PREDMETI UMJETNIČKOG OBRTA U BRONCI TIJEKOM RIMSKOG DOBA U SREDIŠNJEM DIJELU DARDANIJE (DANAŠNJEG KOSOVA)

U ovom članku na temelju sitne, brončane plastike iz rimskoga razdoblja na području današnjega Kosova, a koja je najvećim dijelom otkrivena u arealu Ulpijane, a rijetko u arealima drugih antičkih središta (današnje Peći i Suhareke), nastojat ćemo dati jedan pregled upotrebe predmeta umjetničkog obrta u bronci na ovom području Dardanije. Ovi predmeti prisutni su u tri osnovne skupine. Prvu skupinu čine ostvarenja vjerske i ukrasne naravi. Gotovo svi primjerci predstavljaju statuete božanstava, koje su i najbrojnije od svih izrađevina ove vrste, a samo jedan primjerak je animalne prirode. Drugoj skupini pripadaju izrađevine ukrasno-simbolične naravi - riječ je o dvije aplike. Treću skupinu čine predmeti čija je svrha isključivo praktična (uporabni predmeti): tri svjetiljke i jedna žlica. Najveći broj predmeta ukazuje na grčko-helenističke uzore i većinom ti predmeti posjeduju visoke umjetničke kvalitetete, a izrađeni su u poznatim obrtničkim središtima, dok je ostatak mjesne proizvodnje, gdje se, među ostvarenjima uobičajenog provincijskog rada, nalaze i visokokvalitetni primjerci. Ove izrađevine pokazuju da je potražnja za predmetima umjetničkog obrta u bronci, bilo uvezenima, bilo onima domaće proizvodnje, u središnjem dijelu Dardanije (Kosova) bila značajna, što je rezultat visoke kulturne razine stanovnika tog područja.
It has been observed that demand for bronze artefacts - statuettes in the central area of Dardania (present-day Kosovo) - started early in the past. Of particular value are two statuettes, Hellenistic imports, from the 6th century discovered in Prizren: the famous female statuette of the Runner, kept in the British Museum, and a beautiful statuette of a lying goat, kept in the museum in Vranje. However, this paper gives an overview of artefacts made of bronze in this area of Dardania through time, based on finds of small bronze statuettes from the Roman period, more precisely from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD, recovered mainly in the area of Ulpiana, and only rarely in areas of other antique centres (one municipium of an unknown name and one civitas, respectively present-day Peć and Suharek). The items in question can be divided into three basic groups: items with a religious and decorative meaning, items with a decorative and symbolic meaning, and items with a practical meaning (useful items). Almost all the items from the group of artefacts with a religious and decorative function are statuettes of divinities, which are also the most numerous of all the artefacts of this type, and are rarely representations of animals. All the divinities come from the Roman pantheon: Minerva, Mercury who appears both alone and in a statuette group, Venus and Mars. There is only one animal statuette and it represents an elephant. Two appliqués belong to the group of artefacts with a decorative-symbolic function. One is in the form of Mercury’s bust and the other is in the form of a female head whose identity is difficult to determine. Three lamps and a spoon belong to the group of artefacts with merely a practical function. The lamps are of wellknown types and also bear significant traits, namely, one lamp’s handle is decorated with a tragic female mask and another lamp’s handle bears a crescent decoration. The spoon is also nicely decorated. These items, which have analogous examples observed all over the Empire, point to Greek and Hellenistic models, and most (Apollo, Venus, the elephant, the lamps) possess high artistic qualities, since they were made in renowned production centres, in contrast to Mercury’s statuary group, which apparently belongs to local Ulpiana production. Other artefacts (the statuettes of Mars, Minerva, Mercury, and the two appliqués) were made by local artisans, and represent plain provincial execution. These items show that demand for bronze artefacts, either imported or locally produced, was significant in the central part of Dardania (Kosovo). Particularly important are the lamps which were expensive and less accessible and as such were not only luxury items, but also had material value. Thus, the very fact that three bronze lamps have been recovered in the territory of Ulpiana indicates a high cultural and economic level of the inhabitants of the centre of this region. Further archaeological investigations of this area, and in particular of Ulpiana, will probably contribute to the discovery of a larger number of items of this kind.