Sotin, trial archaeological excavations 2011

Probna arheološka istraživanja u Sotinu, koja su provedena u ljeto 2011., imala su za cilj provjeriti hipotezu o položajima sjevernog i južnog ruba željeznodobnog groblja. Istovremeno se pokušao locirati južni obrambeni jarak privremenog vojnog logora otkrivenog na položaju Jaroši 2010. godine. U istraživanjima 2011. godine, uz ostatke zemunice badenske kulture, pronađeno je 15 grobova daljske grupe iz starijeg željeznog doba te 6 rimskih grobova na istočnoj nekropoli Cornacuma položenih uz jednu od rimskih prometnica. Na južnom rubu ranosrednjovjekovnog naselja na Srednjem polju otkrivena je poluzemunica s ognjištem. Rezultati ovogodišnjih istraživanja potvrdili su kako se radi o izuzetno važnom nalazištu u hrvatskom Podunavlju s tragovima naseljenosti iz svih vremenskih razdoblja.Trial archaeological excavations undertaken in 2011 in Sotin, lasting in continuity from 2008 in cooperation between the Institute of Archaeology and the City Museum of Vukovar, their goal being the verification of the hypothesis as to the location of the northern and the southern edge of the Iron Age cemetery as well as the attempt to locate the southern moat of the temporary military camp discovered during the 2010 research. The research was conducted on two sites on the south (Jaroši) and on the east (Srednje polje) part of Sotin on the area of 1308 m2. In the probe 10 on Jaroš, cuts of ditches were found that are likely to belong to a section of the Roman road, alongside two Dalj group incineration graves that are assumed to be located on the southern edge of the Iron Age cemetery. Probes 11 and 12 are situated on the edge of the site Srednje polje in the direction of Vašarište. In the probe 11, a pit house was found with fireplace, as well as a pit dated to the Early Middle Ages. In the northern part of the probe 12, a portion of the Baden culture pit house was excavated, but the most important is a discovery of 13 graves of the group Dalj that were scattered over the central part of the small oval elevation. In the southern part of the probe 12, three trenches were found; these are probably the remains of the road, along which six graves of the Cornacum Eastern Necropolis were unearthed. Bearing in mind current archaeological knowledge about Sotin, results of the 2011 research at Jaroš and Srednje polje shed light on the southern boundary of the Copper Age settlement and the southern and northern borders of the Iron Age cemetery. Based on the results of the regional studies of graves of group Dalj it can be assumed that the inhabitants of Iron Age Sotin were buried in small groups that were organized in rows by the ancestral principle, with the possible existence of the horizontal stratigraphy. The discovery of the grave 69, belonging to a prominent woman of the community, is particularly exceptional. A multi-piece ceramic service was found in the burial place, with two urns containing bones, as well as parts of jewellery worn by the deceased while she was still alive (bronze spiral rings, pendants made of shell and stone, two bracelets made of bronze sheet) in one of them. Next to the urn, oval and pyramidal weights as part of the loom, and two vessels in the shape of birds were placed. Apart from the grave 69, a number of ceramic and metal contributions were also found in graves 65 and 78, which, alongside with the grave 1 from the earlier research, indicate burials of prominent members of the community in this part of the cemetery. Ceramography of the Iron Age cemetery in Sotin shows prevailing similarity with finds from the cemetery Doroslovo in Bačka, while on the other hand, the metal contributions substantially differ from those in Doroslov and those retrieved on the nearby cemetery Vukovar-Lijeva Bara from the same period. Based on the ceramic forms and found metal objects (brooches, bracelets), graves located on Srednje polje and Jaroš are dated to the 8th century BC, that is to the IIIa phase according to the periodization created by C. Metzner-Nebelsick (Metzner-Nebelsick 2002: 172-175, Abb. 75). During the research in 2011 it was noted that probably two roads existed on the southeast and on the east of the Roman settlement. Alongside the one on the north, that is, closer to the Danube, six Roman incineration and skeletal graves were discovered. So far, during the trial researches in Sotin, total of 35 Roman graves have been found. Investigated segment of the early Medieval settlement indicates that it was much larger than it had been assumed at first, or that the cemetery was located where the metal artefacts from the same period were discovered earlier. Further research and field surveys will give us a clue to some yet unanswered questions about life in Sotin through the millennia