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/ Ohrid 2005. o / photo: Mitja Gutin.

In the shadow of the divine Isis


Celtic warriors from Ohrid

Skopje 2014

CIP
. ,
904(497.771)652(06.064)
: = In the
shadow of the divine Isis : Celtic warriors from Ohrid. - :
, 2014. - 72 . : . ; 27
. .
ISBN 978-608-65766-1-5
) ,
) ( )
COBISS.MK-ID 97366282

THE GOLDEN FACE


OF A MACEDONIAN KING

MACEDONIANS AND CELTS


AT LAKE OHRID

Vesela estoeva



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The territory of the Republic of Macedonia


represented the northernmost civilization in
early antiquity, and some would say it existed
as border zone of the Eastern Mediterranean
Balkan civilization and the European continent.

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XXI .

There were early ancient kingdoms, the powerful Macedonia and strong Paeonia, as well as
Pelagonia, Lynkestidia, Devriop, Desarteria and
the northernmost kingdom Agriania.
It is true that Macedonia was extensively
researched during the 20th century, when the
dukedoms and kingdoms, as capitols of early
ancient civilizations were were ubiquitous, but
today it is obvious that the real indings are yet
to come in the 21st century.
Even though the main city centers of the early
ancient kingdom of Macedonia have long been
known, in the recent decades more intensive
research started on the capitals of the northern
early ancient kingdoms that existed on the ter-

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ritory of the Republic of Macedonia. The capitol


of the kingdom of Paionia was Astibo (Stip) or
Bilazora (the archaeological site Gradite near
the village Kneje, Sveti Nikola). The capital of
Agriania may have been at the site in the village
Gradite, Skopje.


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The capitol of the kingdom Pelagonia was most


likely was in the region of Prilep and may have
included the acropolis at the site of Visoka, in
the village Kruevica, and the lower town with
the necropolis of the site Staro Bone, in a culde-sac of the village Bone. The capital of the
kingdom of Lynkestidia was most probably was
located at the archaeological site Gradite, near
village Crnobuki, Bitola.


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It seems that the most important early ancient


cities on the land of the Enheleis and Desarets
were the cities of Engelana and Lychnidos
(todays Ohrid). The location of the city of Engelana has not been determine for certain at this
point. It has been proposed that the archaeological site of Kulite, Sveti Erazmo near Ohrid is
the remains of the city of Engelana, but it may
also have been located above the village of
Trebenita or may have been over the village of
Delagoda, Struga.
Today it is obvious that all the intensive contacts among the early ancient principalities and

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kingdoms from the territory of the Republic of


Macedonia, as well as between the southern
and eastern centers of civilization, were created
subsequently in three chronological phases.
The irst faces of the local rulers, made on the
thin golden foils pressed on their faces in the
moments just before their death are dated from
the archaic period. So the golden masks from
Trebenita, today in Soia and Belgrade, certainly
belonged to the royal personages from the city
of Trebeniko Kale in Trebenita near Ohrid.
The golden mask from Gorna Porta, Ohrid,
which is represented in this catalog, certainly
belonged to a for now anonymous ruler from
the archaic period of the city of Lychnidos.
The large number of golden objects discovered at the necropolis of Gorna Porta, near the
Ohrid fotress in Ohrid, illustrates the power of
the early ruling house in the archaic Lychnidos.
The golden hand with the ring, votive mask,
discoid appliqus rosettes and other decorative golden objects golden cubes (dice), silver
sandals, votive miniature chariot, silver kantharos, decorative silver needles, ibulae, bracelets,
golden earrings, bronze vessels, oinochoe and
cauldron, xifos, the miniature aribalos, kylikx,
pyxis, the iron sword and certainly many more
objects of this age that could not appear in this
catalog, indirectly illuminate the connections of

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the archaic Lychnidos and the bronze toreutic


centers as well as many other luxury ceramic
and jewelry production workshops from the
civilized Aegean urban manufacturing centers.
The golden objects of the treasury of Tremnik,
near Negotino on the river Vardar date to the
next chronological stage. The treasury contains
two golden staters of Philip II of Macedon and
Alexander III of Macedon, a massive medallion
representing Poseidon, the god of the ocean
and seas, lanked by two horses, four golden
ibulae, a golden pyxis, as well as many gold
beads, and cylindrical segments of pendants
and parts of necklaces.
Maybe it is just a deposit of some merchant
from far distance or maybe a result of the
exploitation of gold ores from the bowels of
the mountain Kouv, or perhaps a part of the
rich reward to a Paionian soldier or oicer in the
army of the Alexander the Great, who succeeded in returning to his native Paeonia after the
exhausting struggles of the Asian campaign.
Paonians in the archaic and classical period were
certainly the predecessors of ancient Macedonians. But it is known that they participated in
the defense of the city of Troy, before the attacks
of the Greeks at the end of the 13th century BC,
which means that they learned about Eas-


Basileos Audoleontos. IV
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(Brennus)
(Acichorius), (Cerethrius)
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10

tern civilizations at a very early stage. We can


continuously follow the development of their
civilization in the areas of the middle Povardarie,
the valley of the river Bregalnica, Strumenica
and the lower course of Erigon (Crna Reka). They
were loyal to Alexander and joined the army en
masse on its campaign to Asia.
The last Paionian king who minted coins is
Avdoleon. He had a silver tetradrahma wrought
emulating Alexander the Great on which he
called himself King Basileos Audoleontos at the
end of 4th century BC and the beginning of the
3rd century BC At that time the Macedonian king
Cassander and his sons were the last descendants
of the Argead dynasty, and failed to preserve the
royal throne. It seems that the golden age of the
Macedonian civilization in the heart of the Balkan
Peninsula ends with King Demetrij/Poliorket and
his government, as the beginning of the second
Macedonian royal dynasty Antigonidi.
Several years after his death, in precisely 279
BC, the Celtic warriors of Brennus, Acichorius,
Cerethrius and Belgius passed by on the road
to Delphi. It seems that in Lychnidos, the army
came through the Illyrian borders under command of Bolgij.
Their military helmets, shields with a central iron
umbo as well as long iron swords have all been


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found in Lychnidos, and mark the restless 3rd century BC, when Macedonia was forced to defend
her territory from the Illyrian tribes in the northwest, from the Dardanians who attacked from
the north and the Thracian Medi who broke into
Macedonian Paeonia from the northeast. King
Antigonus Gonat led the defense with several
ofensives from the north. King Philip V annexed
the kingdom of Paeonia and. inally his son, King
Perseus, lost Macedonia to Rome.
In this way the objects of local Macedonian
rulers and warriors from the city of Lychnidos on
Lake Ohrid and at Tremnik on the river Vardar
introduced here provide a window where we
can see a quite small, but bright and rich part of
the long extant world of the rise and extension
of the Macedonian civilizations on the soil of the
modern Republic of Macedonia.

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1 / Figure 1
- , / votive chariot, / grave 132. o / photo:
/ archive of the Ohrid museum.

