487 Arheološki vestnik 70, 2019, 487–515 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley Hrvoje POTREBICA Izvleček [Kaptolska skupina in Požeška kotlina] V zadnjih dveh desetletjih se je večina s kaptolsko kulturno skupino povezanih raziskav odvijala v Požeški kotlini. Železnodobne skupnosti na tem območju vsekakor pripadajo vzhodnohalštatskemu kulturnemu kompleksu, a so imele tudi zelo močne stike z jugom, kar je še zlasti vidno v poznohalštatskem obdobju. Številni predmeti, kot so deli oborožitve in noše, dosežejo prav v Požeški kotlini svoje najbolj oddaljene točke razpro- stranjenosti v evropskih okvirih. Preliminarne geofizikalne raziskave na velikem in prosperirajočem naselju z dolgo kontinuiteto kažejo na visoko organizirano, skoraj urbano strukturo. Arheobotanične analize spreminjajo opredelitev grobnega rituala teh skupnosti. Lidarski posnetki kažejo na nov policentričen model ustroja skupnosti v Požeški kotlini. Raziskave na najdišču Bangradac pa dopuščajo hipotezo, da so železnodobna središča Požeške kotline nastala z opu- ščanjem poznobronastodobnih utrjenih naselij in ustanavljanjem novih središč na nižjih obronkih bližje dolini. Odnos tako imenovane kaptolske skupine in sosednjih pokrajin še vedno ni jasno definiran. Ključne besede: Požeška kotlina, Kagovac, halštatska kultura, kaptolska skupina, gomile, elita, prestižni predmeti Abstract In the last two decades, most of the research related to the Kaptol Cultural group took place in the Požega Valley. The Iron Age communities of this area certainly belong to the Eastern Hallstatt Cultural Complex, but also had very strong ties with the south, which is particularly noticeable in the Late Hallstatt period. Numerous items discovered in the Požega Valley, including various types of weapons and elements of attire found here their farthest points of distri- bution within European framework. Preliminary geophysical investigations of the large and prosperous settlement with the long continuity point to highly organised, almost urban structure. The archaeobotanical methods have altered our perception and definition of the burial ritual of these communities. The LiDAR data indicate a polycentric model of the community structure in the Požega Valley. Investigations of the site Bangradac allow a hypothesis that the Iron Age centres of the Požega Valley were created after the Late Bronze Age fortified settlements had been abandoned. The new settlements were established on the lower slopes, closer to the valley. The relationship between the so-called Kaptol Group and neighbouring regions has not yet been defined. Keywords: Požega Valley, Kagovac, Hallstatt Culture, Kaptol Group, tumuli, elite, prestigious goods 488 Hrvoje POTREBICA UVOD Kaptolska skupina, kako je poznata u novijoj literaturi, zauzima najveći prostor kontinentalne Hrvatske tijekom starijeg željeznog doba. Njezino ime ostalo je do danas prijeporno i u mnogočemu ovisno o tome koji prostor pojedini autori uključuju u sastav te skupine. Još od sredine 20. stoljeća, kada je zahvaljujući istraživanjima na Kleinkleinu bila u literaturi formirana skupina Wies, skupina je s novim spoznajama i istraživanjima mijenjala ime. Na neki način Kaptol i kaptolsku skupinu prvi je anticipirao Stane Gabrovec (Gabrovec 1964–1965, 25) kada je halštatsku kulturu slovenske Štajerske povezao s austrijskom skupinom Wies, odnosno poznatim nalazima iz Kleinkleina, ali i sa sjeve- rozapadnom Hrvatskom na što su ga uputila tada nedavna istraživanja Ksenije Vinski-Gasparini u Martijancu (Vinski-Gasparini 1961). Otkrića u Kaptolu koja su bila rezultat istraživanja 1965. –1971. koja je proveo Arheološki muzej u Zagre- bu (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1971; 1973) navela su ga da rasprostiranje skupine koju je sada nazivao Klein- klein-Martijanec proširi sve do središnje Slavonije (Gabrovec 1980, 30), iako su zbog specifičnosti objavljenih grobnih cjelina neki autori već sugerirali izdvajanje Kaptola od skupine Wies-Martijanec u posebnu kaptolsku ili požešku grupu (Vasić 1973, 38). Ksenija Vinski-Gasparini ostaje na tom tragu kada grupu pod imenom Martijanec-Kaptol definira na istom prostoru Štajerske, Podravine, Pomurja i Međimurja te središnje Slavonije uz napomenu da ova skupina i sulmtalska skupina predstavljaju “dvije zasebne podgrupe jednog teritorijalno šireg kulturnog fenomena” (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 183, 227). Grupu uglavnom definira temeljem pogrebnog rituala i oblika naselja (incineracija pod tumulima i utvrđena visinska naselja), iako navodi i sličnosti u keramici. Kronološki skupinu dijeli u tri horizonta od kojih najraniji (Ha B3/C1) pronalazi samo na prostoru slovenske Štajerske uz naselje u Sv. Petru Ludbreškom, a kraj grupe na cijelom prostoru stavlja u polovicu 6. stoljeća pr. Kr. kada nestaju ukopi pod tumulima, iako navodi da na nekim naseljima tragova života ima i kasnije (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 188, 230–231). Baveći se slovenskom Štajerskom u starijem željeznom do- bu, Biba Teržan daje i sustavni pregled dostupnih podataka iz šireg istočnoalpskog i zapadnopanon- skog prostora. Iscrpnom analizom tog područja ukazuje na postojanje nekoliko različitih skupina ili kulturnih varijanti od kojih bi Kaptol pripadao i definirao južnopanonsku skupinu (Teržan 1990, 206–208). U sljedećim godinama nije bilo značaj- nijih promjena u percepciji željeznog doba sjeverne Hrvatske što je svakako i odraz vrlo malog broja istraživanja na ovom prostoru. Na neki način ovo razdoblje istraživanja prostora kaptolske skupine zaključila je izložba “Ratnici na razmeđu Istoka i Zapada. Starije željezno doba u kontinentalnoj Hrvatskoj” i istoimeni katalog koji je dao sustavan presjek kroz dosadašnje spoznaje o tom razdoblju i prostoru (Šimek 2004, 79–130), a upravo u to vrijeme započela je nova kampanja istraživanja na Kaptolu koja traje do danas. U kratkim crtama povijesna dinamika koncepta starijeg željeznog doba na području istočnih Alpa i južne Panonije počinje trendom definiranja ve- ćih struktura koje doista imaju dosta zajedničkih elemenata. Na taj način se u posljednjih stotinu godina, kulturna skupina koja je definirana na području austrijske Štajerske, temeljem novih spoznaja biva proširena sve do središnje Slavonije. Slijedom novih spoznaja i komparacija postaje nejasna granica između ovog i susjednih pod- ručja poput Transdanubije. Taj prošireni kulturni kompleks obuhvaćao bi sve halštatske fenomene između kalenderberške i dolenjske skupine koje ipak pokazuju značajnije razlike. Iako se na nekoliko mjesta u novijoj literaturi (eg. Egg, Kramer 2005, Abb. 2) pojavljuje razdioba tog prostora na dvije transdanubijske skupine i na sulmtalsku i kaptolsku skupinu, nije jasan niti jednoznačan kriterij za takvu podjelu. Slaba istraženost tog prostora kao i veoma malo temeljnih objava s druge strane ne pružaju mogućnost prijedloga neke druge – manje arbitrarne podjele. Iako smo u svakom trenutku svjesni da je riječ o tehničkim terminima koji su prvenstveno dio znanstvenog metajezika kojemu je svrha sistematiziranje i jednoznačna razmjena informacija, a ne pokušaj kulturološkog definira- nja zajednica koje označavaju, postavlja se pitanje koliko je takva terminologija danas održiva. Naime sva novija sustavna istraživanja starijeg željeznog doba upućuju nas da odgovore tražimo na razini pojedinih zajednica i njihovog međusobnog odnosa. T o bi značilo da ne treba tražiti adekvatnu zamjenu za kulturne skupine na istoj konceptualnoj razini nego se treba primijeniti svojevrsni ‘grassroots’ pristup u stvaranju novih kulturnih modela. Ako sada ponovno pogledamo prostor Panonije, na zapadnom rubu jest slovenska Štajerska čiji je prostor sustavno obradila B. Teržan u monogra- fiji (Teržan 1990) i nizu znanstvenih radova, a u posljednje vrijeme značajan doprinos posebice u interdisciplinarnim istraživanjima daje Matija 489 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina Črešnar (Črešnar, Mlekuž 2014; Teržan, Črešnar 2014). Iz niza razloga, ključno nalazište na tom prostoru je utvrđeno naselje Poštela koje prate više groblja pod tumulima i jedno ravno groblje, iako ne treba zanemariti niti niz drugih ranije ili nedavno istraživanih nalazišta poput Rifnika ili poznatih nalaza poput onog iz Gornje Radgone. Geografski se na taj prostor nastavlja hrvatski dio Međimurja i Podravine. Na tom je prostoru istraživano nekoliko nalazišta, među kojima se ističu groblja oko naselja u Goričanu te monumentalni tumuli u Martijancu i Jalžabetu. Najznačajnije istraživano stariježeljeznodobno naselje na tom prostoru nalazi se u Sv. Petru Ludbreškom (Šimek 2004, 79–130). Najveća istražena, ali, na žalost, još neobjavljena nekropola kaptolske skupine nalazi se u Goričanu (Vinski-Gasparini 1974). Skupina od pet tumula u Dvorišću ukazuje na rani poče- tak te skupine, koji se može datirati u 8. st. pr. Kr. (Vidović 1987, 35–37). Na središnjoj lokaciji u Goričanu, istraženo je dvadesetak tumula koji pokazuju jedinstvenu sliku individualnih palje- vinskih ukopa, ali nisu uočene nikakve drvene ili kamene unutarnje konstrukcije. Među nalazima dominira keramika različitih oblika, iako ima i oružja i dijelova nošnje. Osobno smatram da u rijetkim objavama grobnih cjelina s navedenog nalazišta već i sam raspored nalaza u tumulima te njihova sačuvanost ipak sugerira postojanje drvenog sanduka odnosno komore bez kamenog obzida. Ostatke takvih komora katkada zbog re- lativno loše sačuvanosti tumula, a možda i zbog nepovoljnog kemijskog sastava zemlje nije lako uočiti pri istraživanju. Ukoliko je postojao ritual sličan kaptolskom onda pravilne rubove tih komora barem djelomično ocrtava i materijal sa spališta koji je usut u njih, a katkad drveni ostaci komore ostaju vidljivi u formi karboniziranog drveta. U oba slučaja takvu pojavu je lako zamijeniti za tragove spališta. Na nekada eponimnom nalazištu Martijanec pronađena je središnja grobna komora, načinjena od ploča pješčenjaka (Vinski-Gaspari- ni 1961), iako ima indicija da je zapravo riječ o drvenoj komori obzidanoj kamenom. Nedostatak oružja i veće količine metalnih nalaza istraživači su pripisali pljački, ali ne može se u potpunosti isključiti ni druge mogućnosti za objašnjenje tog specifičnog inventara u kojemu se ističu lonci ukrašeni motivom meandra koji je crnom bojom oslikan na crvenoj pozadini, a potom su na njega nalijepljene kositrene lamele. Kod Jalžabeta se nalazi najveći tumul u Hrvatskoj, poznat pod imenom Gomila, koji svojim dimenzijama (oko 75 m promjera i 8 m visine) ulazi u skupinu najvećih grobnih humaka srednje Europe. Taj spomenik je 1963. sondiran, pri čemu je utvrđeno unutarnje kameno popločenje (Vinski-Gasparini 1978, 146, sl. 7), ali tada nije istraživan. S druge strane tumul 2 u Jalžabetu istražen je 1996. godine. Unatoč činjenici da je tumul bio gotovo sravnjen sa zemljom, pro- nađeni su ostaci monumentalne središnje kamene konstrukcije koja je vjerojatno okruživala drvenu komoru na koju se nastavljao dromos izgrađen na sličan način. Iako je ova konstrukcija veoma slična onima koje su pronađene u Kleinkleinu ili Süttőu, na razini sadržaja se značajno razlikuju. Umjesto bogatog groba u ovom su tumulu pronađeni fra- gmentirana keramika, koštane i željezne strelice, ostaci ljuskastog oklopa i ukrasi konjske opreme koji upućuju na vrijeme Ha D1, odnosno početak 6. st. pr. Kr. Analiza spaljenih kostiju ukazala je da nema ljudskih ostataka, nego je riječ o konju, što otvara mogućnost različitih interpretacija (Šimek 1998, 493–510). Taj nalaz je već dao naslutiti svu kompleksnost cjeline pod velikim tumulom 1 koji se nalazi u neposrednoj blizini, a u ovom trenutku ga nakon tragične pljačke istražuje tim Arheološ- kog instituta u Zagrebu koji vodi Saša Kovačević. Naselje u Sv. Petru Ludbreškom je nizinsko naselje koje se smjestilo na povišenoj gredi u riječnoj dolini. Iako je površina naselja teško oštećena poljoprivrednim radovima, utvrđeno je postojanje nadzemnih objekata, a najstariji nalazi smještaju njegov nastanak na kraj brončanog do- ba. Najvažniji nalaz na ovom nalazištu svakako predstavljaju ostaci talioničke peći uz koju je bila jama s većim brojem kalupa za lijevanje brončanih predmeta. Posebno je zanimljivo da jedna skupina pripada posljednjim horizontima brončanog doba (primjerice, lovorasta koplja i noževi s tuljcem za nasad), a u drugu skupinu se ubrajaju predmeti s pontsko-kavkaskim karakteristikama, poput pri- vjesaka za konjsku opremu ili sjekira s dvostrukom ušicom (Šimek 2004, 79–130). Ova ostava je za sada najbolji metalurški željeznodobni kontekst na prostoru Hrvatske u željeznom dobu ali s obzirom da je riječ o veoma specifičnoj cjelini vezanoj uz lijevanje bronce ne govori nam puno o metalur- giji kao važnoj privrednoj grani toga razdoblja. Druga veoma zanimljiva anomalija s tog naselja je skeletni ukop u jami s ostacima ognjišta koji se interpretira kao ljudska žrtva (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 223–224) i za sada nema paralela na prostoru istočnog halštatskog kruga. Između tih lokaliteta u Podravini i nalazišta u Požeškoj kotlini, među kojima dominira Kaptol, uočljiva je praznina koja 490 Hrvoje POTREBICA je vjerojatno posljedica slabe istraženosti tog po- dručja. Da je tomu tako upućuju i najnovija, za sada nedestruktivna istraživanja golemih tumula u selu Kravljak kod Đulovca, sa zapadne strane Psunja (sl. 1). POŽEŠKA KOTLINA Kaptol-Čemernica – nekropola Zahvaljujući posljednjih 18 godina istraživa- nja, eponimno nalazište Kaptol svakako pruža najviše podataka o najjužnijem dijelu te skupine i cijeloga halštatskog kulturnog kompleksa opće- nito. Naselje Kaptol nalazi se u Požeškoj kotlini (sl. 1), 11 kilometara zračne linije sjeveroistočno od Požege, uz južne obronke Papuka. Do sada se smatralo da je nalazište šire poznato još od kraja 19. stoljeća, odnosno od 1881. kada se prvi puta spominje u pismu budućeg povjerenika Hrvatskoga arkeologičkoga družtva Martina Bišćana, tadašnjem ravnatelju Narodnog muzeja, arheologu Don Šimi Ljubiću (V ejvoda, Mirnik 1991, 9). Kako su tumuli bili jasno vidljivi vjerojatno su oduvijek plijenili pažnju lokalnih uglavnom amaterskih istraživača, od lokalnih seljaka do kutjevačkog vlastelina Mi- lana Turkovića koji je bio i muzejski povjerenik. Međutim, osim novih istraživanja u posljednjih petnaestak godina postala nam je dostupna i ra- zličita arhivska građa pa sada znamo da su tumuli kao arheološki lokalitet bili poznati barem stoljeće ranije jer su četiri humke na nekropoli Čemerni- ca izuzetno precizno ucrtane na tzv. Prvu vojnu izmjeru Habsburške Monarhije koja je u Slavoniji izvedena 1781.–1783. 1 Čak su i označeni natpisom “Türk. Hügeln”. U svakom slučaju, prva prava arheološka istraživanja provela je između 1965. i 1971. ekipa Arheološkog muzeja iz Zagreba pod vodstvom Vere Vejvode i suradnika među kojima 1 [https://mapire.eu/en/map/firstsurvey-slavonia]. Sl. 1: Nalazišta starijeg željeznog doba u Požeškoj kotlini. Fig. 1: Iron Age sites in the Požega Valley. (Osnova / Base: CNES / Airbus Digital Globe, ©2019 Google [https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3368511,17.6419798,9526m/data=!3m2!1e3;]) 491 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina je najistaknutiji bio Ivan Mirnik. Kaptol je zapravo kompleksno nalazište koje se sastoji od utvrđenog naselja i dvije nekropole. Južnija, ranije istraživana nekropola Čemernica nalazi se sjeverno od sela Kaptol na mjestu gdje ravnica Požeške kotline prelazi na obronke Papuka. Na tom je nalazištu 1965.