Across the River. The Cemetery in Dolina and New Aspects of the Late Urnfield Culture in Croatian Posavina and Northern Bosnia

Abstract

The site of Dolina in the Croatian region of Posavina has been investigated since 2009 under the leadership of the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb. In previous excavations five tumuli with one or two cremation deposits of different types (urned, scattered cremation remains, or with an organic container) could be detected. On the basis of characteristic grave goods (bronze pins and fibulae, helmet parts), the burials are dated to the 9th-8th century BC or in the stage Ha B3-Ha C1. Typical of Dolina, but also of other sites in Croatia and Bosnia along the middle course of the Sava River (e.g. Donja Dolina), is the ensemble of finds (jewellery, weapons and ceramics) of different regional origin, which underlines the specific position of this region at the interface between the Carpathian Basin to the north, the Alps to the west, the Balkans to the south and the lower Danube to the east. Vessels with incised zigzag motifs from Tumuli 6 and 8 reveal communication with the neighbouring area of northern Bosnia. Similar ornamentation appears there in contemporaneous settlement layers (at Vis and Zecovi) and in the corresponding cremation burials in flat graves (Petkovo Brdo and Mekota). However, the establishment of tumuli at Dolina, and various burial rites with different grave goods, emphasise a strong local component and a distinct individualisation of the graves, i.e. as buried members of a particular but heterogeneous community.