Blog #110: Paeonia and the Paeonians in the Historical and Archaeological Evidence with Goran Sanev

Peopling the Past brings you an ongoing blog series, “Unknown Peoples”, featuring researchers who investigate understudied and/or marginalized peoples in the past.

The Paeonians were one of the oldest proto-historical communities in the Central Balkans, inhabiting the region throughout the 2^nd and 1^st millennia BC. At its greatest extent, the Paeonian territories spanned the whole valley of the River Axios, stretching from its spring (located in the modern village of Vrutok) in North Macedonia, to its flow into the Aegean Sea, in the North Aegean (Fig. 1). The Paeonian territory was bordered by Thrace to the east, Illyria to the west, Dardania to the north, and ancient Macedonia to their southwest.

The earliest reference to ancient Paeonia appears in Homer’s Iliad, where the Paeonians are described as allies of Troy, brave archers with crooked bows from the city of Amidon, at the Axius River (present-day Vardar; Homer, Illiad 2.845, 10.425, 17.350, 21.140 and 205). Ancient geographers and historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Thucydides, mention various Paeonian tribes, including the Agrianes, Laiaioi, Derrones, Paioplai, Siriopaiones, Derriopes, Pellagones, and Lynkestai, as well as their respective territories (Fig. 2). Regarding the origin of the Paeonians, their ethnicity, and language, on the other hand, our sources are unclear and inconsistent. For example, Herodotus’ Histories (5.13) makes reference to a conversation between two Paeonians and King Darius of Persia, in which they relate that the Paeonians were “colonists from the Teucrians of Troy,” that is – their ancestors migrated from Troy to Paeonia in the ancient past. According to Pausanias, however, the eponymous ancestor of the Paeonians, Paion, was of Hellenic descent and came from Olympia in the Peloponnese (Merker 1965, 36). Finally, according to Strabo (Geography VII, fr. 38), the Paeonians were colonists from Phrygia.

While the linguistic origins of the Paeonians remain obscure, their presence in the region is substantiated by the archaeological record of North Macedonia, which clearly distinguishes Paeonian material culture and customs from those of the neighbouring regions (Fig. 3). The uniqueness of the finds and their archaeological context, as well as the changes in material culture and customs, have helped scholars reconstruct the chronology of Paeonia, which begins in the Bronze Age (2400–1100 BC), continues through the Iron Age (1000–450) and Classical (450–323 BC), and the Hellenistic (323–168 BC) period.

The transitions between these phases were often triggered by foreign incursions of either a violent or peaceful nature. For example, the period of Paeonian prosperity in the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1400–1100 BC) came to an end around the 12^th century BC, when peoples from the north led destructive raids along the Axios route and burned many of the settlements to the ground. The presence of these northern invaders is attested by the presence of cremation urns, which appeared as a new burial practice in Paeonia, as well as pottery and weapons typical of the North and Central Balkans that were found in the burnt layers. Despite the incursions of northern peoples into Paeonia, we see a continuity of Paeonian cultural practices – including traditional inhumation burials – and material culture (Fig. 4; Papazovska 2018, 14–16; Mitrevski 2013, 193–94; Petrova 1999, 43).

Following the turbulent transition from the Bronze Age, the Iron Age marks a period of stability and progress, representing the final phase in the evolution of prehistoric communities in the Balkans and their cultural and ethnic differentiation as Paeonians, Thracians, Dardanians, Illyrians, and Macedonians (Mitrevski 2013, 218–19). The most famous and distinctive representatives of Paeonian Iron Age material culture are the bronze jewelry sets, also known as “Paeonian” or “Macedonian” bronzes. These included bow fibulae, omega-shaped double pins, and a variety of pendants, found predominantly in female graves, indicating their high status in the Paeonian social hierarchy. One of the most typical pendant shapes is that of a “poppy” flower. Archaeometric analyses have further revealed that these pendants were small containers for poppy seed – opium, which points to a possible role of these women as priestesses and/or healers (Figs 5 and 6; Mikulčić 1966, 10–11; Mitrevski 2013, 118–24, 220–21, 229).

Following the Persian invasion of the Balkans in 513 BC (Hammond 1967, 179), the political and economic stability of Paeonia, as well as its military power in the region, began to decline. According to Herodotus, on their quest to Athens, the Persians conquered the Thracians, Paeonians, Eordaei and Macedones, and made them vassals, to use them as infantry against the Greeks. As new allies of Persia, the Paeonians regained some control over their lost lands and received Persian protection, especially from Macedonian expansionism. However, the defeat of the Persians by the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, led to their withdrawal from the Balkans, leaving the Paeonian territories in the Amphaxitis region and the North Aegean unprotected, which facilitated the eastwards expansion of Macedonia, probably during the reign of King Alexander I (Petrova 1999, 9, see nos 34–35). The Paeonian struggle to regain possession of their territories resulted in frequent armed conflicts in the Classical Period, and the constant pressure from Macedon and Thrace finally led to a permanent withdrawal of the Paeonians northwards, particularly to the canyon of Demir Kapija (ancient Stenae), which remained their southern border from the mid-4^th century BC until the Roman conquest of the Balkans in 146 BC.

Despite the conflicts that plagued the Paeonians throughout the fourth and third centuries BC, archaeological evidence demonstrates that the Paeonians maintained their relationships with Athens and other various Greek apoikia in the Aegean. Moreover, the abundance of pottery imports, coins, metalware, and other small finds, as well as burial rites and evidence of Athenian masonry throughout Paeonia, leaves the impression of uninterrupted trade, which brought wealth, growth, and urbanization of Paeonian settlements, while simultaneously facilitating the movement of people from the south (both Greece and Macedon) to the Balkan inland (Fig. 8; Tsetskhladze 2013, 1619).

After the Roman conquest of Macedon and the Balkans in the 2^nd century BC, Paeonia was integrated into the Roman province of Macedonia. Most of the Paeonian cities continued to exist and modernize; however, the overwhelming cultural trends, customs and fashion of the new era affected the previously distinct Paeonian material culture and identity, ultimately leading to its “romanization” and complete disappearance from archaeological and historical records.

Goran Sanev is a field archaeologist and curator adviser at the National Archaeological Museum of North Macedonia in Skopje, North Macedonia, and a PhD candidate in Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. His research interests are in Classical Archaeology, with a focus on classical pottery and its dissemination in the Central Balkan region, including questions of demographics, urbanism, trade, and trade routes in Ancient Macedonia and Paeonia during the Archaic and Classical periods. As a museum curator, he has authored and contributed to the preparation of various temporary and permanent exhibitions of the museum, including international exhibits. He has also participated in and directed numerous local and international archaeological projects at different sites in North Macedonia. Goran Sanev is the author or co-author of many articles on various topics in Classical and Late Antique archaeology of North Macedonia, many of which can be accessed via his Academia.edu page.