“Late Hallstatt” hillforts in the Western Carpathians : new contribution to an old discussion

The article presents new research on fortified settlements from the Early Iron Age in the Orava and Dunajec river valleys. Based on the characteristics of the construction of the fortifications and similarities in terms of material culture, we propose recognizing the hillforts discovered here as a manifestation of one cultural and settlement horizon related to the so-called Pre-Púchov stage. The radiocarbon determinations obtained for the contexts stratigraphically related to the ramparts from the Nižná-Ostražica, Zabrzeż-Babia Góra, and Maszkowice-Góra Zyndrama sites are already located on the calibration curve after the so-called Hallstatt plateau and allow this horizon to be dated to the 4th century BC, i.e. to the times corresponding to the La Tène B1–B2 phases. Our observations confirm the opinions appearing in more recent literature about the need to date the Pre-Púchov stage in Slovakia earlier, and discuss the thesis about the continuation of settlement at the beginning of the La Tène period. With regard to the Polish Carpathian zone, arguments indicating the possibility of the survival of settlements with Early Iron Age traditions up to the 4th century BC are presented for the first time. This allows us to assume that the process of the formation of the cultural tradition of the La Tène period here progressed in a similar manner to Slovakia, and it was not solely the result of migration from the latter.Príspevok prezentuje nové výskumy na opevnených sídliskách z doby halštatskej v doline Oravy a Dunajca. Na základe charakteristiky výstavby opevnení a podobností z pohľadu hmotnej kultúry, považujeme prezentované hradiská za prejav jedného kultúrneho a sídliskového horizontu (tzv. predpúchovský horizont). Analyzované radiokarbónové vzorky získané z kontextov stratigraficky súvisiacych s valmi z lokalít Nižná-Ostražica, Zabrzeż-Babia Góra a Maszkowice-Góra Zyndrama, sa nachádzajú na kalibračnej krivke už po tzv. halštatskom plató a umožňujú tento horizont datovať. do 4. storočia pred Kristom, teda do čias zodpovedajúcich laténskej fáze LT B1–B2. Výsledky potvrdzujú názory objavujúce sa v novšej literatúre o potrebe skoršieho datovania predpúchovského horizontu na Slovensku a tiež o pokračovaní osídlenia na začiatku doby laténskej. V súvislosti s karpatskou oblasťou na území Poľska sú po prvýkrát prezentované argumenty naznačujúce možnosť prežívania osád s tradíciami v staršej doby železnej až do 4. storočia pred Kristom. To umožňuje predpokladať, že proces formovania kultúrnej tradície doby laténskej tu prebiehal podobne ako na Slovensku a nebol len dôsledkom neskoršej migrácie.The article presents new research on fortified settlements from the Early Iron Age in the Orava and Dunajec river valleys. Based on the characteristics of the construction of the fortifications and similarities in terms of material culture, we propose recognizing the hillforts discovered here as a manifestation of one cultural and settlement horizon related to the so-called Pre-Púchov stage. The radiocarbon determinations obtained for the contexts stratigraphically related to the ramparts from the Nižná-Ostražica, Zabrzeż-Babia Góra, and Maszkowice-Góra Zyndrama sites are already located on the calibration curve after the so-called Hallstatt plateau and allow this horizon to be dated to the 4th century BC, i.e. to the times corresponding to the La Tène B1–B2 phases. Our observations confirm the opinions appearing in more recent literature about the need to date the Pre-Púchov stage in Slovakia earlier, and discuss the thesis about the continuation of settlement at the beginning of the La Tène period. With regard to the Polish Carpathian zone, arguments indicating the possibility of the survival of settlements with Early Iron Age traditions up to the 4th century BC are presented for the first time. This allows us to assume that the process of the formation of the cultural tradition of the La Tène period here progressed in a similar manner to Slovakia, and it was not solely the result of migration from the latter

“Late Hallstatt” hillforts in the Western Carpathians : new contribution to an old discussion

The article presents new research on fortified settlements from the Early Iron Age in the Orava and Dunajec river valleys. Based on the characteristics of the construction of the fortifications and similarities in terms of material culture, we propose recognizing the hillforts discovered here as a manifestation of one cultural and settlement horizon related to the so-called Pre-Púchov stage. The radiocarbon determinations obtained for the contexts stratigraphically related to the ramparts from the Nižná-Ostražica, Zabrzeż-Babia Góra, and Maszkowice-Góra Zyndrama sites are already located on the calibration curve after the so-called Hallstatt plateau and allow this horizon to be dated to the 4th century BC, i.e. to the times corresponding to the La Tène B1–B2 phases. Our observations confirm the opinions appearing in more recent literature about the need to date the Pre-Púchov stage in Slovakia earlier, and discuss the thesis about the continuation of settlement at the beginning of the La Tène period. With regard to the Polish Carpathian zone, arguments indicating the possibility of the survival of settlements with Early Iron Age traditions up to the 4th century BC are presented for the first time. This allows us to assume that the process of the formation of the cultural tradition of the La Tène period here progressed in a similar manner to Slovakia, and it was not solely the result of migration from the latter