 37), 357 and fig. 257.1, 2. Prosek, 9 specimens:
Doda, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 130), 146, 147, 149, 150; 141 fig. 3; 164 pl. I.1; 165 pl. II.1;
166 pl. III.1; 169 pl. VI.8; 170 pl. VII.1, 9; 171 pl. VIII.1; 173 pl. X.1, 3. Radolishte:
Malenko, Ranosrednovekovnata materijalna kultura (cf. fn. 130), pl. XVIII.5. Shurdhah,
4 specimens: Spahiu, La ville haute-mdivale (cf. fn. 110), 156 with pl. 1.1; D. Komata,
Varrza arbrore e Shurdhahut (Rrethi i Shkodres). Iliria 9 10 (1979 1980), 118 pl.
IV.9 11. Sv. Erazmo: Malenko, Novi arkheoloshki naodi (cf. fn. 130), 224 fig. 3 and 234
fig. 14.5, 10; Malenko, Ranosrednovekovnata materijalna kultura (cf. fn. 130), pl.
VI.1 5. Veli Mlun: Marusic, Nekropole (cf. fn. 45), 338. Vrrin: H. Myrto, Nj varrez
antike n fshatin Vrrin. Iliria 14 (1984), no. 1, 221 with pl. II.1.
134 S. Uenze, Die sptantiken Befestigungen von Sadovec. Ergebnisse der deutschbulgarisch-sterreichischen Ausgrabungen 1934 1937 (Mu nchner Beitra ge zur Vorund Fru hgeschichte, 43). Mnchen 1992, 149; Z. Vinski, Haut Moyen Age, in: Epoque
prhistorique et protohistorique en Yougoslavie Recherches et rsultats (ed. G. Novak
A. Benac M. Garasanin N. Tasic). Beograd 1971, 388.
135 Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), 29 with pl. V.11; Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf.
fn. 45), 77 with pl. 34.1, 10; Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 308 and 310;
306 fig. 2.6; Marusic, Neki nalazi (cf. fn. 70), 166 with pl. III.7. For sixth-century
specimens, see N. Miletic, Ranosrednjovekovna nekropola u Koritima kod Duvna.
Glasnik zemaljskog muzeja Bosne i Hercegovine u Sarajevu 33 (1978), 141 204.
171
period.136 Similarly, in Italy, such fibulae appear in pairs in late sixth- or early
seventh-century female graves.137 The fibula from grave 7 in Mijele has a good
analogy in grave 76 in Campochiaro, which was dated with a silver coin struck
for Emperor Heraclius.138 Some of the sites with penannular brooches have also
produced disc-shaped fibulae.139 The specimen from grave 36 in Bukl has an
ornament imitating cabochons and, as such, belongs to a group well attested in
southwestern Hungary. One of its analogies has been found in grave 108 in
Klked A together with a lunate earring dated to the Early Avar period.140 To
this group must also be assigned the fibulae from graves 19 and 26 in Kruje, as
well as the fibulae with open-work ornament from grave 23 in Bukl and grave
18 in Lezh.141 The latter has a good analogy in a fibula from grave 116 in Jutas,
which produced a coin struck for Emperor Phocas (602 610).142 The specimens
from grave 4 in Mijele and grave 22 in Kruje (with two pheasants facing a
kantharos) are members of Garams group with sunken middle panel and
figurative ornament, specimens of which appear in Hungary together with
artifacts typical for the Early Avar period.143 Such fibulae also appear in Italy.144
The fibula in grave 20 in Kruje may also belong to this group.145 Another fibula
from Kruje is a member of Garams group with sunken middle panel and
figurative ornament (the Keszthely group) dated to the Early Avar period.146
However, yet another fibula from Kruje is a member of Garams other group
with sunken middle panel, figurative ornament and grooved arches on the
136 A. Kiss, Das awarenzeitlich-gepidische Grberfeld von Klked-Feketekapu A (Monographien zur Frhgeschichte und Mittelalterarchologie, 2). Innsbruck 1996, 198.
137 O. v. Hessen, Il materiale altomedievale nelle collezioni Stibbert di Firenze. Firenze
1983, 16 17.
138 Riemer, Romanische Grabfunde (cf. fn. 47), 122.
139 Bukl, 2 specimens: Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 216 with pl. VII.5, 6. Klos: Kurti,
Gjurm t kulturs (cf. fn. 133), 269 with pl. I. Koman, 7 specimens: Degrand, Souvenirs
(cf. fn. 59), 263; Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), pl. IV.5. Kruje, 21 specimens:
Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 20 and fig. 31.7; Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59),
37; pl. VIII. 1 6, 9; 40 IX.1 6; D. Komata, T dhna t reja arkeologjike nga Kalaja e
Krujs. Iliria 12 (1982), no. 1, pl. II.3; Anamali, Oreficerie (cf. fn. 70), 436 and 437 fig. 1.
Lezh, 2 specimens: Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 165 pl. XX.10, 11. Mijele:
Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 311; 313 fig. 4.1.
140 . Garam, Die awarenzeitlichen Scheibenfibeln. Communicationes Archaeologicae
Hungariae (1993), 118.
141 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 37 pl. VIII.6; Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), pl.
VII.6; Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 165 pl. XX.11.
142 G. Rh N. Fettich, Jutas und sk. Zwei Grberfelder aus der Vlkerwanderungszeit
in Ungarn. Praha 1931, 25 with pl. III.1.
143 Garam, Die awarenzeitlichen Scheibenfibeln (cf. fn. 140), 118 and 122.
144 Riemer, Romanische Grabfunde (cf. fn. 47), 127 and 128 fig. 15.
145 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 40 pl. IX.3.
146 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 40 pl. IX.6.
172
Florin Curta
margin, which is dated to the Middle Avar period.147 There is no analogy in

Hungary for the simple fibula found in grave 7 in Lezh. There is a die in the
Biskupije hoard which served for the production of a trapeze-shaped cell
imitating a disc-shaped fibula with central cabochon, which are typical for the
Early Avar period.148
Rural settlements
A map of all settlements known or supposed to have been in existence in the
Balkans during the seventh century (Fig. 12) shows that the central part of the
Peninsula is devoid of any sites whatsoever. Unlike the urban or fortified sites
discussed in a previous section, most rural settlements are located in the
northern region.
Garvan is on the right bank of the river Danube, just across from the
Paraschiva isle. Zhivka Vazharovas excavations between 1964 and 1980 covered
almost two acres of land and revealed 120 features dwellings, kilns, and
workshops.149 Scattered among the features were also 17 cremation burials of a
later, possibly eighth- to ninth-century date.150 House 6 belongs to what Zhivka
Vazharova believed to be the earliest phase of occupation, which she dated to
the sixth and seventh century. The house produced only handmade pottery.151
The absence of any datable metal finds makes it impossible to verify
Vazharovas dating. The handmade pottery in a fabric tempered with crushed
sherds, such as found in house 6 is associated with clay pans in houses 14 and
68.152 In house 21, in addition to a fragment of a clay pan, there was also a clay
lump (clay bread).153 The same is true for houses 12 and 50.154 The pit of the
147 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 37 fig. 9; Garam, Die awarenzeitlichen
Scheibenfibeln (cf. fn. 140), 118.
148 Garam, Die awarenzeitlichen Scheibenfibeln (cf. fn. 140), 118.
149 Zh. Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte s. Garvan, Silistrenski okrag (VI-XI v.). Sofia
1986, 7 8; 9 fig. 1b and 2; 10 fig. 3.
150 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 41 and 43; 42 fig. 39.
151 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 84 86; 84 fig. 66.
152 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 90 and 137140; 91 fig. 76; 141
fig. 143.
153 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 9899; 99 fig. 86. For clay lumps
known as clay bread, see M. Chisvasi-Comsa, O jucarie n forma de pine descoperita
la Garvan. Studii si cercetari de istorie veche 9 (1958), no. 2, 425 427; I. Stamati, Les
petits pains en glaise discussion sur la mentalit des habitants de ltablissement de
Lazuri datant du Haut Moyen Age. Transylvanian Review 10 (2001), no. 2, 83 95 ; I.
Stanciu, ber frhslawische Tonklumpen und Tonklmpchen. Ephemeris Napocensis
8 (1998), 215 272.
154 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 87, 90, and 123; 89 fig. 73; 123
fig. 120.
173
sunken-floored building 12 was partially destroyed by that of house 10, which

produced a fragment of a clay cauldron and another of a glass bracelet, both
artifacts which cannot be dated earlier than the tenth century.155 House 12 may
be of a seventh, but also of a late sixth and early seventh century, in any case of
approximately the same date as house 21. A fragment of a clay pan, a lump of
clay, and handmade pottery in a fabric tempered with crushed sherds also
appear in house 59 together with a fragment of combed ware thrown on a
tournette, which is a clear indication of a date later than ca. 600.156 Another
indication of a seventh-century date is the association of fragments of handmade
pottery with no decoration with fragments with finger impressions on the lip (as
in house 67) or with fragments with notches on the lip (as in house 87).157 Clay
lumps also appear in association with combed ware thrown on a tournette, and
without any handmade pottery, in house 14.158 Judging by the vertical combing
on one of the fragments found inside the kiln 112, it too may be of a seventhcentury date.159 Finally, a negative argument: unlike the settlement sites north of
the river Danube, Garvan has produced no evidence whatsoever of amphorae or
metalwork (fibulae, buckles) of Roman production or inspiration.160 The search
for precise dates would have been greatly facilitated by a dendrochronological
155 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 87 and fig. 71. For the chronology of
clay cauldrons, see L. Doncheva-Petkova, Mittelalterliche Tonkessel aus Bulgarien, in:
Die Keramik der Saltovo-Majaki Kultur und ihrer Varianten (ed. Cs. Blint) (Varia
archaeologica hungarica, 3). Budapest 1990, 101 111. For the chronology of glass
bracelets, see I. Changova, Za staklenite grivni v srednovekovna Balgariia, in:
Izsledvaniia v pamet na Karel Shkorpil (ed. K. Miiatev V. Mikov). Sofia 1961, 179
188; A. Antonaras, Cu\kima lesobufamtim\ bqawi|kia. Sulbok^ se h]lata di\dosgr,
paqacyc^r, tupokoc_ar jai wq^sgr. Deltion tes christianikes archaiologikes hetaireias 27
(2006), 423 434. Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 123 claims that the
pit of house 50 cut through the sunken-floored building 49, but the latter produced Grey
Ware with burnished ornament, which is clearly of a later, perhaps late eight or ninthcentury date.
156 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 129 and 133 fig. 132. For the
chronology of the pottery thrown on a tournette, see L. Doncheva-Petkova, Balgarska
bitova keramika prez rannoto srednevekovie (vtorata polovina na VI-krai na X v.).
Sofia 1977; Kh. Stoianova, Glinenite sadove ot VII-IX vek ot fonda na Istoricheskiia
muzei Shumen. Problemi na prabalgarskata istoriia i kultura 4 (1998), 330 336.
157 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 137 and 156; 139 fig. 140; 157
fig. 164. For the earliest finds of handmade pottery with finger impressions or notches on
the lip, see F. Curta, The Making of the Slavs. History and Archaeology of the Lower
Danube Region, c. 500 700. Cambridge/New York 2001, 291 and 294.
158 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 90 91; 92 fig. 77.
159 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 182 183; 184 fig. 198. For the dating
of vertical combing, see F. Curta, Still waiting for the barbarians? (cf. fn. 40), 444.
160 For amphorae and metalwork on sixth- to early seventh-century sites in southern and
eastern Romania, see Curta, Making of the Slavs (cf. fn. 157), 242 43 and 244 fig. 37;
273 and fig. 58.
174
Florin Curta
analysis of the large wooden beam most likely from the superstructure found
along the western side of house 65.161
Four houses and a kiln, which may be dated to the seventh century with
some degree of certainty (14, 66, 87, 113, and kiln 112) produced fragments of
quern stones bespeaking the consumption of cereal foods. The one in the sunken
building 66 was found by the oven gate, while fragments of quern stones have
been recycled in the building of kiln 112 and of the oven in house 113. Five
houses produced clay weights for the fishing net, which sets Garvan apart from
settlement sites north of the Danube, which produced handmade pottery with
finger impressions or notches on the lip, clay pans, but no clay weights for the
fishing net. The closest analogies for the situation at Garvan are sites further
upstream along the Danube, at Ostrovu Mare and Mihajlovac.162 With one
exception (house 50, with two specimens), all ten houses in Garvan which could
be dated to the seventh century produced one awl each. This reminds one of
sixth- to seventh-century settlement assemblages north of the Danube,
especially in Moldavia and Moldova.163 In eight out of nine seventh-century
houses in Garvan, whetstones were also found singly. Again, most analogies are
161 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 136. For dendrochronology in
Bulgaria, see http://dendrochronologybg.net/ (visit of May 14, 2012).
162 I. Stnga, Cercetari arheologice n insula Ostrovu Mare-Portile de Fier II-comuna
Gogosu-Mehedinti. Drobeta 4 (1978), 123; D
. Jankovic, Le site dhabitation mdival
Kula prs du village Mihajlovac. D
erdapske sveske 3 (1986), 443 444.
163 Houses 4, 12, 13 (dated with a coin struck for Emperor Justinian, 527 538), 17, and 21 in
Botosana: D. Gh. Teodor, Civilizatia romanica la est de Carpati n secolele V-VII
(asezarea de la Botosana-Suceava). Bucuresti 1984, 25 26, 30 31, 34, and 37; 82 fig. 3
d; 86 fig. 7b and c; 87 fig. 8.2; 88 fig. 9 c; 89 fig. 10 c; 91 fig. 12.3; 98 fig. 19.1 3; 101
fig. 22.4, 7. House 19 in Cucorani: S. Teodor, Sapaturile de la Cucorani (jud. Botosani).
Arheologia Moldovei 8 (1975), 151 152; 153 fig. 19 b; 200 fig. 61.1. Houses 6 and 69 in
Davideni: I. Mitrea, Comunitati satesti la est de Carpati n epoca migratiilor. Asezarea
de la Davideni din secolele V-VIII. Piatra Neamt 2001, 42 43 and 97 98; 337 fig. 76.10.
House 78 in Danceni: V. A. Dergachev O. V. Larina Gh. Postica, Raskopki 1980 g. na
mnogosloinom poselenii Dancheny I, in: Arkheologicheskie issledovaniia v Moldavii v
1979 1980 gg. (ed. I. A. Borziak). Kishinew 1983, 130. Houses 1, 2, and 3 in Dodesti : D.
Gh. Teodor, Continuitatea populatiei autohtone la est de Carpati. Asezarile din secolele
VI-XI e.n. de la Dodesti-Vaslui. Iasi 1984, 22 24; 27 fig. 5 a-c; 33 fig. 9.1, 2, 5. Houses 1
and 2 in Gordinesti: N. P. Telnov, Ranneslavianskie poseleniia Gordineshti I i Korpachi,
in: Arkheologicheskie issledovaniia srednevekovykh pamiatnikov v DnestrovskoPrutskom mezhdureche (ed. P. P. Byrnia). Kishinew 1985, 91 93. Iasi-Crucea lui
Ferent : D. Gh. Teodor, Descoperiri din sec. VI-VII e.n. de la Iasi-Crucea lui Ferent.
Cercetari istorice 2 (1971), 120; 127 fig. 3.2; 128 fig. 4.12. Houses 23, 31, and 33 in Filias :
Z. Szkely, Asezari din secolele VI-IX e. n. n sud-estul Transilvaniei. Aluta 6 7 (1974
1975), 39 41. House 23 in Poian: Z. Szkely, Asezari din secolele VI-XI p. Ch. n
bazinul Oltului superior. Studii si cercetari de istorie veche si arheologie 43 (1992), no. 2,
268 and 271; 270 fig. 18.B23.
175
known from sixth- to seventh-century settlements north of the Danube.164 Those

