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typify the earlier period of Urnfield culture in Slovene territory.
Ceramic production was also
on a much larger scale and of better quality than in the Early and Middle Bronze Age. The
number of archaeological sites from the period reflects the increased settlement and gradual
expansion of cultivated land (cultural landscapes) due to crops and domestic animals. By the
subsequent period, the Early Iron Age, this increase had already formed, in some parts of
present-day Slovenia, the pattern of settlement and cultivation that the Slavs were to inherit
on their arrival in the region.
The Early Iron Age (or Halstatt period) lasted from the eighth to the fourth century BC
in Slovene territory, which is somewhat longer than in the rest of central Europe. The start of
this period represents a major cut-off point in European prehistory, linked to the incursion of
Thraco-Cimmerians into the Pannonian Plain. This led to the rise of a new metal, iron,
brought from Asia Minor and accepted into the ‘Halstatt’ culture in central Europe, in which
Slovene territory held a special place. The archaeological map of Halstatt sites indicates that
the centre of settlement moved during that period from the two main river valley systems, the
Sava and Drava and their tributaries, to the pre-Alpine highlands. The number of inhabitants
increased with the arrival of new settlers, and settlement types also underwent a change. The
high-altitude
forts became more established, some of which, such as Stična, can already be
described as ‘proto-urban’ agglomerations, which played the role of political, craft and trading
centres. The forts were home to larger communities. Society at the height (sixth and fifth
centuries BC) of the Halstatt period in Slovene territory, defined as a ‘prince-led’ society or
culture, was characterised by a pyramid social structure with a princely (warrior) aristocracy
at the head and a series of clients at lower levels. A new grave ritual appeared. The main
feature of this was skeletal burial in family barrows, though this is neither general nor uniform
throughout the Slovene territory. In the Soča (Isonzo) river basin, non-tumulus burials of
cremated ashes in urns predominated. The social changes largely depended on the influx of
iron, mastering the technology to work it to make tools, weapons and jewellery. In contrast to
bronze, iron ore did not need to be imported, but was accessible from daily excavations,
which enabled the development of domestic metallurgy. Related craft skills were particularly
pronounced in Slovene territory, for example in the production of metal vessels, among which
situlae are significant due to the figurative decorations they frequently feature. Situla art is
characteristic of the Halstatt culture in Slovene territory. In the classic and most developed
for
m, represented in famous situla from Vače (a place in the centre of present-day Slovenia),
reached the Halstatt culture its highest artistic expression. Defensive weapons also display a
characteristic form: breastplates, shields and particularly helmets, which were produced in
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varied, clearly chronologically-defined forms; significant amounts of horse tack were
received from Thraco-Cimmerian and later Scythian circles.
These briefly described characteristics sketch out the core features of Halstatt culture
in Slovene territory, yet if looked at in greater detail, they hide significant differences within
their features, particularly regarding the burial method. Halstatt culture in the wider Slovene
territory can be divided into six regional groups: Dolenjska (Lower Carniola), Notranjska
(Inner Carniola), Štajerska (Styria), Koroška (Carinthia), Istria and the Sveta Lucija (St.
Lucia, present-
day Most na Soči) group. The Dolenjska group, the most densely settled, is the
most visible and most typically representative of the southeast Halstatt culture. The question
of the ethnic affiliation of the bearers of Halstatt culture on Slovenian lands is complex and
remains largely open. The numerous new forts that appeared at the start of the Halstatt period
were planned on a large scale –
as seen at Stična in Dolenjska – which indicates a strong
influx of a new population that was culturally varied. The Dolenjska Halstatt group was
Illyrian, a definition based on a connection with Glasinac and the associated cultural group in
the central Balkan region, although the Balkan region was by no means culturally uniform in
terms of the settlement of Illyrian tribes, and there were large differences between central and
western parts. The west of present-day Slovenia was more closely connected with the latter.
The close links with the northern Italian area (Este) means that one can also speak of a Veneti
component in the ethnic makeup of the
St. Lucija (Most na Soči) group; other Slovene
Halstatt groups are ethnically more difficult to identify. Without doubt, the Slovene territory
reached the peak of its prehistoric development in the Early Iron Age, when otherwise rare
and original features of material and spiritual culture were to be found in the region.
Archaeologically, the Late Iron Age is largely associated with the Celtic culture known
as ‘La Tene’, which lasted for the final three centuries BC in Slovene territory and marked the
transition from prehistory to the historical period. This period produces the first written
sources, literary and epigraphic, to throw significant light on the historical picture, and the
first known ‘state’ formation of tribes in the eastern Alpine region. Judging by literary
sources, the area was subject to the wide Celtic migration that took place from the fourth
century BC, which extended well into the south of the Balkan peninsula, and even into Asia
Minor. The best known of the numerous Celtic tribes in the Alpine-Danube region was the
Norici. They established the first organised state in the eastern Alpine region in the last third
of the second century BC, the Norican kingdom (Regnum Noricum), which consisted of a
number of tribes including the Taurisci, Latobici and Ambisontes, who inhabited present-day
Slovene territory. The question of whether the Norican kingdom was created by a union of