Cross-cultural Connections between the Middle and Lower Danube Regions during the Late Iron Age

The Silver Bracelet from Băniţa (jud. Hunedoara / RO) Revisited

Abstract

The social and cultural connections between the communities from the middle and lower Danube regions had taken different shapes. Among them, the intercommunal alliances based on exogamy determined a significant degree of individual mobility which was able to generate »visible« and »invisible« cultural exchange between communities situated at long distances, with different ethnical and cultural identities. The silver bracelet from Băniţa (Romania) and a similar one from Vršac-At (Serbia), both originating from the Celtic environment of the Lt C1, illustrate this kind of exchanges which involved not only material culture but also beliefs and ideas. Both bracelets were manufactured using metal-processing techniques encountered in the Central European Celtic area, albeit they imitate the shape and ornaments of some jewellery from the lower Danube regions inhabited by the Getae.