whetstones may have served for the sharpening of knives, such as found in
houses 6, 14, 21, 50, 65, 66, 80 and 113. Together with knives, whetstones, awls,
and fishing net weights, the seventh-century houses in Garvan also produced
spindle whorls, often found singly (houses 14, 21, 50, 65, 66, 68, 84, 87, 89, and
113), but also in two (house 72) and four specimens (house 6). House production
of (presumably) woolen textiles is also betrayed by the bone needle found in
house 89. There was a crucible in house 59, which was associated with slag. Slag
has also been found in houses 66 and 80, but no other traces of metalworking
appear in any one of them. Two bone skates have been found in houses 68 and
80. Those are artifacts that rarely appear in settlement assemblage north of the
Danube, but are occasionally found in burial assemblages in the Carpathian
Basin.165 The awls, the skates, and the bone needle imply the raising of animals,
and animal bones have been found in significant quantity in the pit in front of
the oven in houses 80 and 84. Unfortunately, no zooarchaeological study exists
so far for the bone material in Garvan, so nothing is known about either the
species or the age of the animals represented in those faunal assemblages.166
The site at Popina is located not far from Garvan on a small hill to the west
from the modern village. Zhivka Vazharova carried out excavations on this site
164 Houses 1, 3, 10, 15, and 26 in Botosana: Teodor, Civilizatia romanica (cf. fn. 163), 22 25,
29 30, 32 33, 40, and 52 54; 83 fig. 3 a, c; 83 fig. 4 d; 88 fig. 8.3; 92 fig. 13 a; 107
fig. 28.1 4, 6. House 1B in Bucharest-Ciurel: S. Dolinescu-Ferche, Ciurel, habitat des
VI-VII-e sicles d. n. . Dacia 23 (1979), 185 188, 207, 209; 208 fig. 25.H 1B; 194
fig. 9.4. House 18 in Budureasca: V. Teodorescu V. Dupoi M. Jibotean-Penes Gh.
Panait, Budureasca, straveche si statornica vatra de civilizatie la originile poporului
romn. Cercetarile arheologice din anul 1983 privind complexele straromnesti de tip
Ipotesti-Cndesti (sec. V-VII e.n.). Mousaios 5 (1999), 94 and 115 fig. 11.1. House 5 in
Dodesti: Teodor, Continuitatea (cf. fn. 163), 25 26; 27 fig. 5.f; 34 fig. 10.5. House 10 in
Dulceanca I: S. Dolinescu-Ferche, Asezari din secolele III si VI e.n. n sud-vestul
Munteniei. Cercetarile de la Dulceanca. Bucuresti 1974, 76 77; fig. 76.7. Houses 8, 14,
and 18 in Dulceanca II: S. Dolinescu-Ferche, Contributions archologiques sur la
continuit daco-romaine. Dulceanca, deuxime habitat du VIe sicle d. n. . Dacia 30
(1986), 124 and 128 129; 126 fig. 3.2; 129 fig. 5.3; 138 fig. 11.15; 140 fig. 13.2; 146
fig. 19.7. Houses 1, 4, 7, 14, and 20 in Dulceanca III: S. Dolinescu-Ferche, Habitats du
VI-e et VII-e sicles de notre re Dulceanca IV. Dacia 36 (1992), 128, 131, and 133;
129 fig. 2.1 3; 130 fig. 3.5; 132 fig. 4.5; 136 fig. 5.15; 139 fig. 8.29; 144 fig. 13.1; 145
fig. 14.4; 148 fig. 17.17. House 18 in Poian: Szkely, Asezari din secolele VI-XI p. Ch.
(cf. fn. 163), 263.
165 E.g., in grave 131 from Szolnok-Szanda, for which see I. Bna M. Nagy, Gepidische
Grberfelder am Theissgebiet I (Monumenta Germanorum Archaeologica Hungariae,
Monumenta Gepidica, 1). Budapest 2002, 219. The only example from the lands north of
the Danube is that from Speia, which was associated with a fragment of African RedSlip ware and another of a Late Roman amphora: Gh. Postica, Asezarea Speia-Hiscovo
(secolele V-VI d.H.). Arheologia Moldovei 19 (1996), 265 66; 267 fig. 2. 1.
166 Vazharova, Srednovekovnoto selishte (cf. fn. 149), 151 and 154 55.
176
Florin Curta
between 1955 and 1961, opening up almost one acre of land and discovering 63
features dwellings and refuse pits.167 The only chronologically firm indication
of an early phase of occupation is the situation in the middle of the site, where
three sunken-featured buildings, two with clay ovens and one with a stone oven,
have cut each other in stratigraphic succession. Not much can be said about the
material from the earliest building (to the north), although the excavator claims
it produced remains of pottery thrown on a tournette.168 The second building,
the clay oven of which cut through the western side of the first building, was in
turn superposed by a later, but smaller building with stone oven, the contour of
which followed that of the older house pit. The material found in front of the
stone oven includes remains of combed ware and a few spikes. In addition, there
were two bone purse mounts with circle-and-dot decoration.169 Such artifacts are
typical for sixth- or early seventh-century assemblages.170 The two mounts may
have initially belonged to the material from the building with clay oven
underneath. In any case, the filling of house 32 contained many fragments of
handmade pottery, including clay pans and a clay lump. This is not necessarily
the material from the earlier building, given that the filling also produced
fragments of Iron-Age pottery.171 Much like house 6 in Garvan, houses 7 and 11
in Popina produced only handmade pottery, including fragments of clay pans.172
Handmade pottery, including a pot with no decoration and a fragment of a clay
pan, was associated in house 1 with an awl, a whetstone, and a spindle whorl,
which suggest a date similar to that of the houses in Garvan, presumably in the
seventh century. However, house 1 is unlike all others in Garvan, in that in
addition to a stone oven in the eastern corner, it also had two clay ovens on the
northeastern and northwestern sides, respectively. This may indicate more than
one phase of occupation, with possible repairs and modifications of the initial
sunken-floored building. The date of those repairs and modifications is
167 Zh. Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta v balgarskite zemi ot kraia na VIXI vek. Sofia 1965, 9 11; 9 fig. 1; 11 fig. 2.
168 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 57.
169 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 52; 55 fig. 34.2.
170 E.g., graves B45 and E199 in Piatra Frecatei (in which it was associated with belt
buckles of the Sucidava class, and, in E199 with a much worn and pierced coin struck for
Emperor Justin I, 518 527): A. Petre, La romanit en Scythie Mineure (IIe-VIIe sicles
de notre re). Recherches archologiques. Bucarest 1987, 67, and 69 70; pls. 122
fig. 187a-f and 126 fig. 200 a-k. Grave 5 in mound 3 at Madara: Fiedler, Studien (cf.
fn. 59), 319 320; 321 fig. 113.5. Grave 89 in Suuk Su: Repnikov, Nekotorye mogilniki
(cf. fn. 46), 26 27; 73 fig. 65. For bone or antler purse mounts with circle-and-dot
decoration, see P. Diaconu, Un tip necunoscut de piesa din sec. VI-nceputul sec. VII.
Studii si cercetari de istorie veche si arheologie 42 (1991), no. 1, 81 84.
171 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 52.
172 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 17, 26, and 29 30; 29
fig. 15; 30 fig. 16.
177
unknown.173 There was a platform paved with stones to the north from the oven
in house 13, which may have been a working area. However, there were no tools
in that house, only an arrow head.174 As in house 80 in Garvan, there were many
animal bones found in a pit in the southern corner of house 1 and in a pit along
the southern side of house 15 in Popina (as well as in the filling of houses 11, 13,
and 15), but no specific details about species and age are known.175 In house 10,
a rectangular pit by the southern side contained no less than eight whetstones.
Eight awls have been collected from the buildings floor.176
Farther to the west, the site at Mihajlovac is located across the Danube from
the island of Ostrovu Mare. The salvage excavations of 1981 and 1982 covered
4,100 square feet of land and discovered eight features, all dwellings. Like the
settlement on the opposite side, at Ostrovul Mare, the houses found in
Mihajlovac produced evidence of both hand- and wheel-made pottery.177 The
former includes a fragment of a clay pan, while the latter is represented by such
things as a lid and a fragment of an amphora, both suggesting a late sixth- or
early seventh-century date. There were clay weights for the fishing net in the
houses excavated in Mihajlovac, much like in Garvan. However, unlike Garvan
and Popina, where (with the exception of one arrow head) no weapons have
been found, no less than 3 battle axes are known from Mihajlovac. All three
have good parallels in contemporary, late Early or early Middle Avar-age
assemblages.178 The imprint of a cereal seed (millet?) on the bottom of a
handmade pot suggests the local cultivation of crops.
The 1977 rescue excavations on the western side of the Ostrovu Mare island
revealed a number of features, some of which have been wrongly interpreted as
cremation burials (but are more likely sunken-floored buildings). The site was
again occupied during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Only one house has
been published and it contained no pottery remains (or if it did, none was
published). However, handmade pottery and combed ware thrown on a
tournette are known from Ostrovu Mare, both in the same fabric tempered
173 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 12 14; 13 fig. 3.
174 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 30; 31 fig. 17.
175 Although the site monograph includes an archaeozoological report, there is no analysis
of the individual faunal assemblages, house by house. See S. Ivanov, Zhivotinski kostni
ostataci ot selishteto v mestnosta Dzhedzhovi Lozia pri s. Popina, in: Slavianski i
slavianobalgarski selishta balgarskite zemli ot kraia na VI-XI vek (ed. Zh. Vazharova).
Sofia 1965, 207 225.
176 Vazharova, Slavianski i slavianobalgarski selishta (cf. fn. 167), 26; 27 fig. 13; 28 fig. 14.
177 Jankovic, Le site dhabitation (cf. fn. 162), 443 444; 445 fig. 1; 446 fig. 2.
178 Grave 108 in Aradac: S. Nagy, La ncropole de Mecka (Inventaria archaeological.
Jugoslavija, fasc. 7). Beograd 1978, pl. 3.3. Sekic (where it was associated with a solidus
struck for Emperor Heraclius in Constantinople, 616 625): . Garam, Die mnzdatierten Grber der Awarenzeit, in Awarenforschungen (ed. F. Daim). Wien 1992, 144;
223 pl. 51.3.
178
Florin Curta
with crushed sherds and pebbles. There is no direct evidence of a seventhcentury date, but the large beams found along all sides of the house could have
produced some dendrochronological results.179 A three-edged arrow head is
known from the excavations, but no other weapons are known.180 The cemetery
of Balta Verde is on the opposite bank of the Dunarea Mica.181
Farther to the northwest, upstream along the Drava in eastern Slovenia,
recent salvage excavations caused by the building of the Vucja vas-Beltinci
highway have revealed a number of interesting sites. Although all of them are to
the north from the river Drava (so outside the area under focus in this paper),
the characteristic materials they have produced are worth a brief glimpse. The
excavations carried out between 2000 and 2006 between Krog and Bakovci
opened up almost five acres of land, and discovered several features, the
function of which is difficult to establish.182 The only one that can be dated with
some degree of certainty to the seventh century is that found in 2000 2001 at
some distance from the site, at Pod Kotom-jug, 3 km to the north from the river
Mura, a left-hand tributary of the Drava. The pit has an oval shape and its filling
contained a large quantity of stones (but there was no oven) and animal bones.
Among the fragments of handmade pottery collected from that filling there is
also a rim with notches on the lip. There were also fragments of combed ware
thrown on a tournette.183
About 2 km from the city of Murska Sobota, salvage excavations of 2000
and 2001 discovered 38 features, many of which are refuse pits. The site was first
occupied during the Bronze Age. The only sunken-floored building known so
far produced only handmade pottery in a fabric tempered with crushed sherds
179 Stnga, Cercetari arheologice (cf. fn. 162), 123; 120 fig. 6; 122 fig. 8. See also V.
Boroneant I. Stnga, Cercetarile privind secolul al VII-lea de la Ostrovu Mare, com.
Gogosu din zona hidrocentralei Portile de Fier II. Drobeta 3 (1978), 87 and 89; 88
fig. 1.
180 Stnga, Cercetari arheologice (cf. fn. 162), 119 fig. 7.3.
181 D. Berciu E. Comsa, Sapaturile arheologice de la Balta Verde si Gogosu. Materiale si
cercetari arheologice 2 (1956), 403 405. A seventh-century date for at least some of the
burials in that cemetery is secured by the belt buckle of the Syracuse class found in grave
1.
182 I. Tusek, Poznoanticna in zgodnjesrednjeveska loncenina z najdisca Pod Kotom cesta,
in: Zgodni slovani. Zgodnjesrednjeveska loncenina na obrobju vzhodnih Alp (ed. M.
Gustin). Ljubljana 2002, 36 37 and 39; 37 fig. 1; B. Kerman, Zgodnjeslovanske najdbe z
najdisca Pod Kotom-sever pri Krogu, in: Srednji vek. Arheoloski raziskave med
Jadranskim morjem in Panonsko nizino (ed. M. Gustin). Ljubljana 2008, 47 with fig. 1.
183 I. Savel, Zgodnjesrednjeveski objekt z najdisca Pod Kotom jug pri Krogu, in: Zgodni
slovani. Zgodnjesrednjeveska loncenina na obrobju vzhodnih Alp (ed. M. Gustin).
Ljubljana 2002, 11 15; 11 fig. 1; 12 fig. 2.
179
and sand. The building has an irregular plan but no heating facility.184 A refuse
pit (O21) contained handmade pottery, including fragments of clay pans, as well
as animal bones. Another (O23) produced handmade pottery in a fabric
tempered with crushed sherds and sand, including a fragment with notches on
the lip.185 A second, much larger settlement has been excavated in 2001 in
Grofovsko, on the southern edge of the city of Murska Sobota. No less than 26
features have been found in that year, all of which with the exception of an
open hearth are refuse pits. The radiocarbon dates obtained from the remains
found in one of them (O SE 123) are 134530 (calibrated age 664 AD): 1S
ca. 658 686, 2S ca. 645 693, 700 712, 752 760. In addition to combed ware
thrown on a tournette (there was no handmade pottery), the feature produced
an iron phalera with damascened ornament, which has good analogies in Late
Avar (i. e., late eighth-century) assemblages in Hungary.186
The site at Nova Tabla is located at a distance of 2 km from Murska Sobota,
to the south, on the shore of Lake Soboska. Excavations carried out between
1999 and 2001 and, again, between 2007 and 2008 revealed 105 features. The site
was first occupied during the Iron Age (cemetery), and then during the Roman
age (settlement).187 The sunken-floored building SZ1 produced only handmade
pottery, including a fragment with notches on the lip and with an incised sign.188
The sunken-floored building SZ3 and a refuse pit (SO 18) also produced
fragments of clay pans.189 The only indication of a date within the seventh
century is the mount found in the refuse pit SZ4, which bears some analogy with
specimens of the Early Avar age.190
184 B. Kerman, Staroslovanska naselbina Kotare baza pri Murski Soboti, in: Zgodnji
slovani. Zgodnjesrednjeveska loncenina na obrobju vzhodnih Alp (ed. M. Gustin).
Ljubljana 2002, 22 23.
185 Kerman, Staroslovanska naselbina (cf. fn. 184), 19 21; 18 fig. 2; 21 fig. 14.
186 M. Novsak, Zgodnjesrednjeveske najdbe z najdisce Grofovsko pri Murski Soboti, in:
Zgodni slovani. Zgodnjesrednjeveska loncenina na obrobju vzhodnih Alp (ed. M.
Gustin). Ljubljana 2002, 29 30; 29 fig. 1; F. Curta, The early Slavs in the northern and
eastern Adriatic region. A critical approach. Archeologia Medievale 37 (2010), 320.
187 M. Gustin G. Tiefengraber, Oblike in kronologija zgodnjesrednjeveske loncanine na
Novi tabli pri Murski Soboti, in: Zgodnji slovani. Zgodnjesrednjeveska loncenina na
obrobju vzhodnih Alp (ed. M. Gustin). Ljubljana 2002, 46 47; 47 fig. 1; 48 fig. 3, D.
Pavlovic, Novi izsledki arheoloskih terenskih raziskav na Novi tabli pri Murski Soboti,
in: Srednji vek. Arheoloski raziskave med Jadranskim morjem in Panonsko nizino (ed.
M. Gustin). Ljubljana 2008, 49; 40 fig. 3.
188 Gustin Tiefengraber, Oblike in kronologija (cf. fn. 187), 48 fig. 2; 48 fig. 4.1; 50 fig. 7.1,
4; 51 fig. 8.4.
189 Gustin Tiefengraber, Oblike in kronologija (cf. fn. 187), 48 fig. 4.2 5; 49 fig. 5.2; 51
fig. 8.3.
190 M. Gustin, Slovansko skeletno grobisce na ledini Nova tabla pri Murski Soboti, in:
Srednji vek. Arheoloski raziskave med Jadranskim morjem in Panonsko nizino (ed. M.
Gustin). Ljubljana 2008, 54 with figs. 2 5.
180
Florin Curta
Dasenka Cipots 2003 rescue excavations in Popava opened up 3.7 acres of