–1971. zapaženo i istraženo ukupno 14 humki, ali pravi opseg nekropole je teško ustanoviti jer je vjerojatno puno tumula uništeno obradom zemlje, na što upućuje činjenica da je zbog intenzivne poljoprivredne obrade sačuvana visina pojedinih tumula u vrijeme istraživanja iznosila i manje od jednog metra. Danas zahvaljujući novijim zračnim snimcima znamo da je broj tumula bio vjerojatno u nekoj mjeri ali ne znatno veći. Isto tako znamo da je je u slučaju tumula XIV zapravo riječ o ne- olitičkom naselju koje pripisujemo starčevačkoj kulturi. Na obje nekropole je nesumnjivo riječ o paljevinskim grobovima u kojima su pokojnici položeni u urne, ali i izvan njih. Međutim, po- seban problem pri kontekstualnoj analizi nalaza nekropole Čemernica jest definiranje grobnih cjelina. Iako prvi istraživači navode više grobova u nekim tumulima taj podatak nije uvijek moguće pouzdano provjeriti. Na svim skicama i crtežima vide se izdvojene skupine posuda uz koje su katkad i drugi nalazi. Međutim kako su lonce, pogotovo one specifičnih oblika, od prvih istraženih tumula nadalje počeli nazivati urnama, nastao je termino- loški problem jer su tako kasnije zvali sve posude istog ili sličnog oblika bez izričitog navoda da se u njima nalaze spaljene kosti i/ili pepeo. Time je urna postala više tipološka nego funkcionalna kategorija, a uz to treba imati na umu da čak i kad postoje vidljive kosti, ne znači nužno da je riječ o spaljenim ljudskim ostacima. Čini se da je svaka prostorno izdvojena skupina nalaza s barem jednim većim loncem označena kao grob. Prema Sl. 2: Kaptol-Čemernica, Tumul X. Izbor nalaza iz kneževskog groba. Fig. 2: Kaptol-Čemernica, Tumulus X. Selection of finds from princely grave. 492 Hrvoje POTREBICA paralelama s nekropolom na položaju Gradca, kao i usporedbom sa srodnim halštatskim skupinama i zajednicama, možemo ipak zaključiti da je u većini slučajeva riječ o jednoj grobnoj cjelini s više koncentracija priloga unutar grobne komore (T eržan 1990, 145–146). Tijekom istraživanja koja su proveli stručnjaci iz Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu, pronađeni su izuzetno vrijedni metalni i keramički nalazi koji su odmah uputili na veliku važnost tog lokaliteta (V ejvoda, Mirnik 1971; 1973; 1991). T o se posebno odnosi na dvije grobne cjeline pod tumulima IV i X (sl. 2), koje se zbog bogatstva i reprezentativnosti mogu nazvati kneževskim grobovima. Kaptolski kneževi bili su prvenstveno ratnici, a njihova moć i bogatstvo odražavali su se i na njihovu oružju. Puna oprema ratnika u smislu navalnog oružja sastojala se od dva do tri željezna koplja i bojnih sjekira. Manji povijeni nož koji se katkad nalazio u tim cjelinama bio je dio i muške i ženske nošnje i ne treba ga uvrštavati u ratničku opremu u užem smislu (Teržan 1990, sl. 34). Oružje upućuje na pojedinačni i većinom pješački način borbe (sulice za bacanje i sjekire za borbu izbliza). Osim navalnog oružja u ratničku opremu možemo uvrstiti i obrambeno oružje i konjsku opremu, iako uz funkcionalnu ulogu te dvije kategorije predmeta u grobovima kaptolske skupine svakako predstavljaju prestižne predmete (Teržan 1990, 146–147, sl. 34). Dijelove konjske opreme nalazimo u kneževskom tumulu IV . Riječ je žvalama pontsko-kavkaskih karakteristika koje su čini se jedan od starijih elemenata u tom grobu (T eržan 1990, 148–151). Općenito konjska oprema je na nekropoli Čemernica veoma rijetka i niti jedan grob nije sadržavao čitav komplet. Treba svakako spomenuti i okove osovine s kotača dvokolice koji su deformirani u vatri, a pronađeni su pod tumulom II koji se smatra ženskom cjelinom (Teržan 1990, 146, 149, sl. 34, karta 26). Svakako najznačajniji dio ratničke opreme su primjerci obrambenog naoružanja. Osim središnje ploče štita, koja dolazi iz srednje Italije, svi su ostali primjerci grčkoga podrijetla: grčko-ilirska kaciga tipa II, korintska kaciga i par knemida s oblikovanom muskulaturom. Bogatstvo središta u Kaptolu, kao i njegovu iznimnu važnost u europskim okvirima, najbolje ilustrira činjenica da je riječ o najsjevernijim primjercima spomenutih tipova u Europi (Teržan 1995, 87–89, sl. 5–6; 11)! Osim oružja karakterističnog za cijeli prostor halštatske kulture, u grobovima kaptolskih ratnika na Čemernici (tumuli IX i X) nalaze se i luksuzni brusovi s ukrašenim brončanim dršcima. Riječ je o specifičnim prestižnim predmetima kojih je najviše pronađeno na području glasinačke kul- ture pa na tom prostoru vidimo porijeklo sličnih predmeta pronađenih u Kaptolu ili barem ideju za njihov nastanak (Potrebica 2013, 87–88, 108–109). Unatoč tomu ne možemo se složiti s veoma ranom apsolutnom datacijom tih predmeta u novijim rado- vima na tu temu, koja proizlazi iz neargumentirano visoke datacije relativno kronološkog razdoblja Ha C2 u posljednju četvrtinu 8. st. pr. K., niti vidimo bilo kakve tragove kimerske prisutnosti u Panoniji (Govedarica 2017, 51–52, 60–61). Među prestižne predmete regionalnog karaktera svakako treba ubrojiti i par igala tipa Donja Dolina pronađenih u tumulu VII (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1971, 195–196, t. 10: 6). Takvi predmeti koji su oznake visokog statusa među pripadnicima ratničkog staleža u lokalnim skupinama sjevernog i središnjeg Balkana svjedoče o uskim vezama između vladajućih elita halštatskih zajednica Požeške kotline i balkanskih željeznodobnih zajednica južno od Save. Prestižni predmeti koji su import iz dalekih krajeva poput defanzivne opreme (prvenstveno kaciga) samo su nadgradnja tih veoma jakih interregionalnih veza na ovom prostoru (Potrebica 2012a, 243–244). U muškim grobovima nalazimo još i klasične halštatske višeglave igle i dijelove pojaseva, dok opremi ženskih grobova pripadaju fibule, raznoliki brončani nakit i pribor za tkanje. Na nekropoli Čemernica izdvajaju se dva “ženska” tumula (II i V) u kojima središnji grob ima ženski inventar s dodatnim prilozima konjske opreme i okova za kola. Ti neuobičajeni prilozi mogu sugerirati viši, možda religijski status tih žena u halštatskom društvu (T eržan 1990, 146–149, sl. 34–35; Potrebica 2012b, 16–18). U većini grobova nalazi se i bogat keramički inventar, među kojim se posebno izdvaja askos s drškom u obliku goveda iz tumula XII koji pripada skupini nekoliko sličnih primjeraka s područja južne Panonije (Teržan 1990, 233, karta 28; Potrebica 2012a, 239; Metzner-Nebelsick 2017, 441–442, Fig. 3). Treba spomenuti i keramičke tronošce također iz tumula XII, ali svakako najpoznatije i najljepše posude s Čemernice su četiri lonca ukrašena bi- kovskim protomama (Teržan 1990, 232, karta 27; Potrebica 2010a, 166–167). Većina finih posuda prevučena je sjajnim slojem grafita, što im daje poseban metalni sjaj. S obzirom na vrijednost grafita u vrijeme željeznog doba, smatramo da su naslage grafita u neposrednoj blizini Kaptola (gdje je rudnik grafita bio aktivan sve do 1965.) bile važan čimbenik ako ne i temelj bogatstva i moći lokalne željeznodobne zajednice. 493 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina Izuzetne rezultate polučila su i revizijska istra- živanja na Čemernici, provedena 2007., 2009. i 2016. godine (Potrebica 2008; 2010b). Tumul XI, najsjeverniji je tumul na nekropoli. Nalazi se već na padinama Papuka i u određenoj je mjeri odvojen od ostalih tumula koji su u nizini. Prekrivao je monumentalnu drvenu grobnu komoru, obzidanu kamenom, koja je imala dimenzije od oko 4 × 4 metra. U njoj je pronađen najbogatiji komplet posuđa na Čemernici, koji uključuje posude s crvenim i crnim slikanjem, posude ukrašene kositrenim la- melama kao i one ukrašene brončanim naljepcima, velike lonce na nogama (slične alpskim ciboriji- ma) te manji askos i pseudokernos! Od metalnih nalaza, tu su savršeno očuvana višeglava igla i pet željeznih ražnjeva s alkom halštatskog tipa (T eržan 2004, 168–182, Fig. 12; Potrebica 2013, 120–121). U grobu je još pronađena i pojasna garnitura, a među spaljenim osteološkim ostacima vjerojatno se nalazi i konj. Riječ je o izuzetno bogatom muš- kom grobu u kojemu upadljivo nedostaje oružje (Potrebica 2013, 108). Pod tumulom III pronađena je monumentalna drvena grobna komora obložena kamenom (sl. 3), vanjskih dimenzija 8 × 8 metara, s prilaznim ritualnim hodnikom (dromosom) dužine od preko 6 metara (Potrebica 2010b, 102–103; 2012a, 238). Unutarnje dimenzije komore bile su 5 × 5 metara, a tri reda stupova, od kojih su srednji najsnažniji i utemeljeni na kamenoj podlozi, navode na za- ključak da je imala krov na dvije vode. U komori nije uopće bilo spaljenih ostataka s lomače koji su u ovom slučaju bili prosuti po dromosu. Isto tako jedini nalazi u inače potpuno praznoj komori su bila tri keramička lonca. Pod komore je bio potpuno čist i ništa ne upućuje na pljačku, a CT koji je obavljen na tim posudama pokazuje da u posudama nema nikakvih nalaza niti kostiju. Više ćemo znati po mikroiskopavanju posuda. Na pri- jelazu iz dromosa u komoru pronađen je lonac s kostima koji je najvjerojatnije služio kao urna. Za sada znamo za oko petnaestak pravokutnih komora s dromosom na području halštatskoga kulturnog kompleksa (Dobiat 1985, 36; Egg 1996, 10, Abb. 5), a ovo je dosad najbolje sačuvani spomenik te vrste. U većini slučajeva takve konstrukcije bile su grobne komore najvećih uglednika onog vremena, poput onih u Kleinkleinu ili Süttőu. Međutim, Sl. 3: Kaptol-Čemernica, Tumul III. Pogled iz zraka na komoru s ritualnim hodnikom. Fig. 3: Kaptol-Čemernica, Tumulus III. Aerial view of a chamber with ritual corridor. 494 Hrvoje POTREBICA središnja, kamenom obzidana, konstrukcija s dromosom sa Čemernice, sadržajem u potpunosti odudara od bogatih grobova koje takve konstrukcije širom halštatskog svijeta uglavnom sadrže. Kako nemamo tragova pokojnika unutar komore, baš kao u tumulu 2 na Jalžabetu (Šimek 1998), a osim spomenutih posuda u potpunosti nedostaju drugi prilozi, ni ovdje zapravo ne govorimo o grobu u užem smislu. Sličnu situaciju prema preliminarnim prezentacijama istraživanja S. Kovačevića pokazuje i novootkopani monumentalni tumul 1 iz Jalžabe- ta, kojem u golemoj grobnoj komori nema obilja nalaza i jasno vidljivih ostataka pokojnika. U objavama tumula IV u kojem je pronađen bogati komplet ratničke opreme s grčko-ilirskom kacigom, knemidama i prsnom pločom, istraživači spominju najmanje tri žarna groba i navode: “Grobni prilozi žarnog groba 1. bili su položeni u raku približno kvadratnog tlocrta veličine 1,70 X 1,60 m koja je u visini od 5 cm bila ispunjena drvenim ugljenom.” (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1973, 595). Revizijska istraživa- nja koja smo proveli ustanovila su monumentalnu drvenu grobnu komoru dimenzija otprilike 4,5 × 4,5 m. Dno komore je ležalo na četiri paralelne grede postavljene u smjeru istok-zapad preko kojih su u poprečno postavljene daske. Ispred komore bilo je pravokutno kameno popločenje koje se trag vjerojatno znatno složenije konstrukcije jer prvi istraživači spominju suhozid koji je u njihovo vrijeme (1967.) imao sačuvanu visinu od oko 1 m (V ejvoda, Mirnik 1973, 593). Ispod tog popločenja pronađena su tri para stupova koji jasno ocrtavaju dromos koji na grobnu komoru dolazi s juga. Raka koja se spominje u prvim objavama zapravo je drveni sanduk kakva su bila dva unutar komore: u jugozapadnom i sjeveroistočnom kutu. Čini se da su nalazi zapravo bili položeni u te sanduke. Iako relativno malo fragmentiranih nalaza pronađenih pri revizijskom istraživanju nije izmijenilo sliku inventara ovog groba, konstrukcijski elementi pronađeni ovom prilikom stavljaju ga u potpuno drugi kontekst (Potrebica, Rakvin 2019). Kaptol-Gradca – nekropola Međutim najznačajniji pomaci u spoznajama o Kaptolu kao nalazištu i kaptolskoj skupini dogodila su se tijekom istraživanja položaja Gradca. Tragove gradinskoga naselja i sjeverne nekropole na brdu Gradca iznad potoka Bistra, sjeveroistočno od ne- kropole Čemernica uočila je još ekipa Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu pregledima terena 1975. kada su poduzeta i manja sondažna istraživanja (Vej- voda, Mirnik 1991, 13, 16). Sustavna istraživanja na drugoj kaptolskoj nekropoli od 2000. godine provodi ekipa Centra za prapovijesna istraživanja i Odsjeka za arheologiju Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu pod vodstvom Hrvoja Potrebice. Tije- kom dosadašnjeg istraživanja definirano je oko dvadeset i pet, a istraženo sedamnaest tumula na nekropoli koja zauzima nekoliko hektara. Čini se da je nekropola na neki način bila ograđena i nalazi se na apsolutnoj nadmorskoj visini od oko 450 metara u neposrednoj blizini utvrđenog naselja. U svim tumulima nalazimo tragove drvenih komora različitih dimenzija, a neke su bile i obzidane ka- menom (tumuli 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 i 17). U dva slučaja nalazimo i tragove manjih dromosa (tumuli 10 i 15), a u jednom je slučaju (tumul 12) pronađeno i spalište pod tumulom. Samo u jednom slučaju (tumul 13) paljevinski je grob bio ukopan u jami ispod prvobitne razine tla. Ova nekropola se u određenoj mjeri kronološki preklapa s obližnjom južnom nekropolom na Čemernici. Međutim, najstarije grobne cjeline na cijelom kompleksu nalazišta oko Kaptola koje se datiraju u Ha C1 pronađene su na sjevernoj nekropoli. U tumulu 1 taj horizont ilustriraju željezna sjekira s ručicama i brončana dvopetljasta fibula s diskoidnim proširenjima na narebrenom luku koja dolazi iz alpskoga prostora (Gabrovec type 6a/d), a slična je primjercima iz Fröga (Tomedi 2002, t. 1: B1) ili Štajerske općenito (Teržan 1990, 98, karta 9). Sl. 4: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumul 2. Kernos. Fig. 4: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumulus 2. Kernos. 