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Papers by Vladimir Mihajlovic
Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology 18/3, 2023
The paper reviews previous studies of slavery in the Central Balkan provinces concluding that the... more The paper reviews previous studies of slavery in the Central Balkan provinces concluding that the issue was marginal and has received very limited research attention. It also attempts to outline possible future directions for investigating archaeological evidence suggestive of an enslaved population. First, it explores funerary contexts that indicate the interments of slaves in a few urban necropolises, aiming to stimulate further discussion of similar cases. Similarly, the paper revises several architectural examples that may have been associated with slaves, mostly from imperial estates and residences, but also from one fortified metallurgical complex. Although the views expressed here are hypothetical and tentative, the purpose of the paper is to emphasize the importance of keeping the topic open and trying to improve our analytical and methodological tools for dealing with it.
Recueil du Musée national de Serbie 26/1, 2023
Systematic archaeological research of the eastern necropolis of Remesiana began in 2018 (Јанковић... more Systematic archaeological research of the eastern necropolis of Remesiana began in 2018 (Јанковић и др. 2021). During the last two research campaigns (2021–2022), 21 grave units were examined, making up for a total of 50 burials in the eastern necropolis of Remesiana. As in the previous years, a diversity in grave forms can be noted – aside from the largest number of burials in common pits, a brick grave was discovered, as well as funerary objects with a platform for a “sigma” table (mensa-type graves). It is precisely the discovery of the mensa-type graves (4 in total) that represents one of the most important traits of this Late Antique necropolis, since this type of graves hasn’t been archaeologically researched in the territory of Serbia up to now. Even though a large number of luxurious items comes from thenecropolis (gilded fibulae, silver hairpin), as well as other items of exceptional production quality, their distribution is not in a correlation with grave forms – such items are equally present in funerary constructions and graves with common pits, and burials of both adults and adolescents. It is also important to point out that most of the buried individuals in this necropolis are children, many of whom were new-borns. It is interesting to note that in the cases of new-borns there are no complex grave constructions, instead, they were all laid into simple shallow pits. It can be assumed that there was a wooden casket in only one case (G47), while in other cases it is more probable that they could have been wrapped in cloth. These burials were most probably unmarked, because a large number of such graves was damaged, and bones were often found dislocated in infills of other graves. There were no grave goods in any of the preserved graves of new-borns, which leads us to assume that children of this age were treated differently in comparison to the rest of the community. The necropolis is characterised by a high preservation level of both grave constructions and items discovered in graves, which makes it exceptionally important for all future research not only of funerary practices, but also the life of the inhabitants of the Late Antique Remesiana.
Archaeological Theory at the Edge(s), 2023
The paper continues the discussion about the characteristics, advantages,
and limitations of the ... more The paper continues the discussion about the characteristics, advantages,
and limitations of the so-called ontological/material turn and posthumanist perspectives in archaeology. It specifically focuses on the application, possibilities of improvement, and usefulness of these theoretical approaches within Roman archaeology. After reviewing the current debate, the “pros and cons,” it is proposed that materialities, as well as relational associations composed of various kinds of entities in general, cannot be divorced from ideational aspects that humans inevitably bring in. Therefore, it is suggested that the critical synthesis of material-ideological antagonism is required, because it is impossible to separate relational associations (aka. assemblages, constellations) from power distribution, as well as that their qualities, capacities, and agency are not neutral, but, on the contrary, hegemonic. Some examples from the Balkan-Pannonian part of the Roman Empire are provided in an attempt to clarify the reasoning.
Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology, 2022
The paper considers the issues related to slavery in the Central Balkans in the proto-historic i.... more The paper considers the issues related to slavery in the Central Balkans in the proto-historic i.e. Late Iron Age period. It is conceived as a first step towards more profound future study, and deals with the history of research and theoretical-methodological approaches to the problem of slavery among the Late Iron Age communities. The text revisits earlier interpretations of slavery derived from ancient written accounts and archaeological evidence, and then offers insights that rely on recent research of slavery in general, and in prehistoric period in particular. Finally, it is argued that it is necessary to consider the possibility of 'societies with slaves' when researching the Central Balkan Iron Age communities, even though they are often regarded as 'small-scale societies' that profoundly differed from the Mediterranean 'slave societies'.