land and discovered 41 refuse pits.191 Given that cremated human bones have
been found in its filling, it remains unclear whether feature SE7/SE24 was
indeed a house. At any rate, the filling produced remains of combed ware
thrown on a tournette and handmade pottery, including a fragment of a clay pan.
In addition, there was a golden earring with grape-shaped pendant, the closest
analogy for which is the earring from an unknown location in Croatia, now in
the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. However, such earrings also appear in
burial assemblages in Crimea in association with seventh-century buckles, such
as buckles with cross-shaped plate.192 The radiocarbon date for the Popava
assemblage is BP 144524 (1S cal. AD 602 642, 68.3 % probability; 2S cal. AD
572 649, 95.4 % probability).193
Burials
The distribution of isolated burials and cemeteries dated to the seventh century
shows a clear cluster of sites on the northern boundary of the Balkans, which is
directly comparable to that of rural settlements (Fig. 13). However, unlike
settlements, cemeteries and isolated burials appear in great numbers along the
western coast of the peninsula, from Peloponnesos to Istria, with a prominent
cluster in northern Albania. There are substantial differences between the
cluster in the north and the sites along the western coast of the Balkan
Peninsula.
Immediately to the north of the river Drava, a warrior grave with a male and
a horse skeleton found in Zmajevac is a typically Middle Avar burial. The
assemblage includes a belt set with seven gold strap ends, six of which are
decorated with interlaced ornament, and 22 belt mounts of Zabojnks class 182
(dated to the late Middle Avar age, 675 700 or 655 680, according to Stadlers
calibrated chronology of the Avar period), and horse gear, including two
adavica, a grave was
damascened stirrups.194 On the other side of the Drava, in C
191 D. Cipot, Zgodnjesrednjeveski jami iz Popave I pri Lipovcih, in: Srednji vek. Arheoloski
raziskave med Jadranskim morjem in Panonsko nizino (ed. M. Gustin). Ljubljana 2008,
59 with fig. 1; 40 fig. 4.
192 E.g., burial chamber 400 in Skalistoe: Veimarn Aibabin, Skalistinskii mogilnik (cf.
fn. 49), 90 91; 92 fig. 64.37 and 39.
193 I. Savel, Staroslovansko grobisce Popava II pri Lipovcih, in: Srednji vek. Arheoloski
raziskave med Jadranskim morjem in Panonsko nizino (ed. M. Gustin). Ljubljana 2008,
66 67; 67 fig. 5; 68 figs. 7 14.
194 . Garam, Der Fund Vrsmart im archologischen Nachlass der Awarenzeit. Folia
Archaeologica 33 (1982), 187, 190, and 192; 188 fig. 1; 189 fig. 2; 191 fig. 3; 193 fig. 4;
194 fig. 5; 195 fig. 6; 197 fig. 7. For the classification of belt mounts, see J. Zbojnk,
Seriation von Grtelbeschlaggarnituren aus dem Gebiet der Slowakei und sterreichs,
181
accidentally found in 1929 during plowing. This was a double burial, presumably
with a male and a female, judging by the presence, on one hand, of weapons
(sword with scabbard with golden mounts), and, on the other hand, of a pair of
earrings with star-shaped pendant.195 The latter is a strong indication of a date
within the Middle Avar age, probably in the mid-seventh century. A similar date
may be advanced for at least some of the 110 graves discovered between 1960
and 1962 in Vojka. None of them has so far been properly published, but, among
the artifacts said to have been found in the graves, a belt set with pressed mounts
and saddle bone mounts are strong indications of a date within the Middle Avar
period.196 Another large cemetery was found on the opposite bank of the
Danube, not far from its confluence with the Tisza river, at Aradac. Salvage
excavations were carried out there between 1952 and 1955, and then again in
1961. The excavations revealed 116 graves, all inhumations in rectangular pits.197
Burial in this cemetery may have already begun in the late sixth century, as
suggested by a follis struck for Tiberius II, which was found in grave II.198 That
burial continued well into the seventh century is demonstrated by graves 1 and
68. The former produced a belt buckle of the Syracuse class, the latter one of the
Trebizond class.199 One of the most recent assemblages is that in grave 93, which
produced a belt set, one mount of which belongs to the same class as the
Zmajevac mounts (Zabojnks class 182).200
In sharp constrast to the cemeteries and isolated graves along the northern
boundary of the Balkan region is a cemetery excavated in the 1980s, and then
again in 1994 1995 and between 2005 and 2008 in Balchik, on the Black Sea
coast. No less than 206 graves have been found there 119 cremations and 87
inhumations. A date within the seventh century may be advanced with a great
degree of confidence for grave 119, a cremation within a cist of tiles and stones,
195
196
197
198
199
200
in K problematike osdlenia stredodunajskej oblasti vo vcasnom stredoveku (ed. Z.

ilinsk). Nitra 1991, 219 321. For Stadlers calibrated chronology, see Stadler, Avar
C
chronology revisited (cf. fn. 15), 59 Table 1.
adjavica. Vjesnik Hrvatskoga arheoloskoga drustva 23
N. Fettich, Der Fund von C
(1941 1942), 55 56 with pls. III-V; C. Bertelli G. P. Brogiolo M. Jurkovic I.
Matejcic A. Milosevic C. Stella (eds.), Bizantini, Croati, Carolingi. Alba e tramonto
di regni e imperi. Milano 2001, 282 283 and 267.
J. Kovacevic D. Dimitrijevic, Brdasica, Vojka, Stara Pazova nekropola. Arheoloski
pregled 3 (1961), 116 120.
B. Nagy, Grobovi iz VI-VII veka kod Aradca u Banatu. Rad Vojvodanskih Muzeja 1
(1952), 132 133; 132 fig. 1; Nagy, Nekropola kod Aradca (cf. fn. 101), 45 48; 46 fig. 2;
49 fig. 5; Nagy, La ncropole (cf. fn. 178), 165.
Nagy, Grobovi (cf. fn. 197), 133; Nagy, Nekropola kod Aradca (cf. fn. 101), 62 with pl.
XXV.6.
Nagy, Nekropola kod Aradca (cf. fn. 101), 55 and 60; pls. I.1 10, XII.2 8, and XXXI.5.
Nagy, La ncropole (cf. fn. 178), T 93.
182
Florin Curta
which produced a belt buckle of the Corinth class.201 Another cremation

