Arheološki vestnik

The Bronze Age in Central Slovenia – in the Gorenjska, Dolenjska, and Posavje Regions An introduction and brief outline

Biba Teržan — 2025-06-27

It was not until the transitional period from the Early to Middle Bronze Ages that a new type of settlement emerged, predominantly in lowland areas, which more or less continued to exist up until and including the Urnfield period. Settlements were predominantly of a dispersed type, mostly consisting of clusters of buildings, as well as smaller hamlets, which in some areas were situated close to one another. During the early phase of the Middle Bronze Age, the studied area was likely part of the so-called Central European Bronze Age tumulus culture. In the subsequent phase of the Middle Bronze Age, evidence of inhumation burials in karst caves and certain urn graves was found. Cremation became the predominant rite in the Late Bronze Age, as evidenced by the large necropolises found in Ljubljana, Dobova, and Obrežje, each containing several hundred graves.
While individual objects have been discovered as water finds since the Early Bronze Age, the Late Bronze Age, is particularly known for hoards of various bronze items. Both individual and hoard finds could be interpreted as reflections of the distinct religious customs of Bronze Age societies.

Bronze Age Sites of Kavci and Repovnice near Vodice in Gorenjska

Elena Leghissa — 2025-02-11

In this article, we present the archaeological sites of Kavci and Repovnice, which were discovered and investigated in 2013. Through archaeological excavations, we discovered two Bronze Age sites that, based on material culture and radiocarbon dating, date back to the mid-second millennium BCE (Kavci settlement), whereas the majority of the settlement discovered at the Repovnice site dates back to the 12–11th century BCE. Based on comparisons, the site Kavci is classified within the chronological framework of the Oloris-Podsmreka horizon, while the Repovnice site falls within the transition of the mentioned horizon to the following one, the Rogoza-Orehova vas horizon. The findings also indicate strong connections with the region of western Slovenia and the Caput Adriae region, with the Castellieri culture.

Dragomelj – an Urnfield period settlement as part of the Podgorica-Dragomelj twin settlement and remains from the Early Iron Age

Peter Turk — 2025-05-23

The article presents the results of the investigations at Dragomelj, where habitation remains from the Urnfield period represent the northern part of a twin settlement together with the southern part at Podgorica. The unearthed residential and other buildings were poorly preserved, but did reveal numerous spinning and weaving implements, as well as a variety of pottery. Together with radiocarbon dates, they place the settlement in the Rogoza–Orehova vas horizon of the 12th and 11th centuries BC. They also show that its inhabitants engaged in spinning and weaving activities, as well as storing a hoard of copper and bronze semi-products (Dragomelj I hoard) as a complement to the metallurgy and production-oriented part at Podgorica, south of the Pšata stream.

After a centuries-long gap with no discernible traces of human presence, the area was again in use in the 7th–6th century BC. Evidence of this includes 180 bronze objects found in a secondary context. They are the remains of another hoard (Dragomelj II hoard), of the Bologna, San Francesco–Šempeter type. Together with other artefacts, it proves Early Iron Age use of the area also north of the Pšata.

Podgorica: an Urnfield period settlement as part of the Podgorica-Dragomelj ‘twin settlement’ and an Early Iron Age cemetery

Petra Vojaković — 2025-05-23

The article presents the results of the archaeological investigations conducted at Podgorica. They revealed a settlement considered part of the Podgorica-Dragomelj ‘twin settlement’ that was located at a former streambed and extended across more than 2 ha. The clustered buildings in its centre and the metallurgical-casting activities moved to the periphery indicate a deliberate organisation of the living and work spaces of its inhabitants. The area was then reused in the Early Iron Age, when it served as a burial ground in the Hallstatt period.

The Urnfield period Dragomelj I hoard: archaeological and chemical investigations

Peter Turk — 2025-05-14

The hoard with over 86 kg of metal products unearthed in the settlement at Dragomelj is dated to Ha B1 and complements the remains of foundry activities in the nearby settlement at Podgorica. The twin settlements were centres of collection, production, and exchange located on the transport routes that connected the eastern Alpine copper mines with areas to the south. The products in the hoard include biconical ingots with a shaft hole that show a significant correlation between form and chemical composition, which is characterised by tin alloy and modest trace elements (Sb, Ni, As). In contrast, the biconical ingots without a shaft hole contain higher amounts of trace elements. This suggests that the Bronze Age smiths produced different forms of ingots to distinguish between the different metal compositions. The diverse composition of the ingots also indicates the different origins of the chalcopyrite and polymetallic ores used in the production process. The tin alloy of most biconical and some plano-convex ingots is the result of recycling or intentional addition of tin. The analysis of lead isotopes confirms the diverse origin of the objects. In addition to the probable source areas of Mitterberg and Trentino, the supply of copper ores from the nearby Karavanke Mountains remains a possibility.

