The Early Iron Age of Slovenia

Book excerpt: This work discusses social organisation and exchange in the South East Alpine Region between 1000 and 300 BC. The Late Bronze Age groups studied were characterised by a typical Urnfield burial rite, with relatively undifferentiated flat cremation cemeteries, which developed into the pattern typical of the Early Iron Age groups, that of barrow cemeteries, containing grave lots, with clear evidence of inequality in the grave goods, clustered around hill forts. Various models are discussed to explain this transition and the development of ranked society during the Early Iron Age, concentrating on the role of prestige exchange and elite competition in the Dolenjska and Wies-Martijance groups. Exchange systems and trade are also considered; extra-regional systems are of particular importance, as much of the elite artefact set in the Dolenjska group comprised direct imports or copies of material derived from Northern Italy, the Balkans, and the Pannonian Plain.