produced a belt buckle with T-shaped plate decorated with circle-and-dot
ornament, which is a specimen of Schulze-Drrlamms class D 21, dated to the
first half of the seventh century.202 Similarly, the beginnings of the cemetery
discovered in Razdelna, not far from Varna, may be dated to the seventh
century. Zhivka Vazharovas excavations of 1963 discovered 230 burials, all
cremations. In grave 13, the urn of which was thrown on a tournette and had
combed decoration, there was a belt buckle of the Boly-Zelovce class.203 Most
other burial assemblages may be dated to the eighth and early ninth century.
In contrast to burial assemblages in both the northern and the eastern
regions of the Balkans, those in Macedonia are typically associated with ruins of
old churches. The burial in the atrium of the late antique octagonal church in
Philippoi is a cist made of recycled Roman tiles. The assemblage associated with
the male skeleton included a knife and a belt buckle of the Boly-Zelovce class.204
Further inland, at Sv. Erazmo, on the northern shore of Lake Ohrid, the 1974
salvage excavations revealed 124 graves inside and outside the ruins of a sixthcentury basilica. Some burials have cut through the mosaic pavement in the
nave, others were directly on top of the mosaic pavement. All graves were stone
and/or brick cists. Some had no grave goods whatsoever. No burials have been
published, only some of the most spectacular grave goods, such as seven fibulae
with bent stem, two earrings with star-shaped pendant, a semicircular pendant
with open-work ornament and suspension loops, pendants, torcs, and pottery.
There are three arrow heads known from the cemetery. The earliest graves
cluster in the southern aisle, later graves dated to the early ninth century appear
in the nave and in the northern apse.205 Similarly, on the neighboring site at
Radolishte, on the shore of Lake Ohrid, 136 graves all stone cists were
201 L. Doncheva-Petkova, Nekropolat pri Balchik. Novi danni za prabalgarite. Arkheologiia 50 (2009), nos. 1 2, 82 fig. 8.1.
202 Doncheva-Petkova, Nekropolat (cf. fn. 201), 84; 82 fig. 8.2.
203 Fiedler, Studien (cf. fn. 59), 466 with pl. 59.11.
204 G. Gounaris A. Mentzos A. Bakirtzis Ch. Bakirtzis E. Pelekanidou, Amasjav^
Ojtac~mou Vik_ppym. Praktika tes en Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias 137 (1982),
36 37 with pls. 17c and 18a.
205 Malenko, Novi arkheoloshki naodi (cf. fn. 130), 222 and 232 234; 223 fig. 2; 224 fig. 3;
231 fig. 13; 234 fig. 14; Malenko, Ranosrednovekovnata materijalna kultura (cf. fn. 130),
288 289; pls. V-XIII; B. Babic, Deneshnite teritorii na Republika Makedonija i
Republika Albanija vo VII i VIII veka, in: Civilizacii na pochvata na Makedoniia.
Skopje 1995, 161; E. Maneva, La survie des centres palochrtiens de Macdoine au
Haut Moyen Age, in: Radovi XIII. Medunarodnog Kongresa za starokrscansku
arheologiju. Split-Porec (25.9.1.10. 1994) (ed. N. Cambi E. Marin). Vatican/Split
1998, 846; H. Saradi, Aspects of early Byzantine urbanism in Albania, in : Hoi Albanoi
sto mesaiona (ed. Ch. Gasparis). Athena 1998, 121; Mikulcic, Sptantike und
frhbyzantinische Befestigungen (cf. fn. 37), 480; 481 fig. 400 and 401.1 5.
183
planted in the ruins of a sixth-century basilica, spolia from which were used for
the building of some cists. Much like Sv. Erazmo, no burial has been published,
only some of the grave goods, such as two earrings with star-shaped pendant, a
torc, a semicircular pendant with open-work ornament and suspension loops,
and a fibula with bent stem. Such artifacts point to a seventh-century date, but
there are others (e. g., earrings with pear-shaped pendant) which are clearly of a
later, possibly eighth- or even ninth-century date. The cemetery may have
started in the seventh, and then continued into the eighth or early ninth
century.206 Cist burials were also found in Prilep, next to the Baba hillfort, but
nothing is known about the relation of that cemetery to the ruins of any late
antique building.207
Farther to the south, in Athens, the 1964 excavations carried out by John
Travlos and Alison Frantz unearthed 35 graves to the west and to the northwest
from the Church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite. All were cists made of tiles or
marble slabs. Only five graves may be dated to the seventh century on the basis
of the associated buckles with cross-shaped plate (grave 9) and of the Syracuse
(grave 10), Pergamon (grave 13), Boly-Zelovce (grave 23) and Bologna (graves
26) classes.208 In Corinth, several isolated graves have been found in different
places in the Roman forum and on Acrocorinth. One of them (grave II) was
found in the walls of the tower by the western gate of the Acrocorinth. This was
a multiple burial, with six skeletons. The assemblage included a lance head, two
arrow heads, a mattock, and a belt buckle of the Bologna class.209 A second
grave (grave III) was found in the walls of the tower by the western gate of the
Acrocorinth. This was a double burial, and the assemblage included a belt
buckle of the Corinth type.210 A third grave was found inside a church on the
Acrocorinth, and produced a belt buckle of the Boly-Zelovce class.211 A fourth
grave was also found in the southern Stoa. This was also a multiple burial, with
three skeletons. The assemblage included eight lance-heads and a belt buckle of
the Corinth class.212 A fifth grave found in 1925 in the Hemicycle was a cist made
206 Malenko, Ranosrednovekovnata materijalna kultura (cf. fn. 130), 291 293; pls. XVIIIXXI; Mikulcic, Sptantike und frhbyzantinische Befestigungen (cf. fn. 37), 491; 490
fig. 409; 490 fig. 410.1 4.
207 Kovacevic, Babas (cf. fn. 133), 120.
208 Travlos Frantz, Church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite (cf. fn. 45), 167; pls. 42 e and 43
elovce class, grave 23 also produced a wheela. In addition to the buckle of the Boly-Z
made jug.
209 Davidson, Avar invasion (cf. fn. 45), 230 and 232; 231 fig. 2.
210 Davidson, Avar invasion (cf. fn. 45), 232 and fig. 3.
211 Davidson, Avar invasion (cf. fn. 45), 235 and 236 fig. 6 A-B.
212 Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59), 271 272; pls. 93.1567; 113.2182; 114.2195; E. A.
Ivison, Burial and urbanism at Late Antique and Early Byzantine Corinth (c. AD 400
700), in: Towns in Transition. Urban Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle
184
Florin Curta
of marble slabs and fragments of marble columns. On the skeleton, there was a
belt buckle of the Corinth class.213 A sixth burial was found next to the basilica
on the Acrocorinth, and produced two buckles of the Boly-Zelovce class.214 The
exact location of two other burials is not known. One of them produced a belt
buckle of the Boly-Zelovce class. The other produced a belt buckle of the
Corinth class.215 A ninth burial was found in 1969 next to Temple G in the
southwestern corner of the Roman forum. This was a cist, with a single skeleton.
The assemblage included a belt buckle of the Corinth class with the inscription
N C X H on the terminal lobe.216 A tenth burial was found in an annex of the
sixth-century basilica next to the Kenchreai Gate. The assemblage included four
coins, the latest of which were two coins struck for Emperor Constans II. In
addition, there were two buckles in the grave, one of the Syracuse class and the
other with cross-shaped plate.217
By far the most interesting cemetery in Greece, however, is that from
Tigani, at the southernmost tip of the Peloponnesos. The cemetery was located
within the ruins of a three-aisled basilica, which, judging from its polygonal apse,
may have been a sixth-century foundation. The excavations carried out by N. V.
Drandakis, N. Gkioles and Ch. Konstantinidi between 1980 and 1983 revealed
56 burials.218 Nine burials can be dated to the seventh century on the basis of
buckles with cross-shaped plate or of the Corinth type. However, there are
indications of an earlier date.219 The earrings with star-shaped pendant found on
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
Ages (ed. N. Christie S. T. Loseby). Hants 1996, 117; 115 fig. 5.6.B, D, F, G, K, M, N, P,
R, S, T, U, V, W; 116 fig. 5.7.F.
Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59), 272; pl. 114.2196; Ivison, Burial and urbanism (cf.
fn. 213), 112; 113 fig. 5.5; 116 fig. 5.7.C.
Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59), 272; pl. 114.2188 2189; Ivison, Burial and
urbanism (cf. fn. 213), 116 fig. 5.7.D, E.
Davidson, Minor Objects (cf. fn. 59), 272; pl. 114.2186, 2193.
Williams Macintosh Fisher, Excavation (cf. fn. 70), 11 with pl. 2.8.
Pallas, Donnes nouvelles (cf. fn. 86), 298 and 299 fig. 5.
Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1980) (cf. fn. 70), 249 fig. 1; 249; pl. 148b ;
Drandakis Gkiolis Konstantinidi, Amasjav^ (cf. fn. 70), 245 253; N. Drandakis N.
Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi tgr L\mgr. Praktika tes en Athenais Archaiologikes
Hetaireias 138 (1983), 264 265; pl. 182 a-c ; Ch. Katsougiannopoulou, Einige berlegungen zum byzantinischen Friedhof in Tigani auf dem Peloponnes, in: Archologisches
Zellwerk. Beitrge zur Kulturgeschichte in Europa und Asien. Festschrift fr Helmut
Roth zum 60. Geburtstag (ed. E. Pohl U. Recker C. Theune). Rahden 2001, 461
462; 462 fig. 2. For a detailed analysis of the cemetery and its relation to the basilica, see
F. Curta, Burial in early medieval Greece: on ethnicity in Byzantine archaeology, in:
Theory and Method in Byzantine Archaeology (ed. W. Caraher K. Kourelis).
Cambridge/New York, forthcoming.
Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1984) (cf. fn. 85), 254 with pl. 149e ;
Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1980) (cf. fn. 70), 253 and 255; Drandakis
Gkiolis Konstantinidi, Amasjav^ (cf. fn. 70), 249 251; pl. 182 c, d.
185
the first skeleton in grave 25 may be dated to the sixth century.220 On top of that
skeleton a layer of stones was set, with a second skeleton on top, which was
associated with a belt buckle of the Corinth type. Equally interesting, but from a
different point of view, is the cemetery in Olympia, the only cremation cemetery
in the southern Balkans known so far. The cemetery was accidentally found in
1959 on the site of the new archaeological museum, and includes 32 graves 25
urn and 7 pit cremations.221 Two graves contain two urns each. Three graves may
be dated to the second half of the seventh century. The segment beads in graves
23 and 29 appear only during the last third of the seventh century in Middle
Avar assemblages.222 The Melonenkernperle of light green color, which was
found in grave 19, is also typical for the Middle Avar period.223 On the northern
coast of the island of Corfu (Kerkyra), there was another cemetery, excavated in
1930 by Heinrich Bulle.224 Several of the about 50 graves he discovered all cist
inhumations may be dated to the seventh century. For example, grave 2 a
double burial with two children produced an earring with corkscrew-shaped
pendant, four earrings with glass pendants, a knife, and a fragment of a belt
buckle of the Corinth class.225 Graves 7 and 14 were female burials. Both
produced Melonenkernperlen typical for the Middle Avar age.226 Across the
straits separating the northeastern coast of Corfu from the continent, at Butrint
(southern Albania), two isolated burials have been found, one in a simple,
rectangular pit, the other in a brick cist. The buckle with U-shaped plate and
that of the Boly-Zelovce class, respectively, point to a seventh century date for
both assemblages.227
Farther to the north, in Durrs, a cemetery was found during excavations in
the downtown area, within the Rinia Park. The graves have been dug into the
ruins of a Hellenistic building abandoned in the third or second century B.C.
220 Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi (1980) (cf. fn. 70), 250, 255, and 256; pl. 148 e
and 149c.
221 N. Gialouris, Peqiow^r Okulp_ar. Archaiologikon Deltion 17 (1961 1962), no. 2, 107; S.
Vryonis, The Slavic pottery (jars) from Olympia, Greece, in: Byzantine Studies. Essays
on the Slavic World and the Eleventh Century (ed. S. Vryonis, Jr.). New Rochelle 1992,
21 22; 36 and 39; fig. 12 14, 20, 29 31; T. Vida Th. Vlling, Das slawische
Brandgrberfeld von Olympia. Rahden 2000, 41 43 and 127; 44 fig. 13; fig. 1;
pl. 18.2 4; pl. 25.12, 13.
222 Vida Vlling, Das slawische Brandgrberfeld (cf. fn. 221), 118 119 and 124; pl. 7.4 9;
pl. 15.11 15; pl. 22.23.
223 Vida Vlling, Das slawische Brandgrberfeld (cf. fn. 221), 123 with pl. 13.
224 Bulle, Ausgrabungen (cf. fn. 70), 147 152, 217; 149 fig. 1; 151 fig. 2.
225 Bulle, Ausgrabungen (cf. fn. 70), 219; 222 fig. 26.4, 5, 24; 230 fig. 31.
226 Bulle, Ausgrabungen (cf. fn. 70), 219 220, 223, and 227; 220 fig. 25; 222 fig. 26.1, 3, 6
12, 14, 15; 227 fig. 28.
227 Nallbani, Three buckles (cf. fn. 59), 398 and 399 fig. A3.1 3. For Butrint in the seventh
century, see R. Hodges, The Rise and Fall of Byzantine Butrint. London/Tirana 2008, 63.
186
Florin Curta
The salvage excavations carried out by Fatos Tartari revealed 29 burials, 27 of

which are in tile cists.228 There were also two burial chambers, one with 10, the
other with 30 skeletons. The former produced 12 buckles of the Boly-Zelovce,
Balgota, and Corinth classes, as well a specimen with U-shaped plate. The
assemblage also included an amphora and glass beads, some of them Melonenkernperlen.229 The other burial chamber contained 30 skeletons and 73
artifacts, including a coin struck for Emperor Constans II in 654/5. There were
also belt buckles of the Corinth, Balgota, Trebizond, and Boly-Zelovce classes, a
strap end, two belt mounts, an earring with star-shaped pendant (Cilinsks class
II A), and another with pear-shaped pendant.230 Farther into the hinterland of
Durrs (ancient Dyrrachium), a cemetery was found near the hillfort at Kruje,
which is believed to have been built in Late Antiquity.231 Trial excavations in
1956 and 1958, then systematic excavations carried out by N. Goca, Sknder
Anamali, and Hna Spahiu in 1959 and 1960 revealed 28 burials, all in stone
cists. This is most definitely only a small portion of a much larger cemetery.232
There are ten female burials, and only one male burial, in addition to two double
and three multiple burials (one of which has only female skeletons). Several
weapons are known from plundered burials arrow heads, a sword, and a battle
axe.233 That the cemetery was in use during the seventh-century results from
finds of buckles of the Corinth and Boly-Zelovce classes.234 The closest analogy
228
229
230
231
Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 227 and 228 fig. 1.

Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 230; pl. II.28.
Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 230 231 and 241; pl. IV, V and VI.2.
E. Nallbani, Urban and rural mortuary practices in early medieval Illyricum. Some
general considerations, in: The Material and the Ideal. Essays in Medieval Art and
Archaeology in Honour of Jean-Michel Spieser (ed. A. Cutler A. Papaconstantiniou)
(The Medieval Mediterranean, 70). Leiden/Boston 2007, 54.
232 Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 20 and fig. 31; Nopcsa, Beitrge (cf. fn. 59), 192 and
fig. 56; Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 3 8 and 16 64; 5 pl. I; 9 pl. II; 21 fig. 8;
17 fig. 6; 21 fig. 7; 23 pl. V.3 4, 9 11; 26 pl. VI.1, 3, 5,8, 11 12; 27 fig. 9; 28 fig. 10; 31
pl. VII; 32 fig. 11; 37 pl. VIII; 40 pl. IX.1, 2, 6; 44 pl. X.2 5, 7 10; 46 pl. XI.3 10; 49
fig. 14; 50 fig. 15; 52 fig. 16; 54 fig. 18; 55 fig. 19; 56 fig. 20; 58 pl. XII.1, 3 8; 63 fig.
XIV; Korkuti Kallfa, Shqiperia (cf. fn. 123), pl. 130; Anamali Spahiu, Varrza
arbrore (cf. fn. 59), pl. I; Anamali, Die Albaner (cf. fn. 128), 457 figs. 370 and 371.
233 Arrow heads: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 19 fig. 8.1, 2, 4; Anamali Spahiu,
Varrza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), 54. Sword: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 21
fig. 7. Battle axe: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 17 fig. 6. For arrow heads in
Albanian cemeteries, see E. Agolli, The distribution of arrowheads in Koman culture
burials (6th-8th centuries A.D.), in: New Directions in Albanian Archaeology. Studies
Presented to Muzafer Korkuti (ed. L. Bejko R. Hodges). Tirana 2006, 287 293.
234 Corinth class: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 6 and fig. 1; 58 pl. XII.2. Boly elovce class: Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 6 and fig. 1. The terminal lobe of
Z
the buckle of the Corinth class found in grave 28 has a cross and the monogram K(}qie)
B(o^hei) (Lord, have mercy).
187
for the pair of so-called Slavic bow fibulae of Werners class I C found in grave
28 is the specimen found in an inhumation burial in Cornesti (Transylvania)
together with 141 glass beads, one of which has eye-shaped inlays and may be
dated to the early seventh century.235 A large number of fibulae with bent stem
appear in association with disc-shaped fibulae and with earrings with star-shaped
pendant.236 A significant number of burials produced wheel-made jugs, some of
which were painted.237 Although sporadically known from late fifth- and early
sixth-century assemblages in southern Italy, true painted wares appear especially
in the early seventh century.238 At Fondo Mitello, in Otranto, the local
production of painted pottery is dated on the basis of two bronze buckles of the
Corinth class.239 One-handled, small jugs with painted ornament also appear in
seventh-century assemblages in Crimea and Crete.240 Grave 6 in Kruje a
female burial produced a crossbow brooch (Zwiebelknopffibel) of Prttels
235 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 34 fig. 13; A. Plko, Descoperiri din secolul al
VII-lea n valea Ariesului. Studii si cercetari de istorie veche 23 (1972), no. 4, 677 678
and pl. I.5. In the Carpathian Basin, such beads are known primarily from assemblages
of the early seventh century, some of which have been dated by means of coins struck
for the emperors Justin II (565 578), Maurice (582 602), and Phocas (602 610). See A.
Psztor, A kora s kzp avar kori gyngyk s a biznci remleletes srok kronolgiai
kapcsolata. Somogyi Mzeumok Kzlemnyei 11 (1995), 69 71. For the chronology of
the Slavic bow fibulae of Werners class I C, see F. Curta, Werners class I C: erratum
corrigendum cum commentariis. Ephemeris Napocensis 21 (2011), 63 110.
236 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 14, 16, and 23; 37 pl. VIII.5, 6; 40 pl. IX.3 5; 46
pl. XI.2.
237 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 23 pl. V.3 4, 6, 9 11; 26 pl. VI.1, 3 12; 27 fig. 9;
28 fig. 10. The deposition in graves of jugs with painted ornament is a practice also
known on burial sites in Sicily. See H. Dannheim, Byzantinische Grabfunde aus Sizilien.
Christliches Brauchtum im frhen Mittelalter. Mnchen 1989, 16 and 17 fig. 6; M.
Puglisi A. Sardella, Priverno: la ceramica acroma e dipinta di V-VI secolo, in:
Ceramica in Italia VI-VII secolo. Atti del Convegno in onore di John W. Hayes, Roma,
11 13 maggio 1995 (ed. L. Sagu). Firenze 1998, 779.
238 P. Arthur, Local pottery in Naples and northern Campania in the sixth and seventh
centuries, in: Ceramica in Italia VI-VII secolo. Atti del Convegno in onore di John W.
Hayes, Roma, 11 13 maggio 1995 (ed. L. Sagu). Firenze 1998, 498; P. Arthur H.
Patterson, Ceramics and early medieval central and southern Italy: a potted history,
in: Ceramica in Italia VI-VII secolo. Atti del Convegno in onore di John W. Hayes,
Roma, 11 13 maggio 1995 (ed. L. Sagu). Firenze 1998, 427 428; W. Bowden, Epirus
Vetus. The Archaeology of a Late Antique Province. London 2003, 208.
239 See P. Arthur H. Patterson, Local pottery in southern Puglia in the sixth and seventh
centuries, in: Ceramica in Italia VI-VII secolo. Atti del Convegno in onore di John W.
Hayes, Roma, 11 13 maggio 1995 (ed. L. Sagu). Firenze 1998, 517.
240 A. I. Aibabin, Etnicheskaia istoriia rannevizantiiskogo Kryma. Simferopol 1999, 141; N.
Poulou-Papadimitriou, Bufamtim^ jeqalij^ ap| tom ekkgmij| mgsiytij| w~qo jai ap|
tgm Pekop|mmgso (7or 9or ai.), in: Hoi skoteinoi aiones tou Byzantiou (7os-9os ai.)
(ed. E. Kountoura-Galake). Athena 2001, 239 240.
188
Florin Curta
type III-IVB, dated between 340 and 410.241 The presence of a fourth-century
artifact in a seventh-century assemblage reminds one of similar practices of
depositing late antique exotica fibulae or coins in Avar-age graves, perhaps in
connection with their use as amulets.242
Farther to the west, at Klos, a grave dug into a prehistoric mound produced
two fibulae with bent stem, and a disc-shaped fibula. There were also a battle
axe and a lance head in the grave, the latter with open-work ornament on the
blade.243 Judging from those grave goods, this is the earliest case of an
inhumation placed into an ancient barrow, a phenomenon documented on
several sites in southeastern Albania between the eighth and the eleventh
centuries.244
The cemetery at Lezh was located near the hillfort. The excavations carried
out by Frano Prendi in 1978 revealed 37 burials. More burials have been found
in 1985 and 2004.245 Ten burials found in 1978 produced evidence of a seventhcentury date, such as the buckles of the Boly-Zelovce (grave 7) or Corinth
(grave 11) classes.246 The assemblage in grave 18 contained a disc-shaped fibula,
two earrings with corkscrew-shaped pendant, three flint steels, two knives, and
glass beads, including Melonenkernperlen. 247 There were two silver earrings in
grave 33 a cist and one of them was of the Buzet type.248 At Bukl, in the
district of Mirdit (Albania), the cemetery excavated in 1963 had 53 graves, all
in stone cists.249 A date within the seventh century for at least some of the graves
is secured by finds of belt buckles of the Boly-Zelovce class,250 of buckles with
241 Anamali Spahiu, Varrza (cf. fn. 59), 34 fig. 13; Ph. M. Prttel, Zur Chronologie der
Zwiebelknopffibeln. Jahrbuch des Rmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 35 (1988),
353 57 with fig. 4a, B4.
242 . Garam, Avar kori fibulk. Archaeologiai rtesito 128 (2003), 97 and 99; 98 fig. 2.
Ignoring the Avar parallels to this phenomenon, E. Nallbani, Quelques objets anciens
dans la culture de Komani. Studia Albanica 1 (2003), 115 regards the Zwiebelknopffibel in grave 6 as a sign of a strong Roman tradition.
243 Kurti, Gjurm t cultures (cf. fn. 133), 269 with pl. I.
244 Nallbani, Urban and rural mortuary practices (cf. fn. 231), 59 60.
245 Prendi Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 123 124 and 129; 123 fig. 1; L. Buchet E. Metalla E.
Nallbani, Lezha (Lissos, Alessio) (Albanie): espace des morts et organisation de
lhabitat mdival. Mlanges de lEcole Franaise de Rome. Moyen Age 120 (2008),
no. 2, 438 443.
246 Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 127; 149 pl. III; 150 pl. IV.10; 162 pl. XVI.6, 7; 163 pl.
XVII.8; 166 pl. XX.1, 5, 9, 10; 167 pl. XXI.1, 6; 168 pl. XXII.1, 2; 170 pl. XXIV.2. Similar
buckles have been found in graves 1, 10, and 30. See Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 126,
127, and 129; 147 pl. I.1; 150 pl. IV.10; 157 pl. XI.30; 167 pl. XXI.3, 4.
247 Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 128; 153 pl. VII.18; 162 pl. XVI.9; 165 pl. XIX.12 14;
166 pl. XX.11.
248 Prendi, Nj varrze (cf. fn. 59), 129; 159 pl. XIII.33; 165 pl. XIX.2.
249 Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 209 211.
250 Grave 33: Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 217; pl. II.2, VII.1, XII.4, and XIV.6.
189
strap director and opposing animal ornament,251 and of earrings with star-shaped
pendant.252 There were weapons in the cemetery, primarily battle axes and arrow
heads. The axe in grave 33 was associated with a belt buckle of the Boly-Zelovce
class, while those in graves 34 and 35 were found together with buckles with
strap director and opposing animals ornament.253 The cemetery in Bukl stands
out among others of the same date through the large number of fibulae with
bent stem 24 specimens, of which 22 are of iron, the largest such number in any
Albanian cemetery. That such fibulae may be dated to the seventh century
results from their association with earrings with star-shaped pendant in graves 4,
31, 38, and 39, and 50, and with a belt buckle with strap director and opposing
animals ornament in grave 34.254 Circular pendants with animal heads, such as
found in graves 12, 25, and 26, suggest that burial in Bukl continued after 700,
as such pendants may be dated to the late seventh or early eighth century.255 Not
far from Bukl, at Prosek, Nikoll Dodas excavations of 1985 discovered a
cemetery with 43 graves.256 Eleven burials may be dated to the seventh century,
primarily on the basis fibulae with bent stem, which are commonly associated
with earrings (with corkscrew-shaped pendant, in grave 2; with star-shaped
pendant, in graves 3 and 12; simple rings, in grave 13) and sometimes with iron
buckles (graves 13, 14, 17, 20, and 21).257 There is a single case of an association
of fibula with bent stem, earrings, and buckle (grave 13), but it is not altogether
clear whether all three artifact categories belong to the same skeleton (besides
the child skeleton, there were two other skeletons in grave 13).258 In two cases
251 Graves 34 and 35: Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 217; pl. I.1, 3; III.6; VII.2, 3; and
XV.8. For the chronology of buckles with opposing animal protomes, see Curta, Still
waiting for the barbarians? (cf. fn. 40), 427 28.
252 Graves 4, 26, 30, 31, 38, 39, 48, and 50: Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 213 and 216
218; pls. III.3; V.4; VI.2, 3; IX.4; XI.5, 7, 12 13; XIV.3, 4; XV.2 4, 7.
253 Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 217; pl. I.1, 3; II.2; III.6; VII.1 3; XII.4; XIV.6; XV/8.
254 Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 213 and 216 218; pls. I.3; III.3; V.4; VI.2; VII.3; IX.4;
XI.5, 7, 12 13; XV.7, 8. For fibulae with bent stem in Albanian cemeteries, see A. A.
Novik Iu. Iu. Shevchenko, Arberiiskie fibuly, in: Seminar Iuvelirnoe iskusstvo i
materialnaia kultura. Tezisy dokladov uchastnikov chetvertogo kollokviuma (ed. N.
A. Zakharova). Sankt Peterburg 1997, 46 48.
255 Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 214 216; pl. III.1; VI.1, 3; IX.10; XIV.1, 3, 5. Similar
pendants appear in the Caucasus region in seventh- and eighth-century female burials:
E. Kh. Albegova, Paleosociologiia alanskoi religii VII-IX vv. (po materialam amuletov
iz katakombnykh pogrebenii Severnogo Kavkaza i Srednego Dona). Rossiiskaia
Arkheologiia (2001), no. 2, 87. The association of a pendant with animal heads with a
elovce class in grave 33 of the Bukl cemetery shows that some of
buckle of the Boly-Z
the specimens found in Albania could be dated before 700.
256 Doda, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 130), 137 138; 139 fig. 2; 140 fig. 3.
257 Doda, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 130), 147, 149, and 150; 141 fig. 3; 165 pl. II.1 11; 166 pl.
III; 169 pl. VI.1 10; 170 pl. VII.1 13; 173 pl. X.1 4, 6, 7, 9 11.
258 Doda, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 130), 149 and 170 pl. VII.1 7.
190
Florin Curta
(graves 1 and 12), fibulae with bent stem and earrings were also associated with
glass beads, some of which are Melonenkernperlen. 259 Judging from those
artifact categories, those may be female burials, a conclusion reinforced by the
presence of a semicircular pendant with open-work ornament and three
suspension loops in grave 1. There were arrow heads in grave 13 and 21.260 If
those in grave 13 may have been deposited next to one of the skeletons
displaced by the child burial, there was no skeleton in grave 21, which indicates
that the arrow head was part of a symbolic assemblage in a cenotaph.
Even more spectacular is the site at Koman, in the valley of the Drin River.
The cemetery was located next to the hillfort at Kalaja Dalmaces, which
explains the alternative name sometimes given to the cemetery. Trial excavations by A. Degrand in 1898, Paul Traeger (1899 1900), and by Frano Prendi
and Hasan C
eka (1952, 1956), then systematic excavations by Sknder Anamali,
Hna Spahiu, and Damian Komata in 1961 (in three different sections of the
cemetery), and then again between 1981 and 1984 appear to have produced
more than 250 burials, only 50 of which have been published (only 33 with grave
goods).261 All graves are stone cists. Many burial assemblages contained
weapons, especially battle axes and arrow heads.262 The beginning of the
cemetery may be placed in the sixth century, but burial continued through the
eighth and the ninth century, as attested by the presence of such artifacts as cast
strap ends with open-work decoration (most typical for the Late Avar period) or
earrings with croissant-shaped pendant decorated with filigree ornament. A
259 Doda, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 130), 146 and 149; 164 pl. I; 169 pl. VI.1 10.
260 Doda, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 130), 149 and 150; 170 pl. VII.1 7; 173 pl. X.3, 6, 9, 10.
261 Traeger, Mittheilungen (cf. fn. 59), 43 45 and 48; 48 fig. 8 10; Degrand, Souvenirs (cf.
fn. 59), 256 265; Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 16; 18 fig. 27 28; Nopcsa, Beitrge (cf.
fn. 59), 195, 199 200; 194 fig. 69; 195 fig. 71; 195 fig. 72 73; 196 fig. 77; 197 fig. 80; 198
figs. 82 83, 85 86; L. Ugolini, Albania antica, vol. 1. Roma/Milano 1927, 39 41; H.
Spahiu, Grmimet e vitit 1961 n varrezn e hershme mesjetare t Kalas s Dalmacs.
Studime historike 3 (1964), 71, 73, 76 77 and 79; 72 (general photo); 74 (plans); 75
(partial view of section B); Korkuti Kallfa, Shqiperia (cf. fn. 123), pl. 130; Spahiu,
Gjetje t vjetra (cf. fn. 59), 227 262; 236 fig. 3; 238 fig. 4; 240 fig. 6; 254 fig. 12; 255
fig. 13; pls. I-IX; Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), 23 27; 24 fig. 1; pls. I; II.8 11;
III.1; IV.7 10; pl. V.1 3, 6 9, 13, 18 22; Anamali, Die Albaner (cf. fn. 128), 151; 148
fig. 108; 457 fig. 373.
262 Spahiu, Grmimet (cf. fn. 261), 78 fig., lower part; Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122),
29 30 and 37 38; 38 fig. 9; pls. I.4; II.1, 2, 7; III.4, 12, 13; IV.2, 4, 6, 10, 12; V.4, 5, 11, 12,
14, 16, 17; Spahiu, Unaza t reja (cf. fn. 133), 232 with pl. III.1 11. For a single find of a
sword, see Degrand, Souvenirs (cf. fn. 59), 264. For a lance head with open-work
ornament on the blade, see Nopcsa, Beitrge (cf. fn. 59), 198 fig. 85. Vladislav Popovic
believed both sword and lance head to be of Lombard origin: V. Popovic, Byzantins,
Slaves et autochtones dans les provinces de Prvalitane et Nouvelle Epire, in: Villes et
peuplement dans lIllyricum protobyzantin. Actes du colloque organis par lcole
Franaise de Rome, Rome 12 14 mai 1982. Rome 1984, 222.
191
seventh-century phase is clearly attested by the belt buckles of the Balgota,