495 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina U tumulu 2 pronađeni su željezna bojna sjekira sa zaliscima, označena numeričkim simbolom, koja je najistočniji poznati nalaz toga tipa uopće, i kernos s tri dodatne posudice spojene s rubom lonca trakastim ručkama (sl. 4). U istom su tumulu pronađene i željezne strelice, željezna perla i posude ukrašene kositrenim lamelama kakve se nalaze i u kneževskom tumulu 6 (sl. 5). Tumul 10 imao je maleni dromos, a u njemu su, između ostalog, pronađeni i najljepši primje- rak posude ukrašene bikovskim protomama (sl. 6), dvije brončane višeglave igle i bogat komplet naoružanja s dva koplja, željeznom sjekirom s ručicama i brončanom sjekirom sa zaliscima koja je također označena urezanim znakom. Zasad najbogatiji željeznodobni grob na prostoru Hrvatske otkriven je upravo na ovoj nekropoli, pod tumulom 6 (sl. 7). S visinom od oko 2,8 metara i promjerom od oko 18 metara to je bio najveći vidljivi tumul na toj nekropoli. Uz samu površinu zemljanog nasipa nalazio se periferni paljevinski grob muškarca, mlađi od središnjeg ukopa, a temeljem pojasne garniture alpskog tipa datira se u razdoblje Ha D2 (Hodson 1990, 130, 148, t. 30: 3,6; Tecco Hvala 2012, 172–176, sl. 66: 17). U drvenoj komori ispod goleme kamene konstrukcije pronađeno je mnogo nalaza, među kojima se ističu dva para željeznih sjekira, pet željeznih kopalja, dva kompleta konjske opreme s brončanim razvodnicima remenja, jedan željezni mač (sl. 8) i jedan brončani mač (najsjevernija pojava mačeva tipa Kostel) (Harding 1995, 58–59; Sl. 5: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumul 6. Veliki lonac ukrašen kosit- renim lamelama sa motivom spirale. Fig. 5: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumulus 6. Large jar with spiral tin sheet ornaments. Sl. 6: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumul 10. Urna ukrašena bikovskim protomama. Fig. 6: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumulus 10. Urn with bull heads. t. 528; Potrebica 2013, 87–88, 100–101), pojasna garnitura s brusom i brončana situla. U situli su pronađeni još niz metalnih predmeta i dijelovi vjerojatno dvije zdjelaste kacige. Osim metalnih nalaza, grobna komora je sadržavala i tridesetak keramičkih posuda, među kojima su najzanimljiviji lonci ukrašeni kositrenim i brončanim lamelama (sl. 5). Sve to po mnogočemu predstavlja izuzetnu cjelinu koja značajno mijenja dosadašnje spozna- je o početku željeznog doba u južnoj Panoniji. Oprema ratnika upućuje na to da bi mogla biti riječ o dvojnom kneževskom grobu, što bi bilo jedinstveno otkriće o starijem željeznom dobu Europe! Iako su metalni nalazi iz toga groba još u postupku konzervacije, barem dio njih možemo datirati u Ha C1. Jedino spalište koje je definirano na ovoj ne- kropoli pronađeno je pod tumulom 12, drugim humkom po veličini na toj nekropoli. Spalište je bilo dimenzija 2 × 1 metar i direktno se naslanjalo na kamenom obzidanu komoru. Iako je komora bila znatno oštećena vojnim rovom iz sedamdesetih godina prošlog stoljeća pronađeno je mnogo nalaza ali uglavnom u spalištu. Riječ je o seriji keramič- kih posuda visoke kvalitete, dvije čunaste i jednoj žičanoj brončanoj fibuli, mnoštvu fragmentiranih brončanih lančića na čijim su krajevima stajali trokutasto oblikovani privjesci od brončanog i že- ljeznog lima ukrašeni iskucavanjem, kao i o većem broju brončanih cilindričnih perlica (vjerojatno dio ogrlice). Uz brončane pronađeno je i nekoliko cilindričnih perlica od čini se elektruma koje su 496 Hrvoje POTREBICA Sl. 7: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumul 6. Nalazi u sjeveroistočnom kutu. Fig. 7: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumulus 6. Finds in NE corner. oblikom potpuno identične brončanim primjer- cima. Ukoliko se potvrdi preliminarna analiza to bi bili i prvi i za sada jedini nalazi od plemenitih metala u kontekstu željeznodobnih nalazišta oko Kaptola. Posebno su zanimljivi ukrašeni koštani predmeti (vjerojatno dijelovi nošnje). Uz to je pronađen i bogato ukrašeni drveni gumb koji kao veoma rijedak i važan nalaz samo daje naslutiti bogatstvo ornamentike na drvetu, tekstilu i dru- gim propadljivim materijalima, koji su zasigurno krasili opremu i nošnju ovako značajne pokojnice. U središnjoj grobnoj konstrukciji pronađeni su lonac i dvije zdjele sa spaljenim kostima i pepelom te mnogo sitnih nalaza od bronce i kosti, među kojima se ističe ulomak figuralnog prikaza jahača na konju, vjerojatno dio fibule (Potrebica 2013, 160–161) čije porijeklo treba tražiti u etruščanskom kulturnom krugu (Teržan 1995, 99–100, Abb. 37: 5; Mihovilić 2001, 149, t. 22: 1; Metzner Nebelsick 2007). Veoma važnu cjelinu predstavlja i komplet od ukupno 16 piramidalnih utega tkalačkog stana pronađenih većinom u spalištu. Iako je u grobu pronađen i bogato ukrašeni pršljenak što u kon- tekstu ove nekropole jasno definira žensku osobu, pojava ovako velikog broja utega tkalačkog stana sugerira ženu visokog položaja možda povezanu s religijskom dimenzijom kaptolske zajednice s prijelaza Ha C2 u Ha D1 (Teržan 1996, 513–517, 524–529; Potrebica 2012b, 17). Na ovoj nekropoli oružje je pronađeno u šest grobova. Osim željezne sjekire s ručicama svi ostali elementi materijalne kulture u tumulu 1 upućuju na žensku osobu pa bismo ovaj grob tako i definirali. U četiri groba nalazimo koplja (u tri groba po dva, a u tumulu 6 čak pet). Sjekire nalazimo u tri groba (u tumulu 2 jednu, u tumulu 10 dvije, a u tumulu 6 najmanje tri). Konjsku opremu nalazimo u dva groba (tumuli 6 i 16), a kacige i mačeve nalazimo samo u tumulu 6. Time dobivamo i određenu hijerarhijsku sliku ratničke strukture ove zajednice iako to ne mora odražavati status konkretnih pojedinaca ukopanih u navedene grobove jer ratničku opremu uvijek treba promatrati u kontekstu cjelokupnog groba kao zatvorene cjeline. Višeglave igle na Čemernici pronalazimo u kneževskom grobu pod tumulom IV u paru i pod tumulom XI jedan izuzetan primjerak na ravnom drvenom krovu komore. Na nekropoli Gradca dvije višeglave igle nalazimo u tumulu 10 uz bogati komplet ratničke opreme dok u tumulu 6 nalazimo samo štitnik za iglu jer je panj koji je 497 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina izrastao na vrhu komore vjerojatno uništio osta- tak igle. Za pretpostaviti je da je stajala na krovu komore. Sve nas to upućuje da su takve igle imale značajnu ulogu u muškoj nošnji i to s obzirom na distribuciju ne samo kao oznaka društvene uloge nego prvenstveno statusa (Potrebica, Mavrović Mokos 2019). S druge strane gotovo je nemoguće vidjeti takvu distinkciju u ženskim grobovima jer su relevantni nalazi veoma oskudni zbog običaja spaljivanja u nošnji pa je većina razlikovnih ili eventualno statusnih elemenata uništena ili teško oštećena vatrom. Zajednička je pojava prilaganja jednog ili nekoliko pršljenaka u grob što je kanon za ženske grobove na ovoj nekropoli. Jedino u slučaju tumula 12 nalazimo i utege za tkalački stan što je samo jedan od elemenata koji ukazuje na poseban status žene ukopane u ovom grobu. Arheobotanička istraživanja provedena u sklopu projekta Hrvatske zaklade za znanost pod nazivom Pogrebni običaji starijeg željeznog doba u južnoj Panoniji – raskrižja identiteta (BC-CrossId) dopunila su sliku pogrebnog rituala i poduprle jednu od hipoteza postavljenih tijekom istraživanja, koja samom činu spaljivanja daje puno veće eshatološko značenje (Šoštarić et al. 2016; Šoštarić et al. 2017). Posljedica toga jest da mnoge elementa materijalne kulture koji se pri ritualu spaljivanja na neposredan ili simboličan način vežu uz pokojnika ne nalazimo u grobnim komorama pod tumulima osim u fragmentiranoj formi kao posljedicu manje-više slučajnog transfera. To se prvenstveno odnosi na elemente nošnje ali i na neke druge priloge poput konja i vjerojatno konjske opreme ili hrane u formi mesa i biljnih jela, primjerice žitarica i voća. Stoga svakoj rekon- strukciji identiteta pokojnika koja se bazira samo na materijalnoj kulturi priloga u grobu nedostaje jedan izuzetno važan segment. Vremenski okvir za obje nekropole obuhvaća razdoblje od Ha C1 do Ha D1. Sredinom šestog stoljeća ukopi prestaju, uz izuzetak perifernog groba u plaštu kneževskog tumula 6 koji se možda može datirati u Ha D2. Kaptol-Gradca – naselje Sjeverno od nekropole u neposrednoj blizini nalazi se naselje Gradca koje zauzima prostor od oko sedam hektara. Riječ je o kosoj zaravni oblika nepravilnog pravokutnika koja se po kraćoj strani spušta od istoka prema zapadu. Površina te zaravni organizirana je u terase koje se padaju prema za- padu. Na tri strane naselje okružuju veoma strmi Sl. 8: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumul 6. Željezni mač. Fig. 8: Kaptol-Gradca, Tumulus 6. Iron sword. 498 Hrvoje POTREBICA klanci potoka, dok ga na istočnoj strani, okrenutoj prema višim predjelima Papuka od okolnog prostora odvaja uzvisina koja na nekim mjestima doseže širinu od preko dvadeset metara. Prapovijesni ulaz na gradinu vjerojatno je bio na njezinom jugoza- padnom kutu. Iako su prve stratigrafske probe na naselju načinjene još 2001., sondiranje na naselju nije počelo do 2011. Cilj istraživanja na naselju bilo je ustanoviti stratigrafiju i kronologiju, gustoću naseljenosti (odnosno veličinu populacije i struk- turu naselja) i odnos materijalne kulture naselja s onom koju pronalazimo u grobovima. Sonda 1 bila je postavljena odmah iznad mikrolokacije Lisičje jame, a sonde 2 i 3 na najvišoj terasi nalazišta. U tim sondama pronađena je golema količina materijala ali nije do kraja definiran niti jedan stambeni objekt. Isto se može reći za sondu 5 na pretpostavljenom bedemu na istočnoj strani naselja čiju je struktu- ru u presjeku trebala pokazati sonda 4. Međutim utvrđeno je da pretpostavljeni bedem nije umjetna uzvisina nego je riječ o prirodnom kamenom rebru koje odvaja prostor gradine od masiva Papuka na istoku. Međutim čini se da je ta uzvisina s vanjske strane odsijecana na umjetan način kako bi se dobila strma, gotovo okomita površina ispred koje se nalazi manja uzvisina. Na taj način bedem nije načinjen nasipanjem nego modifikacijom, odnosno obrnutim postupkom modifikacije već postojeće prirodne strukture. Na širem dijelu uzvisine pro- nađeni su tragovi stambenih objekata i metalurške aktivnosti što ukazuje na potrebu za daleko širim zahvatom iskopavanja na tom mjestu. Tek je sonda 6 postavljena u jugoistočnom kutu naselja otkrila neke konkretne konstrukcijske elemente objekata i stratigrafije naselja ali je istovremeno otvorila i niz novih pitanja. Na tom prostoru smo utvrdili nekoliko ognjišta od kojih najbolje sačuvano ima s kamenu substrukciju i glineni premaz. Na ognjištu je osim keramike pronađeno i nekoliko ulomaka prijenosnih ognjišta i ukrašenih prijeklada. Zido- vi kuća su vidljivi kao trake ljepa i karbonizirane grede. Međutim niti ovdje zbog nagiba terena nismo uspjeli zaokružiti niti jedan cijeli objekt jer moramo utvrditi je li kaskadna organizacija povr- šine rezultat kronologije i odraz stratigrafije ili je riječ o tehničkoj prilagodbi padu terena. Sonda 6 pokazala je da postoje dva jasno vidljiva horizonta gradnje. Sve opisane konstrukcije podignute su na sloju nivelacije ispod kojega je pronađena erozi- jom teško oštećena izgorjela kuća s nizom od 37 utega tkalačkog stana i nekoliko drvenih greda od kojih je su na jednoj vidljive tri elipsoidne koso ubušene rupe. Stručnjaci koji se bave tekstilom i tehnologijom izrade tekstila (poput M. Glebe i K. Grömer) smatraju da udaljenost između otvora kao i njihova veličina i oblik upućuju na zaključak da je riječ o dijelu tkalačkog stana – prvom takvom za sada poznatom u željeznodobnoj Europi. S druge strane sav pokretni materijal iz slojeva iznad ni- velacije upućuje na razdoblje od Ha D2 do LT B1. Prema sadašnjoj slici kulturne dinamike prostora južne Panonije, upravo s početkom tog razdoblja zajednice koje su karakterizirali ukopi pod tumu- lima nestaju i nastupa vrijeme opće stagnacije u kojem neki autori vide i drastični pad populacije možda povezan s epidemijama. U slučajevima kada je moguća preciznija kulturna atribucija nalaza s gradine iz tog razdoblja paralele jasno upućuju na prostor sjeverne Bosne: zvjezdoliki pršljenak, ra- nolatenski oblik fibule kakve nalazimo u Sanskom Mostu, kameni privjesak i neki keramički oblici, prvenstveno bikonične zdjele sa široko izvijenim rubom ukrašene iznutra kaneliranjem. Paralelno sa sondiranjem na naselju su pro- vođena geofizikalna istraživanja pod vodstvom Branka Mušiča s Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Ljubljani. Rezultati magnetometrije nisu bili konzistentni sve dok u vrijeme istraživanja sonde 6 nije pokrivena znatno veća površina. Rezultati tih istraživanja bili su potpuno neočekivani i daju za sada jedinstvenu sliku u ovom dijelu Europe. Naime površina naselja koja je nivelirana terasama, prekrivena je gustom mrežom jednako orijenti- ranih pravokutnih, gotovo kvadratnih prostora dimenzija oko 20 × 20 m, između kojih se daju naslutiti odgovarajuće komunikacije koje prate kon- figuraciju terena. Cijela slika odaje dojam urbane strukture ili barem visoko organiziranog naselja veoma napredne infrastrukture koje je podignuto u kratkom razdoblju (Potrebica, Mavrović Mokos 2016, 56–60; Mušič, Potrebica 2019 2 ). Stratigrafija sonde 6 u potpunosti odgovara toj slici pri čemu kvadratne prostorne jedinice ne bi bile kuće ne- go ih uvjetno možemo zvati dvorištima koja su koristila pojedina domaćinstva (pretpostavljamo obitelji). Ukoliko je tomu tako, to bi ujedno bile i elementarne društvene jedinice od kojih se sastojala željeznodobna zajednica u Kaptolu. Sljedeći problem koji treba riješiti je kronološki pomak, odnosno činjenica da poznajemo grobove pod tumulima koji kronološki prethode tom kasnohalštatskom naselju ali ne znamo gdje su i kako stanovnici tog naselja sahranjivali svoje mrtve. 2 B. Mušič, H. Potrebica, Geophysical research in Kaptol (u izradi). 499 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina Kagovac Pristup istraživanju središta u Kaptolu s najmanje tri cjeline evoluirao je s vremenom od interpreta- cije pojedinih lokaliteta i njihovog međusobnog odnosa do koncepta u kojem je predmet istraži- vanja čitav prostor u kojem je zajednica živjela bez obzira imamo li na pojedinim mjestima više ili manje jasno izražena nalazišta. Pokušavajući prostor oko Kaptola sagledati kao cjelinu iskori- stili smo tehničke mogućnosti koje nam je pružao međunarodni projekt Encounters and Transfor- mations in Iron Age Europe (ENTRANS) koji smo provodili i na prostoru Požeške kotline. U okviru tog projekta proveli smo 2014. LIDAR snimanje prostora oko Kaptola što nam je omogućilo da dobijemo relativno preciznu 3D sliku reljefa ispod inače gustog i mjestimično neprohodnog šumskog pokrova. U 34 km 2 obuhvaćena tim snimanjem uključili smo i prostor sjeverno od sela Vetovo na položaju Kagovac (sl. 1) gdje smo već znali da postoji naselje i groblje s tumulima. Osim što smo dobili preciznu sliku kaptolskog naselja s te- rasama i jasno vidljivim ulazom, uz nekropole za koje smo znali i ranije pojavili su se i neke čini se antropogene konstrukcije koje tek treba istražiti, sjeverno od nekropole Čemernica, na zapadnoj strani potoka Bistra koji se usijeca između ovog obronka i položaja Gradca na kojem se smjestilo kaptolsko naselje. Međutim, pravo iznenađenje je bio precizan uvid u prostor oko položaja Ka- govac. Iako već desetak godina znamo da se na tom lokalitetu nalazi osam većih tumula iznad kojih je na vrhu brda Gradac gradinsko naselje sa složenim sustavom fortifikacija, točan broj tumula i oblik naselja nije bilo moguće ustanoviti jer je veći dio nalazišta prekriven neprohodnom šika- rom. Lidarskim snimcima i terenskim pregledom potvrđena je zapadna nekropola tumula na kojoj se uz prethodno poznatih osam vidi još sedam do sada nepoznatih tumula uključujući i najveću humku na toj nekropoli. Međutim uočena je i skupina veoma niskih, jedva uočljivih uzvišenja na kosoj padini ispod gradine za koju je pretpo- stavljeno da bi mogla biti južna nekropola istog naselja. Do sada su istražena tri tumula (sl. 9) na zapadnoj nekropoli i jedan na južnoj. U tumulima zapadne nekropole pronađeni su izuzetno bogati grobovi, od kojih su dva ratnička, a jedan ženski. Svi nalazi upućuju na datiranje na sam početak Ha C. Prilikom istraživanja prostora između tumula 2 i 3 pronađen je teško oštećeni halštatski grob u ravnom terenu što je do sada jedinstven slučaj u Požeškoj kotlini. Osim toga je ustanovljeno da je nekropola barem jednim dijelom podignuta na naselju kostolačke kulture koje je time u najvećoj Sl. 9: Kagovac, Tumul 1. Pogled iz zraka na grobnu komoru s nalazima. Fig. 9: Kagovac, Tumulus 1. Aerial view of the grave chamber with finds. 