Settlements and necropolises of the Early Iron Age along the middle course of the Nišava river

Abstract

As a result of the rescue archaeological investigations conducted along the E-80 motorway route, around the middle course of the Nišava river, from Sićevo Gorge to Dimitrovgrad, several sites from the Early Iron Age were discovered. At the same time, two caves located on the margins of this natural transportation route which links the Morava Valley and the Sofia Basin were explored. This paper comprises all the relevant finds of the material culture from Bela Palanka, Pirot and Dimitrovgrad, and sepulchral architecture and funerary customs practised during Hallstatt C and D. The aim of the paper is to indicate the influences of the Basarabi and Pšeničevo material culture in the territories assumed to have been inhabited by the Thracian and Illyrian tribes, which may help with the more accurate pinpointing of the demarcations between the Triballi, Thracians and Paeonians.