Boly-Zelovce, and Corinth classes, earrings with star-shaped pendant, and discshaped fibulae.263 As in Bukl, fibulae with bent stem are associated with
pendants with animal heads or earrings with star-shaped pendant.264In grave 45,
a fibula with bent stem was found together with a battle axe and two arrow
heads, as well as a finger-ring with Greek inscription on the bezel (KEBO/
HHHA/ANH).265 On the Shurdhah island in the middle of the Vau i Dejs
reservoir built in 1973 by the Communist regime in Albania, salvage excavations
in 1965 and 1967 revealed 20 burials, 18 of which were in stone cists.266 There
were two double, and two multiple burials (one with five, the other with seven
skeletons). As in Bukl and Koman, battle axes and arrow heads were the main
weapons deposited in graves.267 Only nine burials had grave goods, and of those
only two may be dated to the seventh century with some degree of certainty. The
assemblage in grave 3 a double burial included an earring with star-shaped
pendant and an iron fibula with bent stem.268 A similar fibula appears also in the
assemblage of grave 11, which partially destroyed another, presumably earlier
cist burial.269
263 Balgota class: Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), 30 31; pls. II.7; IV.2, 11; V.12, 16.
Boly-Zelovce class: Traeger, Mittheilungen (cf. fn. 59), 45 46; 46 fig. 3 12. A still
unpublished buckle of the Corinth class specimen was found in 1927 in a presumably
female burial, and is now in the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Cambridge
(inv. 1927.467). Earrings with star-shaped pendant: Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf.
fn. 122), 29 and 36; 36 fig. 7; pls. II.2; IV.2, 4, 12; V.11. Disc-shaped fibulae: Spahiu,
Varreza arbrore (cf. fn. 122), 29 and 36; 36 fig. 7; pl. IV.4.
264 Traeger, Mittheilungen (cf. fn. 59), 45 and 46 fig. 1 3; Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf.
fn. 122), 29 31 and 36; 36 fig. 7; pls. II.7; IV.2, 4, 11; V.12, 16.
265 E. Nallbani, Rsurgence des traditions de lAntiquit tardive dans les Balkans
occidentaux: tude des spultures du nord de lAlbanie. Hortus Artium Medievalium
10 (2004), 37 and 40 fig. 14. The beginning of the inscription is most obviously the
abbreviated form for the liturgical formula Lord, have mercy. For finger-rings with
eka, Mbishkrimet bizantine t unazave te Komanit dhe
Greek inscriptions, see also H. C
datimi i tyre. Studime Historike 19 (1965), no. 4, 39 46; H. Spahiu, Bagues aux
inscriptions byzantines Koman. CARB 40 (1993), 435 446.
266 H. Spahiu D. Komata, Shurdhahu-Sarda qytet i fortifikuar mesjetar Shqiptar
(Rezultatet e grmimeve t viteve 1967 1970). Iliria 3 (1974), 306 and fig. 32; Spahiu,
La ville haute-mdivale (cf. fn. 110), 56; Komata, Varrza arbrore (cf. fn. 133), 105
106; 105 fig. 1; 106 fig. 2.
267 Battle axes: Spahiu, La ville haute-mdivale (cf. fn. 110), pl. VI.7; Komata, Varrza
arbrore (cf. fn. 133), 117 pl. III.1, 2. Arrow heads: Spahiu, La ville haute-mdivale (cf.
fn. 110), pls. V.4, 5; IX.2, 3; Komata, Varrza arbrore (cf. fn. 133), 108 and 117 pl. III.3,
5.
268 Komata, Varrza arbrore (cf. fn. 133), 108; 118 pl. IV.9; 120 pl. VI.2, 6 8.
269 Komata, Varrza arbrore (cf. fn. 133), 108; 118 pl. IV.3, 11; 120 pl. VI.11.
192
Florin Curta
The graves at Shurdhah were placed on the southern side and around the
apse of a church.270 Moreover, the foundations of three churches (St. George, St.
Michael, and St. Nicholas) were found to the east of the cemetery in Koman,
while two other churches were located to the west of that cemetery.271 Similarly,
the salvage excavations carried out by E. Zecevic in Sas, near Ulcinj in
Montenegro, revealed two burial chambers next to the church of the Holy
Virgin.272 One of them was as large as that from Durrs, and included 30
skeletons, associated with three buckles of the Corinth class and an animalshaped fibula. There were at least two libation vessels in the chamber, a glass
beaker and a wheel-made jug. The presence of beads and earrings suggests the
burial of females in the chamber. There were no weapons, but the presence of
seven flint steels may indicate male burials. The very large number of knives
(21) suggests that almost every body was buried with a knife.273 The other, much
smaller burial chamber contained only three skeletons, which were also
associated with a buckle of the Corinth type and an animal-shaped fibula.
Much as in the case of the large burial chamber, the presence of glass beads
betrays a female burial.274 On the neighboring site at Mijele, near Novi Pazar,
trial excavations carried out in 1968 revealed eight graves, some directly dug
into the rock, others in stone cists.275 The assemblages of only five of them have
been reconstructed with some degree of certainty, and every one of them had
270 Spahiu Komata, Shurdhahu-Sarda (cf. fn. 266), 316. Another group of burial
surrounded the single-nave church between the two ramparts of the fort: G. Karaiskaj,
T dhna mbi arkitekturn dhe punimet e konservimit n kalan e Shurdhahut (Sarda).
Monumentet 10 (1975), 138 139.
271 Nallbani, Rsurgence (cf. fn. 265), 41 with n. 4. See also S. Anamali, Le problme de la
civilisation haut-mdivale albanaise la lumire des nouvelles recherches archologiques. Studia Albanica 1 (1966), 201; and Le problme de la civilisation hautemdivale albanaise la lumire des nouvelles dcouvertes archologiques, in: Actes du
premier Congrs international des tudes balkaniques et sud-est europennes (ed. D. P.
Dimitrov Khr. M. Danov V. Velkov M. Concheva E. Sarafov). Sofia 1969, 549.
For problems of the relative chronology of churches and burials, see Nallbani, Urban
and rural mortuary practices (cf. fn. 231), 58 59.
272 Jankovic, Srpsko Pomorje (cf. fn. 45), 27 and 29 32; 26 fig. 11; 30 fig. 17 18; 31 fig. 19.
273 Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 315 and 314 fig. 5.1, 2, 4, 5; Jankovic,
Srpsko Pomorje (cf. fn. 45), 27; 27 fig. 12; 28 fig. 13; 29 fig. 14.
274 Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 315 and 314 fig. 5.3, 6; 307 fig. 3.8;
Jankovic, Srpsko Pomorje (cf. fn. 45), 27; 30 fig. 15.
275 O. Velimirovic-Zigic, Mijele, prs de Vir pazar, ncropole du Haut Moyen Age, in:
Epoque prhistorique et protohistorique en Yougoslavie Recherches et rsultats (ed.
G. Novak A. Benac M. Garasanin N. Tasic). Beograd 1971, 152; Milinkovic, Einige
Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 311.
193
fibulae four specimens with bent stem, and one disc-fibula.276 The latter is a
member of Garams group with sunken middle panel and figurative ornament,
which in Hungary appears only in Early Avar assemblages dated no later than
ca. 630.277 Two burials in Mijele produced arrow heads found in association with
fibulae with bent stem.
On the coast, a grave in the atrium of the church on the acropolis at Budva
contained a female skeleton associated with glass beads, seven of which were
Melonenkernperlen. There was a buckle of the Balgota class in the assemblage,
as well as two simple bronze earrings.278 Farther to the north, at the entrance
into the Bay of Kotor, Mihailo Milinkovics excavations in the late 1990s
revealed 18 burials on the southern side of the pre-Romanesque, single-naved
church of the Holy Trinity in Male Rose. Only two of those graves have been
published.279 One of them was a double burial with two skeletons on top of each
other. A belt buckle with insect-shaped plate points to a date within the seventh
century.280 This is further confirmed by the isolated find of a fragmentary buckle
of the Corinth class.281 At Ston, on the Peljesac Peninsula in southern Croatia, an
inhumation grave accidentally found at some point before 1960 produced a
semicircular pendant with open-work decoration and suspension loops and a
belt buckle of the Pergamon class.282 A similar pendant was found in a cist made
of stones and recycled Roman tiles in Drvenik near Markarska.283 A third such
pendant is known from a female grave in Kasic. The grave was part of a
cemetery excavated by Mate Suic between 1955 and 1957 and by Janko
Belosevic in 1963. The excavations revealed 55 graves, only five of which were
stone cists. The vast majority of the grave goods may be dated to the second half
of the eighth and the ninth century: spurs, earrings with pear-shaped pendant,
and strap ends for the attachment of the spurs. However, the semicircular
pendant with suspension loops from grave 54 suggests a date within the seventh
century. The grave was found on the northern periphery of the cemetery and
276 Fibulae with bent stem: Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 311 and 313
fig. 4.4 6, 8. Disc-fibula: Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 311 and 313
fig. 4.1.
277 Garam, Die awarenzeitlichen Scheibenfibeln (cf. fn. 140), 118 and 122.
278 Jankovic, Srpsko Pomorje (cf. fn. 45), 36 and fig. 28; 90 fig. 75.
279 Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 308 and 310. See also I. Pusic, Rose in the
early Middle Ages. Balcanoslavica 6 (1977), 117 130; M. Milinkovic, Prilog poznavanju
proshlosti Rosa, Muzejske sveske. Zavichajnog muzeja Kherceg-Novi 2 (1997), 1 8;
and Rose-Malo Rose, Boka Kotorska-antichno/kasnoantichno naselje i srednjovekovna
crkva. Glasnik Srpskog arheoloskog drustva 13 (1997), 167 181.
280 Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 309 and 306 fig. 2.7.
281 Milinkovic, Einige Bemerkungen (cf. fn. 70), 306 fig. 2.8.
282 J. Kovacevic, Arheologija i istorija varvarske kolonizacije juznoslovenskih oblasti (od IV
do pocetka VII veka). Novi Sad 1960, 65 and fig. 43.
283 Milosevic, Komanski elementi (1989) (cf. fn. 130), 349 350 and pl. I.2 3.
194
Florin Curta
had a south-west-south to north-east-north orientation, which is distinctly

