Thracian And Illyrian And Early Eurasian Peoples Art And Archaeology

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

"Autarijati su predstavljali najmoćniji i najbrojniji ilirski narod u periodu koji je predstavljao prekretnicu u povijesnom razvitku čitavog Balkanskog poluotoka (VI – IV. st. p. n. e.) i autarijatski uspon i pad korenspodirali su sa klasičnim razdobljem grčke povijesti. Njihovo prisustvo na zapadnom i centralnom Balkanu osvjedočeno je nizom povijesnih podataka, filološkim reliktima i obiljem do sada pronađene materijalne građe. Istraživanje Autarijata i glasinačke kulture starijeg željeznog doba započelo je krajem XIX. st. i nastavljeno je uz prekide sve do kraja XX. st., ali i pored intenzivnog istraživanja do danas još uvijek nije prezentirana cjelovita studija o Autarijatima. Porijeklo ovog ilirskog naroda treba tražiti u kontinuiranom razvitku proto-ilirskih populacija koje su naseljavale jugoistočnu Bosnu i gornje Podrinje u brončano doba. Seoba «nosilaca žarnih polja» koja je u velikoj mjeri izmijenila etničku i kulturnu sliku Podunavlja i jednog dijela Balkana nije u tolikoj mjeri zahvatila prostor rasprostiranja glasinačke kulture kasnog brončanog doba. Nakon stabilizacije prilika, prelaskom u starije željezno doba započinje i nagli narodnosni, kulturni i politički razvitak autarijatskih zajednica. Taj proces je rezultirao i usložnjavanjem društveno-političke strukture autarijatskih zajednica, i prerastanjem rodovsko-plemenske organizacije u prve začetke teritorijalno omeđenih kneževina od kraja VIII. st. p. n. e. U više tumula koji se datiraju u VII. i VI. st. p. n. e. pronađeni su iznimno bogati grobovi u koje su bili sahranjeni članovi lokalnih kneževskih dinastija.
Međutim, uslijed više razloga izazvanih vanjskim političkim i ekonomskim uticajima, krajem VI. st. p. n. e. dolazi do ujedinjena autarijatskih zajednica u jedinstveni politički entitet. Zahvaljujući ujedinjenju Autarijati započinju ekspanziju najvećim dijelom usmjerenu prema istoku i zemlji Tribala, te prema jugu gdje su pobijedili Ardijejce, svoje stare suparnike u borbi za zone ispaše i slana vrela. Svojom aktivnošću na prijelazu iz VI. u V. st. p. n. e. Autarijati su za narode, koji su direktno osjetili njihovu ekspanziju imali, velike posljedice. Ardijejci su pomjereni prema primorju a Tribali dalje prema istoku, na prostore na kojima su oba naroda odigrala svoju povijesnu ulogu. Svojom ekspanzijom Autarijati su ostvarili hegemoniju na jednom dijelu unutrašnjosti Balkanskog poluotoka. I autarijatski  vladajući sloj je sada dostigao zenit svoga imovinskog i političkog razvitka, što se na najbolji način pokazuje u nizu bogatih vladarskih tumula i grobova nastalih tijekom V. st. p. n. e. Na ovo vrijeme se sigurno odnose i Strabonove riječi o Autarijatima kao «nekoć najvećem i najmoćnijem ilirskom narodu». Nakon dostignutog zenita započinje lagani pad Autarijata koji se završava 310. god. p. n. e. naglim prestankom egzistencije autarijatske narodnosne zajednice i glasinačke kulture starijeg željeznog doba uslijed keltske invazije.
Autarijati su iza sebe ostavili materijalno bogatstvo. Do sada je evidentirano više od 100 gradina koje su sigurno naseljavali Autarijati, odnosno zajednice iz kojih su oni nastali i na tisuće tumula u koje su oni bili sahranjivani. Pokretni materijal (poglavito nakit i oružje) pokazuje na sebi sve specifičnosti autarijatskog narodnosnog i kulturnog bića i svu originalnost autarijatskog duha. Sva višestoljetna produkcija metalnih proizvoda i keramike se odvija u kontinuiranom slijedu i  jedan tipski oblik u velikom broju slučajeva postupno prelazi u novi tip. Najbolji primjer spomenutog tipskog kontinuiranog razvitka nalazi se na objektima izrađenim od metalnog lima koji kao završni tip svoje evolucije imaju luksuzne zlatne i srebrne pojaseve «mramoračkog tipa».
