Iapodes

File:Japodske kape i druga materijalna kultura.jpg

The exact origin of early Iapodes is uncertain; archaeological documentation suggests mixed affinities to early Pannonii and other Illyrians. The first written mention of an Illyrian tribe is from Greek writers from the 6th century BC. They are provisionally described by Strabo as a mixed race of Celts and Illyrians, who used Celtic weapons, tattooed themselves, and lived chiefly on spelt and millet;{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} however, Strabo's suggestion of a mixed Celtic-Illyrian Iapodes culture is not confirmed by archaeology. Originally, Iapodes existed at least from the 9th century BC, and Celtic influence reached the region in the 4th century BC when Iapodes entered a decline. Archeological evidence of typical Celtic culture is documented only in the marginal contact zone of the Iapodes and the Celtic Taurisci along the Kupa river valley (now the Slovenian-Croatian border). Elsewhere, and especially in the main Iapodian area of the Lika highlands in Croatia, definite Celtic artifacts are scarce and explicable merely by commercial exchanges.

Romans said of the Iapodes that they were a warlike race addicted to plundering expeditions,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} but other archaeological documentation confirms their main economical activity was mining and metallurgy. That attracted the pragmatic Romans to conquer their country, whose river valleys were also a natural way for strategic communications between the Adriatic and Pannonia. Therefore, induced conflicts started from 171 BC, when consul Gaius Cassius Longinus first attacked Iapodes. In 129 BC, Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus attacked the Iapodes and was nearly defeated, but Decimus Iunius Brutus arrived and rescued him, and he celebrated a triumph.CIL I² 48176 Lucius Aurelius Cotta and Gaius Caecilius Metellus undertook another expedition against the Iapodes in 119, which concluded with a triumph in 117. In 78–76 BC they were also attacked by Gaius Cosconius as part of a war against the Dalmatians.J. J. Wilkes, Dalmatia (1969), 30-34, 46. They had a foedus from 56 BC with Rome and paid a tributum, but then from 52–47 BC rebelled. In 34 BC they were finally conquered by Augustus Caesar. Then they conserved a partial autonomy with a domestic praepositus Iapodum.

Due to the rich and extensive forests of their mountainous country, their houses were mostly wooden huts, and they rarely used stone constructions except in some major fortifications. Their settlements were mostly on hilltops, including between 400–3,000 dwellers, and the main Iapodian settlements in Roman times were Metulum, Terpon, Arupium and Avendo.

They cultivated chiefly cereals and grapes, and kept varied cattle. Their early metallurgy developed a half millennium before Celtic influence that induced here minor modifications. Their society was simple including warriors, villagers, herdsmen, miners, and metalworkers. In that early phase neither leaders nor elite were indicated, and these independent Iapodes had no detectable collective political organisation. Under the Romans, a Romanized elite emerged, led by the praepositus Iapodum installed by Romans.

Their classical culture was a varied mixture of Pannonian, Illyrian, Greek and Roman influences, mostly without proper peculiarities. Their figural art included the frequent metal decorations in the form of triangles and spirals, and large amber pearls and amber figurines. The Iapodian language before the Romans is mostly unknown: the only indications available are their toponyms and necropolis inscriptions from Roman times. These scarce onomastic indications suggest the Iapodian tongue may be correlated with other Illyrian and Pannonian tribes. During their independence, the Iapodes appear to have been completely illiterate and left no inscriptions before the Roman conquest.

{{main|Illyrian religion}}

The original religion of Iapodes is scarcely known, and it appears to be similar with other eastward Illyrians. They knew the divine pair of water-deities Vidassus (as Roman Sylvanus) and Thana (as Roman Diana),{{cite book |title=Pre-Roman Divinities of the Eastern Alps and Adriatic |first=Marjeta |last=Šašel Kos |publisher=Narodni Muzej Slovenije |date=1999 |page=25 |isbn=9789616169110 |quote=It is certain that Vidasus and Thana were local and, most probably, water dieties. [sic]}} whose rocky reliefs persist today at some springs in their area. They worshiped the holy horse as their tribal totem, and also the holy snakes as the symbol of their ancestors. Their early tombs were usually in caves, and then in Roman times often in wooden sarcophagi and also incinerated in ceramic urns.

Japodian burial urns were art a unique form influenced to a degree by the Situla art of northern Illyria and Italy and by Greek art.Stipčević, Aleksandar (1977). The Illyrians: history and culture. Noyes Press. p. 203. {{ISBN|978-0-8155-5052-5}}.

A archaeogenetic studies published in Nature (2022) examined 8 samples from three Early Iron Age Iapodes sites. All five tested men belonged to the Y-DNA haplogroup patrilineal line J2b2a1-L283 (> J-Y86930{{cite web|url=https://www.yfull.com/tree/J-Y86930/|title=J-Y86930 YTree v10.04.00 (ID: I23911, I23995, I24638, I24639, I24882)|date=4 July 2022|publisher=YFull.com|access-date=28 August 2022}}). The mtDNA haplogroups fell under H, H1, 2x H3b, H5, T2a1a, T2b and U5a1g.{{Cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=Nick|last2=Isakov|first2=Michael|last3=Booth|first3=Thomas|display-authors=1|date=2022|title=Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04287-4_reference.pdf|journal=Nature|volume=601|issue=7894|pages=588–594|doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4|pmid=34937049|pmc=8889665 |bibcode=2022Natur.601..588P |s2cid=245509501}}

File:Plate LXX.jpg|Iapodian ceramics and metalwork

File:NHM - Prozor Spiralfibel.jpg|Pre-Roman bronze spiral booch

File:Zagreb-Archeological museum-Urn-20140524.jpg|Fluted urn and lid with jewellery, 8th century BC.

File:Zagreb-Archeological museum-Garlands-20140524.jpg|Necklaces, Early Iron Age, VI th-V th centuries BC).

File:Zagreb-Archeological museum-Pectoral-20140524.jpg|Pectoral of amber beads.

File:Zagreb-Archeological museum-Pendant-20140524.jpg|Artefacts from the Grave of Gospić-Lipe, late Bronze Age, Eighth century BC.

File:Zagreb-Archeological museum-Pottery-20140524.jpg|Potteries and fibula from the Grave of Gospić-Lipe, late Bronze Age, Eighth century BC.

{{Portal|Croatia|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}

{{Commons|Illyria and Illyrians}}

• Lika
• Bindus (Illyrian god)

{{Reflist}}

• Mitja Gustin et al.: Keltoi in Yugoslavia (Die Kelten und ihre Zeitgenossen auf dem Gebiet Jugoslawiens). Narodni muzej, Ljubljana 1984.
• Radoslav Katicic: Zur Frage der keltischen und pannonischen Namengebiete im römischen Dalmatien. Godisnjak (Annuaire) 3, 55 p., Centar za balkanoloske studije, Sarajevo 1965.
• {{EB1911|wstitle=Iapydes|volume=14|page=215}}

{{Illyrians}}

Category:Historical Celtic peoples

Category:Gauls

Category:Illyrian tribes

Category:Celtic tribes of Illyria

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Category:Illyrian Bosnia and Herzegovina