Rites of the Chieftain’s grave in Atenica and traces of the Archaic kingdom in Illyria

Abstract

The well known chieftain’s grave at mound II in Atenica near Čačak (at the turn of the 6th and 5th century B. C.) belongs to the series of rich graves within the wider sphere of Hallstatt culture in Europe. It stands out because of its distinct sacrificial rites (three wild oxen, two pigs, a dog) and its particular sacrificial construction placed on the platform alongside the tomb. The sacrifice of the six animals on the base of the platform has probably to be brought into connection with the Indoeuropean triadical sacrifice of the Roman snovetaurilia type (sautramani in India). This interpretation calls attention to the fact that in its original form this type of sacrifice to a powerful deity presupposed the employment of other deities (especially visible in the sautramani rite): as in Umbria (offerings accompanying the lustration of ithe people) changes probably took place here in regard to the choice and number of offerings, because of the further development of differentiated functions - in contradistinction to Rome where Mars remained the sole recipient of the offerings. The analysis of the spatial arrangement of the sacrificial construction also bears witness to the existence of a cdmplex theology. The function and character of the ritual on the sacrificial construction are not quite clear. What is certain is that tire complex ritual as well as the rich accoutrement of the tomb, and especially the absolute subordination of all spatial relations to the sides of the world (the coordination with the heavenly axes), lead to the thought that we are dealing with a ruler who was really »the king« in the archaic meaning of the term.