A hoard dating to late Antiquity from Puštal above Trnje

Abstract

The article discusses a hoard from late Antiquity, dated tothe period from the second half of the 4th to the beginning ormiddle of the 5th century. It was found with a metal detectorat Puštal above Trnje. As is indicated by the numerous smallfinds, the settlement was first inhabited in the early Iron Age,and was resettled in the Roman period and late Antiquity. Thehoard consist of 13 objects, including tools, objects of every-day  use,  and  weapons.  The  impressions  of  fabrics  that  werepreserved on the majority of objects in large or small patchesin  the  corrosion  layer  indicate  that  the  owner  of  the  objectsfirst  wrapped  them  in  linen  and  then  buried  them,  or  ratherconcealed  them  with  stones  along  the  defensive  wall  of  thesettlement.The article is supplemented by a report on the analysis of thesmall  iron  bell  from  the  hoard,  which  was  performed  by  ZoranMilič in the laboratories of the National Museum of Slovenia inLjubljana  using  the  EDS  XRF  method.  The  results  of  analysisshow  that  the  bell  was  made  from  iron  and  coated  with  a  thinlayer  of  bronze  with  an  admixture  of  lead  and  silver.