Original scientific paper
Rescue Excavations of La Tène Settlement at the Virovitica − Kiškorija sjever Site
Marko Dizdar
Abstract
In a field survey conducted for construction of the western Virovitica ring-road at an elevation in the western periphery of the city of Virovitica ceramic fragments were found suggesting the existence of a lowland La Tène settlement. The elevation on which the settlement is situated is on its southern and eastern side surrounded by a low alluvial zone, whereas towards the west it continues in mild sandy elevations.
Rescue excavations of the La Tène settlement Kiškorija sjever included an area of 19,600 m2. No cultural layers were found in any part of the site, as they were probably destroyed by ploughing. As archaeological units, sunken pit-dwellings, pits, wells, channels, trenches and pillars were identified, which were filled by different kinds of fillings containing numerous archaeological finds, out of which the largest part were fragments of ceramic vessels and house daub, followed by finds of metal, glass and various stone objects.
As the main dwelling units the remains of houses and pit dwellings were separated. Only the outlines of house bases were documented in the form of sunken holes for pillars, whereas the floors were not preserved. During excavations, four house foundations with rectangular outlines were identified, most of them oriented north-south (Fig. 1-2). The entire infrastructure necessary for undisturbed and independent family life was near the houses, including wells, pits and fences (Fig. 2). The second basic type of dwelling facilities are sunken pit dwellings, mostly of an oval outline, with one or more separate smaller rooms. All pit dwellings have a bottom sunken from 0,40 to 1,0 m depth, suggesting the existence of part of the structure above ground. The length of the pit dwellings was from 3,50 m to approximately 6,50 m. Pit dwelling SU 248 is notable for its regular rectangular shape and a levelled bottom, confirming the assumption that the sunken structures of the pit dwelling type (Fig. 3) were also used for living. Close to the pit dwellings there are also structures such as containers, wells and pits (Fig. 4). The fillings of the separate pit dwellings contained a significant number of finds, suggesting that after deserting them, the remaining pits were used for refuse − probably by the dwellers of the newly erected neighbouring structures. The value of the excavated area of the Kiškorija sjever settlement is identified also in separating narrower, family-like organized complexes, defined as yards, in which the basic residual units such as houses and/or pit dwellings are arranged along with other necessary infrastructure facilities. The remains of fences include shallow channels approximately 40-50 cm wide and even dozens of meters long (Fig. 2). A larger number of pits of various shapes, dimensions and depths was also found, most of which have an oval outline. The fillings of some pits contained a larger number of objects, which suggests that they were used for refuse and were mostly located close to the houses and pit dwellings. Some of the pits can be defined as wells, which are always located near the houses or pit dwellings, confirming a practical activity of the community that was oriented to the accessibility of water as one of the basic living requirements.
The majority of the objects found in the fillings of the constructions − mostly pits and pit-dwellings − unearthed in the course of the excavations of the La Tène Kiškorija sjever settlement were ceramic vessel and house daub fragments; smaller numbers of metal, glass and stone artefacts were documented, which are more significant to the cultural and chronological definition of the excavated part of the settlement. Among the forms of ceramic vessels, fragments of different shapes of pots and bowls as well as kantharoi were separated, which were either made on a potter’s wheel, or hand worked. Among other ceramic objects various forms of weights and whorls and discs with a little hole stand out.
Comparisons for isolated ceramic forms can be found at sites of the Mokronog group of Tauriscs, as well as the Scordiscs; some forms have similarities on the opposite bank of the Drava River, in Transdanubia, but also in the indigenous traditions of the Early Iron Age in Podravina. The classification of the Kiškorija sjever settlement to the Mokronog group area of distribution relies upon finds of metal objects, in the first place of Late La Tène bronze brooches of the Beletov vrt and Magdalenska gora types.
Apart from brooches, important for chronological definition of the settlement are also numerous finds of arm ring fragments of cobalt blue or purple glass with a D intersection, dated to the Late La Tène period and testifying to the connection with the La Tène sites south and north of the Alps.
According to the size of the excavated area, the La Tène settlement at Kiškorija sjever is so far one of the largest excavated prehistoric sites in northern Croatia. The excavations show that it is a lowland settlement with a family structure, where the nuclear family represented the basic social unit of a community.
Based on the unearthed finds the settlement can be ascribed to the Mokronog group, i.e. the Tauriscs’ eastern distribution area. In addition, the influence of the material heritage of the neighbouring Scordiscs and the Celtic communities settled in Transdanubia, is evident, along with the heritage of the indigenous Pannonian population. The same picture was documented also in the excavations of the Middle La Tène cemetery in Zvonimirovo, as well as the other Late La Tène lowland settlements found in field surveys in the surroundings of Virovitica and Suhopolje, for which the Kiškorija settlement becomes the basic settlement model. Finds, particularly bronze brooches of the Magdalenska gora and Beletov vrt types, along with glass bracelet fragments, make it possible to date the settlement to the Late La Tène period, its beginnings originating probably by the end of the younger phase of Middle La Tène, as the find of a ceramic fragment, decorated by stamped concentric circles, indicated.
Keywords
settlement; La Tène Culture; Virovitica; Podravina; LT D; Mokronog Group
Hrčak ID:
9177
URI
Publication date:
11.11.2006.
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