Marija Ljustina
Marija Ljuština holds a Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral degrees from the Department of Archaeology, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy, where she is permanently employed since 2000. As an Associate Professor at the Department of Archaeology, she is engaged both in courses on later prehistory of Europe, and in individual mentorships. She was a guest lecturer at the University of Cambridge (UK), the University of Primorska in Koper (Slovenia), and the University of Rzeszów in Poland. Her research is focused on settlements and material culture of late prehistory in South-eastern Europe, as well as burial practices during the Bronze and Iron Ages. She was engaged as a research associate in systematic and rescue excavations of the following sites in Serbia: Petrovaradin Fortress, Baranda, Čučuge near Ub, Čelarevo, Dubac in Jančići, Židovar in Orešac (co-head of research). She has authored a number of papers published both in domestic and international journals, as well as within monographic publications regarding the Bronze and Iron Age of South-eastern Europe. She was a member of several research projects funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia and the international project Iron Age Female Identities in Southern Carpathian Basin FEMINE, financed by the Croatian Science Foundation. Currently she is a researcher of Interactions-Transmission-Transformation: Long-distance connections in Copper and Bronze Age of the Central Balkans – The FLOW project, funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia. Her results are presented at international scientific conferences in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Germany. She is a member of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP), Serbian Archaeological Society, and Matica Srpska, and a holder of a scholarship from the Tokyo Foundation.
Supervisors: Miloš Jevtić
Supervisors: Miloš Jevtić
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Books by Marija Ljustina
The proceedings before us, comprised of seven papers, are inspired by the subject of the almost completed CRAFTER programme Creative Europe project. The full title of the project is Crafting Europe in the Bronze Age and Today, and in brief, the idea was to draw inspiration from Europe’s Bronze Age pottery to help revive modern-day artisanship. The project targets the appreciation of Europe's cultural heritage as a shared resource and the reinforcement of a sense of belonging to a common European space. In particular, it hopes to make cultural heritage a source of inspiration for contemporary creation and innovation and strengthen the interaction between this sector and other cultural and creative sectors. The main framework of the project was the idea that four potters from Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Serbia will draw on their skills to (re)create ceramic vessels representative of some of the most outstanding Bronze Age cultures of Europe: El Argar (southeast Spain), Únětice (Central Europe), Füzesabony (eastern Hungary) and Vatin (Serbia).
The papers published within these proceedings are not strictly related to the project itself, but the problems of Bronze Age pottery in Europe in general. The problems discussed in the presented papers and the inspirations are drawn from the CRAFTER project. The original idea was to delve into the content of the pottery and define its composition and quality. These are, in fact, the elements responsible for the final appearance of the ceramic vessel and its function. Considering that out of four editors, two have presented papers within the proceedings, I have been honoured to write this short introduction on their significance and essence. The thread that connects all of the papers, although their concepts do not seem similar at the first glance, since some of the papers are dwelling on interdisciplinarity while others deal with certain chronological and cultural-historical problems, is that the primary analytical material in all of the papers is Bronze Age pottery, from beyond the Pyrenees, across Central Europe, to the Balkans, which is not unexpected considering that a Serbian institution was credited for publishing. The positive aspect is that the pottery is Crafting pottery in Bronze Age Europe: the archaeological background of the CRAFTER project discussed in a manner uncommon for archaeology, while on the other hand pottery studies have been more and more neglected in the past few decades, as such subjects are considered as passé in archaeology. The ever-rising number of specializations and specialists have pushed the pottery and potters into an undeserved corner, even though without such a set of analytic work the past can not be completely and adequately perceived.
The pottery is “slow-moving”. It changes, circulates, and exchanges at a slow pace and it enables the perception of the beginning, development, decadence, and the end of a certain society. The pottery has regional character and reflects the primary contacts, the esthetics of a community, and the inspiration of the artist. Certainly, this implies to prehistoric pottery and communities which do not function within centralized social systems, such as the Bronze Age beyond Mediterranean Europe, which is indeed in the focus of these proceedings. With the appearance of the potter’s wheel, the production and distribution of pottery merge with industry and economy, and at that moment a puzzle of a small man from the past loses a piece. A piece without which we are unable to perceive small communities through such an important, fruitful, and data-rich object such as pottery and which we often tend to neglect as a discipline. In order to identify the contacts, exchange, and trade or reconstruct the communication routes in past, we often reach to the so-called luxurious artifacts: metals, amber, glass, and artisan objects… Likewise, pottery could narrate a story of one meal, one house, one potter, one village, or one community in the past, which is, like it or not, a fact that will make the interdisciplinary and diverse analyses of prehistoric pottery one of the primary archaeological methods.
Vojislav Filipović
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade
Papers by Marija Ljustina
Laboratory research within the project has so far brought many important results, among which are those on the origin of the raw materials for making the analysed ceramic vessels, as well as the pigments used for their decoration. Extremely significant data was obtained on the composition of the analysed items made of metal - weapons and jewellery, on the basis of which preliminary conclusions were made about the technology of their production, and them belonging to a certain region or workshop.
