Brnjica culture
The Brnjica culture (Serbian: Брњица, full name: Donja Brnjica-Gornja Stražava cultural group, Albanian: Bërnica e Poshtme kulturë) is an archaeological culture in present-day Serbia dating from 1400 BC.[1]
| Geographical range | Serbia |
|---|---|
| Period | Bronze Age |
| Dates | 1400 BC – 700 BC |
| Type site | Donja Brnjica |
| Major sites | Hisar Hill |
| Preceded by | Urnfield culture |
| Followed by | La Tène culture |
Description
The cultural group formed out of this culture are the Moesi, a Daco-Thracian tribe formed in the Roman province of Moesia (ethnonym) of present-day central Serbia.[1]
It is also the non-Illyrian component in the Dardanian ethnogenesis.[1]
The culture is characterized by several groups:[1]
- Kosovo with Raska and Pester
- South and West Morava confluence zone
- Leskovac-Nis
- South Morava-Pcinja-Upper Vardar
Brnjica type pottery has been found in Blageovgrad, Plovdiv, and a number of sites in Pelagonia, Lower Vardar, the island of Thasos and Thessaly dating to 13th and 12th century BC.[1]
Sites
Donja Brnjica
The main site of the culture is a necropolis at Donja Brnjica, (Albanian: Bërnica e Poshtme) near Pristina.
Hisar
Hisar is a multi-periodal settlement at a hill near Leskovac.
Traces of life of the Brnjica culture (8th century BC) are seen in the plateau that was protected by a deep moat with a palisade on its inner side, a fortification similar to that of another fortification on the Gradac site in Lanište in the Velika Morava basin.[2]
A later Iron Age settlement existed at Hisar dating from the 6th century BC until the 4th century BC. Besides Greek fibulae and pottery, Triballi (Thracian) tombs have been excavated in 2005.[3]
References
- Milorad Stojic (2006). "Regional characteristics of the Brnjica cultural group" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- Milorad Stojic: Ferrous metallurgy center of the Brnjica cultural group (14th–13th centuries BC) at the Hisar site in Leskovac. MJoM Metalurgija - Journal of Metallurgy, UDC:669.1
- Praistorijska kopča. B92.net – info (in Serbian)