Gleirscher

ARHEOLOŠKI VESTNIK

ARHEOLOŠKI VESTNIK 55, 2004

Paul GLEIRSCHER:

Wagon with a cauldron or ceremonial wagon. On the lead wagon model from Frög near Rosegg
(Zum Bleiwagen aus Frög bei Rosegg. Kessel- oder Prunkwagen)

Abstract

While making a replica of the lead wagon from Frög (Slovenian: Breg) near Rosegg (Slovenian: Rožek), it was possible to add to it various tiny bits that were left out during its reconstruction in Mainz in 1986. The existence of a shaft firmly places the wagon in the group of Hallstatt period ceremonial wagons and not among the wagons with a cauldron, as has frequently been suggested. Its entire appearance now also corresponds to this. As the Frög wagon is a miniature or model of a four-wheeled wagon, it is not possible to establish any real connections with the grave (Ekphora) or with ceremonial use in the framework of a procession in the period when the owner was alive. Thus on the one hand a probable symbolic meaning remains in the framework of driving or a procession, which aids in the actual presentation of the lead image, which can be compared with the frieze on the throne from Verucchio and even better with the enciphered pictures with such or similar depictions of wagons in the eastern Alpine region. On the other hand, the symbolic meaning should be considered in the framework of the transportation of the deceased to the other side. Finally, it should also be considered that the four-wheeled ceremonial wagons of the Hallstatt Culture served during life - and in the afterlife? - for processions, and after death for the symbolic transportation of the deceased to the other world , i.e. the apotheosis of the deceased. In any case, the miniature wagon from Frög has been clearly distinguished from the Iron Age wagons with a cauldron from Central Europe.

Keywords: Frög (Slovenian: Breg), early Iron Age, East Hallstatt culture, lead wagon model, new reconstruction, ceremonial wagons

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