Early mediaeval hoards of iron items in Slovenia

The article discusses four early mediaeval hoards of iron items in Slovenia. The most complex is the hoard from Sebenje near Bled, which comprises agricultural implements, wood-carving tools, weapons, equestrian equipment and two bucket handles, while the most uniform hoard is from Gradišče above Bašelj, in which equestrian equipment was found. The hoard find from the Ljubljanica River includes, among various tools, an axe-shaped bar, which is a solitary find in Slovenia, whereas in the territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, this type of bar has been found in great numbers and in many hoards. In the hoard from Zidani gaber above Mihovo, agricultural implements were predominant (five sickles and a scythe). The hoards from Slovenian sites have been dated to the period from the 8th to the 10th centuries.

In Slovenia, early mediaeval hoards of iron implements and weapons have been found at Sebenje near Bled, in the Ljubljanica River, at Gradišče above Bašelj, and at Zidani gaber above Mihovo (Fig. 1).The first discovery was of a hoard of twenty-four iron items at Sebenje.The landowner found it when attempting to remove a heap of stones in which the hoard was actually hidden.The items are kept by the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana (Inv.No. S 2341-S 2364), and were analysed extensively by A. Pleterski (Pl.1). 1 The items comprise agricultural implements (hoe, ploughshare, four socketed shares, two sickles, iron rings), wood-carving tools (hooked blade, knife, awl, chisel, two wimbles), weapons (two spearheads), horse equipment (horse-bit, two stirrups) and miscellaneous items (two bent bucket handles).According to Pleterski, the iron implements and weapons were probably hidden in a natural heap of stones in AD 820 by a local who was a farmer in peacetime and a horseman in wartime.Pleterski has linked the event to the anti-Frankish rebellion by Liudewitus, dux Pannoniae inferioris, who was joined by the subjugated Carniolans living along the Sava River.
The second hoard (in this instance, the term "hoard" is not certain) was found in the Ljubljanica River during scuba diving.The items were scattered along the river bed over a distance of two metres.The find, which is kept by the National Museum of Slovenia, has been analysed by the author (Pl.2). 2 It is composed of the iron parts of various tools -scythe, pickaxe, narrow axe, hewing axe, awl -and an axe-shaped bar (the items are described in the catalogue at the end of the article).The identical rusty coating that covered the items, as well as the composition of the find -in which cutting tools are predominant -and the similarity of their manufacture allow us to infer that they constituted a whole.Perhaps they were part of a cargo that fell into the water, although it is more likely that they were buried as a hoard in the river bank, but slid into the water only recently, when the river cut into the bank.The find is dated to the 9 th century.
During the archaeological excavations carried out by the National Museum of Slovenia in 1998, a hoard of iron items was also found at Gradišče above Bašelj.3It comprised parts of horse and horseman's equipment: a horse-bit, stirrup, and two spurs (Pl.3; descriptions given in the catalogue).There was a stone settlement in Late Antiquity at the top of Gradišče, while in the Early Middle Ages its ruins were probably utilised during the construction of a military stronghold.The majority of the truly numerous items that can be found all over Gradišče can be dated from the late 8 th to the early 10 th centuries.Many military items were found lying along the walls in a distinct layer of charcoal, together with pottery, implements for everyday use and charred cereal grains, whereas the hoard was buried in a clay layer more towards the centre of the settlement.The items were found close together, 30 cm deep; the pair of spurs was entangled with the horse-bit, while the stirrup lay over them only partially (Fig. 2).

Sl. 1. Ranosrednjovjekovne ostave željeznih predmeta u Sloveniji (karta: R. Hribar).
The fourth hoard of iron implements was found in 1999 at Zidani gaber above Mihovo.It was excavated by an archaeological team from the Dolenjski muzej/Museum of Lower Carniola in Novo mesto and the National Museum of Slovenia.The team received information from a metal detector that an iron long-handled pan was shallowly buried on the western slope below church ruins from Late Antiquity.During the professional removal of the pan, a hoard was discovered in its immediate vicinity; the items lay buried 25 cm deep, one atop the other (Fig. 3) in humus soil above a settlement layer from Late Antiquity.The hoard consisted of five sickles (one of them fragmentary), a scythe, a billhook, an axe, a nail and a club-shaped object (Pl.4; descriptions given in the catalogue). 4The items are kept by the Dolenjski muzej/Museum of Lower Carniola.The partially researched ruins of the Late Antiquity hilltop settlement at Zidani gaber have been dated to the period from the 5 th to the early 7 th centuries.This was initially also the period to which the hoard itself was dated, but its more detailed study has indicated that the dating could be extended to the 10 th century.