Ohrid, archaeological heaven

Pasko Kuzman

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Ohridski Rid (Ohrid Hill), which resembles a


two-humped camel, is more commonly referred
to as Voleben rid (the magic hill) since it is
full of magic springs. Many researchers, travelers, and adventurers have tried to use up
these springs and unravel their mystery, but
to this day very little has been done within
the framework of this obsession and much of
the magic has remained as vague secrets and
mysteries which surely will be revealed in future
centuries of the existence of the world and the
planet.


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The plain areas of modern Ohrid were the irst


to be populated, in a pile-dwelling settlement
along the coast of the lake beginning in the Neolithic period, then in the upper western part of
Voleben rid with the fortress I Kale, and inally
in the western and the southern mountain base
of Deboj, the western region of Ohridski Rid.

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Ohridski Rid is actually comprised of two parts:


Deboj, the lower, eastern region, and I Kale or
Samuels Fortress, the higher, western region. It
forms a peninsula, stretching along the northeast coast of Lake Ohrid. The highest point of the
hill is protected along the northern and eastern

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side by the high ramparts of the fortress that


surrounds the city on the western as well as on
the southern side, which descend down to the
steep rocks west and southwest above the lake,
very close to the waters on the south side of the
lake. The irst fortress was built by the end of
the 4th century BC, and is irst mentioned in the
records of the historian Livius (XXVIII, 32,9).
Gorna Porta (the Upper Town Gate) is placed on
the saddle between the humps of the camel, right in the middle of the northern rampart at the
base of the fortress, and opens and closes the
northern entrance in the oldest part of the city
of Ohrid. From inside the gate to the wall east
of the Gorna Porta there was a roughly fenced
lawn (we used to call it the forbidden lawn),
which was overgrown with wild vegetation and
thorns most of the time.
Nothing could ever be built here, despite the
local authorities numerous ideas and plans. The
archeologists often tried to enter the space, but
we always left it for some other time in the near
future.
On the east side it was bordered by the houses
and yards of the oegovci family, while on the
west was the wide entrance to the city with the
remains of a Roman street coming out of the
Gorna Porta, leading to the camels saddle and

2 / Figure 2
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( ). / Ohrid: A view of the
upper town on the east side. The medieval fortress is placed on the site of an antique acropolis on the ridge above the town gate (Gorna Porta). An Archaic and
Hellenistic necropolis extends along the ridge on the left side of the image. / photo: Kurt Hielscher 1926, 174.

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the heart of Varo, the old part of the city, as


well as to the ancient theatre, discovered near
the southwest side of the gate.
On the south side, apart from Zabranetata
ledinka, there was a narrow paved stone street
that led toward Deboj and the former monastery complex of the church of St. Bogorodica
Perivlepta (the Holy Mother of God Perivlepta,
today St. Clement of Ohrid). This street was one
of the most frequented in the city because the
church was one of the most holy places in Ohrid.
All the citizens of Ohrid have spent our entire
lives passing along this street on our way to the
monastery to light candles and make a prayer
before St. Bogorodica and before the fresco of
St. Clement. Ledinkata was around sixty meters
long (east-west) and around thirty meters wide
(north-south). The church of St. Bogorodica
Perivlepta was just about thirty meters southeast of the lawn, behind which was the Deboj
tableland, where Vlado Malenko discovered 180
graves from the Macedonian-Hellenistic and
Roman period in 1978-1979, upon which the
St. Clement of Ohrid school was later built.
We (when I say we, I mean me) knew of Ami
Bous data referring to Gorna Porta and the
area of the Zabranetata ledinka but we kept
it to ourselves on one hand and on the other
hand we did not want to believe the content

3 / Figure 3
- , 138 / Ohrid-Gorna Porta, grave 138
Eastern Celtic helmet with reinforced crown. o / photo: / archive of the Ohrid
museum).

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as archaeologists! Namely that, Ami Bou, the


French geologist, wrote during his visit to Ohrid
in 1840: The remains of the Old Roman Fortress
Ruins still can be noticed in Ohrid, above the
Pieria hill (?!).
There is a Latin inscription above the Gorna Porta. The Fortress has successively been reconstructed by the Bulgarians, the Serbs, and the
Turks according to the taste in the Middle Ages,
with towers and warriors Two Roman statues
are still there, Venus and Mercury, respectively,
the latter is short and placed above the gate
There is an inscription over the statue: On May 1,
the irst sunbeams turn my head into gold. Many
read it but did not know its meaning. They observed and expected the marble head to turn
into gold at the expected time. But that did not
happen. Actually, the gold should be at the place where the shadow of the head of the statue
falls. I removed the statue from the place, after I
measured the exact steps from the Gorna Porta
to the place of the shadow. When I come back
with an approval by Bitolas Grand Vizier I will
excavate the golden head from the ground
A few decades later some citizen of Montenegro came and excavated near the apse of the
church of St. Dimitrij (St. Demetrius), which is
near the northwest side of the church of St.
Bogorodica Perivlepta, but he found nothing.


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His mistake was that he measured his steps from


the eastern corner of the Gorna Porta (from the
inside), so the place turned out to be around
ten meters away.
In 1999, on the aforementioned date (May 1),
we measured the place, but we did so from the
western corner of the gate (from the inside),
we marked it and there it was! We saved further
action for the future
In the irst year of the third millennium (2001)
we realized the long anticipated project: conservation, restoration, and revival of the fortress
in Ohrid. The irst phase of the project included
archaeological investigation of the entire area
of the citadel (Samuels Fortress), as well as the
Gorna Porta complex, outside and the inside of
the northern rampart of the fortress.
On the outside, east of Gorna Porta we discovered mainly tombs from the MacedonianHellenic period and which was unsurprising. We
were used to inding gold in the tombs from this
period, because Lychnidos (Ohrid) was built on
the hill near the light lake and connected to the
world famous highway Via Egnatia, and it was
surely a wealthy and worldly city.
In the archaeological sense, we were most
surprised by tomb 58, where we discovered cre-

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mated skeletal remains of a warrior equipped


with iron spears, a sword, a shield, an umbo,
and fragments of an iron helmet such as we
have never before discovered in Ohrid, and as
far as we know, across all of Macedonia. First we
thought it was a Macedonian warrior, regardless of the fact that the helmet indicated a
Celtic origin. Then we believed that the helmet
may have belonged to some stray Celt who in
the seventh decade of the 3rd century had participated in a war in Macedonia and Greece, and
in the end due to some circumstances, he founded a family with some woman from Lychnidos
and settled here, where he was buried.