Autarijati kao klasičan primjer gorštačkog naroda pokazuju i sve osobenosti gorštačkog mentaliteta, koji se najviše izražava u sklonosti ka konzervativnosti i što je moguće dužem zadržavanju starih formi života i vjerovanja. U navedenoj činjenici nalaze se i razlozi zbog kojih Autarijati uporno zadržavaju sahranjivanje u tumule na načine koji se u načelima nije mnogo mijenjao sve do konačnog kraja glasinačke kulture. Sudeći po nalazima izgleda da je pored kulta predaka veliku ulogu u religioznom životu Autarijata imao i kult solarnog božanstva. Na tragove solarnog kulta se nailazi u iznimnom broju širom autarijatskog  teritorija.
Gospodarstvo Autarijata se zasnivalo na stočarstvu kao primarnoj grani te na metalurgiji, zanatstvu i trgovini. Ovaj ilirski narod zbog svoga značaja i velike potražnje za grčke i italske robe je bio i najveći trgovački partner na zapadnom i centralnom Balkanu grčkim i italskim trgovcima između VII. i IV. st. p. n. e.
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This is corpus of epigraphic monument in Bosnia from roman time. It included list of almost 800 persons who lived in that time in Bosnia.
"Knjiga ANTIQVI HOMINES BOSNAE je posvećena analizi antičke epigrafske i onomastičke baštine na prostoru današnje Bosne. Zahvaljujući podacima sa epigrafskih spomenika i iz literarnih vrela knjiga pruža na uvid javnosti više od 800 osoba koje su živjele na prostorima današnje Bosne u skoro šest stoljeća antičkog, historijskog razvitka. I pored oskudnosti podataka iz izvorne građe, u određenom broju slučajeva detektiranje osobnosti je rezultiralo i sadržajnijim osvrtom. Zahvaljujući tome, uspjelo se proniknuti i u određene aspekte individualnih života. Interesantno je da je najveći broj tih podataka koji govore o životima pojedinaca ustvari rezultat njihove smrti. Bez pogrebnih natpisa naše poznavanje života običnih ljudi u vremenima antike na području Bosne bi bilo u značajnom mjeri osiromašeno. Tako bi ostali uskraćeni za sigurno većinu osobnih i gentilnih imena, a teško bi se razumio i proces romanizacije, odnosno brzina i stupnjevi njenog odvijanja. Na osnovi podataka crpljenih iz literarnih, i posebice epigrafskih vrela mogu se vrlo jasno dati osnovne konture antičkog razvitka u unutrašnjosti Ilirika. Dok literarni podaci više odražavaju patrijahalnost i patrilinearnost tadašnjeg ilirskog i rimskog društva, epigrafski podaci pružaju i kakvu – takvu sliku rodnih odnosa.
Sadržaj knjige je podijeljen na osnovi zemljopisnih odrednica, ali uz i poštivanje historijske geografije. Zemljopisne regije su oblikovane kako bi mogle održavati i određenu sliku rasprostriranja peregrinskih civitates i jedinica municipalne organizacije. Činjenica je da je svaka od tih jedinica lokalne autonomije i uprave u okvirima provincijskog sustava Rimske države imala svoje određene specifičnosti, koje su se održavale i u životima ljudi koji su živjeli u njima. I upravo se te specifičnosti primjećuju i na literarnim i epigrafskim zapisima koji se obrađuju u knjizi.
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The cavalry formed a large part of the Odrysian army and this article describes their tactics, weapons, apparel, armour, and equipment, based on the latest archaeological discoveries.  It is fully illustrated, including (for the first time) colour reconstructions of the Kazanluk tomb paintings.  The article illustrates the transition from classical to hellenistic equipment, tactics, and appearance.

