Paragnatide helmet of the Baldeinheim type from Gradina in Biograci near Široki Brijeg

Abstract

Systematic archeological excavations of Gradina in Biograci near Lištica, which were carried out during 1969 and 1971 under the leadership of Irma Čremošnik, put a very valuable archeological site on the archeological map of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the research of that time, Biograci was primarily interpreted as a Roman fortification and a high-altitude settlement with an Avar-Slavic phase. Only a recent revision of the material in the Classical Antiquity collection of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina noticed material that was redefined and dated to the early Byzantine period and the Migration period. From the extremely diverse material from this site with a very wide dating, and thus a long continuity of settlement, the finding of a fragmented cheek flaps- paragnatids from the Baldeinheim type helmet stands out.2 The paper is exclusively dedicated to the professional and scientific processing of the bronze sheet metal plate with traces of gilding, which, in comparison with the complete findings of helmets of this type, was identified as part of the paragnatide helmet of the Baldeinheim type. Geographically, the closest sites to Biograci with complete or almost complete helmets of this type are Vid-Bedemi in Narona near Metković, Batajnica in Srijem, Heraclea Lyncestis near Bitola, Zidani Gaber nad Mihovim i Rifnik pri Šetjurju. The appearance of the so-called western group of helmets known as Baldeinheim-type helmets during the Migration period is an extremely rare find at archeological sites, while no helmet of this type has been found at archeological sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far.