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Within the next year, 2002, we provided


everything for the research of the Zabranetata
ledinka. We excavated during all of summer
and autumn. Our main goals were to expose
the foundations of the rampart from inside the
space, east of Gorna Porta. But we also wanted
to civilize the entire wild area of the lawn and
so we started to systematically open the secret
archives of the ground in that region. Here we
found yet another two Celtic situations, tombs
138 and 143, respectively.
Another set of warrior equipment, another
two iron helmets with Celtic characteristics. At
the time, iron looked more valuable to us than
gold! The question is whether it was perhaps


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2002

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Macedonian warriors who equipped themselves


with equipment typical for the Celtic population
through trade, or whether it was really Celts
who mixed with the citizens of Licnidos? We
need to disambiguate this presence of Celtic
characteristics in grave goods from tomb contexts in circumstances where we have no data
concerning a Celtic presence in the historical
resources for this region of the former Upper
Macedonia.
On September 30th of the same year, the Ami
Bou happened! In tomb 132, right next to the
street that led to the church of St. Bogorodica
Perivleptos, just two steps away from this street,
which iguratively speaking, we strode down
daily, we discovered the golden mask, which
was almost unbelievable! Was that Bous
golden mask? we asked ourselves. Of course
it is not related to the archaeological reality.
The reality was totally independent. Along
with the mask there was also a golden hand
with a ring, almost the same as the one from
Trebenita, now housed in the Archaeological
Museum in Soia. There are around ifty other
golden objects, both larger and smaller, a silver
cult wagon, amber necklaces, a sword, and a
ceramic amphora All these indings belonged
to two cremated persons, both young, maybe
the archaic Romeo and Juliet of the priceps
geneus

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What sense does Ami Bous record have? A


couple of years ago, I, the writer of these lines,
received an e-mail from a colleague from Columbia (USA) with a photograph of the marble
statue of Venus, with a message that they had
data that the statue originated from Ohrid Is
that the same statue of Venus from the Gorna
Porta that Ami Bou mentions?
Ami Bou, La Turquie dEurope, II, Paris 1840, 36.1.

4 / Figure 4
- , 167 /
Ohrid-Gorna Porta, grave 167 golden decor. o /
photo: / archive of the
Ohrid museum.

Ohrid in the shadow of Isis

Pero Ardjanliev


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The Ohrid region, with the city of Lychnidos as its


centre and located at the juncture between the
Illyrian, the Epirote, and the Macedonian kingdoms, has always been a clashing point of various cultures and inluences. When we consider
the history of the Hellenistic era, which is one of
the most complicated periods in human history
in general, we come to the conclusion that this
region represents a unique microcosm, exceptionally complex and interesting to research.







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The focus of scholarly research concerning the


past of the Ohrid region has always been the
extraordinary indings from the Hellenistic period that are a relection of the new culture that
developed right after the great wars of conquest
of Alexander the Great in the East. Those are,
before all, the luxurious golden jewellery made
with iligree and granulation techniques, the
vast variety of pottery types, the decorative
stone sculpture, the presence of Oriental cults,
bronze pots (Fig. 6), weapons, and everything
else that represents a part of this highly sophisticated culture.
In the shadow of these remarkable archaeological indings, certain elements that belong to a

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(enchelys)

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(Enhelanai)
(Pol. V, 108),

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distant Celtic or La Tne culture have remained


unnoticed and overlooked for a long time.
Before we go through these Celtic elements in
detail, I would like to introduce the historical
and geopolitical circumstances that brought
about this clash of cultures.
The historiography mentions the Encheleis
(Engelanes) as the earliest known politically
organized entity in this region. By the end of
VIth century, Hecataeus writes that they are
neighbours of the Chaones. Their exact location
is connected to a wider territory, from the area
of Apollonia and Epidamnos in the west, the
mouth of river Drilon to the north, down to the
territory of the Chaones to the south.
The name of the Encheleis (Engelanes) derives
from enchelys, which stands for eel, and that
in its own way connects this tribal entity to
the eel-rich area around Lake Ohrid. Polybius
even mentions a settlement called Enchelanai
near Lake Ohrid (Pol. V, 108), which if it is to be
taken as a reminiscence of the tribal name once
associated with the region, also supports the
connection between the Encheleis (Engelanes)
and the territory in question. Later on they
completely disappear from the historical scene
and are no longer mentioned.

1 / Figure 1
-,
/ Ohrid-Deboj, Isis.
A ) /
arhiv Mitja Gutin).

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( 1985, 73, 74).


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( 1956;
1931-1934),

( 2013, 135-138).

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In later historical sources, the territory of the


Encheleis (Engelanes) is connected to the Dassaretai and their country called Dassaretis, a
vast area which spans from the rivers Osum and
Devol to the west, all along to the neighbouring
regions of Upper Macedonia, to Lyncestis and
Orestis in the east. The region also borders the
Epirote tribes to the south and the Parthinoi
and Penestae to the north (Papazoglu 1985,
73-74). On close inspection of the recorded
territorial span of both tribal entities, anyone
can come to the conclusion that, for most
part, this is one and the same area. While the
Encheleis (Engelanes) are only mentioned in
written sources, the existence of the Dassaretai
is additionally conirmed both by several epigraphic monuments from the early imperial era
in the Ohrid region (Lahtov 1956, 166-171; Vuli
1931-1934), and, to an even greater extent, by
a coin minted in their name (Ardjanliev 2013,
135-138).
The identity and ethnic origin of these populations has been one of the hottest research topics for more than a century. The development
of various academic theories, mainly based on
the written sources, has led to the formation of
two groups of scholars: one holding that both
tribal names are simply diferent terms used
to describe the same group of people (Proeva
2006, 561-571; Ardjanliev 2013, 7-19), while the

LYCHNIDOS

2 / Figure 2
, : 1 - ; 2 - ;
3 - ; 4 - . ; 5 - ; 6 - . / Region
of Ohrid, Hellenistic necropolies: 1 Ohrid (Lyhnidos) - Deboj and Gorna Porta; 2 village Trebenita - Trebeniko kale;
3 um - Arapski grobita; 4 Delogoda - Sv. Ilija; 5 Opejnica - Crvejnca; 6 Izbita - Gimbabica.




.

,
:

other diferentiates between them and claims a


separate identity, present in discontinuous time
periods (Bitrakova-Grozdanova 1995, 53-60).
No matter which theory we choose to accept,
while going through the ancient historical sources we can safely assume that the city of Lychnidos with its immediate surroundings played
a very important role in early antiquity. That

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(Proeva 2006; 2013, 7-19),


( 1995).
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,
(Via
Egnatia).

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was mainly due to its strategic position, being


directly placed on one of the most important
regional communication routes, the so-called
Candavia road that later became known as Via
Egnatia, which enabled the trade between the
East and the West, and was also the main route
of movement for armies during turbulent times.
All this is relected in the rich archaeological
inds from the region, through which we can deine the existence and the level of local cultural
development, the regional trade connections,
the presence and intensity of local cults, and
the economic power of the local inhabitants,
while the direct imports reveal the penetration
of both the material and the spiritual culture
from the Aegean-Mediterranean centres. All
this illustrates the way of life that existed during
antiquity in Lychnidos and its surroundings.
The Ohrid region during the Hellenistic period,
especially around the time of Alexander the
Greats conquests, experienced a high degree of
political and cultural development as an integral
part of the powerful Macedonian state. The
rich archaeological inds discovered at the local
necropoleis represent a major testament of that
development. I mainly think about the necropolis of Deboj, which along with the recently
discovered Hellenistic tombs from several diferent locations in the old town of Ohrid, together
probably belong to an identical burial site, and

3 / Figure 3
-, / Ohrid-Deboj, jugs. A / arhiv Mitja Gutin.

