Bone working and the army: An early eighteen-century button workshop at the Belgrade fortress

Abstract

During excavations in 2008 at the Belgrade fortress, a large quantity of portable finds dated from the early 18th century were discovered within one structure, known as the Blockhouse. The Blockhouse, situated at the Upper Town’s south-eastern wall, was a defensive structure that had been built between 1718-1721, but was never completed due to changes in plan. Shortly after its aboveground portion was partly torn down the vaulted subterranean chamber was largely filled with waste, i. e., with items used by the Austrian troops (who occupied the fortress at the time) between 1717 to 1725. Finds included ceramic and glass vessels, knifes, leather shoe soles, buckles, etc., and bone manufacturing debris. The bone manufacturing debris included c. 85 pieces of large herbivore ribs from which circular pieces, c. 1.15-1.20 cm in diameter, and larger, c. 1,4-1,5 cm had been cut out. Some technological aspects will be analysed in this paper, as well as the choice of raw material, manufacturing techniques, and the entire mode of production. We will also discuss the origins of this debris, the nature of its end-products and the implications for an analysis of everyday life in the Belgrade Fortress in the early 18th century.