Page 11 - Kavur, Boris. Everything counts (in small amounts) … Koper: University of Primorska Press, 2015.
P. 11
was a period of the wane of Early Iron Age, of the Hallstatt period, when in Ptuj finds from Mali grad at the everything counts (in small amounts) … 11
foot of the Grajski grič (Castle hill) and those from the Turnirski prostor (Tournement space) on top of it re-
flected the contacts with communities from the western Pre-Alpine area as well as with those located to the
east. During the older part of the La Tène period, at the end of 4th century BC, we can still trace objects com-
ing from central Alps. Later on, the territory of Ptuj, as well as the major part of Slovenia and the Austrian re-
gion of Štajerska, became settled with Celtic communities. This was the period of intensive contacts between
the Celts from the Carpathian basin and Mediterranean civilizations – perhaps we can observe these con-
tacts in the form of the imported ceramic cup, the so called gnathian skyphos, discovered in Starše on Dra-
vsko polje.
In the 3rd century BC, during the so called Middle La Tène period, the territory of Ptuj was located on the edge
of so called Mokronog cultural group having its center on south-east of Slovenia. Items, discovered in graves
from Brstje and Formin, still reflect traces of numerous elements characteristic of formal and decorative world
of the Eastern Celts. However, as the years pass by, the local characteristics become more pronounced.
In the middle of the 2nd century BC, during the Late La Tène period, the greatest changes occurred. Inhuma-
tions on older cemeteries ended and hilltop settlements, as for example Turnirski prostor on the Grajski grič
hill in Ptuj, were occupied and fortified again. Newly created proto-urban centers became seats of social elites
which introduced a monetary based economy founded on their own coinage consisting of large and small sil-
ver coins as well as more and more often Roman coins. It is understandable that a century and half later the
Roman army first occupied these settlements – as we can see by the presence of Roman arms on Turnirski
prostor.
The exhibition Everything counts (in small amounts) …, Late Iron Age in Ptuj and its vicinity is not just a presentation
of finds. It is a chance to use modest fragments of a large mosaic of prehistoric settlement, buried deep below
the modern, medieval and Roman city, for presentation of an integral image of population dynamics and cul-
tural contacts. These contacts comprised territories from western Alps, northern Bavaria, and central Bohe-
mian Mountains, central part of Pannonian plain, its southern part and all the way across Slovenia to cities of
northern Adriatic where intensive contacts between prehistoric cultures and Mediterranean civilizations took
place. Consequently it is a minimalistic program of presenting the archaeological heritage of Ptuj and its sur-
roundings as one of the focal points in the Late Iron Age.
foot of the Grajski grič (Castle hill) and those from the Turnirski prostor (Tournement space) on top of it re-
flected the contacts with communities from the western Pre-Alpine area as well as with those located to the
east. During the older part of the La Tène period, at the end of 4th century BC, we can still trace objects com-
ing from central Alps. Later on, the territory of Ptuj, as well as the major part of Slovenia and the Austrian re-
gion of Štajerska, became settled with Celtic communities. This was the period of intensive contacts between
the Celts from the Carpathian basin and Mediterranean civilizations – perhaps we can observe these con-
tacts in the form of the imported ceramic cup, the so called gnathian skyphos, discovered in Starše on Dra-
vsko polje.
In the 3rd century BC, during the so called Middle La Tène period, the territory of Ptuj was located on the edge
of so called Mokronog cultural group having its center on south-east of Slovenia. Items, discovered in graves
from Brstje and Formin, still reflect traces of numerous elements characteristic of formal and decorative world
of the Eastern Celts. However, as the years pass by, the local characteristics become more pronounced.
In the middle of the 2nd century BC, during the Late La Tène period, the greatest changes occurred. Inhuma-
tions on older cemeteries ended and hilltop settlements, as for example Turnirski prostor on the Grajski grič
hill in Ptuj, were occupied and fortified again. Newly created proto-urban centers became seats of social elites
which introduced a monetary based economy founded on their own coinage consisting of large and small sil-
ver coins as well as more and more often Roman coins. It is understandable that a century and half later the
Roman army first occupied these settlements – as we can see by the presence of Roman arms on Turnirski
prostor.
The exhibition Everything counts (in small amounts) …, Late Iron Age in Ptuj and its vicinity is not just a presentation
of finds. It is a chance to use modest fragments of a large mosaic of prehistoric settlement, buried deep below
the modern, medieval and Roman city, for presentation of an integral image of population dynamics and cul-
tural contacts. These contacts comprised territories from western Alps, northern Bavaria, and central Bohe-
mian Mountains, central part of Pannonian plain, its southern part and all the way across Slovenia to cities of
northern Adriatic where intensive contacts between prehistoric cultures and Mediterranean civilizations took
place. Consequently it is a minimalistic program of presenting the archaeological heritage of Ptuj and its sur-
roundings as one of the focal points in the Late Iron Age.