29

represents one of the most excavated sites in


my country.


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,,,

In 1978, the ancient necropolis of the town of


Lychnidos was discovered quite accidently. The
primary school St. Clement of Ohrid was to
be built, and the lower hill northeast from the
fortiied part of the city, known as Deboj, was
chosen as its appropriate location. As soon as
the construction works started, the presence
of archaeological remains was the main reason
that all actions were temporarily stopped while
the rescue archaeological excavations were performed. A professional team from the Naroden
muzej and Zavod za zatita na spomenicite od
kulturata from Ohrid was engaged under the
leadership of the archaeologist Vlado Malenko.
Excavations took place several times during the
period between 1978 and 1980. A three-aisled
early Christian church with loor mosaics and a
necropolis with about 180 graves were found,
with grave formations dating from the Hellenistic period to the Medieval period.

4 / Figure 4
-, / Ohrid-Deboj, glass
vessels. A / arhiv Mitja Gutin.

The archaeological inds from Deboj have been


kept in the Ohrid Museum depot for 35 years,
waiting until recently to be displayed in their
full glory and beauty. A few years ago, I got the
chance to conduct research on this precious
material for my MA thesis. The presentation of
the research results from the Deboj necropolis

30

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1978

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1978-1980 .


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was further enriched by all the previous scholarly research conducted in the region.
Many necropoleis dating from the Hellenistic
period have been excavated in the wider region
of Ohrid and Prespa, such as Trebeniko Kale
(Lahtov 1959, 11-77), Crvejnca near the village
of Opejnica (Bitrakova-Grozdanova 2004, 81 5 / Figure 5
-, / Ohrid-Deboj,
Hellenistic jewelry. A / arhiv
Mitja Gutin.

31


.

35


.


.



.

,
,
, ,
. , ,




(- 1982; 1999; 2004).

.

,

32

86), Arapski Grobita in the village of um near


Struga, Gimbabica at Izbita in the vicinity of the
town of Resen, and Sveti Ilija at Delagoda near
Struga (Bitrakova-Grozdanova 1982, 63-69), all
of which, along with the necropolis of Deboj,
contributed to the rich archaeological material
that speaks in itself for the level of regional
development, as well as the taste and the power
of the local population.
The luxurious jewellery found in those necropoleis takes a very prominent place among all the
artefacts. It emphasizes not only the wealth and
comfort of the population, but it also reveals
important information both about the centres
where these items were manufactured and the
existing commercial links between those same
centres and the local region.
There were theriomorphic and anthropomorphic types of jewellery, among which the most
prominent are the golden necklaces with animal
protomes (heads of bulls, lions, or mythical creatures like mixtures of lions and gryphons) attached on each end. The chain usually consisted
of small links of 8-shape, made from thin golden
wire, that had garnet beads cut into two halfsections on the most luxurious samples, which
represent a new technique of jewellery manufacture in the area. These necklaces are some
of the most luxurious pieces of jewellery found

6 / Figure 6
-, , K, / Ohrid-Deboj, Crvejnca, Trebeniko
kale, Hellenistic bronze vessels. A / arhiv Mitja Gutin.

33


,
.
.


(,
).
,


,

.

.
,
:
, ,
.

.

.

.

.

34

in the Republic of Macedonia. On the other


hand, the earrings are the most frequent type of
jewellery found at the necropoleis of the Ohrid
region: Trebeniko Kale, Crvejnca, Delogoda,
and Deboj.
The ring earrings with lion protomes are the
most common type during the Hellenistic
period. Due to their production in diferent
workshops, there are earrings that are constructed with diferent techniques. What is really
important in this regard is that while the most
prominent are the examples of luxury imports,
which might have been manufactured either in
the toreutic centres of South Italy or Halkidiki,
there are also much more modest examples
which were probably made in the region of
Lychnidos itself, because the most numerous
inds are found in its vicinity, making it its centre in its own right. This is a perfect example of
how quickly Hellenistic fashion spread in the
area while being both accepted and implemented.
Another characteristic type of earrings for the
Ohrid region is the ring earring with the head of
a negress. Their ring is made of a thick golden
wire, spirally twisted, ending in a cone made
of golden sheet metal, decorated with iligree
loral ornaments. The head is carved in semiprecious stone (garnet or amber) and inser-

7 / Figure 7
-, / Ohrid-Deboj, bowls of megar type. A / arhiv Mitja Gutin.

35



.


,


,

.


.


.


,

.
( ),



,
(-
1987,71-72).
,

36

ted into a gold setting upon which the hair is


indicated by spirally twisted wire in the form
of curls made of golden sheet metal, giving an
impression of black womans head. (Bitrakova
Grozdanova 1987, 71, 72). These types of earrings have been found on several sites, all part
of the Lychnidos necropolis, as well as at the
Trebeniko Kale necropolis (Lahtov 1959, T. XV, 2
and 3), at the tomb near Selce (Ceka 1982, 183,
ig.11), in the Deboj necropolis, as well as at the
necropolis near Delogoda, and Crvejnca at the
village Opejnca. The high number of inds point
to the fact that this particular type of earring
must have been the favourite type in the Ohrid
region during the Hellenistic period.
This type of jewellery is found in almost every
necropolis from the Hellenistic period all over
the eastern Mediterranean area. Therefore,
we should consider it as a fashion that spread
around the region, being widely accepted in
the process.
Apart from the jewellery, there is also an extremely rich pottery assemblage found at the
same necropolis, which testiies to the highly
developed trade relations in the area, through
which various cultural inluences continuously
penetrated from the Aegean, Epirus, and the
Illyrian coast. The ceramic pots are present in a
large variety of shapes, manufacturing tech-

(,
1959, T. XV, 2 3),
(Ceka, 1982, 183, ig. 11)

. .

.


,

.


.




, .

,
.

,
.


.

niques, and decorations, which leave clues to


their origin, character, and function.
Accordingly, we can identify pottery that had
been manufactured at speciic workshops,
like the amphorae with characteristic Epirote
features from Acheron and Amantia, as well as
the pots manufactured at the famous ceramic
centres of Epidamnos and Apollonia. This speaks
volumes about the developed and sophisticated
commercial links in this part of the Balkan peninsula. But apart from the inluences from neighbouring areas, there are also distinctive features
of even more distant pottery workshops, like the
ones from Athens, Corinth, and even the South
Italian ceramic centres, which is to be expected if
you keep in mind that those are the places where all new ceramic shapes and decoration techniques initially originated, that were subsequently
widely accepted by the Eastern Mediterranean
cultural circle as a fashion trend.
What is even more important for the region is
the fact that there is a signiicant presence of
locally made pottery types, probably manufactured in a workshop located somewhere in
the ancient Lychnidos itself, the very centre of
Dassaretis.
Monuments dedicated to certain gods, like
Dionysus and Heracles, were also discovered.