Bronze Age pottery from the River Ljubljanica

Ida Murgelj — 2025-03-19

The article discusses a selection of Bronze Age pottery finds from the River Ljubljanica, in central Slovenia. The pottery comes from different locations, namely the wider area of Verd, Japljeve ujske, Zaloke-Črni potok, Nove gmajne, Lipavec, Bistra, Dolnji Breg, Tri Lesnice and the wider area of Blatna Brezovica, while some finds lack precise location data as a significant portion was collected unsystematically. It was recovered during different diving campaigns by both professional archaeologist divers and amateur divers, and is kept in the National Museum of Slovenia. It dates from the Early to the Late Bronze Age (BA A2–Ha A), but predominantly to the Oloris-Podsmreka horizon spanning the late part of the Middle and the early part of the Late Bronze Age (BA B2/C–BA D/Ha A1).

Embankment of Ljubljanica River at Prule in Ljubljana in Bronze and Early Iron Ages

Tina Žerjal — 2025-05-08

In 2011 and 2012, archaeological rescue excavations were carried out on the right bank of the Ljubljanica River at Prule in Ljubljana. The older stratigraphy of the site and a selection of typical ceramic and bronze artefacts are the main focus of this paper. The finds from the river embankment and the researched river channel and later marshy floodplain date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, i.e. from ca. the 15th or the 14th to the 8th cent. BC. The younger prehistoric and Roman stratigraphic sequence is presented only briefly.

Ljubljansko Barje in the Bronze Age

Anton Velušček — 2025-05-22

The article focuses on the central part of the Ljubljansko barje in the Bronze Age. During this time, the lake is said to have finally receded and the surface was overgrown with marshes and moor. Increasingly longer watercourses gained significance, the river Ljubljanica being the most important among them.

The settlement is briefly presented. We focus more extensively on metal and pottery finds from the Ljubljanica riverbed. The thesis about the ritually deposited objects, and in connection with pottery, even about burials in the river, is tested.

The analysis showed that many explanations about the events in the Bronze Age seem premature, possibly incorrect, the reasons for which are sought in the absence of targeted paleo-environmental research and in the very insufficient archaeological research of the area along the Ljubljanica, especially along the riverbed, from where the majority of metal and pottery finds from the Bronze Age originate.

Prehistoric cemetery of Dobova – Gomilice: new radiocarbon dating evidence on inhumation and cremation burials

Brina Škvor Jernejčič — 2025-05-22

The first radiocarbon dates of the Late Bronze Age burials in Slovenia, published roughly in the last decade, have provided a more precise insight into the absolute chronology of the time between the 13th and the 9th century BC in the south-eastern Alpine area. The prehistoric burial site at Dobova represents one of the most important necropolises in the region because of the large number of unearthed graves and, above all, because of the continuity of burial from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Ages. This paper presents the first radiocarbon dates of the cremated and inhumed bones from the site. The radiocarbon dating result for the sample from cremation Grave 289 confirmed its absolute chronological position in the 12th century BC. The urnfield necropolis at Dobova mostly revealed cremation burials, but also eight inhumations. The radiocarbon dates for inhumation Graves 97, 202, 305a and 354a, as well as cremation Graves 305 and 354 that were closely associated with the last two cited cremations, clearly show they all date to the Late Bronze Age. Surprisingly, the associated inhumation and cremation burials were found not to be contemporary biritual burials, as the inhumations appear to be later than the cremations.

The Obrežje cemetery: new findings on socio-cultural development in Lower Posavje and the Croatian Zagorje during the Bronze Age

Bine Kramberger — 2025-05-08

A large number of graves, excavated and documented using modern methods, along with the results of interdisciplinary analyses and the discovery of associated settlement remains, place prehistoric Obrežje among the most significant Bronze Age sites in Slovenia. This study, based on 381 graves containing a total of 1,087 finds, explores the development of the ritual space. Three spatially distinct burial groups were identified within the cemetery, with the third group likely formed by the merging of smaller clusters during the late Urnfield period. Changes in funerary rituals, cultural connections, and social variables are observed across different chronological phases, from phase BA C2/D to Ha B2/3, spanning the 14th to the 9th century BCE. The results are interpreted within the broader context of the Bronze Age development in the Lower Posavje and Croatian Zagorje regions, as well as in the supra-regional context of the Central European Urnfield culture.