500 Hrvoje POTREBICA mjeri uništeno. Jedini istraženi tumul južne ne- kropole (tumul A) bio je izuzetno malih dimenzija (promjera oko četiri metra i sačuvane visine od oko pola metra). Osim činjenice da je potvrđena hipoteza da je doista riječ o drugoj nekropoli pro- nađena je bogata ratnička oprema s dvije sjekire i dva koplja. Materijalna kultura ove nekropole ni na koji način ne odudara od materijalne kulture koju smo vidjeli na nekropolama na Kaptolu, a i kronološki se barem u jednom dijelu preklapaju. S obzirom na relativnu blizinu ta dva središta (samo 6 km zračne linije) otvara se pitanje o upravljanju prostorom i odnosu između ova dva naselja, koja barem na početku starijeg željeznog doba koegzi- stiraju bez uočljivog hijerarhijskog odnosa. Naselje na brdu Gradac kojem su pripadale ne- kropole na Kagovcu ima čini se tri kruga bedema i niz koncentričnih terasa koje se protežu niz padinu brda daleko izvan vanjskog perimetra bedema. Ovo naselje nije istraživano ali je zato istraživano treće utvrđeno naselje koje je do sada bilo nepoznato i pronađeno je zahvaljujući lidarskom snimku. Bangradac Naselje Bangradac smjestilo se otprilike između Kaptola i Kagovca, iznad sela Podgorje (sl. 1; 10). Naselja kod Kaptola i Kagovca se nalaze otprilike na istoj nadmorskoj visini (450–500 metara), dok je ovo naselje površine od nešto preko 4 hektara potpuno okruženo bedemima, ali na znatno višem (oko 750 m) planinskom hrptu koji se proteže u smjeru sjeverozapad- jugoistok s ulazom na jugoi- stoku. Bedemi su načinjeni konstrukcijom od drveta i nabijene zemlje preko koje je navučen suhozidni bedem, a sve ovo je prekriveno nabijenim slojem zemlje. Ostaje za utvrditi je li riječ o kronološkim ili konstrukcijskim fazama izrade bedema. U naselju su utvrđene konstrukcije (vjerojatno kuće) koje počivaju na stupovima od kojih su neki dvostruki na što upućuje velika količina keramike i drugih nalaza. Sav pokretni materijal za sada upućuje na posljednju fazu kasnog brončanog doba, odnosno 9.–8. st. pr. Kr. i nema nalaza ranijih ili kasnijih od toga, kao što do sada nisu uočeni ni tragovi nekropole koja bi mogla pripadati tom naselju. Sl. 10: Bangradac, SZ bedem gradine. Fig. 10: Bangradac hillfort. NW ramparts. 501 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina ZAKLJUČAK Nakon osamnaest sezona istraživanja na ovom prostoru čini se da imamo više novih pitanja nego odgovora. Ako krenemo od materijalne kulture novi nalazi svjedoče o dubokoj ukorjenjenosti željeznodobnih zajednica Požeške kotline u ono što uvjetno nazivamo srednjoeuropskim halštatskim kulturnim kompleksom. To se posebno odnosi na prostor jugoistočnih Alpa i zapadni dio Panonije. Međutim materijalna kultura Kaptola sugerira i veoma jake veze s jugom, posebno sa sjevernom Bosnom čiji su utjecaji posebno vidljivi i jaki u razdoblju kasnog halštata. Brojni predmeti upravo na prostoru Požeške kotline dosežu svoje najdalje točke rasprostiranja u europskim okvirima, poput različitih tipova naoružanja (bojne sjekire, mačevi, kacige, knemide), dijelova nošnje (fibule i više- glave igle) i drugih predmeta specifične namjene (konjska oprema i brusovi/žezla) (Potrebica 2012a, 244, Figs. 4, 6, 8, 10). Bogati prilozi u grobovima elite, koji sadrže ekskluzivne prestižne predmete iz udaljenih krajeva, kao i veliko i prosperitetno naselje s dugim kontinuitetom života, ukazuju na dugotrajnu i golemu važnost središta u Kaptolu u komunikacijskoj mreži koja je tijekom starijeg željeznog doba povezivala razvijena kulturna i proizvodna središta u Grčkoj i Italiji s bogatim središtima halštatskih zajednica u središnjoj Eu- ropi. Bliska povezanost tog središta s pojedinim željeznodobnim skupinama južno od Save (poput Donje Doline i Glasinca), na istočnoalpskom pro- storu (Dolenjska i Štajerska), ali i u Podunavlju i Transdanubiji, potvrđuje njegov ključni položaj na razmeđu tri civilizacijska kruga: Panonije, Alpa i Balkana (Potrebica, Mavrović Mokos 2016, 60). Stoga nije čudno što je upravo Kaptol dao ime najjužnijoj skupini halštatskoga kulturnog kompleksa. Međutim nova istraživanja nisu donijela samo nove nalaze. S vremenom je došlo do promjene koncepcije istraživanja i pristupa interpretaciji koja se odmiče od pojedinih nalazišta i promatra zajednicu i prostor u cjelini. U posljednje vrijeme nove ideje prate i nove metodologije, pa smo tako geofizikalnim metodama saznali izuzetno vrijedne podatke o strukturi naselja koja drastično mijenja pretpostavke o društvenoj strukturi i dinamici ondašnjih zajednica koje su očigledno bile daleko kompleksnije, organiziranije i sposobnije za veće infrastrukturne zahvate nego što smo to do sada zamišljali. Geofizika nekropola bi nam trebala ot- kriti svu kronološku ali i strukturnu kompleksnost grobnih prostora u cjelini bez primjene dugotrajnih i visoko destruktivnih metoda istraživanja poput klasičnog iskopavanja. Arheobotaničke i druge prirodnoznanstvene metode koje kroz interdisciplinarni pristup uklju- čujemo u planove istraživanja daju nam dragocjene podatke i potpuno novi kontekst za već poznatu ili novootkrivenu materijalnu kulturu. Cilj je stvarati takve timove koji bi nam u budućnosti mogli omogućiti iskorak od interdisciplinarnosti ka transdisciplinarnosti. Prvi rezultati već u pot- punosti mijenjanju našu sliku grobnog rituala ovih zajednica kao i samu definiciju grobnog rituala. Lidarski snimci su promjenu donijeli na drugoj razini i u ovako šumovitim prostorima predstav- ljaju kvantni skok u razumijevanju kulturnog krajolika kao dinamičke cjeline. Spomenuta je tehnologija u potpunosti promijenila naše po- znavanje i interpretaciju nalazišta, prostora oko i između njih, i njihovog međusobnog odnosa. Međutim, činjenica da su podaci prikupljeni na površini od samo 34 km 2 i da se djelomično još interpretiraju, navodi nas na zaključak da stara slika s jednim dominantnim središtem u Kaptolu koje prate eventualno druga satelitska naselja u kotlini sigurno nije ispravna, ali da još nije mo- guće predložiti relevantan model zbog nedostatka podataka sa statistički relevantnijeg, odnosno šireg prostora. Nadamo se da će nova lidarska snima- nja koja planiramo provoditi na prostoru kotline pridonijeti tome cilju ali pravo rješenje bi svakako bio sustavan pristup i potpuna pokrivenost čitavog prostora lidarskim snimcima. Za sada se svakako radni model ustrojstva zajednica u Požeškoj kotli- ni odmiče od jednog središta i satelitskih naselja prema nekom policentričnom modelu. U skladu s time, na razini europske nadregionalne komuni- kacijske mreže željeznog doba funkcija izuzetno važnog dinamičkog čvorišta više ne bi pripadala samo Kaptolu kao singularnom središtu nego či- tavoj Požeškoj kotlini kao policentričnoj cjelini u kojoj Kaptol svakako ima istaknutu ulogu. Na to upućuju i nove dojave o eventualnom postojanju još sličnih nalazišta u papučkim šumama. Paralelno istraživanje čitavog prostora u ko- jem dominiraju Kaptol, Kagovac i Bangradac mogla bi rasvijetliti mehanizam transformacije brončanog u željezno doba na ovom prostoru. S obzirom da na užem prostoru oko Kaptola za sada nismo pronašli tragove kasnog brončanog doba, a za sada ih ne nalazimo niti oko Kagovca, možemo postaviti hipotezu da se željeznodobna središta Požeške kotline nastaju napuštanjem 502 Hrvoje POTREBICA ČREŠNAR, M., D. MLEKUŽ 2014, Identities of the early Iron Age in north eastern Slovenia. – V / In: C. Popa, S. Stoddart (ur. / eds.), Fingerprinting the Iron Age. Appro- aches to identity in the European Iron Age. Integrating South-Eastern Europe into the debate, 18–32, Oxford. DOBIAT, C. 1985, Der Kröll-Schmiedkogel bei Kleinklein und seine Stellung innerhalb der ostalpinen Hallstattkultur. Kröll-Schmiedkogel. Beiträge zu einem “Fürstengrab” der östlichen Hallstattkultur in Kleinklein (Steiermark). – Kleine Schriften aus dem Vorgeschichtlichen Seminar Marburg 18, 29–62. EGG, M. 1996, Das hallstattzeitliche Fürstengrab von Stret- tweg bei Judenburg in der Obersteiermark. – Römisch- -Germanisches Zentralmuseum / Monographien 37. EGG, M., D. KRAMER 2005, Krieger – Feste – Totenopfer. Der letzte Hallstattfürst von Kleinklein in der Steiermark. – Forschungen am Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmu- seum 1, Mainz. GABROVEC, S. 1964–1965, Halštatska kultura v Sloveniji (Die Hallstattkultur Sloweniens). – Arheološki vestnik 15–16, 21–63. GABROVEC, S. 1980, Der Beginn der Hallstattkultur und der Osten. – V / In: Die Hallstattkultur. Frühform euroäischer Kultur. Internatione Ausstellung des Landes Oberösterreich 25. April bis 26. Oktober 1980, Schloß Lamberg, Steyr, 30–53, Linz. GOVEDARICA, B. 2017, Problem interpretacije ukra- šenih brusova s Glasinačkog područja / The problem of interpretation of the decorated whetstones from the Glasinac area. – Vjesnik za arheologiju i historiju dalmatinsku 110, 37–65. HARDING, A. 1995, Die Schwerter in ehemaligen Jugo- slawien. – Prähistorische Bronzefunde 4/14. HODSON, F . R. 1990, The Ramsauer Graves. Quantification and Analysis. – Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum / Monographien 16. METZNER-NEBELSICK, C. 2007, Pferdchenfibeln. Zur Deutung einer frauenspezifischen Schmuckform der Hallstatt- und Frühlatènezeit. – V / In: M. Blečić, M. Črešnar, B. Hänsel, A. Hellmuth, E. Kaiser, C. Metzner- -Nebelsick (ur. / eds.), Scripta Praehistorica in Honorem Biba Teržan, Situla 44, 341–356. METZNER-NEBELSICK, C. 2017, Sumptuous Vessels and Animal Protome – New finds of the early Hallstatt Pe- riod in Southeast Pannonia. – V / In: E. Miroššayová, C. Pare, S. Stegmann-Rajtár (ur. / eds.), Das nördliche Karpatenbecken in der Hallstattzeit: Wirtschaft, Handel und Kommunikation in früheisenzeitlichen Gesellschaften zwischen Ostalpen und Westpannonien, Archaeolingua 38, 433–470. kasnobrončanodobnih utvrđenih naselja čija populacija vjerojatno osniva nova središta na nižim obroncima bliže dolini. Odnos takozvane kaptolske skupine i susjednih prostora također je još nedefiniran. Prostor prema zapadu koji bi još trebao pripadati ovoj skupini vjerojatno zauzimaju zajednice koje su slične onima unutar kotline kao i onima na prostoru Podravine, Međimurja i daljeg prostora Prekmurja i Štajerske. Baš kao i raniji istraživači ovog prostora (Vinski- Gasparini 1987, 182), smatramo da je dosadašnja praznina rezultat specifičnih okolnosti vezanih uz povijest istraživanja, odnosno da nije odraz pravog stanja stvari na terenu. Na to nas upućuju i preliminarna istraživanja već spomenutih mo- numentalnih tumula u Kravljaku kod Đulovca koja nakon obećavajućih geofizikalnih istraživanja tek trebaju dati prave rezultate (Potrebica 2014). Svakako se puno novih informacija očekuje i od novih istraživanja na Jalžabetu, a određene prostorne analize radimo i na prostoru Goričana (Vuković, Potrebica, Fileš 2018, 15). Za veze sa sjeverom odnosno prostorom Podravine i dalje na sjever Transdanubije nedostaju nam adekvatna istraživanja odnosno objave ključnih nalazišta poput Nagyberki-Szalacska. Potpuna nepoznanica je uvjetno rečeno istočna granica, odnosno gdje je na prostoru istočno od Slavonskoga gorja zona razgraničenja prema daljskoj skupini koja se ipak u mnogo aspekata bitno razlikuje od zajednica na prostoru kaptolske skupine. Zbog intenzivnih kontakata s jugom uvijek je bilo zanimljivo pitanje do kuda seže utjecaj kaptolske skupine prema jugu, odnosno je li Sava razdjelnica između kaptolske skupine i skupine Donja Dolina kako su do sada bile definirane ili i ovdje treba tražiti neki novi model. Odgovor na to pitanje dat će nastavak istraživanja tumula i naselja u Dolini kod Nove Gradiške, objava rezultata istraživanja tumula u okolici Županje, kao i revizija građe iz Donje Doline koja je u tijeku. Rezultati koje imamo do sada postavljaju kao radnu hipotezu da Posavina predstavlja zasebnu i jedinstvenu kulturnu cjelinu s obje strane Save. Trenutno stanje istraživanja i analitičkih postu- paka u cjelini trebalo bi u sljedećih nekoliko godina s prostora Požeške kotline i kaptolske skupine u cjelini donesti veoma važne rezultate koji će sva- kako imati dalekosežan utjecaj na razumijevanje željeznog doba u južnom dijelu Karpatske kotline i nekim susjednim prostorima. 503 Kaptolska skupina i Požeška kotlina MIHOVILIĆ, K. 2001, Nezakcij. Prapovijesni nalazi 1900.–1953. / Nesactium. Prehistoric finds 1900–1953. – Monografije i katalozi 11. Arheološki muzej Istre. POTREBICA, H. 2003, Požeška kotlina i Donja Dolina u komunikacijskoj mreži starijeg željeznog doba. – Opu- scula archaeologica 27, 217–242. POTREBICA, H. 2008, Kaptol-Čemernica (istraživanje 2007.). – V / In: Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak 4 (2007), 109–112. POTREBICA, H. 2010a, Religijski aspekti keramičkih nalaza u pogrebnom ritualu starijeg željeznog doba. – Histria Antiqua 18/1, 163–172. POTREBICA, H. 2010b, Kaptol-Čemernica (istraživanje 2009.). – V / In: Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak 6 (2009), 101–106. POTREBICA, H. 2012a, Kaptol – a centre on the periphery of the Hallstatt world. – V / In: C. Tappert, Ch. Later, J. Fries-Knoblach, P. C. Ramsl, P. Trebsche, S. Wefers, J. Wiethold (ur. / eds.), Wege und Transport, Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas 69, 235–245. POTREBICA, H. 2012b, Religious Phenomena of the Hallstatt Communities of Southern Pannonia. – V / In: S. Berecki (ur. / ed.), Iron Age Rites and Rituals in the Carpathian Basin. Proceedings of the International Colloquium from Târgu Mureş, 7–9 October 2011, Bibli- otheca Musei Marisiensis. Seria Archaeologica 5, 9–30. POTREBICA, H. 2013, Kneževi željeznoga doba / Princes of the Iron Age. – Zagreb. POTREBICA, H. 2014, Kravljak – tumuli (istraživanje 2013.). – V / In: Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak 10 (2013), 155–157. POTREBICA, H., J. MA VROVIĆ MOKOS 2016, Encounters on Borders of Worlds: The Kaptol Group in the Early Iron Age Communication Network. – V / In: I. Armit, H. Potrebica, M. Črešnar, Ph. Mason, L. Büster (ur. / eds.), Cultural Encounters in Iron Age Europe, Archae- olingua. Series Minor 38, 39–66. POTREBICA, H., M. RAKVIN 2019, Kaptol-Čemernica, tumul IV , revizijsko istraživanje. – Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu III/51 (u tisku / in print). POTREBICA, H., J. MAVROVIĆ MOKOS 2019, Višeglave igle i nošnja istočnog halštatskog kruga. – Prilozi In- stituta za arheologiju u Zagrebu 36 (u tisku / in print). ŠIMEK, M. 1998, Ein Grabhugel mit Pferdebesttatung bei Jalžabet, Kroatien. – V / In: B. Hänsel, J. Machnik (ur. / eds.), Das Karpatenbecken und die Osteuropäische Steppe. Nomadenbewegungen und Kulturaustausch in den vorchristlichen Metallzeiten (4000–500 v. Chr.), Sü- dosteuropa-Schriften 20 (= Prähistorische Archäologie in Südosteuropa 12), 493–510. ŠIMEK, M. 2004, Grupa Martijanec-Kaptol. – V / In: D. Balen-Letunić (ur. / ed.), Ratnici na razmeđu istoka i zapada u starije željezno doba u kontinentalnoj Hrvatskoj / Warriors at the crossroads of East and West / Krieger am Scheideweg zwischen Ost und W est, 79–130, Zagreb. ŠOŠTARIĆ et al. 2016 = ŠOŠTARIĆ, R., H. POTREBICA, N. ŠAIĆ, A. BARBIR 2016, Prilog poznavanju halštatskih pogrebnih običaja – arheobotanički nalazi tumula 13 i 14 iz Kaptola kraj Požege / A Contribution to the Understanding of Hallstatt Burial Customs – Archae- obotanical Evidence from Tumuli 13 and 14 at the Site of Kaptol, near Požega. – Prilozi Instituta za arheologiju u Zagrebu 33, 307–315. ŠOŠTARIĆ et al. 2017 = ŠOŠTARIĆ, R., H. POTREBICA, J. HRŠAK, S. ESSERT 2017, Archaeobotanical components of grave goods in prehistoric tumuli 6 and 7 at the archaeological site of Kaptol-Gradci, near Požega (Croatia). – Acta Botanica Croatica 76/2, 183–190. TECCO HVALA, S. 2012, Magdalenska gora. Družbena struktura in grobni rituali železnodobne skupnosti / Social structure and burial rites of the Iron Age community. – Opera Instituti Archaeologici Sloveniae 26. TERŽAN, B. 1990, Starejša železna doba na slovenskem Štajerskem / The Early Iron Age in Slovenian Styria. – Katalogi in monografije 25. TERŽAN, B. 1995, Handel und soziale Oberschichten im früheisenzeitlichen Südosteuropa. – V / In: B. Hänsel (ur. / ed.), Handel, Tausch und Verkehr im Bronze- und Früheisenzeitlichen Südosteuropa, Prähistorische Ar- chäologie in Südosteuropa 11 (=Südosteuropa-Schriften 17), 81–159. TERŽAN, B. 1996, Weben und Zeitmessen im südostalpi- nen und westpannonischen Gebiet. – V / In: E. Jerem, A. Lippert (ur. / eds.), Die Osthallstattkultur, Akten des Internationalen Symposiums, Sopron, 10.