Page 39 - Kavur, Boris. Everything counts (in small amounts) … Koper: University of Primorska Press, 2015.
P. 39
Cherchez la femme! 39
Lack of female jewelry in the cemetery
in Formin
Taking into consideration the quantity of discovered weapons, especially swords and spearheads, we can
assume that in Formin were discovered at least 15 graves of warriors. On the other hand we can hard-
ly recognize female burials! Today we can recognize, based on the attire especially fibulae and walnut
shaped ankle rings, merely 4 to 5 burials where 3 of them could be older and 2 younger. Their deficiency could
be a consequence of the acquisition of finds which were randomly collected in the grave pit. Larger items such
as swords, spearheads and much larger iron fibulae were recognized and preserved while smaller bronze fibulae
and due to the combustion destroyed walnut shaped ankle rings were overlooked by the collectors.
Among the discovered finds, which could be ascribed to female burials, stand out the remains of burned bronze
walnut shaped anklets, a pair of bronze fibulae decorated with a pseudo-filigree decoration, two baton shaped
buckles of Brežice type and a Mötschwill type fibula. Large walnut shaped ankle rings with three to four thick-
enings were a rare element on the territory of today’s Slovenia. In larger numbers they were present on the ter-
ritory of the Carpathian basin - the territory of the Eastern Celts ranging from Lower Austria to Transylvania.
Another element, characteristic for the formal spectrum of Eastern Celtic material culture developed into a lo-
cal form on the south-eastern Alpine territory, were fibulae with a pseudo-filigree decoration. These were small-
er fibulae, made from wire which had the end of the foot and bow linked with a massive cast net-like widening
with a massive clamp into which conical coils made from thin wire were inserted. They were discovered on a ter-
ritory from Austrian Koroška to northern Bosnia and Slavonia.
A similar spatial distribution is demonstrated also by the finds of baton shaped buckles, designated as the
Brežice type. It was a bronze baton with a circular loop on one and a blunt tip on the other end. Their surface
was often decorated with oblique incisions and cross-like motives. Buckles were often fastened to a chain made
Lack of female jewelry in the cemetery
in Formin
Taking into consideration the quantity of discovered weapons, especially swords and spearheads, we can
assume that in Formin were discovered at least 15 graves of warriors. On the other hand we can hard-
ly recognize female burials! Today we can recognize, based on the attire especially fibulae and walnut
shaped ankle rings, merely 4 to 5 burials where 3 of them could be older and 2 younger. Their deficiency could
be a consequence of the acquisition of finds which were randomly collected in the grave pit. Larger items such
as swords, spearheads and much larger iron fibulae were recognized and preserved while smaller bronze fibulae
and due to the combustion destroyed walnut shaped ankle rings were overlooked by the collectors.
Among the discovered finds, which could be ascribed to female burials, stand out the remains of burned bronze
walnut shaped anklets, a pair of bronze fibulae decorated with a pseudo-filigree decoration, two baton shaped
buckles of Brežice type and a Mötschwill type fibula. Large walnut shaped ankle rings with three to four thick-
enings were a rare element on the territory of today’s Slovenia. In larger numbers they were present on the ter-
ritory of the Carpathian basin - the territory of the Eastern Celts ranging from Lower Austria to Transylvania.
Another element, characteristic for the formal spectrum of Eastern Celtic material culture developed into a lo-
cal form on the south-eastern Alpine territory, were fibulae with a pseudo-filigree decoration. These were small-
er fibulae, made from wire which had the end of the foot and bow linked with a massive cast net-like widening
with a massive clamp into which conical coils made from thin wire were inserted. They were discovered on a ter-
ritory from Austrian Koroška to northern Bosnia and Slavonia.
A similar spatial distribution is demonstrated also by the finds of baton shaped buckles, designated as the
Brežice type. It was a bronze baton with a circular loop on one and a blunt tip on the other end. Their surface
was often decorated with oblique incisions and cross-like motives. Buckles were often fastened to a chain made