37



,


.

.

On the other hand, artefacts such as terracotta


igurines, various vessel appliqus, jewellery
and other similar items, reveal the presence of
the cults of Aphrodite, Apollo, Demeter, etc.
The spread of Hellenistic culture in the region
also brought about the penetration of certain
oriental cults, which were quickly accepted and
adored by the local populace.




,
.




.



,
.

The prime examples of this trend are the


image of Zeus-Amon on the front of the unique
Dassaretian coin (Ardjanliev 2013, 135-138, reg.
no. 9) as well as the temple of the goddess Isis
along with her two luxurious sculptures that
were discovered (Malenko 1976, 169-189). It
is also worth mentioning that the cult of Isis
syncretized many features previously attributed
to various Greek goddesses during the Ptolemaic period. Even Cleopatra VII claimed that
she was a reincarnation of Isis, similar to her
beloved Marc Antony who identiied himself as
the reincarnation of the god Dionysus. All this
is just a small illustration of the rich spiritual
life and highly evolved civilization of the local
population.



.
,
,

38

Because of the high artistic accomplishment


of the sculptor, one of the sculptures of the
goddess Isis was a major topic at the great exhibition Keltoi The Celts and Their Neighbours
on the territory of Yugoslavia that took place in

8 / Figure 8
-, / Ohrid-Deboj, cantharoi. A / arhiv Mitja Gutin.

39

, , .




.

-
( 2013, 135138, .. 9)


( 1974; 1976).


. , VII
,
eeo ,

.


.

,
1983
Keltoi -
,
- .

40

9 / Figure 9
-, 114 / Ohrid-Deboj, grave 114.
: / photo: archive
Ohrid museum).




,

.

.
. . (La Tne)


.
-


. .

279 ,

( 2011, 197-206).




,

.


.

1983, as a masterpiece of the Hellenistic period


in Lychnidos Ohrid.
In addition to oriental inluences, which along
with the elements from the Mediterranean
cultural area are the primary inluences on Hellenistic culture, there are also certain inluences
coming from the Central European barbarian
world present in this region, as the place where
these seemingly quite diferent cultures mix.
These are Celtic, otherwise known as La Tne,
elements that are present in the archaeological
layers of settlements and necropoleis in the
Ohrid region from the Hellenistic period. Until
recently, most inds bearing Central European La
Tne features discovered at archaeological sites
in the southern Balkans were mainly connected
to the so-called Celtic intrusions, which formed
part of the southward invasion of Delphi in
279 BC that briely passed through the region
(Mitrevski 2011, 197-206). But the unearthed
artefacts from the city necropolis of Lychnidos
tell us a somewhat diferent story, and provide
diferent interpretation of the relations between
the locals and the outsiders.
The relations between the Lychnidos area and
Central Europe can be best seen through a very
speciic regional occurrence. There are distinctive burials containing Celtic weaponry found
at several places throughout the site, with the

41





.


.


.
. 58
,

. .
, ,
(Gutin, Kuzman, Malenko 2011, 181-196;
Gutin, Kuzman 2014 oaa a).
,

. . ,
.
114, 144 156 ( 2013, 131-133).
. 58


III , 1
-e .

42

deceased laid down side by side with the local


inhabitants.
If this had just happened once or twice, we
would have thought that it may have simply
been a case of keeping military trophies or
a similar activity. A typical example of these
distinctive burials is the case of Grave No. 58
discovered at the site of Gorna Porta, in which
the deceased Celtic warrior is buried along with
his full battle gear consisting of a long sword
of the so-called Celtic type, an iron helmet, an
iron spear, and a characteristic shieldboss from
an oval-shaped shield (Gutin, Kuzman, Malenko
2011, 181-196; see also Gutin, Kuzman 2014
in this volume). Long swords of the Celtic type
have also been discovered in several burials at
the site of Deboj, in Graves Nos. 114 (Fig. 7), 144,
and 156 (Ardjanliev 2013, 131-133), all dated
to the irst half of the 3rd century BC, otherwise
known as La Tne C1 according to the Central
European chronology.
The appearance of these types of weapons and
armour should not be surprising if we take into
account the available historical information,
which states that during the reign of Antigonus
Gonatas, the Macedonian army consisted mainly
of mercenaries, in which the Celts had a very
prominent role (Walbank 1984, 221-257).

10 / Figure 10
-, e a / Ohrid-Deboj, Celtic sword and
spear and the Macedonian spears. / photo Mitja Gutin.

43

,

,
,
(Walbank 1984, 221257).

.

,

45 .




.


.
.

.


.


,

44

The anthropological analysis of the osteological


material from these burials also speaks in favour
of the Celtic mercenary theory. All of the examined skeletal remains from these graves have
been determined to belong to males of around
the age of 45 and above, which allows us to
conclude that it is probably a case where certain
veterans were granted the right to stay and live
in the city after the end of their military service.
A Celtic presence was also documented in
the corresponding Hellenistic settlement. The
systematic excavations at the site of Plaonik
revealed a rich stratigraphy that speaks volumes
about the signiicance of Lychnidos throughout
these periods. Signiicant traces of the Hellenistic settlement were discovered between the
remains of the remaining chronological periods.
It was already expected that the unearthed
artefacts will correspond to those previously
found at the Lychnidos necropolis as well as
with the inds from the other previously mentioned regional Hellenistic necropoleis. Besides
the typical Hellenistic pottery, there was also
very typical La Tne pottery sherds that were
discovered mainly in settlements, though still
unpublished, withwhich we can safely verify the
Celtic presence in the region.
All of the evidence presented here provides us
the opportunity to recognize the close relations

.

,
-

.

of this region with the population of Central


Europet hat were not connected to some violent
activities like the Celtic invasion of Delphi, no
matter what direction these relations took.



E



.

/ LITERATURE:
. 2013. - , ,
. -, .
- . 1982. 1979. 6, 63-69.
- . 1987, . . . .
- . 1995. -
. 45, 53-60.
- . 1999, . , 256-286.
Bitrakova-Grozdanova V. 2004. La cramique de la ncropole de Crvejnca-Ohrid.
, ( 2000). , 81-86.
Ceka N. 1982, La ville illirienne de la Basse-Selce. Iliria II, 168-215.
Gutin M., Kuzman P., Malenko V. 2011. Ein keltischer Krieger in Lychnidos Ohrid, Mazedonien. Folia archaeologica
Balcanica II, 181-196.