–14. Mai 1994, Archaeolingua 7, 507–536. TERŽAN, B. 2004, Obolos – mediterrane Vorbilder einer prämonetären »Währung« der Hallstattzeit? – V / In: B. Hänsel (ur. / ed.), Parerga Praehistorica. Jubiläums- schrift zur Prähistorischen Archäologie – 15 Jahre UPA, Universitätsforschungen zur Prähistorischen Archäologie 100, 161–202. TERŽAN, B., M. ČREŠNAR 2014, Poskus absolutnega datiranja starejše železne dobe na Slovenskem / Attempt at an absolute Dating of the Early Iron Age in Slovenia. – V / In: B. Teržan, M. Črešnar (ur. / eds.), Absolutno datiranje bronaste in železne dobe na Slovenskem / Absolute Dating of Bronze and Iron Ages in Slovenia, Katalogi in monografije 40, 703–724. TOMEDI, G. 2002, Das hallstattzeitliche Gräberfeld von Frög. Die Altgrabungen von 1883 bis 1892. – Archaeolingua 14. VASIĆ, R. 1973, Kulturne grupe starijeg gvozdenog doba u Jugoslaviji. – Arheološki institut u Beogradu. Posebna izdanja 12. VEJVODA, V ., I. MIRNIK 1971, Istraživanja prethistorijskih tumula u Kaptolu kraj Slavonske Požege (Excavation of prehistoric barrows at Kaptol). – Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu III/5, 183–210. VEJVODA, V ., I. MIRNIK 1973, Halštatski kneževski gro- bovi iz Kaptola kod Slavonske Požege (Early Iron Age Warror Graves from Kaptol near Slavonska Požega). – Arheološki vestnik 24, 592–610. VEJVODA, V., I. MIRNIK 1991, Prethistorijski Kaptol. – V / In: F. Potrebica (ur. / ed.), Kaptol 1221.–1991., 9–28, Kaptol. VIDOVIĆ, J. 1987, Najnovija sustavna arheološka istra- živanja nekropole kod sela Dvorišća kraj Turčišća u Međimurju. – Muzejski vjesnik. Glasilo muzeja sjeve- rozapadne Hrvatske 10, 35–37. VINSKI GASPARINI, K. 1961, Iskopavanje kneževskog tumulusa kod Martijanca u Podravini / Ausgrabung eines 504 Hrvoje POTREBICA hallstättischen Grabhügels bei Martijanec in Draugebiet. – Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu III/2, 39–66. VINSKI-GASPARINI, K. 1974, Istraživanja tumulusa u Goričanu kod Čakovca. – Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu III/8, 133–134. VINSKI-GASPARINI, K. 1978, Osvrt na istraživanja kasnog brončanog i starijeg željeznog doba u sjevernoj Hrvatskoj. – Izdanja Hrvatskog arheološkog društva 2, 129–146. VINSKI-GASPARINI, K. 1987, Grupa Martijanec-Kaptol. – V / In: A. Benac (ur. / ed.), Praistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja 5. Željezno doba, 182–231, Sarajevo. VUKOVIĆ, M., H. POTREBICA, M. FILEŠ. 2018, Ma- pping of archaeological and geological features at the Iron Age site of Goričan. – V / In: International Aerial Archaeology Conference AARG 2018. Monitoring changes, V enice, Italy, September 2018. Abstract book, 15, V enice. [https://www.unive.it/pag/fileadmin/user_upload/extra/ conferenze/AARG/documenti/tempaarg_provisio- nal_program_040918_-_full_abstract.pdf]. INTRODUCTION In the Early Iron Age, the Kaptol Group – as it has come to be known in the recent literature – oc- cupied the largest part of continental Croatia. The term itself remains controversial up to this day, and its denotation largely depends on the scope of the territory various authors include in it. Since the middle of the 20 th century, when the Wies Group was introduced in the literature thanks to the Kleinklein excavations, the group’s name changed with the evolution of knowledge and research. In a way, Stane Gabrovec (Gabrovec 1964–1965, 25) was the first who anticipated Kaptol and the Kap- tol Group when he linked the Hallstatt Culture of Slovenian Styria to the Austrian Wies Group and its well-known finds from Kleinklein, and also to North-western Croatia, which he was prompted to do by contemporary excavations at Martijanec by Ksenija Vinski-Gasparini (Vinski-Gasparini 1961). The discoveries made at Kaptol during the 1965–1971 excavation campaigns conducted by the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1971; 1973) led him to extend the distribu- tion zone of the group he now referred to as the Kleinklein-Martijanec Group as far as central Slavonia (Gabrovec 1980, 30). At the same time, due to the specific features of the published grave units, some scholars had already suggested that Kaptol be singled out of the Wies-Martijanec Group and classified as a separate Kaptol Group, or Požega Group (Vasić 1973, 38). Ksenija Vinski-Gasparini proceeded in The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley Translation this vein when she defined the Martijanec-Kaptol Group as encompassing the territories of Styria, Podravina, Pomurje and Međimurje, as well as Central Slavonia, noting that this group and the Sulmtal Group were “two separate subgroups within a single territorially wider cultural phenomenon” (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 183, 227). She defined the group primarily on the basis of burial rituals and the shape of settlement (cremation under tumuli and fortified high-ground settlements), although she also mentioned similarities between their pot- tery. Vinski-Gasparini divided the group into three chronological horizons, with the earliest (Ha B3/C1) being present only in the Slovenian Styria, near the village of Sveti Petar Ludbreški. She asserted that the group disappeared from the entire area in the mid-6 th century BC as burials under tumuli faded away, although she noted that in some settlements there were traces of life from the subsequent period (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 188, 230–231). During her research into Slovenian Styria in the Early Iron Age, Biba Teržan also developed a systematic overview of the available data relating to the wider eastern- Alpine and western-Pannonian areas. Following a thorough analysis of the region, she pointed to the existence of several diverse groups, or cultural vari- ants, where Kaptol would belong to the Southern- Pannonian Group, which it actually defined (T eržan 1990, 206–208). The perception of the Iron Age of Northern Croatia did not change significantly over the next few years, undoubtedly reflecting the scarce excavations in the region. This period of research 505 The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley into the area encompassed by the Kaptol Group was concluded by the exhibition entitled Warriors at the Crossroads of East and West – the Early Iron Age in Central Croatia, and the catalogue of the same title, which provided a systematic overview of current knowledge about the Early Iron Age in this region (Šimek 2004, 79–130). At the same time, a new excavation campaign at Kaptol began, and it is still in progress. Outlined briefly, the historical dynamics sur- rounding the concept of the Early Iron Age in the eastern Alpine zone and southern Pannonia began with the trend of identifying greater structures that truly share a number of common elements. Thus, with the evolution of knowledge over the past one hundred years, the cultural group identified in the territory of Austrian Styria has been extended as far as central Slavonia. New information and comparisons have obscured the line between this and neighbouring regions, such as Transdanubia. The cultural complex thus extended encompasses all Hallstatt phenomena present between the Kal- enderberg and Dolenjska Groups, which feature a number of rather significant differences. Although there are examples of more recent literature (e.g. Egg, Kramer 2005, Fig. 2) in which the area is di- vided into two Transdanubian groups, the Sulmtal Group and the Kaptol Group, the criterion applied to the division is unclear and ambiguous. The low level of exploration in the region on the one hand, and very few basic works published on the other, preclude the possibility of conceiving of a different, and less arbitrary, division. Although we are aware at all times that these are technical terms that belong primarily to the scholarly metalanguage used for systematizations and an unambiguous exchange of information, and not for any attempt to culturally define the communities to which they refer, the question arises as to how sustainable such terminol- ogy is at present. All recent systematic research of the Early Iron Age suggests that answers should be sought at the level of individual communities and their interrelations. This means that we should not look for an adequate replacement of cultural groups at the same conceptual level, but rather apply a certain grassroots approach to the creation of new cultural models. If we now once more consider the region of Pannonia, at its western periphery there is Slovenian Styria, described systematically by Biba T eržan in a monograph (T eržan 1990) and a number of scholarly papers. Recently, a major contribution, especially to interdisciplinary research of the area, was also made by Matija Črešnar (Črešnar, Mlekuž 2014; T eržan, Črešnar 2014). The key site in the area, for a number of reasons, is the fortified settlement of Poštela, accompanied by several burial grounds with tumuli, and a flat-grave cemetery. There are also several other sites, excavated earlier or recently, such as Rifnik, and some well-known finds, such as those from Gornja Radgona, which should not be disregarded either. Geographically, the area is a continuation of the Croatian part of the Međimurje and Podravina regions. Several sites have been excavated there, including the burial sites surrounding the set- tlement at Goričan, and the monumental tumuli at Martijanec and Jalžabet. The most important Early Iron Age site in the area investigated to date is located at Sveti Petar Ludbreški (Šimek 2004, 79–130). The largest necropolis of the Kaptol Group – which has been excavated but, unfortunately, not yet published – can be found at Goričan (Vinski-Gasparini 1974). A group of five tumuli at Dvorišće indicates the early begin- ning of the group, which can be dated to the 8 th c. BC (Vidović 1987, 35–37). At the central location at Goričan, some twenty tumuli that have been excavated reveal a unified picture consisting of individual cremation burials, without any interior wooden or stone structure. The finds consist pre- dominantly of various forms of pottery, with some weapons and elements of attire. On the basis of the scarce grave units from the site published to date, I personally believe that the very distribution of the material discovered under the tumuli and their state of preservation suggest that there had been a wooden chest, or a chamber, with no stone walling. Remains of such chambers are sometimes difficult to identify during the course of excava- tion, sometimes due to the relatively poor state of preservation of the tumulus, sometimes due to the unfavourable chemical composition of the soil. If a ritual similar to the one in Kaptol, had been practiced here, than the regular edges of the chambers would be outlined, at least partially, by the material from the cremation site that had been poured into them. Sometimes wooden remains of the chamber also remain visible as carbonized wood. In both cases, the remains observed can easily be mistaken for traces of the cremation site. At the Martijanec site, which formerly gave its name to the entire group, the central burial chamber made of sandstone slabs has been discovered (Vinski- Gasparini 1961), although there are also indications that this was in fact a wooden chamber encased in stone. Investigators have explained the lack of 506 Hrvoje POTREBICA weapons and any substantial quantity of metal finds by robbery, but we cannot rule out other possible explanations of the peculiar inventory featuring pots decorated by a meandering motif painted with black paint on the red surface, with tin lamellas affixed on top. The largest tumulus in Croatia is located near Jalžabet, and it is often referred to as Gomila (‘Mound’). Based on its dimensions (about 65 m in diameter and 8 m high), it falls within the group of the largest burial mounds in Central Europe. The monument was test-pitted in 1963, resulting in the discovery of internal stone paving (Vinski-Gasparini 1978, 146, Fig. 7), but it was not excavated any further. On the other hand, tumulus 2 at Jalžabet was excavated in 1996. Despite the fact that the tumulus had been nearly levelled, remains of a monumental central stone structure were discovered. It had probably encircled a wooden chamber, which extended to a dromos built in a similar fashion. Although the structure is very similar to those discovered at Kleinklein and Süttő, they are very different in terms of their contents. Instead of a rich grave, this tumulus contained fragmented pottery, bone and iron arrows, remains of a scale armour and riding-harness decorations, suggesting its dating to the Ha D1 period, that is, to the early 6 th c. BC. The analysis of cremated bones has revealed that there were no human remains, but only those of a horse, which allows various possible interpretations (Šimek 1998, 493–510). The find was an indication of the complexity of the unit under great tumulus 1, located in the immediate vicinity, and, follow- ing its tragic looting, currently investigated by a team of the Zagreb Institute of Archaeology led by Saša Kovačević. The settlement at Sveti Petar Ludbreški is a low- land settlement located on an elevated bar in a river valley. Despite the fact that the settlement’s surface has been severely damaged by soil cultivation, the existence of over-ground structures has been ascer- tained, with the beginning of the settlement dated to the end of the Bronze Age on the basis of the earliest discovered material. Undoubtedly, the most important find from this site is the remains of a kiln, with an adjacent pit containing a number of casting moulds for bronze. It is particularly interesting that one group of moulds belongs to the last Bronze Age horizons (e.g. laurel-leaf spearheads and socketed knives), while the other group encompasses moulds for objects with Pontic and Caucasian characteristics, such as horse-gear pendants, and a double-loop axe (Šimek 2004, 79–130). This hoard is the best Iron Age metallurgical context discovered in Croatia to date, but since it constitutes a very specific unit associated with bronze casting, it does not reveal much about metal production as an important economic activ- ity of the period. Another very interesting anomaly found in this settlement is a skeletal burial in a pit containing remains of a fireplace interpreted as a human sacrifice (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 223–224). For the time being, there have been no analogies for this find anywhere in the territory of the Eastern Hallstatt Circle. There is a noticeable void between those sites in Podravina, and the sites in the Požega Valley (dominated by Kaptol), which is probably a consequence of the low level of exploration in the region. Such a conclusion is corroborated by the latest exploration – non-destructive for the time being – of the large tumuli in the village of Kravljak near Đulovac, on the western side of Psunj (Fig. 1). POŽEGA VALLEY Kaptol-Čemernica – necropolis Thanks to the past 18 years of excavation, the eponymous site of Kaptol has doubtlessly provided the largest quantity of data about the southernmost part of the group, and about the entire Hallstatt Cultural Complex. The village of Kaptol is situated in the Požega Valley (Fig. 1), next to the southern slopes of Papuk, 11 km north-east of Požega in a straight line. It was believed that the site had been widely known since the late 19 th century, or more precisely, since 1881, when it was mentioned for the first time in a letter by the future commis- sioner of the Croatian Archaeological Society (Hrvatsko arkeologičko družtvo) Martin Bišćan to the then director of the National Museum, archae- ologist Don Šime Ljubić (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1991, 9). The tumuli were always clearly visible and thus they probably always attracted the attention of local explorers, mostly amateurs, ranging from local peasants to the Kutjevo squire Milan T urković, who was also a museum commissioner. However, in addition to the new excavations, over the past roughly fifteen years we have also obtained diverse archival records, and we now know that the tu- muli had been recognized as an archaeological site at least a century earlier. This is demonstrated by four mounds within the Čemernica necropolis that were very meticulously recorded in the so-called First Military Survey of the Habsburg Empire, conducted in Slavonia between 1781 and 1783 507 The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley (https://mapire.eu/en/map/firstsurvey-slavonia). 