engleski

Busta in Illyricum in 2nd and 3rd century AD

The paper will focus on the Roman burial features known as busta. During the past decade several excavations were conducted on the cemeteries on the sites along the limes and in its rear. In total 543 graves have been excavated, producing a good basis for an overview of the development and change of burial rites in this part of the limes. Also, owing to these excavations, a typology of graves can be given, along with the historical and cultural contextualization of each of the defined types. Emphasis will be given on the distribution and typology of busta, a burial custom that seems to be characteristic for the cemeteries along the limes. The origin and interpretation of the bustum type of grave have not yet been explained. One theory has it that such graves originated in north Italy and that the legionaries spread them to the provinces, especially those of the Rhineland and the Danube/Balkan regions. On the other hand, it is possible to perceive of the bustum as a funerary feature imported to the West by the army and immigrants from the East. Others believe that busta originated among the native Balkan (south-east Pannonia included) ethnic communities. On the basis of new finds from Croatia, this paper will try to give a satisfactory explanation of this feature and its connection with the Roman army.

roman burials; limes; Pannonia; bustum

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