Paths and pathways to Iron Age Europe

The work as part of the bilateral cooperation will be based on topographical and spatial analyses using GIS tools. The geographic information systems (GIS) and associated computer-based tools have been known and used in archaeology for several decades. With new research, new methodological approaches and technological advancements, their potential is only increasing. At the same time, new databases are being created that complement the already existing ones and provide us with new and better ways of studying the land and archaeological landscapes around us. The airborne laser scanning of the surface (LiDAR) played an important role in the development of spatial analyses in archaeology. The scanning method offers a relatively accurate insight into the form of the land surface even in forested areas. As forests cover more than 60% of Slovenia, the introduction of LiDAR was an all the more significant turning point in Slovenian archaeology. It led to the identification of an enormous number of new archaeological sites (such as settlements, cemeteries and communications between them) and a variety of archaeological traces. It is an ongoing process, in which new methods and tools promise to bring even more and better-quality data.
 
The joint research will be dedicated to the archaeological sites in the area of the Dolenjska Hallstatt cultural group, covering the present-day regions of Dolenjska and Bela krajina, as well as the wider area of the Posavsko hribovje Hills. Some spatial studies in Dolenjska have already been performed, but there is still a great amount of untapped potential. We will be looking at the landscape during the Early Iron Age (8th – 4th century BC), in particular at the connection, i. e. communications – path and pathways – between the settlement centres of central Dolenjska and the smaller, distant hillforts in the Posavsko hribovje region, for which archaeological evidence suggests were only established towards the end of the Early Iron Age, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. In literature, these hillforts are discussed as part of the phenomena associated with a period of crisis and migrations in Slovenia and wider in central Europe. The small finds recovered from some of their associated cemeteries are surprising, as the rich items of costume and military equipment found as grave goods reveal the upper echelons of the Hallstatt warrior nobility class. Our research will focus on the settlement patterns in the area under discussion and its communication traces, the latter (such as the phenomenon of hollow ways) analysed using GIS in LiDAR environment.
 
The work will be organised in several phases. The first one involves an examination of the existing methodology and an evaluation of the available archaeological evidence. Using an array of GIS tools, the second phase will entail selecting the optimal ways to identify archaeological evidence in a landscape and performing spatial analyses. In the third phase, the obtained results will be interpreted and confronted with the current findings.

During our work process we will organise several complementary events. We will hold a workshop hosted by French colleagues in 2024. The main purpose of the multi-day workshop will be to train members of the project and other researchers or students in the methodology of spatial analysis and digital modelling, remote sensing and more. The next activity will be a joint presentation of the work process and the results of joint activities. We will present this on one of the international archaeological conferences, e.g. EAA or CAA in 2024 or 2025 (depending on their themes). We are planning a third event in 2025 at the National Museum of Slovenia, where we will organise a panel exhibition and present our activities, work process and results to the public. We will also hold a lecture intended for professionals and other interested members of the public.

The aim of the project is an exchange of the knowledge, practices and perceptions pertaining to the study of the Iron Age landscape in Slovenia, central France and the wider area of central Europe that shared a greatly interconnected historical development in the last millennium BC. The work group of this bilateral cooperation will be composed of experts in the field of Iron Age archaeology (Laharnar, Čučković) and archaeologists with long years of experience using and developing GIS tools (Čučković, Lozić, Štular), but also researchers that deal with Iron Age archaeology and landscape archaeology as part of their scientific work or doctoral studies (Zupan, Dolinar, Dacko). Another aim of the project is to use the obtained data to enable further research and potential long-term cooperation of the participating institutions.

We strive to formulate common guidelines for the archaeological research using GIS tools and to improve the current methodology, thereby to increase the potential and quality of spatial analyses that will importantly contribute to the archaeological science.

In june 2024 we actively participated in an event, hosted by the Universtity of Clermont-Auvergne (link to the event):