Beautiful Bodies Gender and Corporeal Aesthetics in the Past, 2022
The paper considers burials that contained mirrors in two Roman period necropolises from the prov... more The paper considers burials that contained mirrors in two Roman period necropolises from the province of Moesia Superior – Viminacium and Demessus. Using the qualitative and quantitative analysis and comparisons of grave assemblages I address the issue of the roles mirrors had played within the provincial social setting. By examining the archaeological contexts of mirrors in burials I question if the widespread supposition about connection between mirrors and specific gender and age is as obvious and straightforward as generally held. Although the literary, visual and archaeological evidence from Rome and Italy suggests that mirrors were the prominent piece of the female beauty kit (mundus muliebris), the discussed case studies do not completely conform to the presumed rule. This raises several important questions that I tackle in the paper: how and to what extent the idea of mirrors as a device for feminine beauty had spread in the province of Moesia; was the bond of mirrors and certain age cohorts of females indeed so clear-cut; did the graves containing mirrors exclusively belonged to young unmarried or newly married females; could we speak of general social and gender class of “women” or such categorisation actually misses very important nuances of identity and oversimplifies the picture; were there other social and gender categories associated and buried with mirrors.
Glasnik Srpskog arheološkog društva 37, 2021
Etnoantropološki problemi, 2021
The paper reviews long-standing interpretation of the late Iron Age site of Židovar as "Celtic", ... more The paper reviews long-standing interpretation of the late Iron Age site of Židovar as "Celtic", "Dacian" and "Celto-Dacian". Arguing that this standpoint is derived from biased culture-historical ethno-determinism, the evidence is reconsidered from excavation journals of Branko Gavela and published research on Židovar. Evidential basis is discussed, such as sratigraphic difficulties and chronology, as well as some common misconceptions of the site's characteristics. Deadlocks are emphasized regarding the conclusions on its ethnic belonging. The paper calls for a new approach that goes beyond ethno-cultural determinism and urges the employment of "relational locality". This perspective considers the site and its immediate surroundings as the first order community, i.e. the spatio-social focal point entangled in diverse, multidirectional and supra-regional relational networks. This would mean that the community of Židovar actively mediated different templates coming from the "globalized" koines of La Tène Pannonian, Danubian-Carpathian and Roman worlds, and bricolaged them in distinctive local ways.
Issues in ethnology and anthropology, 2021
The paper reviews long-standing interpretation of the late Iron Age site of Židovar as "Celtic", ... more The paper reviews long-standing interpretation of the late Iron Age site of Židovar as "Celtic", "Dacian" and "Celto-Dacian". Arguing that this standpoint is derived from biased culture-historical ethno-determinism, the evidence is reconsidered from excavation journals of Branko Gavela and published research on Židovar. Evidential basis is discussed, such as sratigraphic difficulties and chronology, as well as some common misconceptions of the site's characteristics. Deadlocks are emphasized regarding the conclusions on its ethnic belonging. The paper calls for a new approach that goes beyond ethno-cultural determinism and urges the employment of "relational locality". This perspective considers the site and its immediate surroundings as the first order community, i.e. the spatio-social focal point entangled in diverse, multidirectional and supra-regional relational networks. This would mean that the community of Židovar actively mediated different templates coming from the "globalized" koines of La Tène Pannonian, Danubian-Carpathian and Roman worlds, and bricolaged them in distinctive local ways.