Fig. 2. Gradišče above Bašelj, equestrian equipment hoard during excavation (photo: J. Hanc). Sl. 2. Gradišće nad Bašeljem, ostava s konjaničkom opremom tijekom istraživanja (foto: J. Hanc).
A possibility of its dating to later centuries has also been suggested by other, rather scarce, finds, randomly discovered in the area of the Late Antiquity settlement. 5he most complex of the hoards from Slovenian sites, in terms of their composition, is the hoard from Sebenje (Pl.1), while the most uniform is from Gradišče above Bašelj (Pl.3).The first includes items used during various activities (warfare, agriculture, trade), while the second consists only of riding equipment (which were therefore most probably used, with regard to the site, during warfare).The only weapons, i.e. two spearheads, were part of the Sebenje hoard (Pl.1: 13, 14).The larger of the two, given its socket ornament (Pl.1: 14), is a characteristic and widespread Carolingian weapon, and on the basis of several comparisons with winged and nonwinged spearheads, is dated to the end of the 8 th and first half of the 9 th centuries.In Slovenia, numerous examples are known from the Ljubljanica River. 6Similar spearheads have often been found in border areas of the Frankish kingdom, e.g. in the north in Saxony,7 and in the southeast in Croatia, Austria and Hungary. 8In contemporary hoards in Bohemia and Slovakia, spearheads are fairly rare items. 9Among ninety-two Eastern European early mediaeval hoards of iron tools and weapons, thirteen are known to include spearheads; these often occur together with axes that are -particularly the narrow specimens -defined as battle axes, which can be inferred from the axes found in numerous contemporary warrior burials. 10The axes from the Ljubljanica River and Zidani gaber are also narrow, but as no warrior grave with an axe has been found in Slovenia, they are classified as tools for the time being.
The other set of Sebenje hoard finds comprises equestrian equipment: a horse-bit with straight ends and two stirrups (Pl.1: 10, 23, 24).Stirrups of this kind are classified as type IAa Bartošková. 11 In Slovenia, fourteen early mediaeval stirrups have been found at nine sites.The two stirrups from Sebenje can be compared to the hoard finds from Gradišče above Bašelj, to other specimens from this site and from the Belica stream that runs below Gradišče, as well as to specimens (presumably) from Stari grad above Celje.The most numerous comparisons for stirrups of this kind come from modern Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where the state of Great Moravia extended in the 9 th century. 12Stirrups are very common finds in hoards of iron items; in Eastern Europe, they have been found in no less than fifteen. 13here are similar comparisons for the Sebenje horse-bit: from four Slovenian sites, ten (mostly partially preserved) simple bipartite horse-bits with straight ends are known. 14They are divided into two groups; the non-ornamented example from Sebenje is classified as a Csorna type horse-bit, as the westernmost specimen of this kind that were distributed over the territory between the Volga and Dnieper Rivers to the Carpathian Valley. 15They have been found in graves, settlement layers and hoards dated to the 9 th century, but also occur in the 10 th century in graves from the Hungarian period.The Sebenje horse-bit is the only specimen of its kind from a Slovenian site, where examples of the second group, which have long straight ends and a star-like cross-section in the central part (Ljubična above Zbelovska Gora, Poštela), are predominant; the horse-bit from the hoard at Gradišče above Bašelj is another example. 16orse-bits with a star-like cross-section are characteristic of Frankish and Viking regions from the 10 th and early 11 th centuries, but have not been found in the East. 17he hoard from Gradišče above Bašelj also includes a pair of spurs with long decorated tangs and triangular ends on both parts of the yoke (Pl.3: 2, 3).In Slovenia, more than fifty early mediaeval spurs have been found at fourteen sites, about half of them at Gradišče above Bašelj. 18As hoard finds, the iron spurs from Gradišče are isolated.Otherwise, they have also been found in graves (Ptujski grad, Brezje above Zreče, Puščava above Stari trg near Slovenj Gradec), 19 and especially in the area of former hilltop settlements from Late Antiquity (apart from Gradišče above Bašelj, at Ajdna above Potoki, and Ljubična above Zbelovska Gora), as well as in the Ljubljanica River. 20If several strap ends and the clamps with which the spurs were fastened are added to all the spurs found at Gradišče above Bašelj, the quantity of this type of equestrian equipment at this particular site is very impressive indeed.Like the other iron items, parts of spur sets were superbly forged and tinned. 21Fragments of a gilded bronze spur have also been found, in addition to several gilded luxury items that most probably belonged to members of the highest social class. 22he third set of hoard finds from Sebenje comprises iron parts of various agricultural implements: a ploughshare (Pl.1: 9; A1 Henning type), 23 fragments of two sickles with a serrated blade (Pl.1: 11, 12; H2 Henning type), a hoe (Pl.1: 8), four socketed shares (Pl.1: 1-4), and probably three iron rings (Pl.1: 5-8), with which the scythe blade was fastened to the wooden haft.In Eastern European hoard finds, ploughshares are common and have usually been found (in cross-type correlations) in conjunction with axes, sickles and hoes; socketed shares, however, are less common, having been found in only a further seven hoards. 24As a rule, the sickles have serrated, finely incised blades, an early mediaeval characteristic also common to four sickles from the hoard from Zidani gaber (Pl.4: 3-6; H2 Henning type), 25 with which a (bent) scythe was found (Pl.4: 10; I5 Henning type), 26 while another two scythes of the same type were discovered (unprofessionally) with a metal detector not far from the hoard; 27 yet another was found in the (assumed) hoard from the Ljubljanica River (Pl. 2: 6).The hoard at Zidani gaber included a billhook (Pl.4: 2; G5 Henning), 28 while the functions of the large nail and the club-shaped item are not known (Pl.1: 1, 7).
Leaving aside the two deformed handles of wooden buckets (Pl.1: 21, 22), whose metal parts are common in Moravian treasure troves, the last set of items from the Sebenje hoard are related to crafts.The tools are suitable for wood-carving (knife, hooked blade, wimbles, chisel, awl; Pl. 1: 15-20) and together with smithy tools, are common components of iron hoards. 29he hewing axe found in the Ljubljanica River could also have been used for wood-carving (Pl.2: 3).Two similar axes were found in settlement remains at Slivnica near Maribor, which are dated from the second half of the 7 th to the 9 th century. 30The awl was a very versatile tool (Pl.2: 4), 31 while the applicability of the pickaxe-like object is unknown (Pl.2: 5).The Ljubljanica hoard also includes an axe-shaped bar (Pl.2: 1).In Slovenia, it is an isolated find -far from the territory north of the central Danube, where this type of bar (dated mainly to the 9 th century) has been found in great numbers and in numerous hoards. 32o conclude, the iron hoards from Slovenian sites are well integrated, typologically and chronologically, into the large body of finds of this type in Eastern Europe, as well as more widely in the Slavic world. 33It is becoming increasingly clear that through new discoveries hoard items can be more closely linked with cognate items from settlement layers and graveyards.Still unanswered, however, is one of the key questions: why specifically was only iron selected for these hoards, although silver (eighth-and ninth-century dirhams) was also buried in those times in Slovenia? 34glish translation: Henrik Ciglič; English revision: Philip Burt

