During archaeological campaigns in 2010, 2012 and 2015 at the Medieval necropolis Crkvina, in central Bosnia, beside skeletal remains, pieces of jewelry, ceramic, construction material, fabric and small artefacts from different periods were also found. The most important finding was a signet ring, with the lily motif, believing to belong to Bosnian king or some high class nobility from Medieval period. Beside the ring, other richly decorated silver and gold jewelry was also found. The goal of this study was, for the first time, to provide information about composition of the most interesting artefacts and also to enhance knowledge about Medieval jewelry industry in Bosnian Kingdom. Results showed that the majority of jewelry was made from silver, of highest quality, with gold being used for surface gilding. Higher than usual copper content in some of the rings (more than 3% in weight percentage) was possibly added intentionally, to enhance properties of the silver. One of the rings, without any decorations was proved to be brass made, with zinc content as high as almost 20%. Results of this study contribute to the better understanding of the otherwise previously scarce knowledge of jewelry tradition in Medieval Bosnian Kingdom.

In this paper, chemical analysis of slag from abandoned medieval mine in Gornji Potočari, Srebrenica municipality was described. Total of 10 metals were analyzed: chromium, copper, cadmium, nickel, cobalt, zinc, silver, manganese, iron and lead. Traces of chromium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and cadmium in the samples point to the fact that the starting ore also contained these elements. Results showed high content of iron (25.11–33.12%), lead (5.90–10.77%) and zinc (1.16–6.79%). The content of silver had a positive correlation with the content of lead, which is in favor of the initial hypothesis that the starting ore was galena (PbS). High zinc content indicates that the sphalerite (Zn,Fe)S was also used in the process, whereas iron most likely emanates from pyrite (FeS2). Galena and sphalerite can be found in Srebrenica area in large quantities. The results of the analysis show that the site was used for the production of lead and silver (from primary ores), intensive mining activity during the Middle Ages, and the latest date that we can account for slag origin is the end of the 16th century.

Abstract The goal of this study was to determine the content of 12 metals in 23 samples of teeth from two cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H): Sarajevo, a capital city with heavy traffic, industrial facilities, and long periods of smog during winter and Bihac, a picturesque small city, with no industrialization, settled among vivid national park and rivers. The teeth were separated into enamel and dentin. Dissolution of samples was performed in concentrated HNO3 with the addition of H2O2 followed by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) analysis. The results showed expected high contents of Ca, Na, Mg, and K, while elevated contents of Cu, Fe, and Zn were present in some samples. K and Na showed uniform distributions throughout enamel and dentin. Alkaline and earth-alkaline metals showed significant positive correlations. Zinc and manganese exhibited differences in the dentin content based on the place of residence. Zinc also displayed statistically significant differences between smokers’ and nonsmokers’ dentin samples. The differences were more pronounced between intra groups (within one sample) than for inter groups (within different groups, such as location, gender, and smoking).

Eight samples of iron slag and two metallic artefacts from two Early Iron Age sites in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, ��olaci and Pod, were analysed using chemical instrumental methods. Atomic absorption spectrometry was applied to determine major (Fe, Al,Ca, Na, Mg, K and Mn) and trace elements (Cr, Cu, Co, Ni and Zn), while gravimetric method and molecular visible spectrometry were applied to determine Si and Ti, respectively. Infrared spectrum of selected samples was recorded during different phases ofanalysis and the results show that the primary ore was hematite. Results also indicate that residents from both sites, which are adjacent, used the same ore source. Low values of Ca, whose compounds are used as flux in later stages of the processing of iron ore, show that the processing of iron at the study sites was in the beginning stage of its development.Based on the obtained results, metallic artefacts found at the site ��olaci probably came from site Pod. Graphical presentation of the content relation ship between the selected metal oxides in the slag was preformed to present differences between samples from two sites. Analysis of trace elements in the analysed slags confirmed that they originate from Early Iron Age.