Stefan Pop-Lazic

The paper presents a set of glass fragments excavated at several different locations within and outside the late Roman
fortified imperial residence Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad, Serbia). This small group of eighteen fragments and mosaic glass
tesserae are distinguished by their cobalt blue colour. The majority of the finds are mosaic tesserae (six pcs) and sheets of glass
(five pcs), which could be related to architectural decoration (sectilia panels). Others are pieces left behind from secondary glass
working (four pcs). There are also two fragments tentatively identified as window pane pieces, and only one find is a vessel sherd.
The materials are dated to the 4th century. Significantly, some of the production debris and the two “window pane” fragments
were found inside the destruction of a glass furnace. The analyses of the chemical glass composition of the finds confirmed that
the blue colourant in all samples is cobalt, and antimony is also present at notable levels (except for one sample), likely to produce
opacification of the glass. Regarding the origin of the raw glass, the data on almost all pieces suggests a Syro-Palestinian
provenance, and a single sample could be related to Egyptian primary glass production. Importantly, the concentrations of the
oxides added to the base glasses in order to modify the colour are positively correlated in certain samples, hinting at the makeup
of the cobalt bearing ingredient and at a likely existence of particular production practices of the late Roman period.

A recent study from Central Europe has changed our perception of the cat's domestication history. The authors discuss how this has led to the development of an interdisciplinary project combining palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of providing insight into the domestic cat's expansion beyond the Mediterranean.

In the last few years a new evidence for existence of specific polygonal structure, building N in the north-eastern part of the Sirmium imperial complex was accomplished. This mon­umental structure was 16-sided with strong wall 6 feet wide. Inside a building a row of ra­dially positioned column bases was found. Eastern parts of this building were already ex­cavated during the late sixties but its characteristics remained unrecognized. Due to the recent research it could be stated that north-eastern entrance was positioned on that side. Besides this, an entrance from southern side, leading to central communication in the palace complex was supposed. Inside building N dated by the coins in the first decade of the 4th century numerous fragments of porphyry busts, and lead seals were found. There is a high probability that originally those busts stood along the walls in the building. Lead seals with different representations once sealed official documents which were probably stored in the same building. In that way we can assume that building N was an official building for documents storage in the central part of the Imperial Palace complex. It underwent serious, most probably intentional destruction, somewhere in the second half of the 4th century. On top of it new structures and smaller square were created.

The Imperial " retreat palace " Felix Romuliana is predominantly constructed of local and regional rocks. The commonest building material is hornblende andesite available on site and used most extensively for the second fortification. The dimension stones for different parts of the fortifications, for the palace proper and the two temples are of local volcaniclastic sandstone, brought from the quarry on the adjacent Magura Hill, and of regional sandy limestone of Sarmatian age, which was quarried north of Romuliana. The first fortification is built of local silty-marly limestone also used for the core of the two mausolea on Magura Hill. The tetrapylon on the same hill is constructed of lithic wacke. Mediterranean marbles were also employed in the palace, for column shafts, capitals, bases, entablatures and doorframes, as well as for the wall and floor veneering in the palace proper.

The Roman Limes, or the boundaries of the
former Roman Empire, now stretching over
7,500 km through 20 countries that surround the
Mediterranean Sea, making it the largest and
longest monument in the world. If in Serbia is
not the most beautiful part, then certainly it is the
most exciting. Archaeologists in the area of the Iron
Gates in Serbia were already pretty busy in the second half
of the twentieth century during the construction
of Hydroelectric Power Stations Iron Gate I and
Iron Gate II, using the last chance to explore and
salvage what is left after several millennia of great
cultures that had developed along the Danube. In
the world were then sent images of the oldest stone
sculptures from Lepenski Vir, of remains the longest
bridge built in antiquity near nowadays Kostol, of
Roman road cut into the rocks of the Iron Gates
Gorge, of moving Trajan’s tablet... Items enriched
the museums, knowledge about ancient cultures
have influenced the new generation researchers
and new cultural theories, and ancient heritage is,
unfortunately, largely submerged and remaining
photos and drawings are the only testimonies of
their existence.