Srednja vas v Bohinju – Palaeoenvironmental Record of Human Influence on the Lowlands of the Julian Alps

Nina Caf — 2025-02-11

In recent decades, archaeological and palynological research in the Bohinj basin has mainly focused on the highlands, while research in the valley is much older and often insufficient. In order to obtain new information about the local human impact on the environment, a palynological analysis was carried out in a marsh-like environment near Srednja vas v Bohinju. The main aim of the investigation was to obtain more information about the former vegetation, economy and use of the environment.
The palynological results show an early human impact on the environment (since the Eneolithic, ca. 4700 cal. BP). In the Iron Age/Roman period, the local spruce forest was replaced by pastures, which is consistent with the archaeological sites nearby. Throughout the Middle Ages, a decline in tree taxa can be observed, which could be due to continuous pastoralism and an increasing demand for iron. In the Modern Period, the landscape remained open with continuous grazing/arable farming and indirectly due to metallurgy.

The Venetic inscriptions from Idrija pri Bači revisited

Luka Repanšek — 2025-03-10

The article offers a thorough palaeographical analysis of the three Venetic inscriptions from Idrija pri Bači (Is 1, Is 2, and Is 3), based on the renewed autopsy of the sources in the Prähistorische Abteilung of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Given the significant discrepancies in the existing drawings and transcriptions of the three inscriptions, the gap for a much-needed authoritative reading of Is 1 and Is 2 is now filled, as is the need for a reinterpretation of the still existing dilemmas in relation to several significant palaeographic peculiarities of the three inscriptions.

Venetic inscription on the silo from Štanjel

Manca VINAZZA — 2025-03-21

The rib of a silo from Štanjel, which was found in the storage building from the 5th and 4th centuries BC, bears a partially preserved incised inscription. The series of vertical and diagonal marks on the rough surface is non-accidental enough to be recognized as an inscription in the Venetic alphabet (henceforth labeled with the siglum *Ts 4). In a sinistroverse sequence, an interpunctuated <.a.> and <e> are clearly legible at the very end, enabling a tentative reading [---].a.e (with aberrant, non-framing interpunctuation of final e). The sequence most likely represents a mark of ownership and may represent the oldest preserved Venetic inscription on pottery in Slovenia.

Latobici publice patrono… Die Ehreninschrift für einen Patronus von Neviodunum (ILSl 1, 25 = CIL III, 10804)

Žan Špendal — 2025-06-27

The article discusses a partially preserved honourific inscription to the patron of Neviodunum (municipium Flavium Latobicorum Neviodunum), which was discovered in the 19th century at the Mokrice castle (Slovenia). Neviodunum received the rights of an autonomous town during the period of the Flavian emperors, so Vespasian’s appearance is considered the terminus post quem for the selection and honouring of a senator. His name is not preserved in the fragment, but only three stages of his career. Based on these, the honouree cannot be reliably linked to any known person. According to one interpretation, the inscription could refer to the course of the early career of the Roman senator and historian Cornelius Tacitus before he assumed the function of suffect consul in 97.

Rethinking Ethnic Identity in the Archaeology of the Ancient Slavs

Benjamin Štular — 2025-02-10

The archaeology of the ancient Slavs has advanced methodologically but remains divided between scholars who deny the Slavs’ migrations, and those linking material culture directly to ethnic identities. This paper seeks to bridge this divide by reassessing the theoretical framework for studying the ancient Slavs. It critiques the historical development of research on ethnic identity in archaeology, highlighting limitations in both primordialist and instrumentalist models. Instead, we propose redefining archaeological culture as a polythetic commonality of practice rooted in learned social behaviours. This framework permits identifying ethnic identities in the archaeological record without relying on texts. Applying this approach to the Prague-culture-assemblage archaeological culture, we demonstrate shared practices in language, housing, dress, sustenance, social relations, and genetic relatedness. Our findings confirm that the ancient Slavs existed as both an archaeological culture and a distinct identity group with strong collective self-awareness.

Géza Alföldy: Rimska družbena zgodovina. Studia humanitatis, Ljubljana 2023.

