Horses and the Embodiment of Elite Masculinity in the Dolenjska Hallstatt Culture

Abstract

Summary. In later prehistory horse ownership was a manifestation of wealth and physical prowess, and demonstrated access to distant lands. Because of the expense and restricted availability of horses, they are often reduced to indicators of status without more nuanced considerations of how lived human-horse interactions enmeshed them in these status displays. To complicate the simple horse/status object equivalence, this article presents a specific case for the symbolic and social significance of horses in Early Iron Age south-eastern Slovenia through the lens of equine iconography, and argues that horses and particularly equestrianism were essential to embodying elite masculine identity. Broadly, this article seeks to move beyond equating high-status goods with high-status people by discussing how particular events, bodily abilities and human-animal relationships were all intertwined in the materialization of social distinction for a particular group.

Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age

“…In addition, the prevalence of male horses in funerary contexts throughout the past three millennia is in line with archaeological evidence from burial sites (Bertašius and Daugnora, 2001;Taylor, 2017) and suggests that stallions (or geldings) were more prized for sacrificial rituals. This is possibly due to symbolic attributes then-associated with masculinity, mounted warriors and chariotry, such as power, protection and strength (Frie, 2018). In particular, petroglyph images associated with vehicles, characterized by two wheels with spokes, became typical by the late third -early second millennium BCE (Jacobson-Tepfer, 2012).…”

Parts and Wholes: The Role of Animals in the Performance of Dolenjska Hallstatt Funerary Rites

“…However, the cremated pig remains in Grave 17/6 support this continuity with earlier periods-the Late Bronze Age site of Zadovinek in Dolenjska also contained pig remains, and graves from the Late Bronze Age cemetery at Dvorišče SAZU in Ljubljana frequently contained pig remains (Puš 1971(Puš , 1982Škvor Jernejčič 2014;Toškan 2017b, personal communication). Zooarchaeological remains show a large increase in the Late Hallstatt period: 43 graves can be dated to the period from 600 to 300 BCE, including 27 graves containing horses (Dular 2007;Frie 2018a). Notably, all three female graves containing horse remains can be dated to the end of the Late Hallstatt period, in the local Negova Helmets phase (circa 460-300 BCE; Hencken 1978, p. 68;Križ et al 2014, p. 482;Tecco Hvala 2012, p. 346;Wells 1981, p. 66).…”

“…As previously noted, situla art has provided essential insights into Early Iron Age life. More recently, attention has turned to animals in these scenes and their role in multispecies communities as powerful non-human agents and touchstones in broader belief systems (Frie 2016(Frie , 2018a(Frie , 2018b(Frie , 2019Laharnar and Turk 2018, pp. 67-74, 103-15;Stipančić 2016b;Teržan 2011Teržan , 2012.…”

“…In the Early Iron Age Dolenjska Hallstatt culture (800-300 bce), there is a rich iconographic tradition attesting to the central importance of animals in ritual performances including hunting, sacrifice, and feasting (Eibner 1981;Frie 2016Frie , 2018aFrie , 2018bFrie , 2019Križ 2012;Turk 2005). What is not clear is the role of animals in mortuary ritual, though the presence of faunal remains in graves of the period indicates that they were an integral part of certain funerary performances (Dular 2007;Kmet'ová 2013aKmet'ová , 2013bKmet'ová , 2018Kmet'ová and Stegmann-Rajtár 2014;Škvor Jernejčič and Toškan 2018).…”

Women, Sheep, and Textiles: The social significance of ram’s head beads in Early Iron Age Slovenia

“…6 See A Dular 1978;. Tankó 2005; Metzner-Nebelsick 2007;Egg 2010; Teržan 2012;Frie 2017;2018a;2018b; 2019. 7 Frie 2017.…”