Pervading Empire: Relationality and Diversity in the Roman Provinces (https://elibrary.steiner-verlag.de/book/99.105010/9783515127387), 2020
Beyond the Romans: Posthuman Perspectives in Roman archaeology, eds. I. Selsvold and L. Webb. Oxbow Books, TRAC series 3., 2020
The common academic view asserts that funerary monuments were used as status markers, communicati... more The common academic view asserts that funerary monuments were used as status markers, communicating various identifications of the deceased, simultaneously distinguishing them as singularized social personae, and placing them within the various groups of social peers. Funerary monuments are seen as discursive devices and rhetoric statements about the dead, produced and capitalized by the living. Nevertheless, drawing from ‘posthumanism’ perspectives, the question arises whether the ‘objects’ of funerary monumental-epigraphic practice could be instead understood as ‘subjects’ of agency per se. The paper discusses the possibility that funerary monuments were comprehended as ‘living things’ and interactive members of (local/residential/family) communities, mediating between this and ‘other’ worlds. Through their materiality, by appropriation of identification data, visual representations of the deceased or allegoric references to their lives, along with the spatial association to the resting place of a body, and the part played in mortuary ritualized behaviors, funerary monuments could have assumed the role of the reified biographical entities. Their capacity to integrate various concepts, mobilize different meanings and practices, articulate ‘the presence of the absent’ and the state of ‘in-betweenness’ could have made them powerful incarnated agents in their own right. Using the postulates of actor-network and theory entanglement theories the papers offers a view on how could inscribed funerary monuments participate in the network of relationalities between the living and dead, past, present and future and in what ways could they acted as material part of the concept of the deceased.
Sastre, I. and Currás, B. X. (eds.) Alternative Iron Ages: Social Theory from Archaeological Analysis, 218–256. London: Routledge., 2019
Very convenient opening lines for the questions addressed in the remainder of this chapter have b... more Very convenient opening lines for the questions addressed in the remainder of this chapter have been provided by Appian many centuries ago:
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2019
The paper considers cultural and imaginative construction of the Ister/
Danube, and its implicati... more The paper considers cultural and imaginative construction of the Ister/
Danube, and its implications in the creation of the limes area of the provinces of
Moesia and (part of) Pannonia. It discusses how the Danube was used as an element
in construing the Scordisci as a Roman enemy and (pseudo)ethnic tribe, what was the
meaning of this connection, and did such conceptualization have real repercussions
in the area of waterscape associated with the ‘tribe’. It is proposed that the Danube
emerged as a hydrographical frontier thanks to its specific longue durée symbolic
meaning of liminality embedded in the imperialistic agency in the course of creating
provincial/frontier/imperial space. The basic point is that the ancient imagological
tradition had an important effect on the construction of Roman imperial space thanks to
the intellectual and political elites’ capacities to shape powerscapes by projecting their
own conceptualizations of the world into the webs of relations under their influence.
The paper reviews the conventional notion of the straightforward relation between
the presence of... more The paper reviews the conventional notion of the straightforward relation between
the presence of warrior equipment, its quantity and quality, and the warrior status of the deceased
in the area of middle Danube by revising the evidence from Karaburma necropolis. It
is argued that the concept of the warlike late Iron Age Scordisci is derived from ancient written
accounts and that the role of war and violent character of communities in the middle Danube
region are overemphasized and uncritically taken as an axiom. The paper suggests other
possible paths of interpretation which point to the diversification of social roles, possible
professionalization within the late Iron Age social structure, as well as (probably) diverse
meanings and utilization of weaponry in the funerary context.
Reflecting Roman Imperialisms, 2018
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Videos by Vladimir Mihajlovic
Papers by Vladimir Mihajlovic
and limitations of the so-called ontological/material turn and posthumanist perspectives in archaeology. It specifically focuses on the application, possibilities of improvement, and usefulness of these theoretical approaches within Roman archaeology. After reviewing the current debate, the “pros and cons,” it is proposed that materialities, as well as relational associations composed of various kinds of entities in general, cannot be divorced from ideational aspects that humans inevitably bring in. Therefore, it is suggested that the critical synthesis of material-ideological antagonism is required, because it is impossible to separate relational associations (aka. assemblages, constellations) from power distribution, as well as that their qualities, capacities, and agency are not neutral, but, on the contrary, hegemonic. Some examples from the Balkan-Pannonian part of the Roman Empire are provided in an attempt to clarify the reasoning.