Julijana Visočnik — 2025-04-01

Marjeta Šašel Kos: Emona. Situla 47. Inscriptiones Latinae Sloveniae (ILSl) 3, Ljubljana 2024

Julijana Visočnik — 2025-06-27

Emilio Marin, Gianfranco Paci, Silvia Maria Marengo: Hortus Metrodori. Le iscrizioni della necropolis occidentale di Salona, Ichnia 17, Tivoli (Roma): Edizioni Tored, 2024

Anja Ragolič — 2025-06-27

Analysis of the osseous points from Potočka zijalka in relation to their stratigraphic and spatial position. Testing the hypothesis of the evolution of Aurignacian solid-based points on the examples of Potočka zijalka and La Ferrassie

Ivan Turk — 2025-06-27

The article deals with the flattening quotient (maximum width / maximum thickness) of osseous points with massive base from the sites of Potočka zijalka, Slovenia (117 points) and La Ferrassie, France (91 points) in connection with the assumption about the evolutionary trends of these points in relative time as represented by the original stratigraphy of the two sites. We assume that the development was aimed at increasing the strength of the points used for spears, javelins and perhaps also arrows. While the tendency of flattening quotient of the deer antler points at La Ferrassie is consistent with the evolutionary hypothesis, this is not quite the case with the osseous points from Potočka zijalka. In La Ferrassie, the use of deer antlers, which was transferred from split-based points to points with a massive base, required a different technical solutions of strength than in Potočka zijalka, where bone replaced antler as the raw material for making points. This allowed for better technical results. For various reasons, in which the raw material played an important role, the development of the points in Potočka zijalka was not as straightforward as in La Ferrassie.

Dreischleifige Bogenfibeln vom Typ Zenica

Mario Gavranović — 2025-02-11

Three-loop bow fibulae with triangular footplates were previously considered an exceptional phenomenon within the Early Iron Age jewelry repertoire in the western Balkans and only became known through a find, from the city of Zenica in central Bosnia, presented in this journal in 2007. With the increase of archaeological research in this region, which led to the discovery and excavation of the Kopilo burial ground and the localization of other potential cemeteries, the number of characteristic fibulae has grown to six. Despite differing dimensions, all specimens display distinct common features (three loops with a rhomboid cross-section, a decorated triangular footplate, and ribbed bow), which allow this jewelry to be recognized as a distinct type in the archaeological sense. Considering the fact that all newly discovered specimens come from sites around the city of Zenica or the Zenica Basin of the Bosna River, it is reasonable to refer to this form of fibula as the Zenica Type.

Children's graves at the Middle La Tène cemetery of Zvonimirovo (Croatia)

Marko Dizdar — 2025-05-14

The cemetery of Zvonimirovo is currently the only systematically researched cemetery of the La Tène culture in northern Croatia that can be dated to the Middle La Tène period (LT C2). Previous research studies were focused on richly equipped graves of warriors with weapons and of women with costume and jewellery items. The results of the anthropological analysis indicate that children under 14 years of age were also buried at the cemetery and received the same mortuary treatment as the adult members of the community. Children were most often buried alone, as the only deceased in the grave, but a smaller number of graves contains a child with an adult. The study of mortuary profiles of children’s graves indicates that the majority of them contained fewer finds than the graves of adults, but some of them were richly equipped. Aside from pottery, children’s graves contained costume and jewellery items, with weaponry appearing exceptionally. Similar mortuary profiles of children’s graves have been documented in the analyses of La Tène cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin, indicating their position in the Late Iron Age communities.

The role of Roman armies in the territorial expansion and consolidation of Roman imperial power in the territory of Slovenia

Janka Istenič — 2025-05-23

This paper provides an overview and synthesis of the archaeology of the Roman military conquest and consolidation of Roman imperial power from the 1st century BC to the mid-1st century AD in the territory of present-day Slovenia. This focus is timely, as recent decades have seen a significant increase in both the quantity and quality of archaeological evidence concerning Roman military activities during this period in the region.

The evidence presented highlights the Roman military as an important force in imposing Roman control over large areas of what is now Slovenia during the second half of the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD. The roughly two-century-long process of Roman conquest in this territory, strategically highly significant to the Roman state, was concluded in the early reign of Tiberius.

Mortaria from Križanke in the eastern suburb of Emona

Danica Mitrova — 2025-06-27

The article focuses on Roman ceramic mortaria discovered during the 2018 archaeological excavations in the Križanke complex in Ljubljana. This area’s continuous use from the Middle or Late Augustan period until the decline of Emona is reflected in the wide chronological range of these vessels. The study applies the chaîne opératoire approach by analysing the macroscopic and microscopic paste composition, the forming and shaping techniques, the typology, and the chronological framework. Eight technological groups were identified, distinguished primarily by the presence or absence of a glaze. The unglazed mortaria come from two production zones: Central-Southern Italy and Northern Italy. Two potters’ stamps confirm the Po Valley as the area of origin, with the locations of their workshops being more narrowly defined through mineralogical-petrographic analysis. The glazed mortaria most likely originated elsewhere, but their exact provenance remains uncertain.