45

. 1956. , 6, 166-171.
. 1959. . - 1953/54.
II III, 11-77.
Malenko V. 1974, A statuete of Isis from Ohrid. Archaeologia Iugoslavica XV, 33, 34.
M . 1976. , 2, 169-189.
Mitrevski D. 2011, The treasure from Tremnik and some traces of the Celts in the Vardar valley. - M. Gutin, M.
Jevti (Eds.) The Eeastern Celts: the communities between the Alps and the Black Sea. Koper-Beograd, 199-206.
. 1985, . 63-124.
Proeva N. 2006, The Engelanes/Encheleis and the Golden Mask from Trebenite Culture. Homage to Milutin
Graanin. Belgrade, 561-571.
. 1933. , LXXV, . 177.
Walbank F.W. 1984, Macedonia and Greece. CAH VII/1, 221-257.

46

The Celtic Warrior


from Lychnidos

Mitja Gutin, Pasko Kuzman


,

,
.


,
o
(, 2010; 2011,
19-36).

The spectacular inds and eventful history of


Ohridski Rid, Trebenita and other places around
Lake Ohrid have been a focus of archaeological research for a long time. The long-known
necropolises and well-researched architectural
remains are the basis for exploring Hellenistic,
Roman and Late Antique Lychnidos (Kuzman,
Dimitrova 2010; Mikuli 2011, 19-36).

,

.

-


.
1970-

,

Decorated
with a Macedonian shield

Beginning in the Archaic period, the local


aristocracy developed an outstanding degree
of nobility and wealth. This is why this booming
city was so tempting to contemporaries and
why its material remains are still attractive to
modern archaeologists and historians.
At the end of the 1970s several inds characterising the poque after Alexander the Great,
known as Hellenistic period, turned up at Ohrid.
Among these were numerous grave inds from
diferent Hellenistic cemeteries, including
ine ceramics and jewellery. The discovery of
an excellent marble statue of a goddess was
particularly interesting, identiied as Isis by

47

.

,
.

,
.

o o
(
17; 1974;
1976; Keltoi 1983).



,



,
(Gutin 1984, . 28,
5). , ,

()
(Ceka 1999).
2001 2002

.
-,

48

the excavator Vlado Malenko. This exceptional


statue illustrates the economic status and the
cultural milieu of the rich city of Lychnidos (see
Ardanliev this catalogue on page 17; Malenko
1974; Keltoi 1983).
Although during the excavations at Ohrid most
attention was paid to the Hellenistic wealth and
the related high quality inds, some foreign iron
weapons have also been noted that came to
light among the materials from the necropolis at
Deboj, which may be identiied as Celtic armaments (Gutin 1984, ig. 28, list 5). The probable Celtic presence is also attested by La Tne
period inds from Lin on the Albanian (western)
shore of Lake Ohrid (Ceka 1999).
In 2001 and 2002 new archaeological investigations took place right in the historic centre
of Ohrid. Archaic and Hellenistic graves were
discovered at the site known as Ohrid-Gorna
Porta, a little northwest of the urban quarter of
Deboj. The excavator Pasko Kuzman documented about 167 graves from the Archaic and
Hellenistic periods. The necropolis acquired
special recognition in 2002 when richly furnished graves with outstanding objects such
as a golden mask and other gold decorations
were discovered in Grave No. 132 and Grave
No. 167, along with a walled chamber-grave
(Grave No. 1) with numerous helmets and

,

.

167
.

2002 ,

,
( . 132 . 167) ,
(
1)
( 2006; 2010,
38-47; 2013).


.
.
138 ( 2010, 41)
. 143,

,
.
,
(. 2;
11),

.

other armaments (e. g. Kuzman 2006a; 2010,


3847; 2013).
Some of the graves from this newly discovered
necropolis contained weapons and armour
that might be identiied as Celtic. Among these
are inhumation No. 138 (Kuzman 2010, 41) and
Grave No. 143, a cremation burial with typical
Hellenistic grave goods such as numerous
objects of ceramic and metal that are generally
characteristic for this mortuary site and period.
In addition to lances, both burials contained a
special iron helmet (Fig. 2; see also Kuzman in
this catalogue on page 11), a piece of armour
that is non-existent in the other Hellenistic
warrior graves.
Though distinct in the details of their craftsmanship, both helmets belong to the so-called
Eastern Celtic type of helmet with a reinforced
crown. They were popular in the 3rd century BC
and favoured in a wide area (Fig. 2; Gutin 2011,
ig. 2). Their presence was spread by the leaders
of Celtic bands as far as Anatolia, as is evident
from the representation of Celtic weapons and
gear on the marble relief at the sanctuary of
Athena Polias Nikephoros at Pergamon, built
around 160 BC by Eumenes II.
Three of these helmets are known from the shore of Lake Ohrid (at Lin on the Albanian side and

49

,

,
..
.
3
(. 2; Gutin 2011,
. 2). ,
,
,

,
(Athena Polias Nikephoros), , 160
II.

(
- ),


.


(. 3),
.
(Alesia)
, o (Sievers
2001, 140, 141; Schnfelder 2002, 56-62).

(Vecingetorix)

50

at Ohrid-Gorna Porta). It was local elite warriors


who used this type of helmet, as the two graves
from Ohrid indicate.
Some small bronze fragments of a cheek piece
of another helmet were found between the
graves of Gorna Porta in Ohrid (Fig. 3), likely
originating from a destroyed grave. These
fragments belong to the extraordinary and rare
Alesia-type helmet, named after the oppidum of
Alesia (Sievers 2001, 140, 141; Schnfelder 2002,

1 / Figure 1

/ The distribution of Celtic helmets with reinforced crowns. / according to Gutin 2011,
. 2 / ig. 2.

2 / Figure 2
- , 143 / Ohrid-Gorna Porta, grave 143
Eastern Celtic helmet with reinforced crown. / photo: / archive of the Ohrid
museum.

51

50
-
.

11 2002 ,

.
58,


(. 4, 7).


,

: , , , ,
, , , .

,
Folia Archaeologica (2011).
,
. ,


.


:

52

3 / Figure 3

-
/ A cheekpiece from Alesia and the recovered
fragments from the Ohrid-Gorna Porta necropolis. / photo: Andrej Prelonik.

4 / Figure 4
- , 58 / Ohrid-Gorna Porta, grave 143 Celtic helmet. o / photo:
Andrej Prelonik.

53

,
, ,

, ,
.

56-62). Alesia is the site where the famous Celtic


king Vercingetorix was defeated by Caesar in
about 50 BC and where the fate of the Galli the
Celts in France was sealed.

5 / Figure 5
- , . 58 / Ohrid-Gorna Porta, detailed drawing and photo
of Grave No. 58. A / archive of the Ohrid museum.

54

6 / Figure 6
- , . 58
/ Ohrid-Gorna Porta, position
of Grave No. 58 between the other Hellenistic graves.
/ archive of the Ohrid museum.

55

,

La Tne .

