Finds From Ajdna

Abstract

Since 1976 systematic archaeological excavations have been carried out on the late classical refuge of Ajdna above Potoki near Žirovnica. The excavations are conducted by the Gorenjski museum of Kranj and the Institute of Archaeology of the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAZU). Because of its dominant position and the many popular stories surrounding it, Ajdna awoke the interest of experts, amateurs and treasure seekers even as early as Valvasor’s time (17th century). The present paper deals with a group of chance finds, unsystematically obtained, which were found in dwelling no. XIV and which are now in the private possession of the finder. This is a group of 31 objects, characteristic of the village culture of Romanised inhabitants of the 5th and 6th centuries. The most important pieces among this material are the locally produced domestic cooking ware; pots with everted lip and flat base (T. 2: 4—6, 8) and conical cups (T. 1: 2—3). Further, there are the fragments of a biconical bowl of Langobardic origin (T. 1: 1). The decoration on these pottery pieces is a combination of motifs of incised, inaccurately executed waves in conjunction with horizontal lines (ribbon ornamentation), a brushed network motif and a fishbone motif. Among other pottery material, pieces of roof tiles are also worth mentioning (T. 2: 11; T. 3: 1, 5). Glassware is represented by fragments of a pale yellow cup with a fin rib (T. 3: 2), a green-yellow glass with thickened rim (T. 3: 3) and part of the base of a round bottle (T. 3: 6) made of green-yellow glass. Other domestic finds include objects made of iron, a stiletto (T. 3: 10; Fig. 1), the hinge of a chest, a ribbon clasp; of bone (a pipe, pierced at one end, with an octagonal external profile) and the lower part of a hand mill.