Neolitisation processes in central and eastern Slovenia began relatively late: traces of the earliest Neolithic settlements (Sava group of the Lengyel Culture) date to 4.800–4.500 BC. The reasons for such late neolitisation are complex and are mostly related to specific characteristics of the region (specific soils, mountainous relief, intense forest cover …). On the other hand, the earliest appearance of Neolithic in this region exhibits unusual density and complexity. Complexity of the Sava group of the Lengyel Culture settlements is indicated by the contemporaneous presence of pile-dwellings, open-air settlements, settlements on elevated river terraces and hill-fort settlements. Within regional prehistory, such settlement complexity is extraordinary. Case studies of each of these settlement types were presented in the lecture. Their density and complexity hints – with reference to the almost complete absence of settlement traces in the previous period – to the primordial land acquisition of the Landnahme type. Potential reasons for the spread of neolitisation were also discussed, from the new established trans-European exchange routes, to the prospection of local minerals for production of tools (and metallurgic activities?) and finally to the beginnings of the local animal husbandry and agriculture.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 8670560PIXE and PIGE methods were used to determine the composition of 62 garnets from Late Antique jewelry items from the cemetery of Lajh in Kranj and from several Late Antique hilltop settlements in Slovenia. It was found out that the garnets can be classified as types I – III according to Calligaro. The first two types originate from the sites in India, while type III is from Shri Lanka or south-east India. In western Europe, the garnets of types I – III occur only untill the end of 6th c. AD; after that they were replaced by the type IV and V that originate from the sites of nowadays Portugal and Czech Republic. The reason for this change is the closure of commercial routs because of the Sassanid occupation of Arabic peninsula by the end of the 6th c. The types IV and V were not identified among the Slovenian garnets, which points to the important political changes at the territory of the present Slovenia around AD 600, induced by Avaric incursions and Slavic migrations.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 27420711T. Knific published the Early Slavic settlement and cemetery from Popava near Lipovci. Settlement structures include seven pit house dwellings. Most of the small finds from the settlement are pottery. It is relatively uniform in appearance, but, regarding the fabric, two groups can be distinguished. In the earlier period of the settlement (from the second half of the 7th to the second third of the 8th century) dominated the highly porous pottery, which seems to be related to the middle-Danube cultural tradition, while in the later period (the last third of the 8th and the 9th century) the sandy fabric, which is similar to Great Moravian pottery, prevailed. The cremations from Popava are (part of) the first Early Mediaeval cemetery excavated in Slovenia. In two graves the cremated human remains were put in urns (burial-containers), while in nine graves they were deposited in a shallow pit without a container. Typological and radiocarbon analysis indicate dating of the cremations from the end of the 7th to the early 9th century. The graves from Popava fit very well into the long-lasting and geographically wide-spread custom of cremating the dead in the Early Middle Age, which is generally related to the Slavic population.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 268921856The potential of the site Sokolovec near Vinkovci in Slavonia (Croatia) for archaeological research was discussed at the Annual Meeting of Croatian Archaeological Association in Vukovar (Croatia). It is situated on arable land between the Rivers Vuka and Vučica. Treasure hunters, using metal detectors, recently discovered numerous small finds in the area. Some items are associated with Roman Army and date to the first decades of 1st century AD. They suggest that the site might be associated with the great Pannonian-Dalmatian Rebellion (AD 6-9). Further argument in favour of this supposition is the etymological relation of the names Vuka and Vučica with the Volcaean Marshes, mentioned in ancient written sources as the site of a significant battle of AD 7. The Sokolovec site might keep a unique archaeological record of an ancient conflict and represent a challenge for the battlefield archaeology.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 8694624Systematic characterisation of non-ferrous metals on Roman military equipment from Slovenia included 31 objects from the River Ljubljanica, which - with a few exceptions - date to the second half of the 1st century BC and the first half of the 1st century AD. PIXE, which is a nondestructive technique, was used for examination of the materials. The results show that in the Augustan period and in the 1st century AD the use of brass with c. 20% of zinc was typical of Roman military equipment and support the supposition of a relatively high level of standardization in the early Principate manufacture of Roman military equipment.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 8737888