Гроб богате грађанке из касноантичког Наиса (Naissus)

Abstract

Током 2012. године на простору текстилне индустрије „Бенетон Србија”, у Јагодин мали, Ниш (Naissus), због потребе изградње фабричког постројења, извршена су систематско-заштитна археолошка ископавања. Радовима је обухваћен југоисточни део познате касноантичке некрополе Наиса, дуж via publica за Рацијарију. Откривено је укупно 75 гробних целина, међу којима највећи број представљају зидане гробне конструкције (37), као и сахране у обичним гробним јамама (29), док је најмањи број гробова-циста од опека и тегула (9). На основу покретних налаза, овај део некрополе је опредељен у IV и прву половину V века. Међу истраженим целинама, према богатству инвентара, издваја се гроб слободно укопане покојнице (гроб Г-66), постављен непосредно испред дромоса једне полуобличасто засведене гробнице. У раду ћемо се бавити антрополошком анализом остеолошког материјала, стилско-типолошком анализом по-кретних налаза из гроба, израђиваних и коришћених у једном релативно ограниченом просперитетном периоду Наиса, током IV века, у циљу сагледавања начина живота и погребног обичаја на овом примеру.

During archeological investigations at the site of the late Roman necropolis in Jagodin Mala, Nis (Naissus), which have lasted, with long pauses, for more than eight decades, a part of the eastern city’s necropolis was discovered on the right bank of the Nišava. Burials in this necropolis lasted for three centuries, from IV to the end of VI / beginning of VII century. Various grave forms were recorded during excavations (simple pits, graves of bricks and tegulae that mimic a casket, bricked tomb constructions for individual or group funerals). In 2012, 75 grave units were discovered in protective-systematic investigations in the western part of the “Benetton Serbia” factory complex (former “Nitex” textile factory). They belong to the oldest stage of the necropolis, dated to the period from the IV to the mid-V century based on movable inds. The largest number of burial structures had been devastated before the moment of discovery. However, among the graves that were left unlooted, a grave of the deceased buried in a simple pit (grave 66) in the southern part of the investigated area stands out for the richness of the grave inventory. A female aged 20–24 was buried in a shallow burial pit probably in a wooden box. She was interred in a barrel-vaulted tomb (G-16). It was oriented east-west with a 1° deviation of its western part towards the north, laid on her back, arms clasped in the stomach area. The bones of the deceased were poorly preserved due to the soil composition, especially the skull, which was identiied in traces. Since the person was buried in a humble pit, it is possible that the funeral was deliberately done in such a manner, for unknown reasons (fear of looting, personal family relationships that have led to the person being excommunicated by the community in some way, her foreign origin etc.). In contrast to the modest grave form, its inventory deserves full attention because of its richness. The inventory consists of the deceased’s personal jewelry, made of precious metals and glass as well as glass balsamarium placed to the right of the head. The set of jewelry consisted of silver pin, a pair of gold earrings, a glass bead necklace, two silver bracelets – one on each hand, gold and silver inger-rings on the ingers of the left hand. The sliver pin with a polyhedral head was used for fastening the fabric which covered women’s heads at the necropolis of Jagodin Mala, as was noted in the two other cases at the nearby grave units (brick tomb G-6 and barrel-vaulted tomb G-16). A pair of gold earrings belongs to the type with open tapered ends and a smaller hoop with a pendant, ending in a double coil. There were three golden circular hoops with six granules on the pendant, among which there was a glass bead of hexagonal section. This type of earrings was quite common among the grave inventory in Jagodin Mala, and the late Roman Pannonia (Sirmium) or Dardania (Vindenae, Ulpiana). They were manufactured locally and were particularly popular in IV century. A necklace made of 18 gold bowl-shaped beads and 100 green glass beads of hexagonal section, identical to those on the glass earing’s pendant, with a gold tin fastening mechanism is a product of the local, provincial manufacture that was popular and produced for a bigger market at the end of III and during IV century. Massive silver bracelets with open and slightly tapered ends belong to local specimens of luxurious jewelry, which, judging by numerous analogies, were usually made of bronze and far more rarely of silver. An undecorated closedended silver inger-ring made of thin foil is chronologically insensitive. On the other hand, a golden inger-ring with a circular hoop and a large pair of granules opposite each other, a circular bezel with a motif of astragalus and a box-setting for a semispherical inlay for a cyan-blue glass is a ring of standard form, popular during IV century. Such rich collection of personal jewelry made of precious metals could indicate a certain status – afiliation to higher circles of society that the deceased could have had in life, but it may relect the desire of relatives or persons that buried her to display the desired status, rather than the real one, by using luxurious items. Based on analogies of jewelry from the already dated units from Jagodin Mala and other sites, the most exact time of this young woman’s burial would be around the middle and the second half of the fourth century, when the Naissus experienced its economic growth, visible in many spheres of social life and when, the state, municipal and private manufacture thrived.