The collection of Early Iron Age metal finds from Pavlovica, Rostovo, Central Bosnia

Sažetak

This paper discusses the collection of metal finds discovered in the Pavlovica area, in the immediate vicinity of the Rostovo plateau, within the Vranica mountain massif in central Bosnia. The described items were found just below the forest humus, at the edge of a larger mound with a diameter between 7 and 8 metres, among displaced stones that likely constituted some form of construction. All the finds were lying in close proximity to the ruined stone construction, across a surface area of 1 by 1.5 metres. Several typologically and chronologically indicative items, such as a double-looped fibula with a foot in the shape of a Boeotian shield, a fibula with three buttons on the bow, and a perforated belt buckle, suggest a time frame between the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Particularly interesting are two conical buckles with an eyelet on the inner side and engraved decorations, as these forms have mostly been found thus far in contexts dating to the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age (9th/8th century BCE). The find from Pavlovica, along with several other buckles and ornaments of the same type recently found in central Bosnia, suggests the persistence of these specific forms into the Early Iron Age.