This study presents an analysis about the rain-making ritual from Romania, called Paparuda, performed in the spring and in times of severe drought. The ritual is common also in the Slavic folklore, with the same structure. In this study, I will try to demonstrate that the origin of the rain-making ritual Paparuda/Dodola is Thracian, and South Slavic tribes from Balkans adopted the ritual from the Thracians. The ritual is present almost in the entire Balkan Peninsula, especially in the area inhabited by Slavs, which was Thracian before the Slavic migration from 6th century.

Thrace had the potential to field huge numbers of troops, and the Thracian way of warfare had a huge influence on Classical Greek and Hellenistic warfare. Many examples of weapons and armour have been found in Thracian sites.. After Thrace was conquered by the Romans, the Thracians provided a ready source of tough auxiliaries to the Roman army.

This book gives an overview of Thracian history and culture, but focuses predominantly on their warfare and weapons. The latest archaeological finds are used to give the most detailed and accurate picture yet of their arms, armour and costume. He identifies and differentiates the many different tribes, showing that their weapons and tactics varied. The resulting study is of interest to anyone interested in the archaeology and history of the region or in classical warfare as a whole.

CONTENTS
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PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
THE SOURCES

HISTORICAL OUTLINE
The Sixth Century
The 5th Century
The 4th Century
The 3rd and 2nd Centuries BC: The Beginning of the Roman era
The 2nd and 1st centuries: the end of Thracian independence.The End of the Thracians

THRACIAN COSTUME
Classical and Archaic Thracians
Thracian costume of the Hellenistic and Roman eras

ARMOUR
Helmets
Body Armour
North Thracian Armour
Greaves
Shields
New Shields

WEAPONS
Swords & Knives
The Bronze Age and earlier
Knives
Swords
The Iron Age
Long Swords
The Akinakes
The Machaira, or kopis, and other Thracian curved swords
The Sica - sword or rhomphaia?
The Rhomphaia
Spears & Javelins
Axes
Catapaults
Bows and Arrows
Slings and Staff Slings
Clubs
Unconventional weapons – Carts and spiked axles - The defence of the Shipka Pass

THE THRACIAN ARMY
Thracian Armies – size and composition
The Bronze Age
Chariots
Cavalry
Early Thracian cavalry
Heavy Cavalry
Light Cavalry
Light Cavalry Shields
Thracian Horses
Later cavalry developments
Spurs
Lances
Saddles and Saddle Cloths
Cavalry Shields, swords, and the shift back to javelins
Hamippoi
Infantry
Slingers
Archers
Javelinmen
Peltasts
Long Spears
Later Infantry Developments
The Peltast in the Fourth Century
The Iphicratean reforms
Thureophoroi
Thorakitai
The Thracian army in Britain
Cohors I Thracvm Cohors II Thracvm
Cohors VII Thracvm Alae Primae Thracvm

MILITARY ORGANISATION
Thracian Formations
The navy “Thrace, the Final Frontier” – The Military Geography of Thrace

FORTIFICATIONS

BATTLES AND TACTICS
Sitalces’ invasion of Macedonia, 429 BC (Thucydides 2.100)
The 10,000 in Thrace -Seuthes' rebellion, 400 BC (Anabasis 7.3.4 -7.7.57).
The Triballia attack Abdera, 376 BC (Diodorus Siculus XV. 36. 1-5)
Order of battle
Alexander’s invasion, 335 BC (Arrian 1.1.6)
Order of Battle
The Battle of the Lyginus River, 335 BC (Arrian 1.2-1.3)
Order of Battle
The Battle of Raphia 217 BC
The Battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC) – “Peltasts in the Mist
The Battle of Magnesia (190 BC) and its aftermath.
The prelude to the battle,:
The Thracians in the battle
After the battle of Magnesia: The Thracians ambush the Roman army
Order of Battle
The Thracians attack the Galatians on “Mt Olympus” (Livy 37.21-23)
The Battles of Kallinikos (171 BC) and Pydna (168 BC)
The Battle of Kallinikos, 171 BC (Livy 42.57-60.1)
The Battle of Pydna (168 BC) and the Pydna Monument
Thracian tactics

THRACIAN TRIBES
Bessi
The Bisaltai
Bithynia and the Bithynians
- Chronology
- Introduction
- History
- The Bithynian Army
Dii
Getai
The Moesi/Mysians
Odomanti
Odrysai
Paeonians
The Agrianians
The Thyni
The Triballi

GLOSSARY
Abbreviations used in the Notes
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Ancient Sources
-Modern Sources
-Other References
-CD-ROM
-Video
INDEX

The label ‘Illyrians’ was used in different contexts, probably developing as an ethnographic generalisation of foreigners related to similar indigenous language(s). In all certainty it developed in the sixth century BC but the evidence we have appears only in the fifth century. Later perceptions of ‘Illyrians’ are related to political and territorial contexts, first to the political alliance of the Hellenistic-era Illyrian kingdom, and after that to the Roman use of this term in the context of early imperial expansion.

