Zum Bleiwagen aus Frög bei Rosegg

Kessel- oder Prunkwagen

Abstract

While making a replica of the lead wagon from Frög (Slov-enian: Breg) near Rosegg (Slovenian: Rožek), it was possible toadd  to  it  various  tiny  bits  that  were  left  out  during  its  recon-struction in Mainz in 1986. The existence of a shaft firmly placesthe wagon in the group of Hallstatt period ceremonial wagonsand not among the wagons with a cauldron, as has frequentlybeen suggested. Its entire appearance now also corresponds tothis. As the Frög wagon is a miniature or model of a four-wheeledwagon, it is not possible to establish any real connections withthe grave (Ekphora) or with ceremonial use in the framework ofa procession in the period when the owner was alive. Thus onthe one hand a probable symbolic meaning remains in the frameworkof driving or a procession, which aids in  the actual  presenta-tion of the lead image, which can be compared with the friezeon  the  throne  from  Verucchio  and  even  better  with  the  enci-phered  pictures  with  such  or  similar  depictions  of  wagons  inthe eastern Alpine region. On the other hand, the symbolic meaningshould be considered in the framework of the transportation ofthe deceased to the other side. Finally, it should also be consid-ered that the four-wheeled ceremonial wagons of the HallstattCulture  served  during  life  -  and  in  the  afterlife?  -  for  proces-sions,  and  after  death  for  the  symbolic  transportation  of  thedeceased to the other world , i.e. the apotheosis of the deceased.In  any  case,  the  miniature  wagon  from  Frög  has  been  clearlydistinguished from the Iron Age wagons with a cauldron fromCentral  Europe.