1 They were even marked as “Türk. Hügeln” . In any case, the first real archaeological excavations were conducted between 1965 and 1971 by a team from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb led by Vera Vejvoda and her associates, the most prominent among them Ivan Mirnik. Kaptol is a complex site which consists of a fortified settlement and two necropolises. The southern necropolis of Čemernica, which was excavated first, can be found north of the village of Kaptol, where the lowlands of the Požega Valley ascend toward the slopes of Papuk. During the 1965–1971 campaigns, 14 mounds were identified and excavated there, but the real scope of the necropolis can hardly be determined since it is very likely that a number of tumuli had been destroyed by farming activities. Such a conclusion is based on the fact that, due to intensive land cultivation, the preserved height of some of the tumuli at the time they were investigated was under 1 m. Thanks to new aerial photographs, today we know that the number of tumuli within the ne- cropolis was probably higher, although not much. We also know that tumulus XIV is actually a Neo- lithic settlement, attributed to the Starčevo Culture. There is no doubt that both necropolises consist of cremation graves, where the remains of the deceased were either placed in urns, or deposited without urns. However, the identification of grave units poses a particular problem within the contextual analysis of the finds from the Čemernica necropo- lis. The first explorers recorded the presence of several graves within some of the tumuli, but these data cannot always be reliably confirmed. All draw- ings and sketches show separate groups of vessels, sometimes also accompanied by other finds. Since the explorers from the very first tumuli that were excavated began to refer to the pots as urns, espe- cially the pots of specific shapes, this created a terminological problem, because subsequently they referred to all vessels of the same or similar shape as urns, without explicitly noting whether any cremated bones and/or ashes were found in them. Thus, the urn became more of a typological cate- gory than a functional one. Furthermore, one should bear in mind that even where the presence of bones has been ascertained, this does not necessarily mean that they are cremated human remains. It would appear that each spatially distinct group of finds containing at least one large pot was recorded as a grave. On the basis of analogies present in the 1 (https://mapire.eu/en/map/firstsurvey-slavonia). necropolis at the location of Gradca, and a com- parison with related Hallstatt groups and commu- nities, the conclusion can be made that the major- ity of the tumuli contained a single grave unit, with several concentrated groups of grave goods within the chamber (Teržan 1990, 145–146). The excava- tion conducted by experts from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb revealed some very rich metal and pottery finds, which immediately suggested that the site was very important (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1971; 1973; 1991). In this respect, two grave units stand out, under tumuli IV and X (Fig. 2). Due to the abundance of grave goods and their repre- sentative character, these can be described as princely graves. The princes of Kaptol were primar - ily warriors, and their wealth and power were re- flected in their weapons. A complete set of a war- rior’ s assault weapons consisted of two or three iron spears and battle axes. Sometimes the set also in- cluded a small curved knife, which was both male and female accessory, and should not be seen as an element of warrior equipment in a narrow sense of the term (Teržan 1990, Fig. 34). The weapons sug- gest that they engaged in individual and primarily infantry combat (javelins and axes for close combat). Besides such assault weapons, the warrior’s equip- ment also included defensive weapons and horse gear, although, in addition to the functional role of these two groups of items, they undoubtedly served as prestigious objects in the graves of the Kaptol Group (T eržan 1990, 146–147, Fig. 34). Some elements of the horse gear have been discovered in princely tumulus IV . These included bits with Pon- tic/Caucasian characteristics, which seem to be among the oldest items found in the grave (Teržan 1990, 148–151). Generally speaking, in the Čemernica necropolis, equestrian gear has only been discovered rarely and none of the graves contained a full set. Another find worth mentioning is the axle mount from the wheel of a two-wheel cart, deformed by fire, discovered under tumulus II which is believed to contain a female unit (Teržan 1990, 146, 149, Fig. 34, Map 26). The most important elements of warrior equipment are pieces of defensive weapons. In addition to the bronze breast plate, originating from central Italy, all other items discovered are of Greek origin: a Greco-Illyrian helmet of type II, a Corinthian helmet and a pair of greaves with moulded musculature. The wealth of the Kaptol settlement and its exceptional importance at the European level is best illustrated by the fact that these are the northernmost finds of the above- described items in Europe (Teržan 1995, 87–89, 508 Hrvoje POTREBICA Figs. 5–6, 11)! Besides weapons typical of the entire Hallstatt Culture distribution zone, the graves of the Kaptol warriors at Čemernica (tumuli IX and X) also contained some luxury whetstones with decorated bronze handles. The largest number of these specific prestigious items has been found in the territory of the Glasinac Culture and it is there- fore believed that the origin of similar items dis- covered at Kaptol – or at least the idea for their production – came from the same region (Potre- bica 2013, 87–88, 108–109). Nonetheless, I cannot agree with the very early absolute dates for those items suggested in some recent papers, resulting from the unsubstantiated early dating of relative chronological period Ha C2 to the final quarter of the 8 th c. BC. Furthermore, no traces of Cimme- rian presence in Pannonia have been observed (Govedarica 2017, 51–52, 60–61). Other prestigious items featuring regional characteristics certainly include a pair of Donja Dolina-type pins discovered in tumulus VII (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1971, 195–196, Pl. 10: 6). Such items reflect the high status of the warrior class in local communities of the northern and central Balkans, and testify to the close links between the ruling elites of the Hallstatt communi- ties in the Požega V alley and Iron-Age communities in the Balkans, south of the Sava River. Prestigious items imported from far-away places, such as de- fensive gear (especially helmets), were simply a further confirmation of the very strong interre- gional links that existed in the region (Potrebica 2012a, 243–244). In male graves, there were also typical Hallstatt multi-headed pins and belts, while the grave goods discovered in female graves included fibulae, various types of bronze jewellery and textile production tools. Two “female” tumuli (II and V) stand out in the Čemernica necropolis. In them, the central grave contained a female inventory with some ad- ditional grave goods consisting of horse gear and wheel hubs. Such unusual finds could suggest a higher status – perhaps even religious status – of the women in Hallstatt society (Teržan 1990, 146–149, Figs. 34–35; Potrebica 2012b, 16–18). A rich pottery inventory has been discovered in the majority of graves. A pottery item that stands out is an askos with a bull-shaped handle retrieved from tumulus XII, which belongs to a small group of similar askoi discovered in southern Pannonia (Teržan 1990, 233, Map 28; Potrebica 2012a, 239; Metzner-Nebelsick 2017, 441–442, Fig. 3). The ceramic tripods, also retrieved from tumulus XII, are noteworthy, too, but the best-known and most beautiful vessels found at Čemernica are four pots decorated with bull protomes (Teržan 1990, 232, Map 27; Potrebica 2010a, 166–167). Most of the refined vessels are coated with graphite, which gives them a specific metallic sheen. In view of the value of graphite during the Iron Age, I believe that the graphite deposits in the immediate vicinity of Kaptol (where a graphite mine was operational as late as 1965) played an important – if not decisive – role in the wealth and power of the local Iron Age community. The revisionary excavations of the site of Čemernica, conducted in 2007, 2009 and 2016, also yielded ex- ceptional results (Potrebica 2008; 2010b). Tumulus XI, the northernmost tumulus in the necropolis, is situated on the slopes of Papuk, and to a certain extent separated from other tumuli situated in the lowlands. Underneath, there was a monumental wooden burial chamber, approximately 4 × 4 m in size, encased in stone. It contained the richest pot- tery set ever found at Čemernica, which included vessels decorated with red and black paintings, vessels decorated with tin lamellas and others decorated with bronze applications, large footed pots (similar to the Alpine ciboria), a small askos and a pseudo-kernos! Among the metal finds, there was a perfectly preserved multi-headed pin and five Hallstatt-type iron spits connected with a ring (Teržan 2004, 168–182, Fig. 12; Potrebica 2013, 120–121). The grave also contained a belt set, and the cremated osteological remains probably include equine remains. The lack of any weapons in this exceptionally rich male grave is rather conspicuous (Potrebica 2013, 108). Tumulus III contained a monumental wooden burial chamber encased in with stone (Fig. 3), with external dimensions of 8 × 8 m, and a ritual access corridor (or dromos) more than 6 m long (Potrebica 2010b, 102–103; 2012a, 238). The interior of the chamber measured 5 × 5 m, and the three rows of posts – the central row consisting of the strongest ones resting on stone bases – which suggest that it was covered with a gabled roof. The chamber con- tained no cremated remains from the pyre, which had been scattered around the dromos. The only items discovered in the otherwise completely empty chamber were three ceramic pots. The floor of the chamber was totally clean and nothing suggested it had been looted, and CT scans of the pots show that they contain no bones or other finds. Once the micro-excavation of the pots is completed, we will have more information. A pot was discovered at the place where the dromos widens into the chamber, 509 The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley and it contained bones, indicating its probable use as an urn. To date, about fifteen square chambers with dromoi have been identified in the area en- compassed by the Hallstatt Cultural Complex (Do- biat 1985, 36; Egg 1996, 10, Fig. 5), and the one at Čemernica is the best-preserved monument of its kind. In the majority of cases, such structures were burial chambers erected for the highest dignitaries of the period, for example, those at Kleinklein and Süttő. However, at Čemernica, the content of the central structure with a dromos, lined with stone, is completely different from the rich graves contained in the majority of similar structures all over the Hallstatt world. Given that the chamber contained no traces of a deceased person – similar to tumulus 2 at Jalžabet (Šimek 1998) – and that there were no other grave goods except for the aforementioned pots, the structure cannot be described as a grave in the narrow sense of the term. Based on the preliminary presentation of the excavation by Saša Kovačević, the recently investigated monumental tumulus 1 at Jalžabet presents a similar situation, with a lack of abundant finds and clearly identifiable remains of the deceased in a huge burial chamber. In their publications of tumulus IV , which contained a rich set of warrior gear including a Greco-Illyrian helmet, greaves and a breast plate, archaeologists mention no fewer than three urn graves and state: “The grave goods in urn grave 1 were placed in a pit with an approximately square layout, 1.7 × 1.6 m in size, filled with charcoal to a height of 5 cm. ” (V ejvoda, Mirnik 1973, 595). The revisionary excavation has established the presence of a monumental wooden chamber with approximate dimensions of 4.5 × 4.5 m. The bottom of the chamber rested on four parallel beams, set in an east-west orientation, with planks positioned across them. Under the chamber, there was a square of stone paving, probably representing the remains of a far more complex structure, since the first excavators recorded a dry-stone wall, which at the time of their excavation (in 1967) reached a height of approximately 1 m (V ejvoda, Mirnik 1973, 593). Under the paving, the remains of three pairs of posts have been discovered, clearly outlining the dromos which extended from the chamber on its southern side. The burial pit mentioned in the first published papers was actually a wooden chest – one of two such chests present in the chamber, in its south-western and north-eastern corners, respectively. It would appear that the finds had been deposited in those chests. Although the relatively small number of fragmented finds recovered dur- ing the revisionary excavation has not changed the perception of this grave’s inventory, the structural elements place it in an entirely different context (Potrebica, Rakvin 2019). Kaptol-Gradca – necropolis Regardless of what has been said above, the most important evolution of knowledge about the Kaptol site and the Kaptol Group has resulted from the excavation at the site of Gradca. Traces of a hillfort settlement and the northern necropolis on Gradca Hill above the Bistra Stream were observed as early as 1975 by a team from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb during their field reconnaissance, and some small test-pit excavations (Vejvoda, Mirnik 1991, 13, 16). Systematic excavation of the second necropolis at Kaptol has been conducted since 2000 by a team of the Centre for Prehistoric Research and the Department of Archaeology of the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, led by Hrvoje Potrebica. To this day, about twenty-five tumuli have been identified, and seventeen exca- vated, inside a necropolis covering several hectares. It seems that the necropolis, situated at an altitude of approximately 450 m in the immediate vicinity of a fortified settlement, was somehow enclosed. All of the tumuli contained traces of wooden chambers of various dimensions, and some of those were also encased in stone (in tumuli 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17). In two cases, there were also traces of small dromoi (tumuli 10 and 15), and in one case (tumulus 12), a cremation site was discovered under the tumulus. Only in one case (tumulus 13), the cremation grave was located in a pit dug under the original ground level. To a certain extent, this necropolis coincides chronologically to the nearby southern necropolis at Čemernica. However, the earliest grave units within the entire complex of sites surrounding Kaptol have been identified in the northern necropolis and dated to Ha C1. In tumulus 1, this horizon is represented by an iron trunnion axe and a bronze double-loop fibula with disc-shaped protrusions on a ribbed bow, originating from the Alpine region (Gabrovec type 6a/d). Similar fibulae have been discovered at Frög (Tomedi 2002, T. 1: B1) and Styria in general (Teržan 1990, 98, Map 9). In tumulus 2, the finds included an iron winged battle axe, marked with a numerical symbol and representing the easternmost example of this type in general, and a kernos with three additional small vessels, connected to the edge of the pot with strap 510 Hrvoje POTREBICA handles (Fig. 4). Other items recovered from this grave are iron spearheads, an iron bead and pottery decorated with tin lamellas, such as that discovered in princely tumulus 6 (Fig. 5). Tumulus 10 featured a small dromos, and the finds recovered from it included the most beautiful example of a vessel decorated with bull protomes (Fig. 6), two bronze multi-headed pins and a rich set of weapons consisting of two spears, an iron trunnion axe, and a bronze winged axe, also marked with an incised symbol. The richest Iron Age grave discovered in Croatia to date is located in this necropolis, under tumulus 6 (Fig. 7). The 2.8 m high tumulus, with a diameter of around 18 m, was the largest visible tumulus in the necropolis. Close to the surface of the piled earth, there was a peripheral male cremation grave, subsequent to the central burial, dated on the basis of the Alpine-type belt set to the Ha D2 period (Hodson 1990, 130, 148, Pl. 30: 3,6; Tecco Hvala 2012, 172–176, Fig. 66: 17). The wooden chamber located under a huge stone structure contained an abundance of finds, the most prominent being two pairs of iron axes, five iron spears, two sets of horse gear with bronze strap-dividers, an iron sword and a bronze sword (representing the northernmost sword of the Kostel type) (Harding 1995, 58–59; Taf. 528, Potrebica 2013, 87–88, 100–101), a belt set with a whetstone, and a bronze situla. The situla contained a number of other metal items, and segments of probably two bowl-shaped helmets. In addition to the metal finds recovered from the burial chamber, there were about thirty ceramic vessels, and the most interesting among them were pots decorated with tin and bronze lamellas (Fig. 5). All of these finds taken together comprise an exceptional unit, which has considerably changed our previous knowledge about the beginning of the Iron Age in southern Pannonia. The warrior equipment suggests that this could be a dual princely grave, which would make it a unique discovery when it comes to the European Early Iron Age. Although the metal finds recovered from the grave are still undergoing the process of conservation, at least some of them can be dated to Ha C1. The only cremation site identified in the ne- cropolis was located under tumulus 12, the second largest mound in the necropolis. The cremation site measured 2 × 1 m, and was situated immediately adjacent to the chamber encased in stone. Although the chamber was badly damaged by a military trench dug in the 1970s, a number of items have been recovered, though primarily from the cremation site. They include a range of high-quality pottery, two boat-shaped fibulae and a bronze wire fibula, numerous fragmented bronze chains with triangular pendants at their ends, made of sheeted bronze and iron with punched decorations, and a number of bronze cylindrical beads (which probably belonged to a necklace). Besides the bronze beads, there were also some identically shaped cylindrical beads which appear to have been made of electrum. If the preliminary analysis is confirmed, these will be the first and for now the only finds of precious metals within the Iron Age sites situated in the vicinity of Kaptol. There were also some very interesting decorated bone objects (probably elements of the attire). Another very rare and important find, a richly decorated wooden button, only hints at the richness of the ornamentation on wooden, textile and other perishable objects, which undoubtedly adorned the costume and attire of a very impor- tant woman. Finds identified in the central burial structure included a pot and two bowls containing cremated bones and ashes, and many small items made of bronze and bone. An item that stands out from the rest is a fragment of a figurative repre- sentation of a horse rider, probably from a fibula (Potrebica 2013, 160–161), whose origin should be sought in the Etruscan cultural sphere (T eržan 1995, 99–100, Abb. 37: 5; Mihovilić 2001, 149, T. 22: 1; Metzner Nebelsick 2007). Yet another important unit consists of a set of 16 pyramidal loom weights, mostly discovered at the cremation site. Although the grave contained a richly decorated spindle whorl, which, in the context of this necropolis, is a clear indication of a woman, the discovery of a high number of loom weights suggests a woman of a high status, possibly tied to the religious dimension of the Kaptol community at the transition between Ha C2 and Ha D1 (T eržan 1996, 513–517, 524–529; Potrebica 2012b, 17). In this necropolis, weapons have been discovered in six graves. In addition to the iron trunnion axe, all other elements of the material culture discov- ered in tumulus 1 suggest that the deceased was a woman, and thus the grave has been identified as female. Spears have been found in four graves (two of them in three graves, and as many as five in tu- mulus 6). Beside already mentioned tumulus 1, axes have been discovered in three other graves (one in tumulus 2, two in tumulus 10, and no fewer than three in tumulus 6). Two graves contained horse gear (tumuli 6 and 16), while helmets and swords were present only in tumulus 6. Those finds reveal a certain hierarchy of the community’s warrior class, 511 The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley although it does not necessarily reflect the status of the specific individuals buried in those graves –warrior equipment should always be considered in the context of a whole grave as a closed unit. At Čemernica, a pair of multi-headed pins has been found in the princely grave under tumulus IV , and under tumulus XI, where an exceptional specimen laid on the flat roof of the wooden chamber. In the Gradca necropolis, two multi-headed pins have been recovered from tumulus 10, together with a rich set of warrior equipment, while in tumulus 6 there was only a point guard, because the tree which grew on top of the chamber probably destroyed the rest of the pin. We can assume that it was also placed on the chamber’s roof. All of this suggests that such pins played an important role in male attire, and given the distribution of the finds, they were symbols not only of the social role, but primarily of status (Potrebica, Mavrović Mokos 2019). On the other hand, such a distinction cannot be observed in female graves, because of the scarce finds, result- ing from the custom of cremation in attire which destroyed or badly damaged the majority of distinc- tive or possibly status-related elements. A common feature of putting one or several spindle whorls in a grave was canonical for all female graves in the necropolis. Loom weights have also been found only in tumulus 12, as just one of the elements indicat- ing the special status of the women buried in this grave. The archaeobotanical research carried out within the Croatian Science Foundation’s project Burial Customs of the Early Iron Age in Southern Pannonia – Crossroads of Identity (BC-CrossId) has supplemented the picture of the burial ritual and reinforced one of the hypotheses formulated during the excavation, which attributes a much greater eschatological meaning to the act of crema- tion (Šoštarić et al. 2016; Šoštarić et al. 2017). As a consequence, many elements of the material culture which were directly or symbolically associated with the deceased during the cremation ritual cannot be found in burial chambers under tumuli, except as fragments which arrived there as a result of a more or less accidental transfer. This is true primarily of the elements of attire, but also of some other grave goods, such as horses and probably also horse gear, and food composed of meat and plant-based dishes, such as cereals and fruit. Therefore, any reconstruc- tion of a deceased individual’s identity that is based solely on the material culture consisting of grave goods misses one very important segment. The chronological framework of both necropo- lises encompasses the period from Ha C1 to Ha D1. Around the middle of the 6 th c. BC the burials ceased, with the exception of the peripheral grave in the heaped earth of princely tumulus 6, datable to Ha D2. Kaptol-Gradca – settlement The settlement of Gradca, which covers an area of around seven hectares, is located further to the north, in the immediate vicinity of the necropolis. The settlement is situated on a slanting plateau in the shape of an irregular rectangle, sloping, with its shorter side, from east to west. The plateau surface consists of terraces. On three sides, the settlement is surrounded by very steep stream gorges, and on the eastern side that faces higher areas of Papuk, it is separated from its surroundings by an elevated prominence which is at some places more than 20 m wide. In prehistory, the entrance to the hillfort was probably located in its south-western corner. Although the first stratigraphic test pits of the settlement were conducted in 2001, first proper excavation of the settlement started in 2011. The goal of the investigation of the settlement was to establish its stratigraphy and chronology, popula- tion density (that is, size of its population and the settlement structure), and the relationship between the material culture of the settlement, and that discovered in the graves. Trench 1 was excavated immediately above the micro-location of Lisičje Jame (“Foxes’ Holes”), while trenches 2 and 3 were located on the highest terrace. The trenches yielded an abundance of material, but not a single residential structure has been identified in full. The same is true of trench 5, excavated on the presumed rampart in the eastern part of the settlement, while trench 4 was supposed to reveal the structure of the rampart’s cross-section. However, it has been established that what was supposed to be a rampart was actually not man-made, but rather a natural rocky ridge which divides the area covered by the hillfort from the Papuk massif farther to the east. Nonetheless, it would appear that the elevation was artificially cut on the outside, to obtain a steep, al- most vertical surface, with a small elevation in front of it. Therefore, the rampart was not produced by piling, but rather by modifying an already existing natural structure. Traces of residential structures and metal production have been identified in the wider part of the plateau, indicating that a much more extensive excavation campaign should be undertaken there. On its own, trench 6 has revealed 512 Hrvoje POTREBICA some specific structural elements of houses and the settlement’s stratigraphy, but it has also opened up a range of new questions. The presence of several hearths has been ascertained in that zone, with the best preserved among them featuring a stone sub- structure and clay coating. In addition to pottery, several fragments of portable ovens and decorated firedogs have also been recovered from the fireplace. What remains of the walls of the houses are lines of daub and carbonized beams. However, due to the sloping terrain, even here it has been impos- sible to round up a whole structure, and we have to establish whether the cascading surface organiza- tion is a result of the chronology and a reflection of the stratigraphy, or a technical adjustment to the sloping terrain. Trench 6 has demonstrated the existence of two clear construction horizons. All of the structures described above were erected on a levelling layer, while a burnt house, badly damaged by erosion, was discovered underneath. It contained 37 loom weights and several wooden beams, with three elliptical holes bored sideways visible in one of them. Experts in the field of textiles and textile manufacturing (such as M. Gleba and K. Grömer) believe that the size and shape of the holes, as well as the distance between them, indicate that the beam was part of a loom– for the time being, the first known loom in Iron Age Europe. On the other hand, all finds from layers above the levelling could be dated to the period between Ha D2 and LT B1. On the basis of the current picture of the cultural dynamics of southern Pannonia, it was precisely at the beginning of this period that the communi- ties typical for burials under tumuli disappeared, and an era of general stagnation began, attributed by some scholars to a drastic population decline, possibly resulting from epidemics. In those cases, which allow a more precise cultural attribution of finds originating from the period and recovered from the hillfort, their parallels clearly indicate their affiliation to the territory of northern Bosnia: a star-shaped spindle whorl, an Early La Tène fibula shape that was so far found only at Sanski Most, a stone pendant, and some pottery shapes, especially the biconical bowls with wide everted rim, with fluting on the inside. Parallel to the excavation, geophysical research has also been conducted, led by Branko Mušič of the Faculty of Arts of Ljubljana University. The results of magnetometry had not been consistent until the scope of the surface investigated was significantly extended at the time of the excavation of trench 6. The results obtained by that investigation were completely unexpected, and the picture they paint is unique in this part of Europe. The surface of the settlement, levelled by terraces, was covered by a dense grid of rectangular, nearly square spaces of around 20 x 20 m, all oriented in the same direc- tion, with suitable communication paths discern- ible between them following the configuration of the terrain. The picture leaves the impression of an urban structure, or at least of a very organized settlement with advanced infrastructure, which was built over a short period (Potrebica, Mavrović Mokos 2016, 56–60; Mušič, Potrebica 2019 2 ). The stratigraphy of trench 6 corresponds to this picture completely, with square spatial units not interpreted as houses, but, conditionally speaking, as yards that were used by single households (presumably families). If this is indeed the case, than those were the basic social units that formed the Iron Age community of Kaptol. The next issue that must be addressed is the chronological gap, reflected in the fact that we are familiar with graves under tumuli which predate this Late Hallstatt settlement, but we do not know where and how inhabitants of the settlement buried their dead. Kagovac The approach to exploration of the centre of Ka- ptol, consisting of at least three distinct units, has evolved over time, from interpretation of individual sites and their interrelation to a concept based on consideration of the entire territory in which the community lived, regardless of the existence (or lack) of clearly identified sites. In an attempt to gain insight into the area surrounding Kaptol as a whole, we have exploited some technical solutions provided by the international project Encounters and Transformations in Iron Age Europe (ENTRANS), implemented, inter alia, in the Požega V alley. Within the scope of the project, a LiDAR scanning of Ka- ptol’s surroundings was conducted in 2014, which provided us with a relatively precise 3D image of the relief hidden under dense and, in some places, impassable forest cover. The surface area of 34 km 2 encompassed by scanning included the area north of the village of Vetovo, at the location of Kagovac (Fig. 1), which was previously known as the site of a settlement and a cemetery with tumuli. The scans have yielded a more precise picture of the terraced 2 B. Mušič, H. Potrebica 2019, Geophysical Research in Kaptol (In Progress). 