Settlement of the eastern Alps in the Early Middle Ages (2025)

BECOMING SLAV (ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE). AGRICULTURAL ANTI-REVOLUTION AND ACCULTURATION IN THE EASTERN ALPS

Settlement of the Eastern Alps in the Early Middle Ages, 2024

This book chapter unpacks the transformative journey of the Alpine Slavs during the Early Middle Ages, shedding light on the agricultural shifts that catalyzed cultural assimilation. This study reveals how Slavic migrants revolutionized the Eastern Alpine agrarian landscape by replacing the Roman market-driven wheat economy with a self-sustaining, barley-based system. This transition fostered acculturation and resulted in a bicultural society resilient enough to navigate the decline of Romanitas embedded in the market-based economy. If you are interested in the interplay of agriculture, migration, and cultural integration, this article offers a compelling case study that redefines the concept of ‘becoming’ through adaptation and mutual influence.

Early medieval Slavs in Styria – A first archaeological search for traces

Slovani, naša dediščina / Our heritage: the Slavs (= Vestnik. Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije XXVII, 2019

The beginning of Slavic settlement in north-eastern Slovenia and the relation between "Slavic" and "Lombard" settlement based on new interpretations of the archaeological material and radiocarbon dating

The Dynamics of the Early Medieval Settlement Development of the Drava Plain in Connection with the Pedological Analysis of Arable Land

Settlement of the Eastern Alps in the Early Middle Ages, 2024

This study investigates the Early Medieval settlement dynamics of the Drava Plain through a comparative analysis of settlement patterns and pedological data on arable land. Utilizing a dataset of 18 rural archaeological sites, the research examines the spatial and temporal distribution of settlements, soil classifications, and their suitability for agriculture. The findings reveal that initial settlers from the late 6th century prefered locations with automorphic soils at the base of hills, which were fertile and easily cultivated with simple tools. By the late 7th century, settlements expanded to hydromorphic soils, necessitating advanced plough technology. This shift enabled efficient use of the Drava River’s alluvial plains. The study concludes that the choice of settlement sites was closely linked to the agricultural potential of the land, demonstrating a significant adaptation to environmental conditions and technological capabilities.

The Early Slavs: from the Western Carpathians to the Adriatic

Studia Carpathico-Adriatica Vol. III, 2022

The emergence of flat, or non-mounded, cremation burial grounds in Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages is a phenomenon distinct from a preceding era. In Croatia, this site type has only been studied in connection with the settlement of the Western Balkans. This paper takes a broader view by examining the geographical area extending from the Western Carpathians to the Adriatic. The relative chronological differentiation of the recorded archaeological sites is based on the presence or absence of Prague-type pottery. The territorial distribution of flat cremation burials indicates the gradual spread of this phenomenon southwards, suggesting that the Avar khaganate had a significant influence on the communities that used the cremation rite. Furthermore, independent sources indicate that this population can most likely be identified with the Slavs.

Migration of Alpine Slavs and machine learning: Space-time pattern mining of an archaeological data set

PLOS ONE, 2022

Application of Airborne LiDAR Data to the Archaeology of Agrarian Land Use: The Case Study of the Early Medieval Microregion of Bled (Slovenia)

Remote Sensing

The use of topographic airborne LiDAR data has become an essential part of archaeological prospection, particularly as a tool for detecting archaeological features in the landscape. However, its use for landscape reconstruction and understanding archaeological sites in their environmental context is still underutilised. To this end, we took an innovative approach to using LiDAR data as a means of discovering, documenting, and interpreting agricultural land use systems by looking for significant environmental variation within a microregion. We combined information from LiDAR-derived DEM derivatives with archaeological, geological, and soil data. We introduced two methodological innovations. The first is the modified wetness index, which combines the LiDAR-derived precision with the accuracy of the effective field capacity of the soil to obtain a very realistic predictor of soil quality. The second is the modified landform classification, a combination of topographic position index an...

Bekić, L. Early Slav pit houses in the area of the Mura, Drava and Sava river and attempt of their reconstruction

Vestnik ZVKDS XXVII, SlovanI, naša dedIščIna. Our HerItage: The Slavs, 2019

Early Slav pit houses in the area of the Mura, Drava and Sava river and attempt of their reconstruction

Beginnings of the Early Slavic settlement in the Prekmurje region, Slovenia

Abstract: The site of Nova tabla near Murska Sobota revealed the remains of an early medieval settlement. These remains included the sunken features SZ 6 and SO 149A, charcoal samples from which have yielded 14 C dates that indicate the site was already inhabited in the first half of the 6 th century. The associated pottery is comparable with the so-called Prague type pottery unearthed in Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Ukraine. In Slovakia and Germany, sunken features and graves with such pottery have also been dated with the help of 14 C analyses, while the sites in Ukraine are dated on the basis of typochronological analyses of the metal artefacts and finds of Byzantine coins. Such early settlement of the western fringes of the Pannonian Plain on the part of Prague culture groups, most likely corresponding to the Early Slavs, is supported by the spatial distribution of the Late Antique and Langobard settlements in the 6 th century, by the results of linguistic analyses and by the first written records mentioning the presence of Slavs in Pannonia.

A brave new world? : building castles, changing and inventing traditions

Atti della Accademia roveretana degli Agiati, Cl. sci. um. lett. arti, 2012, [Anno] 262, ser. IX, Vol. II, A, fasc. II, pp. 63-106, 2012