The project initiated the creation of a network of scientific collaborations that can be continued through future joint projects and applications on international calls. The following project activities will be aimed towards the consolidation of already established methodological procedures as well as the interpretation of the awaited outcomes and their integration into explanatory models of complex processes in the societies in later prehistory.
the backbone for the creation of spatio-temporal models and the formation of an SQL database, all with the goal of creating the interpretative basis for the study of local paleo-economies, long-distance connections, and social networks in the Central Balkans during the Copper and Bronze Age
of jewellery in the territory of the Scordisci. Even though the circumstances of
discovery are unknown for most finds, the knobbed rings and armrings found
in the richly furnished grave 1 in the cemetery of Sotin — Zmajevac showed that
they were popular and frequently worn items of jewellery, which seems to be
confirmed by numerous finds from La Tène settlements around Vinkovci. Based
on size differences, some knobbed rings are assumed to have served as pendants, while those of larger diameter are believed to be arm jewellery. Parallels
for knobbed rings and armrings from Scordiscan sites have been found in Transylvania and central Europe, confirming the intensive cultural contacts and involvement of the Scordisci in the complex communication networks of the Late
La Tène. Among the finds from Scordiscan sites, many knobbed rings belong to
the Szárazd — Regöly type, which is characteristic for the south-eastern Carpathian Basin, but their function is still unclear. On the other hand, the presence
of triple knobbed rings and rings with zoomorphic representations indicates
a connection between the Scordisci and contemporary communities in central
Europe. The finds from grave 1 in Sotin show that knobbed rings and armrings
could have been worn by women of high status in the community, who used body
ornamentation to display various aspects of their visual identity.
old necropolis of the settlement in Komini near Pljevlja, which is known in
scientific literature as Municipium S… It is broadly believed that the earliest
burials at Necropolis I were chronologically positioned in the 1st century AD or as early as the 1st century BC. Still, with a more detailed insight into
archaeological material from graves discovered in 1973, which has not been
thoroughly analysed up to now, data were obtained indicating that the earliest burials in Komini should be dated as early as the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. These observations are even more significant because until now there have not been any data about funerary practice and grave forms for the period of the Late Iron Age in this area.
Despite the results are preliminary, it is surprising that the wild animals
remains make more than two thirds of the analysed sample, while the remains of domestic animals, which are generally dominant in Late La Tène settlements, make less than one third of the Židovar sample. Among wild animals, deer is most represented, while among domestic animals most numerous are remains of domestic pig, cattle, sheep and goat. The causes that led to the high presence of wild animals have not been solved up to now. Still, the results raise numerous questions and provide a solid base for future research.
Architectural remains point to above-ground objects inside fortified space. In the case of Gradina Ras in Pazarište, some objects, e.g. pits with remains of daub and carbonized grains, are indicative of existence of dwellings from later prehistory. Moreover, prehistoric settlement activities are confirmed in the fortified suburbia of Ras. Based on these facts, it can be assumed that at least some of the hillforts also had their suburban zones of occupation.
It implies necessity to change terminology for the Middle
Bronze Age cultures in Western Serbia in accordance with
the situation in which there is no direct connection between
the Vatin culture and the cultural development in Central
and Western Serbia.
The proceedings before us, comprised of seven papers, are inspired by the subject of the almost completed CRAFTER programme Creative Europe project. The full title of the project is Crafting Europe in the Bronze Age and Today, and in brief, the idea was to draw inspiration from Europe’s Bronze Age pottery to help revive modern-day artisanship. The project targets the appreciation of Europe's cultural heritage as a shared resource and the reinforcement of a sense of belonging to a common European space. In particular, it hopes to make cultural heritage a source of inspiration for contemporary creation and innovation and strengthen the interaction between this sector and other cultural and creative sectors. The main framework of the project was the idea that four potters from Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Serbia will draw on their skills to (re)create ceramic vessels representative of some of the most outstanding Bronze Age cultures of Europe: El Argar (southeast Spain), Únětice (Central Europe), Füzesabony (eastern Hungary) and Vatin (Serbia).
The papers published within these proceedings are not strictly related to the project itself, but the problems of Bronze Age pottery in Europe in general. The problems discussed in the presented papers and the inspirations are drawn from the CRAFTER project. The original idea was to delve into the content of the pottery and define its composition and quality. These are, in fact, the elements responsible for the final appearance of the ceramic vessel and its function. Considering that out of four editors, two have presented papers within the proceedings, I have been honoured to write this short introduction on their significance and essence. The thread that connects all of the papers, although their concepts do not seem similar at the first glance, since some of the papers are dwelling on interdisciplinarity while others deal with certain chronological and cultural-historical problems, is that the primary analytical material in all of the papers is Bronze Age pottery, from beyond the Pyrenees, across Central Europe, to the Balkans, which is not unexpected considering that a Serbian institution was credited for publishing. The positive aspect is that the pottery is Crafting pottery in Bronze Age Europe: the archaeological background of the CRAFTER project discussed in a manner uncommon for archaeology, while on the other hand pottery studies have been more and more neglected in the past few decades, as such subjects are considered as passé in archaeology. The ever-rising number of specializations and specialists have pushed the pottery and potters into an undeserved corner, even though without such a set of analytic work the past can not be completely and adequately perceived.