""The Daesitiates: The identity-construct between contemporary and ancient perceptions

This paper discusses the ancient identity known from the sources as the Daesitiates. The crucial question that this paper raises is: what is hidden behind the term Daesitiates? Is this term a construct of the ancient sources and modern interpretations, or did it exist once as a historical “reality”, and whose reality did that term represent? Currently the prevailing scholarly opinion is that the Daesitiates represented an ethnic or proto-ethnic community, which developed through different stages of social organisation from the late Bronze Age throughout the Iron Age to the arrival of the Romans in the first century BC, ultimately becoming a “people” or a “people-making community”.
The existing sources are analysed against the contexts in which they existed: the pre-Roman Iron Age arhaeological culture (Central-Bosnian culture) and the written and epigraphic sources. The archaeology shows the existence of a specific kind of regional identity, but it does not provide evidence for the assumption that a unified identity-discourse existed in the pre-Roman era. Although the region is insufficiently explored, a few things might be deducted from the existing knowledge. The settlement pattern of known hillforts (gradine) shows a few different zones of habitation positioned around arable land and natural communications – usually the valleys of the rivers. Burial customs are partially known only from the Visoko-Breza sub-region and do not necessarily reflect the whole region, which is ascribed to this archaeological culture. The earlier dated Vratnica-Donji Skladovi necropole presents an inhumated group burial of warriors without visible social differences, while in the recently published and later dated Kamenjača-Breza necropolis it is possible to detect gradual social differentiations.
The written sources, Appian, Strabo, Velleius Paterculus and Cassius Dio, mention a group called the Daesitiates in relation to the events from the time of the Roman conquest in the late 1st century BC and early 1st century AD. Appian mentions a group of the Daisioi (Desii) in the context of Octavian's expedition into Illyricum in 35-33 BC, as one of his most formidable opponents. Although the scholarship assumes links between the Daisioi and Daesitiates which were known from the later bellum Batonianum, from this mention it is impossible to determine with absolute certainty whether these Daisioi were related to the later Daesitiates. The other sources mention a group of the Daesitiates in regards to the events from the bellum Batonianum of AD 6 – 9. Dio notes that one of the leaders of the uprising, the Dalmatian Bato was “of Daesitiates”, Velleius Paterculus knew that the Daesitiates and Pirustae were located in the central part of the Dalmatian province, while Strabo saw the Daesitiates as one of the Pannonian ethne whose leader was Bato. It cannot be concluded from the works of Velleius or Dio who were the Daesitiates they mentioned: including the people, family, class, or regional identity. Strabo on the other hand saw the Daesitiates as a political identity, one of the barbarian ethne from central Dalmatia. Finally, the Daesitiates were mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Roman administrative peregrine civitates in the Naronitan conventus of the Dalmatian province.
The epigraphic evidence mentioning the Daesitiates exists in a few different contexts. Dollabela's inscription from Solin dated AD 19/20 mentions (He)dum castellum Daesitiatum, indicating the existence of the central stronghold of this group. Other inscriptions mention individuals carrying administrative functions inside Roman civitas: the Roman military praefect and indigenous princeps. Finally, one military diploma from Herculaneum and a tombstone from the military camp in Tilurium (Gardun) record the administrative identities of soldiers, in accordance with the prevailing custom of the Roman army.
This paper concludes that the earlier scholarship used contextually and chronologically different clusters of sources in order to construct the ethnicity of the Daesitiates. The archaeological evidence shows an indigenous Iron age culture. The written sources reflect the perception of the barbarian “other” from outside observers who are not concerned with establishing an “objective” ethnographic taxonomy. Finally, the epigraphic evidence mostly reflects the existence of the Roman peregrine civitas mentioned in Pliny, not ethnicity.
From the other comparative studies of similar communities in continental Europe it is possible to establish a new view on the origins and different aspects of this identity. The Daesitiates were probably one of the political alliances that were formed from the local communities in the future province of Dalmatia as a reponse to Roman imperialism in the late 2nd or 1st century BC, which initially had no sense of a common identity. The existence of these political alliances influenced Roman perception and written sources to etnicise them, assuming that those identities existed in a timeless and ahistoric vacuum of “barbarian” societies. The establishment of a peregrine civitas institutionalised the perception of Daesitiate ethnicity inside provincial structures. After a certain time these changes resulted in the establishment of the Daesitiate identity, which was in later antiquity transformed into municipal identitites and a provincial Dalmatian identity.""

