Slovene Early Medieval Archaeology between the Past and Present - View from the West

Abstract

The article discusses the vagueness of the concept of the "Early Middle Ages", which when settling for the "tyranny of the historical record" and the disregard of the subjectivit y of historical and archaeological sources, moulds Slovene archaeological classifications and interpretations. The commitment of Slovene archaeology to the culture-history paradigm codifies the Early Medieval Ages with chronological and cultural-ethnic studies and deviates from the on-going modern theoretical debates. Furthermore, the Early Medieval archaeology, as "historical archaeology", incessantly emphasises traditional privileges for the written record.