Page 36 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(1) (2024)

Introduction ern Slovenia and north-western Croatia. Their
ouse-shaped’ urns or house urns, also geographical distribution coincides to the great-
known in the literature as Latobici est extent with the area inhabited by the Celtic
‘H‘House’ urns, are one of the more in- group Latobici before the arrival of the Romans,
teresting and intriguing ceramic forms found in hence their frequent designation in the litera-
Roman-period graves in south-eastern Slovenia ture as Latobici house urns. In his study, Peter
1
and north-western Croatia. Petru collected almost 100 house urns from 22
The first specimens of house urns were dis- reliable sites and three unverified sites (Petru
covered in present-day Slovenia more than two 1971, 12). In recent decades, primarily, but not
hundred years ago (Petru 1971, 9), and they exclusively, during highway excavations, sever-
aroused considerable interest at that time. Karl al new sites have been discovered where house
Dežman was the first to write about them in de- urns have been added to the grave. Among
36 tail (Deschmann 1886, 17), and his work was fol- them, we highlight Ribnica near Brežice, where
lowed by many others. We should mention Peter during excavation between 2001 and 2004, four
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 12 (2024), številka 1 / volume 12 (2024), number 1
Petru, who published several works about house graves were found to contain eight specimens of
urns (Petru 1966) and discussed them separately house urns.
in detail in a comprehensive study in 1971 (Petru
1971). In this work, he not only collected all the Romula (NW Pannonia) – Ribnica
known specimens of house urns up to that time near Brežice
but also gave a detailed overview of the history of The Settlement
their research, as well as examples of house mod- Roman Romula is located in the village of Rib-
els and house urns from prehistoric contexts in nica near Jesenice in Dolenjska (Lower Carnio-
the wider European area. He devoted consider- la) (Petru 1975, 259), or Ribnica near Brežice, as
able attention to their manufacture, design de- the site came to be known during the latest ar-
velopment, and decoration in a separate chap- chaeological research (2001–2004). Romula was
ter. He was also interested in the social position twice mentioned in ancient sources, in two Ro-
of the users of the house urns, their distribution, man itineraries (Šašel 1975): the Tabula Peutin-
and their historical background (Petru 1971). geriana and Itinerarium Antonini from the end

More than fifty years after publication, some of of the third century. The former (IV, 3) plac-
his theses no longer seem relevant. However, his es it as a road station on the main via publica
remarkable contribution to the knowledge of the through Aquileia–Emona–Siscia–Sirmium, 10
subject itself cannot be overlooked. miles from the Neviodunum municipium and 14
Interest in house urns has remained steady miles from the Quadrata station, while the latter
over the years, with numerous scholars con- marks it under the number 274.4 on the II Aq-
tinuing to contribute. Notable among them are uileia–Senia–Siscia road, 10 Roman miles from
Zoran Gregl (1997; 2007), Borut Križ (2003), Bibium and 14 miles from the Quadrata station
and Phil Mason and Bernarda Županek (2018), (Šašel 1975, 76–77). It was built at the beginning
each adding their unique perspectives to our un- of the Pannonian Plain. The settlement devel-
derstanding of house urns. oped at the strategically exceptionally favoura-
House urns are a form of ceramics found ex- ble point at the passage from the valleys of the
clusively in Roman-period graves in south-east- Krka and Sava Rivers to the Pannonian Plain
at the foot of the Gorjanci hills, at the passage
1 In his study of house urns, Peter Petru included some spec-
imens from Austria, Germany, and Hungary in similar into the plain of the Sava River (Savus). On the
house-shaped urns. However, they seem to be quite differ- narrowest part of the terrace between the Sava
ent in form from those from graves in south-eastern Slove-
nia and north-western Croatia (Petru 1971, 50–52, 66). River and the Gorjanci slope ran the via publica