() (Schaaf 1974,
. 40; 1988, 300, . 14).

,
.


,
,
,
La Tne
III II .

,
(Scordisci),

(Todorovi 1974; Boi 1981; Gutin
1984; asi 1992).

,

.

56

During excavation on February 11, 2002, an


interesting lump of iron was found in the centre
of the necropolis of Gorna Porta, in what was
designated Grave No. 58 due to the enclosed
nature of the iron objects and presence of burned human bones (Fig. 4; 7). At irst glance the
inventory was only composed of fragmented
and heavily corroded iron objects, which were
registered after their recovery in the inventory
list as follows: lance, sword, lance shoe, lance,
sword, scabbard, helmet, shield boss.
This grave has been reported in detail by Mitja
Gutin, Pasko Kuzman and Vlado Malenko in
Folia Archaeologica (2011). In this article, written
in German in honour of prof. Ivan Mikuli, we
refer to the most important results from the
excavation to clearly illustrate this interesting
grave.
After restoration it became clear that the inventory of the grave consisted of the following
objects: helmet, sword with scabbard and parts
of a scabbard chain, three lances, a rectangular
shield boss belonging to the type of oval shields
with a spindle-shaped midrib, a long knife, and
a round shield boss.
The helmet from this grave more or less resembles the well-known types of the Early and
Middle La Tne period. But it difers from the

7 / Figure 7
- ,

58. / Ohrid-Gorna Porta,
inventory of Grave No.
58. / photo: Andrej
Prelonik ,
/ archive
of the Ohrid museum.

57

,
.

III ,
, T 1,

, ,

.

,
.
,

T 1.
40

,
II I ...
(. 6: 9).

, ,
: .

..
,

58

known pre-Roman (Celtic) helmet types (Schaaf


1974, ig. 40; 1988, 300, ig. 14) due to the knob
attached to the crown and the longer cheek
pieces, each with a small ring aixed at the
lower edge.
The combination and the typology of certain
objects from this grave the sword with dented
sword chain, the lance, the shield boss from an
oval shield with a spindle-shaped midrib, and
also the helmet demonstrate the typical armature of Celtic warriors from the Middle La Tne
period in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC The same
typological features are found in Celtic warrior
graves throughout Central Europe, as well as
among the Scordisci, the major neighbouring
Celtic tribe in southern Pannonia (Todorovi
1974; Boi 1981; Gutin 1984, Tasi 1992).
Armaments such as these were known throughout the Celtic world and they commonly
appear in Celtic contexts. Statistically helmets
are rare and their presence is generally associated with the outstanding social status of the
deceased warriors, which seems to be true in
this case as well.
This type of grave inventory is dated to the irst
half of the 3rd century, the Middle La Tne phase
LT C1, based primarily on the sword scabbard
with characteristic rib, the dented sword chain,


(
Peltz 2001;
, 2007 ).

58
(Pontos) -
.

I (Pharnakes I),
185-160/154 (Peltz 2001 ,
. 2-5, 12).

I (294-287 ).
,
(
2007, . 3).

.


,

( 2006; 2010, 68, 69).
..

8 / Figure 8
-,
(A j, ). /
Isar-Marvinci, stele with the Macedonian warrior
(Archaeological museum of Macedonia).

and the rectangular shield boss as a typical part


of Celtic oval shields.
Particularly surprising in this grave inventory
are the two additional lances, and especially

59

( , , , ,
, , , , , ,
, , )
( 2006, 246),
,
,

(. 10).

the second round shield boss. The boss has a


rectangular perforation from a strike, and in
addition its shape does not match the Celtic
corpus of inds from the LT C1 phase. It has a
diameter of 40 cm and is made from iron with
the characteristic bulge of shield bosses, which
were common in the Late Iron Age from the end
of the 2nd to the 1st century BC (Fig. 6: 9).



III (336-323 )

.

This smooth bodied shield boss with a bulge in


the middle also demonstrates a rarely known
typological attribute: a scalloped edge. Similar
worked edges are known on bronze so-called
Macedonian shields from sites in Macedonia
and Asia Minor, however these edges are bent
over the rim of the shield to appear on the
rear and were used for tightening the bronze
cover over the organic body of the shield (for
more about Macedonian shields see Peltz 2001;
, 2007).


,
- (. 3;
17),


- .



.


,
.

60

A good comparison to the shield with the scalloped edge from Grave No. 58 is the famous shield
from Pontos with its characteristic zigzag
design at the edge. This item may have been a
votive deposit and bears an inscription of King
Pharnakes I, who ruled from about 185160/154
BC (Peltz 2001, ig. 2-5, 12).
The much older magniicent shield from
Bone in Pelagonia bears an inscription of King

9 / Figure 9
- , 58 / Ohrid-Gorna Porta, grave 58
macedonian shield from hellenistic period. o / photo: Andrej Prelonik.

61


(Velje Ledine)
(Gostilj),
(
):

.
,
.

, ,
(
1969; Gutin, , 2012).


(Selca osthme)
,
.
.
..
-
(. 11).

, ,

.
(2009), ,

.

62

Demetrios I (294287 BC). Since its edges are


not preserved, it is unknown whether there
was a similar scalloped or zigzag design or not
(Bitrakova Grozdanova 2007, ig. 3).
The shields from both Bone and Pontos are
decorated with a star-like rosette in the centre.
This star-like rosette motif with loral decoration often occurs as a leitmotif on ceramic cups
decorated in relief, which are termed Megaric or
Homeric cups (P. Kuzman 2006b; 2010, 68, 69).
Similar motifs can be found on so-called Macedonian shield-cups in the wider Greek area
(Vardarski Rid, Athens, Corinth, Pergamon, Tarsus, Delos, Sardes, Tanais, Olbia, Argos, Ephesos,
Antiochia, Samaria and in Thessalia) (Blaevska
2006, 246), which are made out of semi-circles at
the edge with a central rosette that is frequently
elaborated with three-part whirligigs, which
also is a common motif on Celtic scabbards from
this time (Fig. 10).
The Macedonian shield often pictured on the
coins of Macedonian kings like Alexander III (the
Great, ruled 336323 BC) and his successors is
similar in design to the examples noted above.
The igure of the warrior wearing a helmet with
a knob, like the helmets from Ohrid-Gorna Porta
(Fig. 3; see Kuzman in this catalogue on page

10 / Figure 10
ea. / Macedonian warriors on a belt plate with
mythological scenes from Selca. / redrawn by Andrej Prelonik.


, ,
, .

(Zaloje)
, ,

(Kossack

17), carrying a lance and an oval shield with


spindle-shaped midrib often occurs in images
from the Illyric-Macedonian area. Helmets with
knobs appear with hoplites as well as with
horsemen and are a characteristic motif on belt
plates throughout the Mediterranean area.
The numerous illustrations of men with Celtic
weapons and shields can be identiied as Celtic

63

1991, . 1: 4 ).