513 The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley settlement at Kaptol, with a clearly visible entrance, and in addition to the previously known necropolises, some other structures – seemingly anthropogenic – were identified north of the Čemernica necropolis, on the western side of the Bistra Stream passing between this slope and the location of the Kaptol settlement at Gradca. However, the real surprise came with the precise image of the surroundings of Kagovac. Although it had been known for some ten years that there were eight large tumuli there, and a hillfort settlement with a complex fortification system on top of Gradac Hill above them, it had been impossible to establish the precise number of tumuli and the shape of the settlement, since a large part of the site was covered with an impassable dense thicket. The LiDAR scans and a field survey confirmed the existence of the western necropolis, encompassing the previously known eight tumuli and seven more, among them the largest mound in the entire necropolis. Additionally, a group of very low, hardly discernible elevations were observed on the slope under the hillfort, presumed to be the southern necropolis belonging to the same settle- ment. To date, three tumuli have been excavated in the western necropolis (Fig. 9), and one in the southern necropolis. The tumuli of the western necropolis enclosed very rich graves, two of them warrior graves, and one a female grave. All the material found in them points to their dating to the very beginning of Ha C. In the space between tumuli 2 and 3, a badly damaged flat Hallstatt grave was discovered – the first of its kind in the Požega Valley. Besides, it has been established that at least one part of the necropolis lies on top of a Kostolac Culture settlement, which had been largely destroyed as a result. The only tumulus excavated thus far in the southern necropolis (tumulus A) was very small, with a diameter of approximately 4 m and a preserved height of about half a meter. The hypothesis that this was the second necropolis has been confirmed, and the tumulus contained rich warrior equipment consisting of two axes and two spears. The material culture present in this necropolis does not differ from that revealed by other Kaptol necropolises, and they also coincide chronologically, at least partially. With a view to the relatively small distance separating them (only 6 km in a straight line), the question arises as to how the territory was administered and the nature of the relationship between the two settlements, which existed side by side without any observable hierarchical structure, at least in the beginning of the Early Iron Age. It seems that the settlement on Gradac Hill, to which the Kagovac necropolises belonged, was encircled with three rampart rings and a number of concentric terraces sloping down the hill far away from the ramparts’ external perimeter. This settlement has not been excavated, but another one has – a third settlement, previously unknown, discovered thanks to the LiDAR scans. Bangradac The settlement of Bangradac is located ap- proximately half-way between Kaptol and Kago- vac, above the village of Podgorje (Fig. 1; 10). The settlements of Kaptol and Kagovac are situated at approximately the same elevation (450–500 metres above sea level), while this one is located on a much higher mountain ridge (at approximately 750 m), stretching in a northwest-southeast direction. Its surface area of slightly more than four hectares is completely encircled by ramparts, with an entrance on the south-eastern side. The ramparts consist of a wooden structure and packed earth, enclosed by dry-stone walls, and again covered with a layer of packed earth. It remains to be seen whether these were various chronological or construction phases in the rampart evolution. The constitution of structures identified in the settlement was based on wooden posts, some of them double. The large quantity of recovered pottery and other material suggests that these were houses. All the movable finds discovered to date indicate that the settlement originates from the final phase of the Late Bronze Age (radiocarbon date from charcoal sample yielded result 1090–917 cal BC – Beta-487863). No earlier or later material has been found, nor any traces of a necropolis that could belong to the settlement. CONCLUSION After eighteen excavation seasons in this region, it seems that new questions outnumber the answers. Beginning with the material culture, the new finds are evidence that the Iron Age communities of the Požega Valley were deeply rooted in what is conditionally referred to as the Central European Hallstatt Cultural Circle, especially its areas in the south-eastern Alps and western Pannonia. However, the material culture of Kaptol also suggests that it had strong ties with the south, particularly with northern Bosnia, whose influence was especially 514 Hrvoje POTREBICA strong and observable in the Late Hallstatt period. Numerous items discovered in the Požega Valley were here at their farthest points of distribution within Europe, and those include various types of weapons (battle axes, swords, helmets, greaves), elements of attire (fibulae and multi-headed pins) and other special-use items (equestrian gear and whetstones/sceptres) (Potrebica 2012a, 244, Figs. 4, 6, 8, 10). Rich grave goods from elite burials, which included some exclusive and prestigious objects brought from far-away places, and the large and prosperous settlement with a long presence of life in it, suggest that Kaptol was, over a long period, a very important hub in the Early Iron Age com- munication network which linked the developed cultural and production centres of Greece and Italy with rich centres of Hallstatt communities in Cen- tral Europe. The close ties between this centre and Iron Age groups south of the Sava River (such as Donja Dolina and Glasinac), in the eastern Alpine region (Dolenjska and Styria), and in the Danube region and Transdanubia, confirm that it had a crucial position at the cross-roads between three cultural spheres: Pannonia, the Alps and the Bal- kans (Potrebica, Mavrović Mokos 2016, 60). Thus, it should come as no surprise that Kaptol gave its name to the southern-most group of the Hallstatt Cultural Complex. Yet, recent research has yielded more than new finds. With time, the research concept changed, and so has the approach to interpretation, so that the analysis of individual sites has given way to consideration of a community and spatial area as a whole. In recent years, new ideas have been accompanied by new methodologies. Geophysical methods have brought some very valuable infor- mation about the settlement structure into focus, which has drastically changed our assumptions about the social structure and dynamics of the communities of the time. They were evidently far more complex, better organized and more capable of large infrastructural undertakings than we had previously thought. The geophysical investigation of necropolises should reveal the chronological and also structural complexity of the grave sites, without the need to undertake time-consuming and highly destructive exploration methods, such as classical excavation. The archaeobotanical and other natural-science methods included in research plans through an interdisciplinary approach have provided us with some valuable data and a completely new context for the previously known and newly-discovered material culture. The goal has been to establish teams that will allow us to progress from interdisciplinarity towards transdisciplinarity. The first results have already completely altered our perception of the burial ritual of these communities, and the very definition of the burial ritual. The LiDAR scans have led to further changes at a different level. In densely covered woodlands, such as this, they represent a quantum leap for our understanding of the cultural landscape as a dynamic unit. This technology has completely transformed our knowledge and interpretation of the sites, of the spaces surrounding them and lying between them, and their interrelations. Still, the fact that data have been collected from a surface area of only 34 km 2 and that some of them are still being interpreted leads us to conclude that the previous picture which included Kaptol as the dominant centre, flanked by possibly two satellite settlements located within the valley is doubtlessly incorrect, though it is still too early to propose a more relevant model due to the lack of data from a much wider (and statistically more relevant) area. W e hope that new LiDAR scan- ning, planned in the Požega V alley, will contribute to the achievement of this goal, though a real solution would be a systematic approach and full coverage of the region by LiDAR scans. The working model of the community structure in the Požega Valley is definitely different than that of a single centre and several satellite settlements, and goes in the direction of a polycentric model. In this vein, the role of a very important dynamic hub within the European supraregional communication network would not have been played by Kaptol alone, as a single centre, but rather by the entire Požega V alley as a polycentric area in which Kaptol undoubtedly had an important place. This hypothesis is further supported by new information about the possible existence of further similar sites in the Papuk forests. Parallel exploration of the whole area dominated by Kaptol, Kagovac and Bangradac could reveal the mechanism of transformation of the Bronze Age into the Iron Age in this part of the world. Given that no traces of the Late Bronze Age have been found to date in the narrow zone surrounding Kaptol, nor in the surroundings of Kagovac, we may posit that the Iron Age centres of the Požega Valley were created after the Late Bronze Age fortified settlements had been abandoned, with their population probably establishing new settlements on the lower slopes, closer to the valley. The relationship between the so-called Kaptol Group and neighbouring regions has not yet been 515 The Kaptol Group and the Požega Valley defined. The area to the west, which should belong to the group, was probably occupied by communi- ties similar to those living in the valley, and also those living in Podravina, Međimurje and beyond, in Prekmurje and Styria. We agree with earlier researchers (Vinski-Gasparini 1987, 182) that the current void is a result of some specific circum- stances pertaining to the exploration history, and that it is not a reflection of the true situation in the field. This is also corroborated by the preliminary examination of the previously mentioned monu- mental tumuli at Kravljak near Đulovac, which, in wake of promising geophysical investigations, should yield the first genuine results (Potrebica 2014). Much is expected from the new excavation at Jalžabet, as well, and some spatial analyses have also been undertaken in the area of Goričan (Vuković, Potrebica, Fileš 2018, 15). In order to discuss the relationship with Podravina and Transdanubia farther north, we need adequate research results, that is, published findings from certain key sites such as Nagyberki-Szalacska. The eastern boundary, so to speak, is completely unknown, as we do not know where the demarcation lies in the territory east of the Slavonian Mountains that would denote the beginning of the Dalj Group, which differs rather significantly in a range of aspects from the communities living in the territory of the Kaptol Group. The intensive contacts with the south have always raised the interesting question of how far south the influence of the Kaptol Group reached, that is, whether the Sava River served as a boundary between the Kaptol Group and the Donja Dolina Group, as it has been defined to date. The answer to this question will be provided by the continued excavation of the tumuli and settlement at Dolina near Nova Gradiška, the publication of the results of excavations of the tumuli in the surroundings of Županja, and the ongoing revision of the finds from Donja Dolina. The results obtained thus far suggest a working hypothesis according to which Posavina was a separate cultural unit, with a uniform pres- ence on both sides of the Sava River. Over the next few years, the current state of research and the analytical processes in use should result in some very important findings about the territory of the Požega V alley and the Kaptol Group as such, and these will doubtlessly have a far-reaching impact on our understanding of the Iron Age in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin and some of the neighbouring regions. Hrvoje Potrebica Sveučilište u Zagrebu Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za arheologiju I. Lučića 3 HR-10000 Zagreb hpotrebi@ffzg.hr Ovaj rad financirala je Hrvatska zaklada za znanost projektom (IP-2014-09-1234): Pogrebni običaji starijeg željeznog doba u južnoj Panoniji – raskrižja identiteta (BC-CrossId). The research in this paper was funded by Croatian Science Foundation with a project (IP-2014-09-1234): Burial Customs of the Early Iron Age in Southern Pannonia – Crossroads of Identity (BCCrossId). Slikovni material: Sl. 2, 6 (arhiv AMZ); – Sl. 8 (foto: D. Doračić); – Sl. 9 (foto: M. Vuković); – Sl. 10 (foto: B. Križ). Illustrations: Figs. 2, 6 (archives AMZ); – Fig. 8 (photo: D. Doračić); – Fig. 9 (photo: M. Vuković) – Fig. 10 (photo: B. Križ).