Institute of Archaeology [Slovenian]

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Programme - Neolithic and Eneolithic period

LJUBLJANSKO BARJE

Presentation of a project

During the transition period between the Pleistocene and Holocene, the Ljubljansko barje region was submerged by a lake which remained there to the mid 2nd millennium BC. In the period from the first half of the 5th millennium to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC the region was settled by pile-dwellers who most probably came to the Ljubljansko barje from the southeast.

Interdisciplinary research

Water-logged conditions are very favourable for the preservation of old organic materials even thousands of years old. The finds from archaeological sites are the most prominent among them. The Ljubljansko barje area is an archaeological El Dorado, which needs to be read and understood. A scientific team of archaeologists, archaeozoologists, archaeobotanists, etc. collaborates together in the research.

Economic activities

The research has revealed that the pile-dwellers practised agriculture, gathering, hunting, fishing, animal breeding, etc. They knew the secrets of metallurgy. Very decorative ceramics were produced… Voyages across the lake were made using dugouts. The discovery of a wooden wheel and an axle has revealed that the pile-dwellers used the chart at least from the second half of the 4th millennium BC onward.



Absolute dating of the settlements

The newest investigations of the pile-dwelling settlements have revealed a completely new set of data about the chronology. Introducing dendrochronology, prof. dr. Katarina Čufar created a lot of floating chronologies, which are absolutely dated by the radiocarbon method. Most of the chronologies cover the period during the 4th and 3rd millenniums BC.

Settlement dynamics

It has been established that the Ljubljansko barje region was not settled continuously during the pile-dwelling period, some villages were contemporaneous …

Settlement structures

It is clear from the settlement ground plan that the society was well organized. The size of the settlements changed through time. The dendrochronological investigation has revealed that the settlement incorporated several single rectangular houses.

Publications

Contact:
dr. Anton Velušček

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