Danube, and its implications in the creation of the limes area of the provinces of
Moesia and (part of) Pannonia. It discusses how the Danube was used as an element
in construing the Scordisci as a Roman enemy and (pseudo)ethnic tribe, what was the
meaning of this connection, and did such conceptualization have real repercussions
in the area of waterscape associated with the ‘tribe’. It is proposed that the Danube
emerged as a hydrographical frontier thanks to its specific longue durée symbolic
meaning of liminality embedded in the imperialistic agency in the course of creating
provincial/frontier/imperial space. The basic point is that the ancient imagological
tradition had an important effect on the construction of Roman imperial space thanks to
the intellectual and political elites’ capacities to shape powerscapes by projecting their
own conceptualizations of the world into the webs of relations under their influence.
the presence of warrior equipment, its quantity and quality, and the warrior status of the deceased
in the area of middle Danube by revising the evidence from Karaburma necropolis. It
is argued that the concept of the warlike late Iron Age Scordisci is derived from ancient written
accounts and that the role of war and violent character of communities in the middle Danube
region are overemphasized and uncritically taken as an axiom. The paper suggests other
possible paths of interpretation which point to the diversification of social roles, possible
professionalization within the late Iron Age social structure, as well as (probably) diverse
meanings and utilization of weaponry in the funerary context.
and limitations of the so-called ontological/material turn and posthumanist perspectives in archaeology. It specifically focuses on the application, possibilities of improvement, and usefulness of these theoretical approaches within Roman archaeology. After reviewing the current debate, the “pros and cons,” it is proposed that materialities, as well as relational associations composed of various kinds of entities in general, cannot be divorced from ideational aspects that humans inevitably bring in. Therefore, it is suggested that the critical synthesis of material-ideological antagonism is required, because it is impossible to separate relational associations (aka. assemblages, constellations) from power distribution, as well as that their qualities, capacities, and agency are not neutral, but, on the contrary, hegemonic. Some examples from the Balkan-Pannonian part of the Roman Empire are provided in an attempt to clarify the reasoning.
Danube, and its implications in the creation of the limes area of the provinces of
Moesia and (part of) Pannonia. It discusses how the Danube was used as an element
in construing the Scordisci as a Roman enemy and (pseudo)ethnic tribe, what was the
meaning of this connection, and did such conceptualization have real repercussions
in the area of waterscape associated with the ‘tribe’. It is proposed that the Danube
emerged as a hydrographical frontier thanks to its specific longue durée symbolic
meaning of liminality embedded in the imperialistic agency in the course of creating
provincial/frontier/imperial space. The basic point is that the ancient imagological
tradition had an important effect on the construction of Roman imperial space thanks to
the intellectual and political elites’ capacities to shape powerscapes by projecting their
own conceptualizations of the world into the webs of relations under their influence.
the presence of warrior equipment, its quantity and quality, and the warrior status of the deceased
in the area of middle Danube by revising the evidence from Karaburma necropolis. It
is argued that the concept of the warlike late Iron Age Scordisci is derived from ancient written
accounts and that the role of war and violent character of communities in the middle Danube
region are overemphasized and uncritically taken as an axiom. The paper suggests other
possible paths of interpretation which point to the diversification of social roles, possible
professionalization within the late Iron Age social structure, as well as (probably) diverse
meanings and utilization of weaponry in the funerary context.
The volume offers a variety of theoretically and methodologically well-informed geographical, chronological and thematic case studies, written by established and emerging specialists in the field of Roman Studies, on a range of different research questions such as the integration in the Roman world, inter-cultural perceptions, (mis)communications, transfers and exchanges, transformations of social structures and landscape, patterns of consumption and related identities and the dynamics in the sphere of religion among others. Thereby, Pervading Empire demonstrates the complex and fluctuating nature of the Roman world and emphasizes the fertility of such approaches within Roman Studies.