Ig settlements

The research was carried out in cooperation with the ZVKDS, Ljubljana Regional Office, and the Ljubljana Marshes Landscape Park.
As the probing took place both on private agricultural land and on land managed by the Ljubljana Marshes Landscape Park, a great deal of work was required by the responsible conservator, Dr Maja Bricelj (ZVKDS, OE Ljubljana), in obtaining permits on private land.

Purpose of the sounding

The purpose of the probing was to verify the depth, thickness and preservation of the cultural layers and to compare the results with the systematic measurements of the groundwater level carried out by the Centre for Preventive Archaeology since December 2012 at the established piezometers at the Maharski prekop, Spodnje mostišče and Parte sites.

Sampling and interdisciplinary cooperation

In order to obtain as much information as possible about the past settlement and natural environment of the Ljubljana Marshes, sediment and organic residue sampling was carried out in cooperation with experts from various institutions, despite the different primary purpose of the survey. Prior to the excavations, boreholes were drilled at the probe sites for geological analyses (Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts UL and Department of Geology, NTF UL), followed by sampling of the wooden remains for dendrological and dendrochronological analyses (Department of Wood Engineering, Faculty of Science, UL) and sediments from probe profiles for archaeobotanical and palynological analyses (Institute of Archaeology, ZRC SAZU) and micromorphological analysis (Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts UL). The animal bone remains recovered from the cultural layers will be included in the archaeozoological research (Institute of Archaeology, ZRC SAZU).

Results of site-specific soundings

At the probe site, located near the Partski Kanal settlement, no cultural layers were detected in the core of the borehole, which was also confirmed by the excavation of the test probe. The lake sediment (the so-called semi-feldspar) was already present at a depth of 40 cm, and above it was preserved a thin layer of the lower part of the peat, which was intensively exploited in the Ljubljana Marshes in the 19th century.

The situation was completely different in the two test probes in the area of the Maharski Canal site, dated to the middle of the 4th millennium BC, where we found intense cultural layers and the remains of vertical wooden elements. The layers, identified as cultural or anthropogenic, were located at a depth of approximately 30-85 cm and were overlain by clay of flood origin. In both probes, vertical stakes representing the remains of a wooden structure were documented and the level of construction of the structure was determined. The levels of the pavement consolidation were also identified in both probes.

In addition to animal bone remains, stone chippings, plant seeds and stone weights, a large amount of Copper Age pottery was also found in the cultural layers.

Conservation and future challenges

The test probes were excavated and it was found that the cultural layers and the organic material in them are not affected by the effects of agricultural soil cultivation. Based on water level measurements in nearby piezometers, we conclude that the cultural layers are exposed to a dry environment mainly during prolonged spring and summer droughts, as was the case in summer 2013, although water drains relatively quickly below the upper level of the cultural layers even in the event of short-term rainfall. As a result, the stakes and organic material in the layers are exposed to fluctuations in humidity, which accelerates their deterioration.

Text by Mija Fazarinc, Blaž Orehek, Dr Špela Karo, Dr Maja Bricelj4

Photos by Špela Karo, Tjaž Zorman