•First published isotopic tracing of humans in Slovenia.•Baseline measurements on small archaeological animals.•Out of 32 analysed samples a few of the highest/lowest values might be ...non-local.•Individual with one of the earliest LBA iron objects was very likely a foreigner.•The majority of non-locals can be dated to the very beginning of the EIA period.
The cemetery at Dvorišče SAZU in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was in use for a long period, continuously from the Late Bronze Age into the Early Iron Age. More than 300 excavated graves offer a great potential for the analysis and discussion of chronological issues, demography, social inequalities, funeral attires, as well as burial customs within the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age societies. This site was thus chosen as a reference point for our pilot study on mobility and migration in prehistoric Slovenia. The article presents results of the analysis of strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) performed on the 32 cremated petrous part of the temporal bone (pars petrosa) from the cemetery Dvorišče SAZU in Ljubljana and 9 animal bones of small mammals from other sites in the region for baseline information. The stable isotope analysis and the study of mobility in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age presented here is one of the first such investigations involving the osteological material from the south-eastern Alpine region.
The cemetery at Ljubljana – Dvorišče SAZU is of fundamental importance for the research into the Late Bronze Age in the territory of the southeastern Alps and beyond. The recently conducted revision ...of the entire cemetery revealed that the oldest cremations should be placed already at the very beginning of the Late Bronze Age period. Such observations have, furthermore, been confirmed by the new AMS dating results. The analysis of ceramic finds from Ljubljana cemetery showed that the best analogies for them can be found in the territory of the northern Carpathian Basin. Due to analogies in ceramic finds, cremated bones from cemeteries of the so-called Piliny Culture in Slovakia (Radzovce, Šafárikovo) were also sent for AMS analysis. Further typo-chronological analysis of the bronze grave goods revealed that connections with communities from the northern Carpathian Basin were decisive not only for the formative phase of the cemetery in Ljubljana at the very beginning of the Late Bronze Age but also later on during the Early Urnfield period. In conclusion, all cremation graves in Slovenia from the Initial and Early Urnfield period are considered. Although their number is exceptionally small, it seems possible to distinguish two separate phases. The oldest phase can be correlated with the Br D/Ha A1 period (Ljubljana Ia 1 phase) and is dated from the 13th century to the first half of the 12th century BC. The second phase, covering the major part of the Ha A period (Ljubljana Ia 2 phase), ends around the middle of the 11th century BC.
Das Gräberfeld von Ljubljana – Dvorišče SAZU ist für die Erforschung der Spätbronzezeit im Gebiet der südöstlichen Alpen und darüber hinaus von großer Bedeutung. Eine Neubewertung des gesamten Gräberfeldes ergab, dass die ältesten Brandbestattungen bereits an den Beginn der Spätbronzezeit zu stellen sind. Diese Beobachtungen wurden auch durch die Ergebnisse neuer AMS-Datierungen bestätigt. Die Analyse der Keramikfunde aus dem Gräberfeld von Ljubljana zeigte, dass die besten Analogien auf dem Gebiet des nördlichen Karpatenbeckens zu finden sind. Aufgrund dieser Parallelen im Keramikspektrum wurden auch AMS-Analysen von Leichenbrand aus Gräberfeldern der sog. Piliny-Kultur in der Slowakei (Radzovce, Šafárikovo) durchgeführt. Weitere typo-chronologische Untersuchungen der Bronzebeigaben legen nahe, dass Verbindungen zu Gemeinschaften aus dem nördlichen Karpatenbecken nicht nur in der Entstehungsphase des Gräberfeldes in Ljubljana am Beginn der Spätbronzezeit, sondern auch noch in der frühen Urnenfelderzeit bedeutsam waren. Zum Abschluss werden alle Brandgräber der frühen Urnenfelderzeit in Slowenien betrachtet. Trotz ihrer geringen Anzahl ist es möglich, zwei getrennte Phasen zu unterscheiden: Die ältere Phase kann mit der Br D/Ha A1-Periode (Ljubljana Ia 1-Phase) korreliert werden und wird vom 13. bis zur ersten Hälfte des 12. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. datiert. Die zweite Phase, die den größten Teil der Ha A-Periode (Ljubljana Ia 2-Phase) umfasst, endet etwa in der Mitte des 11. Jahrhunderts v. Chr.
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