Valley (Este and Bologna), in the alpine foothills and Alto Adige, and in central slovenia. In addition to situlae, objects such as helmets, belt plates, vessel lids, and shields were also decorated in the same style. Situla art represents the most refined and elaborate art pieces of the eastern early Iron Age Hallstatt cultures. All known objects of situla art have been found in rich male graves (often princely graves), and are considered among the most precious grave goods, which demonstrates the high status of the dead. All objects are normally made of hammered sheet bronze and decorated in the repoussé technique. The design was initially drawn on the interior and then hammered with punches. Some details were later also engraved. Situlae and other more-complex objects were bent and riveted together.

The first component (geometrization) in situla art is primarily rooted in the art and craftsmanship of the native Urnfield tradition. The second component (the orientalizing Etruscan, Greek, and Levantine elements) can be found in iconography and many other decorative elements foreign to the Hallstatt cultures (sphinxes, palmettos, lions, etc.).

The development of situla art in Slovenia can be divided into three main phases. In the earliest phase (seventh–sixth century b.c.) only a few objects (helmets, vessel lids) and almost none of the situlae were decorated, and the motifs were usually simple (isolated figures, animals, and floral ornaments). The classical phase of situla art belongs to the fifth century b.c., and the most frequent objects are the situlae with very developed and complex composition and iconography. Classic examples have normally tripartite zonal division of the scenes, and the motifs are not isolated figures any more but represent the feasts of the Hallstatt aristocracy—horse riding, symposia, boxing for a trophy, drinking precious potions, dancing, etc. The decline of situla art occurred in the fourth century b.c. Feasting and collective scenes and figural representations of men gradually disappeared, and the most frequent motifs were once again animals and floral ornaments.

The sites with the richest examples of situla art in Slovenia are the barrow cemeteries of the princely hill forts: stična, Vace, magdalenska gora, novo mesto, etc. The most classical and famous object from Slovenia is a bronze bucket from Vace, which is 23.8 centimeters high and dates to the sixth century b.c.

Predrag Novakovic

See also

Celts

References

Kastelic, J., K. Kromer, and G. Mansuelli. 1965. Situla Art. Belgrade: Jugoslavijan Publishers.

“Umetnost Alpskih Iliroy.” 1962. In Yenetoy (Situla Art between the Po and Danube). Exhibition Catalogue. Ljubljana: National Museum.

Skara Brae

Skara Brae is one of the most notable Neolithic village sites in the British Isles. Located in a sand dune on one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland, the site was inhabited between 3200 b.c. and 2200 b.c. and comprises eight houses with stone “furniture” of beds and storage areas. The houses are connected by covered passageways. Archaeological evidence testifies to the inhabitants keeping sheep and cattle, fishing and growing cereal crops. The site was exposed during a violent storm in 1850 and was excavated by vere gordon childe between 1928 and 1930.

Tim Murray

References

Childe, V.G. 1931. Skara Brae: A Pictish Village in Orkney. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.

Škocjan

Škocjan is a series of prehistoric sites in a complex of caves near the village of Škocjan in southwestern slovenia. The majority of the sites were excavated by Carlo Marchesetti (1850–1926) of the Trieste Museum at the end of nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. In the same period, J. Szombathy of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna excavated the cave sites Musja Jama (other names Fliegehohle, Grotta delle Mosche) and Skeletna Jama (Knochenhohle, Grotta degli Scheletri), and some caves and the Škocjan hill fort itself