different from that of most other graves in the cemetery with a north-west-north
to south-east-south orientation.284
In Istria, the small cemetery to the west from the Church of St. Eliseus in
Fazana, opposite the island of Brioni, consists of just seven burials, six of which
are in stone cists.285 The only grave that may be dated to the seventh century is
no. 4, a stone-lined inhumation with three disturbed skeletons (robbed burial?).
Besides a fragment of a glass jug, the assemblage produced a belt buckle of the
Balgota class.286 Further to the north at Brkac, the cemetery excavated in 1961
and 1962 by Branko Marusic, Galliano Zanko, and Ida Zanko consists of 24
burials. There were weapons in the cemetery a sword and a scramasax.287 That
the cemetery was in use during the seventh century results from the presence of
a belt buckle of the Corinth class in grave 8, of a belt buckle with cross-shaped
plate in grave 19, and of a pair of earrings of the Buzet class in grave 18.288
Moreover, a die from a destroyed burial is similar to those in the Biskupije
hoard.289 Branko Marusics 1964 trial excavations on the neighboring site at
Ferenci revealed 14 graves within and next to the ruins of a late antique
building. No burial has been properly published, but a seventh-century date for
at least some of those burial assemblages is suggested by five earrings of the
Buzet class.290 The largest cemetery in Istria has been found in the northern part
of the peninsula, at Mejica. The site is located to the west from the Buzet
hillfort. The cemetery has been systematically excavated by Alberto Puschi
between 1895 and 1898 and by Branko Marusic between 1966 and 1970. Those
excavations revealed 252 graves, 190 of which have been published (only 83 with
284 J. Belosevic, Materijalna kultura Hrvata od VII do IX stoljeca. Zagreb 1980, pl.
XXXV.7 12; Belosevic, La ncropole (cf. fn. 130), T 54.
285 Marusic, Kratak doprinos (cf. fn. 45), 331 and 336 with figs. 1 and 3.
286 Marusic, Kratak doprinos (cf. fn. 45), 337; pls. III.2, VII.4. The deposition of glass jugs in
seventh-century graves is also attested in Aphiona (Bulle, Ausgrabungen [cf. fn. 70], 221
and 223), Tigani (Drandakis Gkiolis, Amasjav^ sto Tgc\mi [1980] [cf. fn. 70], 252 and
255; pl. 148a, c ; ; Drandakis Gkiolis Konstantinidi, Amasjav^ [cf. fn. 70], 248 and
elega (Marusic, Zgodnjesredn249), Lezh (Prendi, Nj varrez [cf. fn. 59] 127), and C
jevesko grobisce (cf. fn. 70), pl. VIII.10).
287 Marusic, Nekropole (cf. fn. 45), 337 and 342 pl. III.4; Marusic, La necropoli (cf. fn. 70),
35 pl. VI.6.
288 Marusic, La necropoli (cf. fn. 70), 21 22, 24, and 25; 21 fig. 9; 25 figs. 13 and 14; 31 pl.
II.1, 13 18; 32 pl. III.1 2; 35 pl. VI.1 3; 36 pl. VII.1, 4.
289 Marusic, Ranosrednjovjekovna nekropola (cf. fn. 45), pl. VI.3.
290 B. Marusic, Polacine pri Ferencih, novo zgodnjesredjevesko najdisce v Istri. Arheoloski
vestnik 7 (1956), 305 306 and 310; 312 fig. 2; pls I.1 2, 6 8; II.6; B. Marusic,
Miscellanea archaeologica parentina mediae aetatis (Osservazione critiche su alcune
localit archeologiche altomedioevali del Parentino). Atti. Centro di ricerche storiche
Rovigno 16 (1985 1986), 73 and 75 fig. 2; 74 pl. I.3, 6 7.
195
at least two grave goods).291 Although finds of earrings of the Buzet type and
belt buckles of the Syracuse, Boly-Zelovce, Balgota, and Corinth classes point to
a seventh century date, burial in the cemetery may have begun in the late sixth
century, as suggested by the belt buckle with strap director of the Ppa class
from grave 44 and by finds of equal-armed fibulae.292 Michela Torcellan believed
that the cemetery had three phases, dated to the late sixth and early seventh
century, the first, and the second half of the seventh century, respectively.293 She
also believed that the west-east orientation and the placement of a stone
underneath the skull were features of the latest phase, while the earliest graves
were either cist graves or stone-lined inhumations with a north-south
orientation.294 However, it is not possible to distinguish between burial
assemblages of the first and second half of the seventh century. Moreover, the
cemetery most certainly has a much later phase. The Carolingian buckles in
grave 190 suggest that the cemetery was still in use after ca. 800.295 A later date
may also be advanced for the cemetery excavated in 1962 and 1963 at Veli Mlun
by Branko Marusic, who found 91 graves.296 Information exists only for twelve
burials, four of which produced artifacts clearly dated to the seventh century:
buckles of the Corinth class in graves 16, 32, and 51, and a fibula with bent stem
in grave 3.297 However, the belt buckle with strap director (Gatr class) found in
291 B. Marusic, Prilog poznavanju ranosrednjovekovne nekropole na Mejici kod Buzeta.
Jadranski zbornik 11 (1979 1981), 175 181 and 194; B. Marusic, Breve contributo alla
conoscenza della necropoli alto medioevale di Mejica presso Pinguente. Atti. Centro di
ricerche storiche Rovigno 10 (1979 1980), 114 120 and 123; 117 fig. 2; Torcellan, Le
tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 30 42; 26 fig. 3.
292 Buzet class: Torcellan, Le tre necropolis (cf. fn. 45), 66, 68 69, and 77 with pls. 15.10,
19.12 13, and 34.8. Syracuse class: Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 64. Boly elovce: Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 64 with pl. 14.4. Balgota class:
Z
Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 69 with pl. 21.1. Corinth class: Torcellan, Le tre
necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 67 with pl. 17.4. Ppa class: Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45),
67 with pl. 16.8. Equal-armed fibulae: Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 72 and 75,
with pls. 25.9 and 30.10; Marusic, Istra (cf. fn. 110), 43 and 44 fig. 26. The equal-armed
fibula from grave 112 in Mejica is a specimen of Thrles class V A, with good analogies
in several burial assemblages from the Nocera Umbra cemetery, which have been dated
to the last quarter of the sixth century or just after 600. The fibula from grave 135 is a
member of Thrles class III A, dated to the sixth and early seventh century. The fibula
from grave 232 belongs to Thrles class I Aa dated to the early seventh century. See S.
Thrle, Gleicharmige Bgelfibeln des frhen Mittelalters (Universittsforschungen zur
prhistorischen Archologie, 81). Bonn 2001, 21, 37 38, 94, 98, 104, and 114.
293 Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 38 fig. 12.
294 Torcellan, Le tre necropoli (cf. fn. 45), 42.
295 Marusic, Breve contributo (cf. fn. 291), 121 and 123; 120 figs. 5 6.
296 Marusic, Nekropole (cf. fn. 45), 334 and 343 pl. II; Marusic, Istra (cf. fn. 110), 45 with
fig. 27.
297 Marusic, Nekropole (cf. fn. 45), 338 and 347 pl. VI.9; Vinski, Kasnoanticki starosjedioci
(cf. fn. 45), pl. XVIII.1, 2.
196
Florin Curta
grave 82 suggests that burial in Veli Mlun began in the early 600s, while a
pierced silver coin struck for Emperor Constantine V (741 775) and found in
grave 65 shows that it continued well into the eighth century.298
Conclusion
The evidence of settlements and burials is incontrovertible: during the seventh
century, the Balkans, especially the central and northern regions seem to have
experienced something of a demographic collapse, with large tracts of land left
without any inhabitants. The late antique cities and forts were abandoned and
the population moved elsewhere, either as refugees into the coastal areas still
under Roman control or as prisoners of war within the Avar qaganate.299 No
newcomers appear to have taken their places. In the years following the failed
siege of Constantinople, a civil war broke inside the Avar qaganate, which must
have distracted the attention of the Avar elites from affairs in the Balkans.300
Nor is there any evidence of a massive migration from the lands north of the
river Danube. There was no Slavic tide covering the Balkans after ca. 620. The
end of occupation on most sites north of the Danube has been artificially set in
the early seventh century, primarily because of the unwarranted assumption that
during the early years of Heraclius reign, the Slavs crossed the Danube en
masse to settle on formerly Roman territory in the Balkans.301 Leaving aside the
fact that not all settlements were abandoned at the same time, and that in most
298 Marusic, Nekropole (cf. fn. 45), 338 and 347 pl. VI.8; Marusic, Istra (cf. fn. 110), 48 and
fig. 31. Moreover, in addition to a buckle of the Corinth class the burial assemblage in
grave 51 is said to have included a a cast, propeller-shaped belt mount, which also points
to a later date in the eighth century (Marusic, Istra [cf. fn. 110] 46 47).
299 For Novae and the cities and forts in the Lower Danube region, see M. Salamon, Novae
in the age of Slav invasions, in: Novae. Legionary Fortress and Late Antique Town (ed.
P. Dyczek). Warsaw 2008, 193 195. For Serdica, see A. Dancheva-Vasileva, Serdika i
slavianskite nashestviia vav Vizantiiskata imperiia VI-VII v., in: Eurika. In honorem
Ludmilae Donchevae-Petkovae (ed. V. Grigorov M. Daskalov E. KomatorovaBalinova). Sofia 2009, 87 88. A comprehensive study of the seventh-century abandonment of the many forts in the Balkans is much needed, for many are known to have been
subsequently occupied during the Middle Ages.
300 For the Avar civil war of the 630s, see W. Pohl, Ergebnisse und Probleme der
Awarenforschung. Mitteilungen des Instituts fr sterreichische Geschichtsforschung
96 (1988), 268.
301 A. Madgearu, Continuitate si discontinuitate culturala la Dunarea de Jos n secolele
VII-VIII. Bucuresti 1997, 117 120. For a critique of such an interpretation of the
archaeological record, see I. Stanciu, Die frhen Slawen in der rumnischen
archologischen Forschung. Kurze kritische Untersuchung, in: Archeologia o poczatkach Sowian. Materiay z konferencji, Krakw, 19 21 listopada 2001 (ed. P.
Kaczanowski M. Parczewski). Krakw 2005, 569.
197
cases the precise moment of abandonment remains unknown, there is evidence

that other settlements were in fact established in the seventh century within a
short distance from the Danube.302 On the other hand, the earliest rural
settlements on the right bank of the Danube Garvan, Popina, and Mihajlovac
represent an archaeological novelty. Those are in fact the first open, nonfortified settlements in the Balkans in more than 150 years.303 Moreover, the
economic profile of the small communities living in those villages is not different
from the model of itinerant agriculture advanced for the lands north of the
river Danube in the sixth century.304 Although they most likely relied on the
cultivation of crops, they also raised animals and practiced fishing by means of
cast nets. Those were self-sufficient, small communities living in what in the
early seventh century must have been the borderlands of the Avar qaganate and
its sphere of influence. The rural settlements recently discovered in Slovenia
Krog, Murska Sobota, and Nova Tabla are the mirror image of this
phenomenon on the southwestern border of the Avar qaganate. That such
settlements have so far not been found in the rich agricultural lands between the
Drava and the Sava rivers, or across the Stara Planina mountains, in Thrace
strongly suggests that the expansion of rural communities into the borderlands
of the qaganate may have been under the control of the Avar elites.
Despite the Avar defeat under the walls of Constantinople, relations
between the Avars and Byzantium were not interrupted. Byzantine gold coins
continued to reach the Carpathian Basin after 626, if only in much smaller
numbers than before.305 Conversely, the influence of Avar-age fashions (Melonenkernperlen, belt mounts decorated with interlaced ornament, torcs) reached
deep into the Balkans, as far south as the coastal territories in Greece and
302 S. Dolinescu-Ferche, Noi descoperiri privind populatia autohtona n veacurile VI-VII
e.n., in: Documente recent descoperite si informatii arheologice. Bucuresti 1983, 36 37;
Dolinescu-Ferche, Habitats (cf. fn. 164), 153 172.
303 For the absence of open, rural settlements from the late fifth and sixth-century Balkans,
see F. Curta, Peasants as makeshift soldiers for the occasion: sixth-century settlement
patterns in the Balkans, in: Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity (ed.
Th. S. Burns J. W. Eadie). East Lansing 2001, 199 217; V. Dinchev, Seloto v dneshnata
balgarska teritoriia prez rannovizantiiskata epokha, in: Sbornik v chest na prof.
Margarita Tacheva (ed. K. Boshnakov D. Boteva-Boianova). Sofia 2002, 156 163.
304 Curta, Making of the Slavs (cf. fn. 157), 276 with n. 57. Much like in the lands north of
the river Danube, no parts of plows have been found on any seventh-century site in the
northern Balkans, even though the consumption (and perhaps cultivation) of cereals is
betrayed by finds of querns and occasional inclusion of cereal seeds in the fabric of the
local handmade pottery.
305 P. Somogyi, New remarks on the flow of Byzantine coins in Avaria and Walachia during
the second half of the seventh century, in: The Other Europe in the Middle Ages. Avars,
Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans (ed. F. Curta) (East Central and Eastern Europe in the
Middle Ages 450 1450, 2). Leiden/Boston 2008, 83 149.
198
Florin Curta
Albania, which have most likely remained under Byzantine control. However,
no cemeteries similar to those in the Carpathian Basin have been found south of
the Sava river. There are indeed no parallels in the Balkans either for the
adavica or for the Middle Avar cemetery at Vojka. The
isolated burial at C
biritual cemetery at Balchik and the neighboring cremation cemetery at
Razdelna represent an entirely different archaeological phenomenon, and the
same is most certainly true for the many burial assemblages in Greece, Albania,
Montenegro, and Croatia, which could be dated to the seventh century. Equally
distinctive is the cremation cemetery in Olympia. Analogies for the grave goods
found there consistently point to the Carpathian Basin, a region in which
occasional cremations co-existed with inhumations in seventh-century cemeteries.306 A few iron torcs have been found on cemetery sites in Albania.307
However, most analogies for the iron torcs from Olympia are from Middle and
Late Avar-age sites in Hungary and Slovakia. The specific decoration of many of
the urns found in Olympia has good analogies on other sites in the western
Balkans, such as Kasic in Croatia and Musici in Bosnia.308 But in the southern
Balkans, the Olympia cemetery is unique, for no other cremation burials have so
far been found in Greece, Albania, Macedonia, or southern Bulgaria.
The evidence of cemeteries indicate signficant clusters of population in
Greece, northern and central Albania, and in Istria. Grave goods found in burial
assemblages from those regions show numerous paralells with contemporary
sites in the Mediterranean region. The presence of inscriptions in the Church
of the Holy Spirit at Skrip or on finger-rings found in Koman suggests that the
population that buried its dead in those cemeteries was in some way associated
with or, at least, maintained close ties to the Empire. Equally significant is the
relative homogeneity of the burial rites. From Tigani to Mejica, seventh-century
cemeteries in the western Balkans may be easily distinguished from others by
means of a few specific traits: stone or brick cists; furnished burial; the use of
cenotaphs and of multiple burials; the west-east grave orientation; and stark
306 Such as in cemeteries of the so-called Pkaszepetk-Zalakomr group, for which see B.
M. Szo ke, Das archologische Bild der Slawen in Sdwestungarn, in: Slovenija in
sosednje dezele med antiko in karolinsko dobo. Zacetki slovenske etnogeneze (ed. P.
Kos). Ljubljana 2000, 479 482.
307 Bukl: Anamali, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 59), 215 216. Koman: Spahiu, Varreza arbrore (cf.
fn. 122), 29 and 31. As there are no illustrations (pictures or drawings) of any of the
Albanian iron torcs, it is not possible to establish whether they truly are like those found
in Olympia.
308 J. Belosevic, Ranosrednjovjekovna nekropola u selu Kasic kraj Zadra. Diadora 4 (1968),
abljak. ber den ersten
221 246; I. Cremosnik, Die Untersuchungen in Musici und Z
Fund der ltesten slawischen Siedlung in Bosnien. Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen des
bosnisch-herzegowinischen Landesmuseums 5 (1975), 91 176. Assemblages on both
sites on which such pottery decoration has been found are all of a later, possibly eighthcentury date.
199
gender differentiation.309 Next to nothing is known about the associated