(: Anastassov 2008,
1: 2; : Kull 2002, . 11: 2, 4).

,
,
(Propylon)


,

(Polenz
1978).

(Mller-Karpe 1988).

-
(Polenz 1978, 251, 252,
Abb. 11: 3).

,


(Heraclea Lyncestis),

64

warriors or indigenous warriors with some


Celtic equipment. Such depictions include the
embossed belt plates from the Velje Ledine
necropolis in Gostilj, north of Lake Skadar in
Podgorica (Montenegro): two made of bronze
and one of a silver sheet ixed to an iron plate.
One of these plates shows a warrior with his
armament, including a Macedonian shield. The
two other fairly similar belt plates show warriors with the typical Celtic oval shield, lance,
and helmet with a knob (Basler 1969; Gutin,
Kuzman, Malenko 2011).
Another igural iron belt plate with a bronze
itting is known from Selca e Posthme on the
Albanian shore of Lake Ohrid, close to Lin. It is
decorated with a representation of a warrior,
among other things. Clearly identiiable on it
is the so-called Macedonian armour with an
Illyric-Greek helmet and Macedonian shield
(Fig. 11).
The belt plates from Gostilj with their Macedonian symbols and motifs were also often found
in contexts with drawings of Labeatic (Illyric)
warriors. Nada Proeva (2009) commented on
the same indings, but had not considered that
the warriors with oval shields could be Celtic
warriors. Decorated belt plates such as these are
also known from Bosnia and Albania as well as
from Asia Minor, speciically from Pergamon.


(Via Egnatia) ( 2008, 26).
58 -
,

. ,
,


, ,

11/ Figure 11
,
/ Pergamon, detail of Celtic weapons on a
marble relief. o / photo: Wolfgang David.

The images on the frieze of the Japodic stone


urn from Zaloje near Biha in Bosnia also suggests the presence of Celtic warriors with long
swords in the northern Illyric world (Kossack
1991, ig. 1: 4 with older literature). Though
whether the warrior on the famous fresco from
Ginina Mogila at Sboryanovo in Bulgaria and
other (Dacian?) warrior representations from
Rumania show Celtic presence remains an open
question (Sboryanovo: Anastassov 2008, ig. 1, 2;
Rumania: e.g. Kull 2002, ig. 11: 2, 4).
The presence of such Celtic weapons even in
distant Anatolia, the land of the Galatians, is
suggested not only by reliefs from the Propylon
from the sanctuary of Athena Polias Nikephoros,
which is often cited as reference for images of
Celtic weapons, but also by a belt plate among
the many small inds from Pergamon (Polenz
1978). This plate shows a ight between the
inhabitants of Greek coastal cities and Celts
from Inner Anatolia (Mller-Karpe 1988). The
weapons pictured are almost identical to the
Celtic images of the Illyric-Macedonian world
discussed here (Polenz 1978, 251, 252, ig. 11: 3).
The motif of the warrior with the characteristic
Celtic oval shield with midrib is also found on a
fragment of pottery from the Hellenistic layer
at Heraclea Lyncestis, at the famous Via Egnatia
(Gjorgjievska 2008, 26).

65


.

. 58
.

.

, (!) ,


.
58 (mercenarii),
a
.


e, I ,
II (Ptolemeus II) ..

,
IV


.


(Gutin 2002; Rustoiu 2006; Blei

66

Grave No. 58 from Ohrid-Gorna Porta is a cremation burial, in which the parts of the armament were placed on top of each other in a pile.
Except for the round Macedonian shield, the
two additional lances, and the Illyric-shaped
knives, the majority of the inventory points to
the Celtic cultural area with the typical combination of weapons including the helmet, sword,
sword chain, and shield boss from an oval shield
in association with the cremation rite. Based on
this evidence we can assume that a real Celt was
buried in Grave No. 58 at Gorna Porta in Ohrid.
This Celtic warrior may have played an important role in the society of Lychnidos. This is indicated irst of all by the presence of the second
shield of Macedonian type as well as the three (!)
lances, which may have been related to the role
of this Celt and his position and rank respectively in the local society. The Celtic warrior from
Grave No. 58 could have been a mercenarii, who
had bound himself to the local leader of Lychnidos for paid military service.
The Celtic mercenarii very often served as
mercenaries or confederates on the side of the
Macedonians, some Greek cities (e. g. Dionysios
I of Syracuse, Philip II, Alexander III, etc.), as well
as with the Hellenistic rulers of Bithynia, while
thousands of them served with Ptolemeus II in
Egypt.

Kavur, Kavur 2010, 73-76).


(
, ..)

( 2011, 206).


;
,

.


.

Numerous ancient historiographical sources


report Celtic raids, which began at the beginning of the 4th century BC in Central Europe and
spread through the Balkans to Asia Minor. These
sources allow the reconstruction of the routes
and the chronological scheme of the invasions
into the rich regions in the south (Gutin 2002;
Rustoiu 2006; Blei Kavur, Kavur 2010, 73-76).
The numerous coin deposits in Macedonia
(Prilepec at Prilep, Vardarski Rid, etc.) conirm
a Celtic danger in this region (Mitrevski 2011,
206).
In the ancient reports the armed clashes of two
very diferent civilizations are portrayed; the
winners celebrated their victory with numerous
artworks, of which the marble reliefs in Perga-

12 / Figure 12
, a / Ohrid, Macedonian coin minted in Lychnidos ( / according , 2010, 61).

67

,
,
.

,
.

.
58 -



.



. ,
,
.

68

mon are the most signiicant. They show the


ight against the Celtic Galati and demonstrate
their presence in Asia Minor.
But we are dealing with triumphal art, which
shows the Celts as defeated combatants and as
noble ighters. Especially in Pergamon, one of
the richest cities of the time, such representations are frequent. They illustrate the impression
left by the Celts in the Hellenistic world.
The indings in Grave No. 58 of Ohrid-Gorna Porta and numerous other graves with Celtic-type
weapons indicate that the Celtic presence in
Lychnidos was not negligible. They could have
been simply mercenarri or representatives from
Celtic tribes and their presence is not necessarily
a sign of antagonism to the Greek world, but
instead probably highlights the economic and
cultural connections that this lourishing community had with the Celts.

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70

/ In the shadow of the divine Isis


/ Celtic warriors from Ohrid
/ published by:
/ Arheoloki muzej na Makedonija
/ editor-in-chief::
/ Vesela estoeva, / director
Muzej /
Zavod za zatita na kulturnite spomenici i Naroden muzej - Ohrid
/ editor-in-chief::
/Tanja Paskali Buitaevska, / director
/ curator:
/ Pero Ardjanliev
/ copyedited by:
A / drienne Frie
/ design and lay-out:
/ Mitja Gutin
Uvid, Ljubljana
/ Printed by:
/ Edition: 500

/ in colaboration of:
/ JU Muzej na grad Negotino
/
This publication is issued with the support of program Culture of the European Union

Culture

72

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication relects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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