Research results of the Sotin – Zmajevac Site in the Croatian Danube Region

Arheološko nalazište Sotin – Zmajevac, smješteno na rubu lesne zaravni istočno od sela Sotin, poznato je više od stoljeća. Mjesto je to pronalaska paljevinskih kasnolatenskih grobova (LT D1) s iznimnim nalazima naoružanja, ženske nošnje i nakita te keramičkim i brončanim posudama koji pokazuju postojanje supra-regionalnih kontakata. Ipak, točan položaj otkrivenih grobova danas nije poznat, zbog čega su provedeni terenski pregledi koji su pokazali kako se radi o nalazištu iz različitih razdoblja prapovijesti te kasnoga srednjeg vijeka. U okviru FEMINE projekta poduzeta su pokusna istraživanja na dostupnim površinama nalazišta u kojima su otkriveni tragovi kasnolatenskoga i kasnosrednjovjekovnog naselja, pri čemu su nalazi većega broja keramičkih pršljena iz kasnoga latena ukazali na vjerojatnu proizvodnju tekstila u naselju.Within the research project of the Croatian Science Foundation Iron Age female identities in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin (FEMINE / IP-06-2016-1749), the Institute of Archaeology during the November 2017 carried out a trial archaeological excavation of Sotin – Zmajevac site (Fig. 1). Investigations were conducted to reveal the position of the cemetery from the Late Iron Age (La Tène culture), since three cremation burials were found at the beginning of the 20th century at Zmajevac which were dated to the Late La Tène (LT D1), respectively at the beginning of the 1st c. BC (Majnarić-Pandžić 1970; 1972/1973; Božič 1981; Guštin 1984; Ilkić 1999). Finds of weaponry belong to male burials, while female burials contained characteristic costume and jewellery items (Fig. 2). In burials ceramic and bronze vessels were also revealed indicating the existence of supra-regional distribution networks (Majnarić-Pandžić 1996; Dizdar, Radman-Livaja 2004; 2015). The mentioned burials from Sotin, although discovered more than a hundred years ago, are still the only known Late La Tène female burials in the eastern part of Croatia until today (Majnarić-Pandžić 1972/1973; Božič 1981: Guštin 1984). In the view of exceptional finds from Zmajevac, the existence of Late La Tène site was confirmed by results of field surveys and in the rescue excavation carried out in 2015 (Ložnjak Dizdar et al. 2016). The aim of the research was the discovery of female burials with characteristic finds that would testify about the different aspects of female social identities during the Late La Tène (i.e. Todorović 1972). During the research, traces of the Late La Tène (Figs. 3–5) and Late Medieval settlements (Figs. 6–8) were discovered, spreading along the edge of the loess plateau above the Danube. A large number of ceramic spindle whorls point to textile production at the site and testify to the different aspects of female social identities and everyday activities that female members of population performed in households during the Late Iron Age