Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat post)
Date of Issue: 5th April 2025
two stamps (2x 3.50 BAM) & 1 souvenir-sheet of 2 stamps (2x 3.50 BAM)
both stamps are issued in a mini-sheet of 8 stamps (4 of each) with 2 vignettes
Motif of an archaeological find from 1880, known as Glasinačka kolica (Glasinac cart). It was found by the Austro-Hungarian lieutenant Johann Lexa and handed over to the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it is still kept today. Its replica is housed by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.
The cult bronze cart with representations of waterfowl probably had a ritual purpose connected with the cult of the Sun. Researchers date this find to the 7th century BC. In terms of motif and style, it relies on the tradition of the Late Bronze Age, when waterfowl were the dominant symbol of the "Urnfield Culture" (the ritual of burning the deceased and storing the ashes in urns that were then buried in earthen graves).
The Glasinac cart consists of four interconnected wheels with two imaginary birds on top, which have the body of a dove, the beak of a marsh bird, the crest of a rooster and the ears of a bull. On the lower larger bird, which is hollow inside, a smaller bird sits as a lid. On each axle there is another smaller bird as decoration. The cart is 19 cm long, 10 cm wide and 15 cm high, and weighs 1055 g. It was used in rituals as a vessel for embers to burn fragrant substances, and was left in the deceased's grave.