The pottery is “slow-moving”. It changes, circulates, and exchanges at a slow pace and it enables the perception of the beginning, development, decadence, and the end of a certain society. The pottery has regional character and reflects the primary contacts, the esthetics of a community, and the inspiration of the artist. Certainly, this implies to prehistoric pottery and communities which do not function within centralized social systems, such as the Bronze Age beyond Mediterranean Europe, which is indeed in the focus of these proceedings. With the appearance of the potter’s wheel, the production and distribution of pottery merge with industry and economy, and at that moment a puzzle of a small man from the past loses a piece. A piece without which we are unable to perceive small communities through such an important, fruitful, and data-rich object such as pottery and which we often tend to neglect as a discipline. In order to identify the contacts, exchange, and trade or reconstruct the communication routes in past, we often reach to the so-called luxurious artifacts: metals, amber, glass, and artisan objects… Likewise, pottery could narrate a story of one meal, one house, one potter, one village, or one community in the past, which is, like it or not, a fact that will make the interdisciplinary and diverse analyses of prehistoric pottery one of the primary archaeological methods.
Vojislav Filipović
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade
Laboratory research within the project has so far brought many important results, among which are those on the origin of the raw materials for making the analysed ceramic vessels, as well as the pigments used for their decoration. Extremely significant data was obtained on the composition of the analysed items made of metal - weapons and jewellery, on the basis of which preliminary conclusions were made about the technology of their production, and them belonging to a certain region or workshop.
The project initiated the creation of a network of scientific collaborations that can be continued through future joint projects and applications on international calls. The following project activities will be aimed towards the consolidation of already established methodological procedures as well as the interpretation of the awaited outcomes and their integration into explanatory models of complex processes in the societies in later prehistory.
the backbone for the creation of spatio-temporal models and the formation of an SQL database, all with the goal of creating the interpretative basis for the study of local paleo-economies, long-distance connections, and social networks in the Central Balkans during the Copper and Bronze Age
of jewellery in the territory of the Scordisci. Even though the circumstances of
discovery are unknown for most finds, the knobbed rings and armrings found
in the richly furnished grave 1 in the cemetery of Sotin — Zmajevac showed that
they were popular and frequently worn items of jewellery, which seems to be
confirmed by numerous finds from La Tène settlements around Vinkovci. Based
on size differences, some knobbed rings are assumed to have served as pendants, while those of larger diameter are believed to be arm jewellery. Parallels
for knobbed rings and armrings from Scordiscan sites have been found in Transylvania and central Europe, confirming the intensive cultural contacts and involvement of the Scordisci in the complex communication networks of the Late
La Tène. Among the finds from Scordiscan sites, many knobbed rings belong to
the Szárazd — Regöly type, which is characteristic for the south-eastern Carpathian Basin, but their function is still unclear. On the other hand, the presence
of triple knobbed rings and rings with zoomorphic representations indicates
a connection between the Scordisci and contemporary communities in central
Europe. The finds from grave 1 in Sotin show that knobbed rings and armrings
could have been worn by women of high status in the community, who used body
ornamentation to display various aspects of their visual identity.
old necropolis of the settlement in Komini near Pljevlja, which is known in
scientific literature as Municipium S… It is broadly believed that the earliest
burials at Necropolis I were chronologically positioned in the 1st century AD or as early as the 1st century BC. Still, with a more detailed insight into
archaeological material from graves discovered in 1973, which has not been
thoroughly analysed up to now, data were obtained indicating that the earliest burials in Komini should be dated as early as the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. These observations are even more significant because until now there have not been any data about funerary practice and grave forms for the period of the Late Iron Age in this area.
Despite the results are preliminary, it is surprising that the wild animals
remains make more than two thirds of the analysed sample, while the remains of domestic animals, which are generally dominant in Late La Tène settlements, make less than one third of the Židovar sample. Among wild animals, deer is most represented, while among domestic animals most numerous are remains of domestic pig, cattle, sheep and goat. The causes that led to the high presence of wild animals have not been solved up to now. Still, the results raise numerous questions and provide a solid base for future research.
Architectural remains point to above-ground objects inside fortified space. In the case of Gradina Ras in Pazarište, some objects, e.g. pits with remains of daub and carbonized grains, are indicative of existence of dwellings from later prehistory. Moreover, prehistoric settlement activities are confirmed in the fortified suburbia of Ras. Based on these facts, it can be assumed that at least some of the hillforts also had their suburban zones of occupation.
It implies necessity to change terminology for the Middle
Bronze Age cultures in Western Serbia in accordance with
the situation in which there is no direct connection between
the Vatin culture and the cultural development in Central
and Western Serbia.