Osseous artifacts from the Maros-culture necropolis at Ostojićevo (northern Serbia)

Abstract

The Bronze Age Maros culture, widespread in the southern parts of the Carpathian basin, is characterised by rich and diverse material culture, recovered from settlements and from necropoles. Some of the burials of the Maros culture contained rich funerary equipment, that encompassed ceramic vessels, bronze weapons, bronze and gold jewellery, as well as ornaments made from osseous raw materials. One of the necropoles that yielded interesting finds of bone ornaments was discovered at the site of Ostojićevo, situated in the Banat region in north-eastern Serbia. This necropolis contained graves belonging to the Early and Middle Bronze Age; out of 285 graves, 77 were attributed to the Maros culture. Osseous ornaments recovered from these graves were made from diverse raw materials, bones, teeth and mollusc shells. The typological repertoire includes pendants, beads, decorative pins, and applications. Their typological and technological traits, as well traces of use will be analysed highlighting their overall importance and symbolic role for the Maros culture communities