Slovenian Terraced Landscapes

Abstract

This review of Slovenian terraced landscapes presents some archaeological details, a detailed survey of published research on terraced landscapes, and the state of terraced landscapes in Slovenia. The study concludes with the inclusion of terraced landscapes in spatial planning and in protected cultural landscapes. Slovenia has hilly terrain that is not favorable for dense settlement. Exceptional archaeological findings on Mount Donatus (Donacka Gora) confirm that people already transformed slopes and settled on terraced platforms during the transition between the Bronze and Iron Ages. There have been two peak periods of publishing about Slovenia’s terraced landscapes: the first one in 2007 and 2008 and the second one in 2015 and 2016. Terraced areas can be found in more than 90% of Slovenia’s municipalities, but the presence of terraced landscapes in the municipalities is not uniform. Various types of terraces exist in Slovenia, and they can be defined according to the use or function of the terrace slope and terrace platform, the form of the terrace slope and terrace platform, and the construction of the terrace slope. Grassed terrace slopes are much more common in the Slovenian cultural landscape than dry stone wall construction, and they can be found in all Slovenian regions. Slovenian spatial planning has not recognized terraced regions as a landscape system sui generis and needs to adopt a procedure enabling institutions at the national and local levels to acknowledge their existence. In some cases, terraced landscapes are protected as a part of cultural landscapes and are recognized as cultural heritage sites.