BRONZOVÁ PLASTIKA Z VEĽKÉHO MEDERA.

In 1997, during a surface prospection, a fragment of a Roman bronze statuette was found at a Germanic settlement from the 2^nd to 4^th century in Veľký Meder (southwestern Slovakia). It is probably a figure of Hercules, who is leaning on a club with his right hand. In recent years, there have been discoveries of bronze and lead Roman statuettes from the Germanic sites in western Slovakia. A discussion was therefore opened about the penetration of Roman ideas into the spiritual world of the Germanic people. However, the statuette of Mercury placed in a Germanic urn grave at the burial site in Ivanka pri Dunaji represents a non-Roman act. It testifies to the distinctive approach and, non-Roman perception" of the Roman artefact. In the Roman world, bronze statuettes were rarely placed in graves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]