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successive Neolithic cultures from the Mediterranean region, known as the ‘Impresso’,
‘Danilo’ and ‘Hvar’ cultures. Neolithic remains from present-day central and eastern Slovenia
present a significant contrast to the Karstic world: settlements, largely on the plain, were
connected to the ‘Lengyel’ culture of the central Danube region. Most Neolithic sites in
continental Slovenia are from the Late Neolithic, such as the settlement at Rifnik above
Šentjur by Celje, which was inhabited almost continually until the Early Middle Ages. The
Resnikov Prekop settlement near Ig, which dated back to this time, was a forebear of the
specific pile-dwelling culture of the Ljubljana Barje marshlands, which reached its peak in the
Copper Age (Aeneolithic).
The group of over 15 pile-dwelling settlements on the Ljubljana marshlands is of note
because of its complexity and rich material culture, and is one of the most interesting Copper
Age sites in this part of Europe. The building of durable pile dwellings tied humans to a
specific area, to which they also adapted their economy. Pollen analysis indicates the
existence of tilled land, pastures and meadows on the edge of the marshlands. Livestock were
an important part of the marsh-dwellers’ economy, with hunting and fishing also playing a
major role. The first metal to be used in Slovene territory appeared at this time: copper.
Copper tools, which the marsh-dwellers produced themselves and which originally copied
their stone precursors, soon became far more diverse, improving the quality of timber
production, as is seen in the later pile dwellings. Ceramic production was also high quality,
finding expression in votive statuettes. The schematic, flat-bodied female idols have a
distinctive ‘violin-box’ form, an emphasis in great contrast with the previous conception of
the female figure, which also reflected a change in spiritual content. Evidence of social
changes can also be observed. The previous social and clan connections grew weaker in a
pile-dwelling culture where each family had its own house, with closer blood ties and nuclear
family loyalty being strengthened. This more fractured lifestyle, with separate buildings for
individual community cells, led to the introduction of new, previously unknown norms of
behaviour to inter-family and community relations.
With the exception of the Late Bronze Age and the so-called Urnfield culture, in terms
of settlement the Bronze Age, which covers the second millennium BC, is a less important
period in the history of the Slovene territory. It could also be seen as a time of stagnation, with
reduced settlement leading to demographic decline. The disappearance of ceramic ornaments
from the records at this time also indicates a possible spiritual crisis. Of course, this was also
the period in which bronze, an alloy of copper and tin that is much more useful than copper
due to its hardness, arrived in Slovene territory. The new material saw the introduction of new
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forms – broad axes, swords and daggers – that could never have been made from stone.
People could shape bronze to form weapons deliberately designed to kill their animal prey
and human rivals. Taken together with arrows, belt buckles and fasteners, these new products
support the idea that horsemen were already taking their place in military formations. The
concept of warriors as a new social stratum can be traced back to the Copper Age, when the
first clear distinctions between weapons and tools appeared. The fear of enemies with new
and more potent weapons forced groups to build fortified shelters and dwellings. These fears
were behind the kaštel culture (kašteli (from Lat. castellum) were small settlements, fortified
to some degree, and also protected by their location) on the Karst plateau and in Istria, and the
high-altitude settlements in the centre and east of present-day Slovenia during the Middle
Bronze Age. The fortified kašteli created an inhabited landscape still recognisable in Istria
today, and high-altitude settlements – often in the same locations – were the typical form of
settlement in Slovene territory in Late Antiquity.
The Late Bronze Age, from the thirteenth to eighth century BC, is characterised by the
Urnfield culture, named after the custom of cremating the dead and burying them in urns in
fields. The cremation of the dead constitutes a significant difference from the previous custom
of skeletal remains under barrows, which can only be a response to the significant social,
spiritual and cultural changes that people of that time were going through. Cremation, in
which the body loses its material essence, renders people of different status equal after death,
and suggests a higher value being placed on the soul than the body. The addition of grave gifts
indicates a belief in the immortality of the deceased’s soul. Funeral rituals in the Urnfield
culture must be understood as a response to fundamental changes in the social and cultural
basis of society. The great changes relating to the appearance of the supra-regional Urnfield
culture (which covered large areas of Europe) can at least in part be explained by the arrival
of new tribes, and new ethnic identities acting as the bearers of new material and spiritual
culture. In Slovene territory, they were largely linked to the (proto-) Illyrians and Veneti, but it
is not possible to provide a clear ethnic definition of the Urnfield culture. The bearers of this
culture mastered a technique to forge sheet bronze. This allowed them to make objects that
casting could not produce. Defensive military equipment, such as breastplates, shields and
helmets, the concepts for which came from the Aegean, were the direct result of new
knowledge and a means of demonstrating prestige and social status. The production of bronze
products was on a mass scale at this time, as evidenced by depot sites such as the Mušja Jama
cave near Škocijan (which probably had a cultish significance) with over 200 spear points, 20
axes, 12 swords, at least 6 helmets, knives, sickles and pieces of bronze sheet, all of which