ISBN: 9616981579 9789616981576

Category: Unavailable

Page count: 435

Mounts Nanos and Snežnik are the main orientation points that dominate the landscape of Notranjska (SW Slovenia). They are among the geographical features noted in the earliest written records mentioning the territory of present-day Slovenia. At the junction of the Julian Alps and the Dinaric Alps, ancient authors use the name Ocra to mark a mountain pass (the Razdrto area), a mountain (Nanos) and a settlement (possibly at Grad near Šmihel pod Nanosom). In connection with Ocra, Strabo, Greek historian and geographer (born in 64 or 63 BC, died in 24 AD), also mentions the mountain name of Albion, which is often interpreted as for Mt Snežnik. It would appear that Notranjska witnessed its first habitation peak in the Late Bronze Age. Investigations in recent decade have revealed several Late Bronze Age sites in the lowland. This is also the time frame for some of the stray finds from caves and from hillforts or their vicinity. The construction and development of hillforts reached its peak in the Iron Age. Some remained inhabited in the Roman period, finally abandoned with the decline of the Roman state. In the arcaeology of Notranjska, and Slovenia in general, the introduction of airborne laser scanning of the Earth's surface or LiDAR represents milestone in the study of the ancient past. The archaeological analyses of the LiDAR data have offered insights not only into the layout of the hillforts, but also to the broader hillfort landscape. The visual presentations of the evaluated LiDAR data and their archaeological interpretation form an integral part of the topographic descriptions of the sites discussed in Chapter 3. The stray finds discussed in this book mainly comprise brooches and other types of jewellery, as well as tools, weapons and military equipment, fragments of metal vessels and coins. Chapter 4 is largely dedicated to the typo-chronological analysis of the small finds. The results and the interpretation of the artefacts also offer clues with regards to the duration of arcaeological sites. The aim was to understand them within a broader arcaeological and historical framework with an emphasis on the transition from the Late Iron Age to the Roman period. The concluding chapter summarises the main observations and characteristics concerning the Iron Age and the Roman period in Notranjska.