Appian's Illyrian book (Illyrike) was originally intended to be just an appendix to his Macedonian book and today remains the only extant ancient work dealing with the early history of Illyricum which is preserved in its entirety. In this short work Appian puts together different local and regional histories in order to create a unified historical narrative and determines the historical and mythological coordinates of Illyricum inside the ancient world. This paper will discuss Illyrike in the context of the Roman construction of Illyricum as a provincial space, similar to some other regions in continental Europe such as, for example, Gaul or Britain. They were all firstly created through the needs of Roman political geography and later written into literary knowledge through the works of ancient history and ethnography. This paper will argue that Appian's Illyrike represented the final stage of the Roman construction of Illyricum from an imaginary to a provincial space, which was the point of its full coming of age as an integral part of the ancient world and the Roman Empire.

Populistički napisan, naučno-istorijski članak objavljen (u malo kraćoj verziji) u časopisu “Vodič za  život” u Beogradu, marta 2013. Tekst po prvi put spaja starije, relativno skrivene, srpske izvore o pred-rimskim narodima sa brojnim Zapadnim izvorima o toj temi u jednu slikovit u priču, koja se lako razume.

The position of Damastion, a Greek colony founded by the fugitives from Aegina and Mende shortly after 420 BC somewhere in Illyria near the abundant silver mines (Strabo 7.7.8 and 8.6.16), has still not been established with certainty. An analysis of the pattern of findspots of coins of this town demonstrates a concentration in the area of the rich silver mines of southern Kosovo, indicating that Damastion should be sought somewhere in that region.

Caius Iulius Solinus, Latin grammarian and compiler from the third century AD, wrote a curious sentence in his work Collectanea rerum memorabilium or Pol-yhistor. Solinus in 2.51 called the Liburni, indigenous group that inhabited part of the northeastern coast of the Adriatic – " Asiatic people " (… per Liburnos, quae gens Asiatica est). The scholarship never took this statement seriously as its historical inaccuracy is beyond any doubt in both written and material evidence. However, the very same historical inaccuracy prevented a more substantial analysis of this statement in the scholarship, making it just one of (quite a) few of Solinus' bizarre statements. The paper will use available written sources to explore the reasoning behind this statement. The analysis will show that Solinus was not inventing fairy tales but was utilizing existing Graeco-Roman ethnographic 'knowledge' about this part of the world, and the Liburni in particular. This 'knowledge' was in its essence inter-textual and orientalizing, combining descriptive literary techniques and information gathered through different phases of cultural contact with indigenous population in order to construct a 'barbarian other'. The statement about Asian origins of the Liburni does not have factual accuracy but is still extremely useful as it reveals insight into some of the ways indigenous communities from the eastern Adriatic coast were perceived by the ancient Greek and Roman intellectual elite.

The hinterland of the eastern Adriatic suffered a great injustice in Fernand Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. The great historian repeatedly sees this region as backward and poor, and its society as timeless and unchanging. This „barbarism“ of the hinterland is sharply juxtaposed with distinctive civilization he attributes to the Dalmatian coast and its cities. Braudel did not invent this dichotomy, but rather drew on the existing discourse in travelling and scholarly literature. The roots of this discourse can be traced to two centuries earlier, to the influential travel diaries of Venetian Alberto Fortis (Viaggo in Dalmazia [Venice 1774]). In his narrative Fortis constructed the inhabitants of the Dalmatian hinterland as the Morlacchi – exotic „noble savages“ of early modern Europe.
This paper engages with this discourse on civilizational inequality and the cultural dichotomy between the eastern Adriatic coast and its hinterland. Subversion of Braudel is best done using Braudelian tools, so the paper presents a longue-durèe examination of interaction between the Dalmatian coast and its hinterland from the Late Iron Age to the end of antiquity. The focus of enquiry is placed on tracing cultural mediation and exchange of ideas in the domain of religion through several different periods. The paper presents the eastern Adriatic hinterland as a distinct space of invention and interaction, where local traditions are continuously combined with outside influences in an original and unique fashion.
Two chronologically distinct examples are analysed. First is the negotiation of Graeco-Mediterranean and La Tène cultural influences in a late Iron Age indigenous religious context. Particular focus is placed on material finds from an indigenous sanctuary in Gorica near Grude in Herzegovina, dated from ca. seventh to first century BC. A second example is the use of ‘global’ cults, such as those of Silvanus and Diana, as an interface for communicating and displaying local and imperial Roman identity during the second and third century AD.