settlements, which makes it very difficult to interpret the social differentiation
visible in burial assemblages. Were weapons deposited in graves the material
culture correlate of a military posturing associated with fortified settlements,
such as Shurdhah?310 Given that in several cases, burial on those cemetery sites
began before 600, were the corresponding settlements the heirs of sixthcentury forts? If so, why were they not evacuated just as the other forts in the
Balkans? Judging from the little evidence available from Greece (Isthmia), one
would expect the ruins of abandoned, late-antique buildings to have been refashioned for the new occupants. Unlike rural settlements in the northern
Balkans, nothing is known about the economic profile of communities in the
western Balkans. Very few agricultural tools were deposited in graves and no
animal bones have been found in cemeteries excavated in Greece, Albania,
Montenegro, and Croatia.311 Equally unclear is whether cities such as
Dyrrachium (Durrs) or Pola (Pula), which continued to be occupied throughout the seventh century, operated as central places for local settlement networks.
That many isolated burials and cemeteries were associated either with ruins of
old basilicas or with operational churches suggests that those were Christian
communities, but without the corresponding settlements it is impossible to
assess the role of Christianity in social practices. There are no markers in the
archaeological record of any group identity, which could be associated with
those to whom Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus would later refer as
Romanoi, as opposed to Romaioi (the Byzantines).312 Despite the existence of
regional fashions and dress accessories, such as fibulae with bent stem, none of
309 E. Nallbani, Transformations et continuit dans louest des Balkans: le cas de la
civilisation de Komani (VIe-IXe sicles), in: LIllyrie mridionale et lEpire dans
lAntiquit. IV. Actes du IVe colloque international de Grenoble, 10 12 octobre 2002
(ed. P. Cabanes J.-L. Lamboley). Paris 2004, 487; Nallbani, Rsurgence (cf. fn. 265),
33 35.
310 Spahiu Komata, Shurdhahu-Sarda (cf. fn. 266); Spahiu, La ville haute-mdivale (cf.
fn. 110); G. Karaiskaj, Die albanische Stadt Sarda. Entstehung der mittelalterlichen
Stadt in Albanien, in: Actes du XI-e Congrs international darchologie chrtienne.
Lyon, Vienne, Grenoble, Genve et Aoste (21 28 septembre 1986) (ed. N. Duval F.
Baritel Ph. Pergola). Rome 1989, 2637 2656.
311 A couple of billknives are known from Koman: Ippen, Denkmler (cf. fn. 122), 17
fig. 26.11; Spahiu, Gjetje t vjetra (cf. fn. 59), pl. II.4. A mattock was found in a multiple
burial on Acrocorinth: Davidson, Avar invasion (cf. fn. 59), 230 and 232; 231 fig. 2 J. For
billknives and mattocks from the fortification at Shurdhah, which were tentatively dated
between the seventh and the eighth century, see Spahiu, La ville haute-mdivale (cf.
fn. 110), pl. VIII.1 3.
312 Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio 29 32 (122, 124, 146, 148, and
152 Moravcsik). For a Byzantine Roman (Latin) identity in the early Middle Ages, see F.
Borri, Gli Istriani e i loro parenti. Fraggoi, Romani e Slavi nella periferia di Bisanzio.
JB 60 (2010), 1 25.
200
Florin Curta
them can specifically be linked to a presumably Romanic (i. e., Romancespeaking) population.313 According to Theophanes, when the Bulgars crossed
the Danube in 681, they subdued the Slavic tribes in the area of Varna, as it is
called, near Odyssos and the inland territory that is there. They then resettled
two of those tribes the Severeis along the frontier with the Empire, and the
so-called Seven Tribes on the frontier with the Avars.314 Whether or not they
can be in any way associated with those tribes, the rural settlements at Popina
and Garvan, as well as the cemeteries in Balchik and Razdelna are the only
archaeological evidence that, outside coastal cities such as Mesembria (Nesebar), the Bulgarian lands were inhabited at all before the Bulgar migration.
That migration is equally invisible from an archaeological point of view. It is
not known where the first generation of Bulgars in Bulgaria lived and where
they buried their dead, if in some other place than Balchik and Razdelna.315 So
far, the only evidence pertaining to that is a warrior grave accidentally found in
Divdiadovo near Shumen.316 The male skeleton partially uncovered during the
recent salvage excavations was associated with a belt set, including a strap end
with scrollwork and circular lobe ornament. This a specimen of the so-called
Vrap-Velino group of belt fittings, which is dated to the beginning of the Late
Avar period, i. e., shortly after 700.317 This is, in other words, the earliest
313 As attempted by Popovic, Byzantins, Slaves (cf. fn. 262), 225 31. For supposedly
Romanic fibulae, see also V. Bierbrauer, Kreuzfibeln in der mittelalpinen romanischen Frauentracht des 5.7. Jahrhunderts: Trentino and Sdtirol, in: Miscellanea di
studi in onore di Giulia Mastrelli Anzilotti. Firenze 1992, 1 26; V. Bierbrauer, Fibeln als
Zeugnisse persnlichen Christentums sdlich und nrdlich der Alpen im 5. bis
9. Jahrhundert. Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 34 (2002), 209 224.
314 Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, 359 Boor; English translation from C. Mango
R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor. Byzantine and Near Eastern History
AD 284 813. Oxford 1997, 499. See also V. Beshevliev, Zu Theophanis Chronographia
359, 5 17. BF 2 (1967), 50 58; V. Beshevliev, Za slavianskite plemena v Severoiztochna
Balgariia ot VI do IX vek. Preslav. Sbornik 1 (1968), 17 28.
315 U. Fiedler, Bulgars in the Lower Danube region. A survey of the archaeological
evidence and of the state of current research. in: The Other Europe in the Middle Ages.
Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans (ed. F. Curta) (East Central and Eastern Europe
in the Middle Ages 450 1450, 2). Leiden/Boston 2008, 153.
316 G. Atanasov S. Venelinova S. Stoichev, An early medieval graveyard in the
Divdyadovo quarter of Shumen (NE Bulgaria). Archaeologia Bulgarica 12 (2008), no. 2,
59 80.
317 Atanasov Venelinova Stoichev, An early medieval graveyard (cf. fn. 316), 65 66.
Pace Fiedler, Bulgars (cf. fn. 315), 219, there was no coin struck for Emperor Anastasius
II in the Divdiadovo warrior grave. For the Vrap-Velino group, see U. Fiedler, Die
sptawarenzeitlichen Grtelbestandteile von Typ Vrap-Erseke aus Velino (Bez. Varna,
Bulgarien). Germania 74 (1996), 248 264; F. Daim, Byzantinische Grtelgarnituren
des 8. Jahrhunderts, in: Die Awaren am Rand der byzantinischen Welt. Studien zu
Diplomatie, Handel und Technologietransfer im Frhmittelalter (ed. F. Daim)
(Monographien zur Frhgeschichte und Mittelalterarchologie,7). Innsbruck 2000,
201
archaeological record of Bulgaria which could be dated immediately after the

migration of the Bulgars. It may just as well be the earliest medieval assemblage
in the region.
94 106; M. Inkova, Kolanite na grupata Vrap v Balgariia (Funkcionalna kharakteristika na obkovite za kolani i opit za socializaciiata). Izvestiia na Nacionalniia
Istoricheski Muzei 14 (2004), 150 182; S. Stanilov, Khudozhestveniiat metal na
balgarskoto khanstvo na Dunav (7 9 vek). Opit za empirichno izsledvane. Sofia 2006,
90 145, 157, and 312 15; Fiedler, Bulgars (cf. fn. 315), 219 220.
202
Florin Curta
Illustrations
Figure 1. The distribution in the Balkans of copper (circle), silver (square), and gold
(triangle) coins struck for Emperor Heraclius between 620 and 641: 1 Athens; 2 3
Backa Palanka; 4 Burgas; 5 Caricin Grad; 6 Corinth; 7 Nis ; 8 Prigrevica; 9 14
Silistra. The smallest symbols mark individual coins, larger ones 2 and more coins,
respectively.
203
(triangle) coins struck for Emperor Constans II: 1 Akhtopol; 2 Athens; 3 Constanta; 4 Corinth; 5 Dokos; 6 Dubrovnik; 7 Durrs; 8 Hagia Triada; 9 Isaccea;
10 Isthmia; 11 Kenchreai; 12 Madara; 13 Nauplion; 14 Nesebar; 15 Novi
Vinodolski; 16 Oblacina; 17 Perani; 18 Shkodr; 19 Shumen; 20 Silistra; 21
Tulcea; 25 Valea Teilor. The smallest symbols mark individual coins, larger ones over
2, and then over 100, respectively.
204
Florin Curta
(triangle) coins struck for Emperor Constantine IV: 1 Agighiol; 2 Athens; 3 Brioni;
4 Constanta; 5- Corinth; 6 Dokos; 7 Durrs; 8 Istria; 9 Mangalia; 10 Nesebar;
11 Niculitel; 12 Novi Vinodolski; 13 Prozor; 14 Silistra; 15 Stupar; 18 Valea
Teilor; 19 Veliko Tarnovo. The smallest symbols mark individual coins, larger ones
over 2, and then over 10, respectively.
205
Figure 4. The distribution in the Balkans of copper (circle) and gold (triangle) coins
struck for Emperor Justinian II between 685 and 695: 1 Athens; 2 Kalugerovo; 3
Lucinj; 4 Topalu; 5 Vodinjan.
206
Florin Curta
Figure 5. The distribution in the Balkans of seventh-century hoards of copper (square),

gold (star), and silver (triangle) Byzantine coins: 1 Catala; 2 Valandovo I; 3
Thasos; 4 Akalan; 5 Solomos; 6 Potkom; 7 Gorna Oriakhovica; 8 Solin; 9
Athens I; 10 Valandovo II; 11 Gradec; 12 Athens II; 13 Nerezisce; 14 Sofia; 15
Varna; 16 Nesebar; B Biskupija; V Velestinon.
207
Figure 6. Velestinon, an animal-shaped die for mounts. Courtesy of the Princeton Museum. Photo by author (scale 2:1).
208
Florin Curta
Figure 7. Velestinon, a lead model for mounts. Courtesy of the Princeton Museum.
Photo by author (scale 2:1).
209
Figure 8. Velestinon, a lead model for mounts. Courtesy of the Princeton Museum.
Photo by author (scale 2:1).
210
Florin Curta
Figure 9. Velestinon, a die for strap ends. Courtesy of the Princeton Museum. Photo by
author (scale 2:1).
211
Figure 10. The distribution in the Balkans of belt buckles of the Balgota (circle), Bologna (square), Boly-Zelovce (triangle), Corinth (reversed triangle), Pergamon (P), and
Syracuse (star) classes, as well as of buckles with cross-shaped (+ sign) and U-shaped
(upright rectangle with rounded ends) plates. The smallest symbols mark individual
finds, larger ones between two and eight finds.
212
Florin Curta
Figure 11. The distribution in the Balkans of earrings of the Buzet class (circle), of
earrings with grape- (triangle) and star-shaped pendant (star), and of semicircular
pendants with open-work ornament and three suspension rings (square). The smallest
symbols mark individual finds, larger ones between two and seven specimens.
213
Figure 12. The distribution in the Balkans of seventh-century urban and rural settlements.
214
Florin Curta
Figure 13. The distribution in the Balkans of seventh-century isolated burials (circle)
and cemeteries (square).

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Millennium 10/2013

Jahrbuch zu Kultur und Geschichte

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Plain in the analysis would have complicated things unnecessarily, as the

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

chronology of over 60,000 Avar-age burial assemblages. Peter Stadlers studies,

Cities and forts

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Coins and hoards

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Magna), Krakw, 23 26 IV 2007 (ed. M. Wooszyn). Krakw 2009, 51; P. Somogyi,

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Crimean cemetery in Balgota.46 In Italy, such buckles appear especially on the

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

respectively, the class includes buckles, which may be regarded as imitations of

hershme mesjtare e Krujs. Buletin i Universitetit shtetror t Tirans 17 (1963),

Zgodnjesrednjevesko grobisce v Celegi pri Novem gradu v Istri. Arheoloski vestnik 9

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

in the collection of the Roman-German Museum in Mainz, but belt buckles of

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

basis of metallographic analyses of both buckles and miscasts, Aleksandr

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

margin, which is dated to the Middle Avar period.147 There is no analogy in

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

sunken-floored building 12 was partially destroyed by that of house 10, which

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

known from sixth- to seventh-century settlements north of the Danube.164 Those

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Dasenka Cipots 2003 rescue excavations in Popava opened up 3.7 acres of

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

in K problematike osdlenia stredodunajskej oblasti vo vcasnom stredoveku (ed. Z.

which produced a belt buckle of the Corinth class.201 Another cremation

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The salvage excavations carried out by Fatos Tartari revealed 29 burials, 27 of

Tartari, Nj varrez (cf. fn. 30), 227 and 228 fig. 1.

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

seventh-century phase is clearly attested by the belt buckles of the Balgota,

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

had a south-west-south to north-east-north orientation, which is distinctly

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

cases the precise moment of abandonment remains unknown, there is evidence

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

gender differentiation.309 Next to nothing is known about the associated

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

archaeological record of Bulgaria which could be dated immediately after the

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Figure 5. The distribution in the Balkans of seventh-century hoards of copper (square),

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

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