The long-term and decades-long work of the archaeologists of this museum undoubtedly contributed to the long-term and rich history and tradition of the Military Museum, its upward trend in professional and scientific terms, both domestically and internationally. It is safe to say that without their work, both theoretical and practical - in the field, there would not even be an affirmation of the museum in the framework mentioned above.
In the archaeological collection of the Military Museum in Belgrade, about 700 selected items belonging to the periods of prehistory, antiquity and the Middle Ages are preserved. It should be emphasized that the collection also contains rare examples of money, jewelry, tools, weapons and other equipment, which testify to the development of human communities in these areas. The oldest artifacts at our disposal come from the younger Stone Age, that is, from the Neolithic. That period is represented by a large number of ceramic vertebrae, bone awls, several stone chisels and stone axes.
The metal age in our territory is documented by a small number of items in the collection. Objects from the Copper, Bronze and Early Iron Age are represented in a slightly smaller number, while objects from the Younger Iron Age are somewhat more numerous.
Among the weapons from the period of settlement of the Celts in the Danube region, the collection includes several battle knives as well as a long sword with a double-edged blade, rounded tip, with a preserved part of the hilt decorated with a floral ornament made by engraving. Of course, we should also mention the short throwing spear, which is characterized by smaller dimensions and weight.
Material culture from the Roman period in the collection is represented, among other things, by two swords - gladius, Pompeii and Mainz type. A Mainz-type gladius was found with an excellently preserved cania, whose wooden scabbard was reinforced with a metal plate made of iron sheet. Special importance is given to this sword by an inscription that is shallowly engraved, right on the iron plate, in the part closer to the mouth of the cania. The text engraved in two lines in the upper one reveals the name of the soldier to whom the sword belonged, and in the lower one the military unit in which he served is indicated. The inscription on the kanji indicates that the soldier belonged to a special unit of light infantry that performed the tasks of the border militia. In addition to swords, there are also a number of knives, arrowheads and spears. The collection also includes a piece of defensive equipment - a helmet, which was discovered at the site of Horreum Margi - Ćuprija. The archaeological collection of the Military Museum also has over 5,000 pieces of Roman coins originating from hoards from the Horreum Margi site and other sites. In addition to the function that money had and has - the equivalent of goods, we should also take into account those properties that determine it as a cultural and historical document of the time in which it was created. It is a Roman imperial coin that was in use in this area throughout antiquity.
The Migration period in our territory is also represented in the collection of knives and three-edged arrowheads, single-edged knives and spears, parts of belt sets and parts of horse equipment. In addition, there are also present a fragmented bronze double-headed fibula with a fan-shaped head, which is richly decorated, and two necklaces made of thicker bronze wire, with an open end, decorated with dotted bands, on which there is an opening.
The most represented objects in this collection are those belonging to the period of the Middle Ages. The greater number of swords attracts special attention. In Serbia, the sword most likely developed from the so-called Germanic-Slavic type, which was straight, double-edged, grooved with a blunt tip. In addition to Pala, Sempah type swords, three Vukovac type swords stand out. These swords had a special meaning in the past. The motif of a jumping wolf, engraved in metal, most often in brass, gave these swords a special significance and placed them among the ranks of esteemed lethal weapons.
Like swords, the collection also includes several maces and maces of various shapes and sizes, a large number of both battle and battle axes used in everyday life, then a considerable number of arrowheads, spears and battle knives. Medieval jewelry, in the collection, is represented by a silver, fragmented grape-shaped earring, a bronze appliqué decorated with a vegetable ornament, a bronze button, ellipsoidal in shape, on which the ornament is made in the shape of a flower - a lily, and one, well-preserved, bronze ring, which on the head of an oval shape, in an ellipsoidal disc, has a representation of an eagle with spread wings, while on the sides of the ring, a christogram is imprinted.
The collection also houses a large number of stone balls that the Turks used to shell our medieval cities: Zvečan, Novi Brdo, Smederevo, Golubac and Belgrade.
What should be singled out in particular are the six city fuse guns, the so-called. kukača, as well as a smaller town cannon that were discovered in the Small Town of the Smederevo Fortress. Hooks are a higher, more developed type of the first matchlock guns with the addition of a single escapement, a hook that served to transmit the recoil to solid supports. Three of these rifles were made in Turkey, as can be seen on the upper side of the barrel where the Kayi workshop mark of Constantinople is stamped.
The collection is handled by: Bojan Vićentić