This article is an attempt at interpretation of two bronze craters from the Trebenište necropolis and their iconography as well as their connection with the well-known myth of Kadmus and Harmonia. The legitimacy of this connection can be found in a few versions of this myth according to which the historical or mythical Kadmus spent part of his life in the Lihnidos region – an area where the above-mentioned bronze vessels were excavated. A few iconographical elements emphasize the connections with this well-known myth. Firstly, the pair of female mythical creatures, applied under the handles of both craters, were formed in the shape of goddesses with Gorgon – Medusa heads and widespread snakelike legs that end in snake heads. So far our studies have shown that the figures with this kind of markings in Europe and Asia represent the primordial mythical woman in childbed, whose functions are connected with the Cosmic proto-woman in childbed, Mother – Earth, Proto-woman in childbed of the Ethnos, but also with the Goddess of death. Namely, certain totemic aspects related to the cosmic waters had been incorporated into their zoo-anthropomorphic appearance. The best known example of this kind is the Scythian “Serpent legged Goddess”, who after her contact with Heracles or Zeus, or their Scythian equivalent, gave birth to the Scythians. Although they were not always acknowledged in verbal mythical forms, a few analogous zoomorphic Birth-giving Women were also found in the Luristan bronzes, Eastern Mediterranean, Etruria, and in the Early Middle Ages in the pagan cultures connected with the German, Slavonic and Finno-Ugric populations. The connection to Kadmus is also visible in the fact that in the myths, the bottom part of the body of both spouses is transformed into serpents, and Kadmus has a crest (cock’s crest?) on top of his head. In that context the examples of male mythical figures (Abraxas / Anguipede) who beside the serpent-legs also have a cock’s head appear. The second possibility would be the plausible identification of the zoomorphic legs of the Trebenište “Gorgons”, not with the serpents but with eels that are actually specific for the faunal characteristic of that area where the mythical cycle of Kadmus and Harmonia flows (the lake Kopaidi near Thebes, Ohrid Lake, the river Drim and its delta). Ancient sources have shown that in most of these locations, the eel was considered a sacred animal, which refers to its totemic character of a proto-Birth giving Woman of the local ethnos. Furthermore the ethnonym Encheleae / Engelans, literally means “human-eels”. In this constellation, the serpent-legged goddess from the Trebenište craters could be identified with Harmonia -Kadmus’ wife in the role of proto-mother of the Encheleans. The presence of these mythical creatures inside the graves of the Trebenište monarchs (perhaps applied on vessels that were used as urns) could be explained by the concept according to which the death of the monarch was considered as a marriage between him and the Mother Earth. A marriage that will result in mastering death (-as personal deification, i.e. heroisation of the deceased monarch as a continuation of the dynasty in the name of his heirs). The first aspect could be found in the cavalry column in the upper zone in one of the craters (the horses symbolizing motion and epiphany of the sun’s deification, which as well as the deceased dies and is born in the same circle of life). Regarding the cow column, applied on the second crater, it could be related to the important role of this animal in the previously mentioned myth of Kadmus (as a paradigm of the zoomorphic Goddess Mother or paradigm of the time cycles). The parallels of the Egyptian culture (Nut, Isis, Hathor) motivate the presumption that the cow’s presence is in the role of divine characters that will ensure the rebirth of the buried monarch. The presence of similar iconographic images on the craters that belong to other cultures (for example, the one from Vix) shows the presence of similar mythical concepts among the other barbarian populations in Europe.

Three of life has been a global topic of all cultures since prehistory. My Master of history research paper was planned on tree of life (1980s), and now, when I am reading the work by William Osborne, I am realizing that the interest in this topic in later 20th century was still like a baby in the cradle. I was able to show that one schematic tree of life in the Thracian art was not an accidental motif, but there was a concept of Tree of life in Thracian religion.  At that time I was in professional contacts with I. Marazov , who wrote that most of the Thracian pectorals represented the concept of the Tree of life (as cosmology), so to be with scientific contributions, I even cut this part of my master and limited to the wreath symbolism. However, even the wreath placed on the breasts in the graves functioned as a cosmological symbol related to the tree of life.
W. Osborne's article is  a precious pearl in early 21st century literature on Tree of life. He uses written records and iconography to reveal two aspects of the anthropomorphic symbolism of tree of life. Many prehistorians will find in this article new directions of interpretation of the prehistoric art from the perspectives of the global concept of Tree of life.

