Page 63 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

The Emergence of the Iron Age in Osor Through Representative Material Culture
Vzpon železne dobe v Osorju na primeru reprezentativne materialne kulture

Martina Blečić Kavur
University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities, Slovenia
martina.blecic.kavur@upr.si

Abstract
Situated at a strategically important position within the Cres–Lošinj archipelago, Osor developed dur-
ing later prehistory into a (proto)urban settlement and became one of the key centres of the Kvarn-
er region and the northern Adriatic. This research is based on a typological-stylistic, and comparative
analysis of published and previously unpublished attire and jewellery finds from three cemeteries, con-
sidering their archaeological context and funerary practices. Special emphasis is placed on the types of 63
artefacts identified and their integration into patterns of Iron Age social practices in the Adriatic and
wider European regions. The analysis draws on data from archival, systematic, and rescue archaeological
investigations, as well as the results of recent absolute dating and bioarchaeological studies.
The aim of the paper is to expand the concept of Osor’s archaeology of death through an analysis of rep-
resentative material culture from closed grave assemblages dating to the initial phase of the Early Iron
Age, and to examine its role in the construction of social structures, identities, and networks of inter-
action. The results indicate internal social differentiation and regional and supra-regional cultural con-
nections, thereby confirming Osor’s role as an important node of interaction between the 10th and 8th
centuries BCE.
Keywords: Osor, Early Iron Age, burials, material culture, social structure and cultural contacts

Izvleček
Osor, umeščen na strateško pomembno točko creško-lošinjskega otočja, se v mlajši prazgodovini raz-
vije v (proto)urbano naselbino in eno glavnih središč Kvarnerja ter severnega Jadrana. Raziskava temelji
na tipološko-stilski in primerjalni analizi objavljenih ter doslej neobjavljenih najdb noše in nakita s treh
grobišč ob upoštevanju njihovega arheološkega konteksta ter pogrebnih ritualov. Posebna pozornost
je namenjena vrstam najdenih predmetov in njihovemu umeščanju v vzorce železnodobnih družbenih
praks jadranskega in širšega evropskega prostora. Uporabljeni so podatki iz arhivskih, sistematičnih in
zaščitnih arheoloških raziskav ter rezultati novih absolutnih datacij in bioarheoloških analiz. Cilj pri-
spevka je razširiti koncept osorske arheologije smrti z analizo reprezentativne materialne kulture iz za-
prtih grobnih celot začetne faze starejše železne dobe ter ovrednotiti njeno vlogo pri oblikovanju druž-
benih struktur, identitet in kulturnih stikov. Rezultati kažejo na notranjo družbeno diferenciacijo ter
regionalne in nadregionalne kulturne povezave, kar potrjuje vlogo Osorja kot pomembnega vozlišča
interakcij v obdobju od 10. do 8. stoletja pr. n. št.
Ključne besede: Osor, starejša železna doba, pokopi, materialna kultura, družbena struktura in kultur-
ni kontakti

Introduction Kvarner region and the wider northern Adriat-
sor, situated at a highly sensitive point ic area (Blečić Kavur 2014; 2015). Its importance
connecting the Cres–Lošinj archipela- arose primarily from its geographical and ecolog-
Ogo (fig. 1), had already emerged during ical position, as well as from the ways in which
later prehistory as one of the key centres of the local communities actively shaped and exploited
https://doi.org/10.26493/2350-5443.13(2)63-91 © author/authors