Catalogue of iron items from hoards in Slovenia
Sebenje near Bled (T.1: 1-24; description of items: A. PLETERSKI, 1987).Gradišče above Bašelj 1. Bipartite horse-bit with star-like cross-section in the central part and long straight ends.Ends, loops and strap terminals ribbed and decorated with dense incisions.L 32.5 cm, height of the ends 15.0 cm.NMS, Inv.No. S 2902.Pl. 3: 1. 2. Stirrup with wide foot tread, reinforced with three ribs.In the upper part, the arch is transversely densely ribbed, the ribs are cut, the pentagonal flat eye has a rectangular opening.H 17.6 cm, w up to 11.1 cm.NMS, Inv.No. S 2901.Pl. 3: 2. 3 and 4. Pair of spurs with long tangs of octagonal cross-section, decorated with deep oblique grooves.Both parts of the yoke are equally decorated with triangularly widened ends.The latter are equipped with fixing rivets.Dimenison: 14.8 x 10.5 cm, tang length 4.4 cm, and 15.2 x 10.2 cm, tang length 4.2 cm.Inv.No. S 2903 in S 2904.Pl. 3: 3, 4.
Zidani gaber above Mihovo 1. Sickle with a serrated, finely incised blade.Wide shallow groove running along almost the entire length of the blade.Handle tang curved at the end.L. 30.2 cm, tang length 10.5 cm, blade width up to 2.5 cm.Dolenjski muzej/Museum of Lower Carniola, Novo mesto (further DM), Inv.No.A 2730.Pl. 4: 1. 2. Sickle with a serrated, finely incised blade and flat handle tang.Blade tip forged into a small triangular plate.L. 33.5 cm, tang length 13.0 cm, blade width up to 2.61 cm.DM, Inv.No.A 2729.Pl. 4: 2. 3. Sickle with a serrated, finely incised blade.Flat handle tang curved at the end.Blade tip forged into a small triangular plate.L 30.4 cm, tang length 10.0 cm, blade width up to 2.