The text begins with a depiction of the find, the circumstances of its discovery and of the papers in which it was previously published. It continues with an analysis of its appearance, the posture and the other features of the figure represented and its relations to several mythical characters i.e. deities from the Balkan and the Mediterranean traditions: Daedalus, Hephaestus, Bes, Satyr, Silenus, Pan, Priapus, Eros, the Cabeiri and Cadmos. The semiotic i.e. the mythic-symbolic meaning of several elements of the figure represented have been especially analyzed: the artificial wings, the advanced age, the baldness, the hair-covered body, the disproportionate height i.e. dwarfism, the uncovered phallus, the boots, kneeling on one knee, hands placed on the thighs and the pediment. In favour of relating the statue to Daedalus, several examples are given as analogues (the vessels from Tenos, Cerveteri and Boeotia) where the winged Daedalus is presented in a similar position. The relations with Hephaestus can be confirmed with the correspondence of some of its features to the ones of Daedalus (wisdom, technical skills, advanced age). There is a special emphasis on him having wings as an indicator of the mystical journey through the cosmic zones, i.e. the shamanic character typical for the archaic smiths and craftsmen. Furthermore, the morphological and iconographic liaisons of the statue with the representations of the Egyptian god Bes are mentioned, which spreading through the Mediterranean and the Balkan, probably by the Phoenician and the Cypriot smiths, has left traces in the appearance of several characters from the Balkan mythologies. Then, a thorough analysis of Silenus follows, who is related to the Plaošnik statue according to the following features (which simultaneously refer to Bes as well): dwarfism, a beard, baldness, nudity. The age of Silenus is emphasized (as a symbol of wisdom) combined with his affinity for drinking. Again, this refers to the mystical knowledge immanent to shamans, which can be obtained, among other things, by drinking priests’ alcohol potions. The links between the baldness and the ithyphallicism of this character are given through the visual similarities of the bald head and glans penis. Several scientific theories have been apostrophized according to which Silenus should be of Asia-Minorian i.e. of Phrygian origin as a god of rivers and springs, to which his theonym refers. Through the migration of the Bryges (= Phrygians) such descent could be traced as far as their ancient homeland in Macedonia and the Central Balkan. The possible presentation of a winged Silenus could be justified by relating him to Siljan, a mythical character from the contemporary Macedonian folklore, who embodies the key shamanic features of previously described characters. There are traditions and stories that depict him as an immature boy who achieves the status of a mature man by transforming into a stork ...

El origen de los Ilicitanos (Elche - Elx) es un extracto del libro Karuo el secreto ibero, poe el cual Enrique Cabrejas o Enric Cabrejas nos relata de modo llano su experiencia personal con lo extraordinario de un descubrimiento. El 21 de Abril de 2012 consiguió lo que parecía imposible: Descifrar la escritura ibérica. El hallazgo más relevante de la cultura universal en nuestro país de los últimos tiempos, sin lugar a dudas. Un hito en la historia de la escritura sin precedentes. Desde este mismo instante la obra Karuo de Enrique Cabrejas lo convierte en un referente destacado a nivel mundial en historia y lingüística. Los innumerables datos, explicaciones, pruebas y significados que nos reporta nunca conocidos antes, son una referencia obligada para todos aquellos que quieran comprender la historia, la lengua antigua e incluso también la moderna de nuestro país o para quienes en el futuro deseen estudiarla e investigarla en profundidad, más si cabe desde el mundo académico.

