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‘Princely graves’ of the central Balkans – A critical history of research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Staša Babić
Staša Babić*
Affiliation:
University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia
*
[email: sbabic@aaen.edu.yu]
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Abstract

This article critically explores the century-long history of research into a particular set of archaeological finds. The ‘princely graves’ – funerary assemblages dated to the early Iron Age (seventh to fifth centuries BC) containing, among other things, luxurious objects produced in Archaic Greek workshops – are known from various parts of temperate Europe, and were first recorded in the central Balkans region by the end of the nineteenth century. By their very nature, these finds pose several important theoretical and methodological problems, one of them being the need to bridge the divide between the procedures of prehistoric and classical archaeologies. The first attempts to account for these exceptional finds, in Europe as well as in the Balkans, were guided by the culture-historical procedure, typical of the archaeological investigation of the time. During the 1960s New Archaeology brought about the notion of chiefdom as a tool to account for the Iron Age societies. The concept was introduced into research on the central Balkan finds, proving successful in overcoming the shortcomings of the previous explanations, but at the same time creating new ones, encapsulated in the critique of the evolutionary approach. This review of research into the ‘princely graves’ concludes in proposing several new lines of inquiry, already introduced in the European archaeological theory: issues of group identity and individual actors, and phenomenological approaches to time and space.

Cet article étudie de façon critique la recherche, datant déjà de plusieurs siècles, sur un ensemble particulier de trouvailles archéologiques. Les ”tombes princières” – des ensembles funéraires datant de l'âge du fer ancien (septième au cinquième siècle av.JC) contenant entre autres des objets luxueux crées dans des ateliers de la Grèce archaïque – sont connues de différentes parties de l'Europe tempérée, et furent décrites pour la première fois dans la région des Balkans à la fin du 19e siècle. Ces découvertes, de par leur nature même, soulèvent d'importants problèmes théoriques et méthodologiques, à savoir, par exemple, comment combler le fossé entre les procédures de l'archéologie préhistorique et de l'archéologie classique. Les premières tentatives d'expliquer ces découvertes exceptionnelles, en Europe aussi bien qu'aux Balkans, reposaient sur les moyens de l'histoire culturelle, typiques à la recherche archéologique à cette date. Dans les années soixante, la “New Archeology” proposait le terme de chefferie pour faire comprendre les sociétés de l'âge du fer. Ce concepte fût introduit dans la recherche aux Balkans et s'avérait fructueux pour maîtriser les défauts des explications précédentes. Mais cette approche créait aussi de nouveaux problèmes, à savoir la désapprobation de cette démarche évolutionniste. Cette revue de la recherche sur les “tombes princières” se termine en proposant plusieurs nouvelles approches, déjà introduites dans la théorie archéologique européenne: la question d'une identité collective de groupe et d'acteurs individuels, et approches phénoménologiques du temps et de l'espace.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Aufsatz ist eine kritische Untersuchung der bereits Jahrhunderte währenden Untersuchung einer besonderen archäologischen Fundgattung. Die “Fürstengräber” – Grabkomplexe, die in die frühe Eisenzeit (7.–5. Jh. BC) datiert werden und neben anderen Gegenständen auch Luxusobjekte aus Werkstätten des archaischen Griechenland enthalten – sind zahlreich aus Europa bekannt; sie wurden gegen Ende des 19. Jh. zuerst im Zentralbalkan beobachtet. Durch ihre außergewöhnliche Stellung sind mit ihnen verschiedene theoretische und methodische Probleme, so z.B. die notwendige Überwindung der Kluft zwischen den Vorgehensweisen der Prähistorischen und der Klassischen Archäologie, verknüpft. Die ersten Versuche, diese außergewöhnlichen Funde zu behandeln, basierten in Europa wie auch in der Balkanregion auf dem kulturgeschichtlichen Ansatz – typisch für die archäologischen Forschungen dieser Zeit. Während der 1960er Jahre prägte die New Archaeology den Begriff “Chiefdom” als Werkzeug zur Untersuchung eisenzeitlicher Gesellschaften. Dieses Konzept wurde auch in die Erforschung der Funde aus dem Zentralbalkan eingeführt und half einerseits erfolgreich bei der Überwindung der Unzulänglichkeiten früherer Erklärungsversuche – schuf jedoch andererseits dabei neue Probleme, die in der Kritik evolutionistischer Ansätze eingeschlossen waren. Dieser Rückblick auf die Erforschung der “Fürstengräber” mündet in verschiedene neue Untersuchungslinien, die bereits in die europäische Archäologietheorie eingeführt wurden: Fragen zu Gruppenidentität bzw. individuellen Handlungsträgern sowie phänomenologische Ansätze zu Raum und Zeit.

Keywords

central Balkans Iron Agechiefdom and polisculture-historical approachhistory of researchindividualspace and time‘princely graves’âge du fer des Balkansapproche historico-culturellechefferie et polisespace et tempshistoire de la rechercheindividu“tombes princières”Chiefdom und PolisEisenzeit des Zentralbalkans“Fürstengräber”ForschungsgeschichteIndividuumRaum und Zeitkulturgeschichtlicher Ansatz
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , 2002 , pp. 70 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 Sage Publications 

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