"The article is a continuation of the previous researches of the author, targeted to the classical circus performances and its archaic mytho-religious levels. This research is focused on the ambivalence of the clowns mouth which causes positive and negative emotions. Seeking the historical genesis of it, he first comes to the big, wide, gaping mouth of the mythical character Silenos and other chthonic gods, which indicate the regressive aspects of the universe - the principle of destruction and death. Since male chthonic gods do not possess organs of birth, such a mouth takes over their creative function, so the chthonic god, through vomiting, returns back to nature that which he had eaten or drank before (water, sun, fire, plants, etc.). This is why the use this type of mouth, in Greek theater masks, can be treated as residue of the presence of characters with such features in theatrical performances.
Female mythical characters of the type of the Greek Gorgon Medusa or the Indian goddess Kali were also depicted with a similar gaping mouth. Both are obviously goddesses of death and destruction, which is represented exactly by using this organ. But, if you take into consideration their female gender, accentuated often by their spread legs, (pose specific for coitus and childbirth) it leads to the conclusion that originally (in relation with the vulva) progressive aspects of existence, conception and birth, were also coded in them.
The concept of equalization between the organs of the upper and lower halves of the human body, and in this framework, of the mouth and the vulva, is inherent for all mankind. This relationship is the basis of the myth of Demeter and Baubo, whose core plot is the moment when Demeter who, after greaving for a long time because she lost her daughter Persephone, finally smiles when the old woman Baubo lifts her skirt and shows her her vulva. These actions cause the awakening of nature which suggests the basic logical structure of this myth: laughing = opening of the mouth = opening of the vulva = conception and birth = activation of the vegetative processes in nature. Taken generally, laughing (especially women`s) represents her spiritual opening which is proceeded by the opening of her body.
This meaning, but also laughing as compensation for traur, may be taken as the key to justify the ritual laughter presented in funeral rites and ritual human sacrifices. The smile on the faces of the deceased and the sacrificed or the laughing of their mourning relatives, were seen as an indicator of the resurrection of the deceased and the instigator of their successful transition to the world of the gods.
The mouth is an organ intended for grinding food and killing other creatures. Therefore, it symbolizes death and destruction. It is quite a small difference between the mouth open for laughing and the mouth gaping for devouring. In all its ambivalence, both meanings are present in the Balkan Gorgon Medusa, Demeter and Baubo, the Indian Kali, but at the same time in the typical European clown - "August the Stupid" and the unique "Joker" in the film "Batman."
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""The Delmatae, wine and formation of ethnic identity in pre-Roman Illyricum

This paper deals with the lack of archaeological finds that confirm wine-drinking habits amongst the Delmatae in Illyricum. The thesis of Dietler, that the demand for goods is not an automatic response but rather something that should be understood in regional political and cultural relationships, is used to link the absence of wine and the construction of Delmataean ethnic identity.
Focusing on the wider clash of drinking ideologies in ancient (and modern) Europe, this paper suggests that the change in alcohol-consumption habits from Continental beer/mead/cider-drinking to Mediterranean wine-drinking amongst the neighbours of the Delmatae is the consequence of wider socio-political transitions and the establishment of the core-periphery model of exchange in pre-Roman Illyricum, after Greek penetration into the Adriatic in the 4th century BC. The foundation of the Delmataean alliance in c. 3rd century BC is considered to be an attempt to redistribute the networks of exchange in Illyricum that were controlled by its Delmataean neighbours, who were strongly impacted by Mediterranean ‘globalisation’. At the same time the Delmataean political alliance was recognised as the core of the Delmataean ethnic identity, further strengthened through the conflicts with their neighbours such as the Liburni, Illyrians, Issaean commonwealth and certainly, the Roman Republic.
Differences in consumption of alcoholic beverages are essentially a part of Bourdieu’s social habitus, and Barthian “cultural stuff ”, that is not directly involved in the process of construction of identities. However, in the background of the Delmataean conflicts with their neighbours who accepted some elements of Mediterranean culture, including consumption of wine, the choice of alcoholic beverage becomes an “ethnic boundary” that significantly influences the construction of ethnic identity. This paper concludes that the newly-formed identity of the Delmatae, amongst other things, incorporated a strong anti-Mediterranean sentiment that draw the Delmatae closer to their northern neighbours, the Pannonii, and that sentiment is visible through their unity in the bellum Batonianum, but can be assumed even earlier in the bellum Pannonicum jointly fought against the Romans.
Thus, lack of evidence for consumption of wine amongst the Delmatae is the fact that reveals a complex regional process of formation and transition of ethnic identities in pre-Roman Illyricum. This process was caused by wider ‘tectonic’ historical movements that corresponded with the formation of the ‘global’ Mediterranean world and the incorporation of Illyricum and its heterogeneous ethnic communities in that world."""

This paper discusses two Roman reliefs from the Dalmatian hinterland, one of the goddess Diana from Proložac near Imotski, the other of the girl Lupa from Sovići near Grude in Herzegovina. Earlier scholarly discussions ascribed artistic values to the portrait of Lupa, while the relief of Diana was considered as superb crafstmanship, but artistically inferior to Lupa’s portrait. Using these two portraits as a case study, the paper will question the existing approaches to Dalmatian provincial art, in particular the notion that Graeco-Roman visual rhetoric was artistically superior to local, provincial interpretations.