Marjansko Brdo: La Tène Period Horizon

Abstract

The site of Marjansko brdo is located 16 km northwest from the city of Požarevac, halfway between the villages of Majilovac and Kurjače. During the rescue excavation campaign of 2022-2023, on the route of the future Požarevac-Veliko Gradište-Golubac motorway, conducted by the Institute of Archaeology from Belgrade, Marjansko brdo was investigated among 14 other potential archeological site locations. The downside of such excavations was the limited exploration zone of the expropriated land for the plotted road-to-be, that rarely exceeded 65-75 m, with some wider stretches, especially on the eastern part, where an intersection was planned. Archeological remains from the Marjansko brdo site were detected on a section almost 500 m long, that was divided into three sectors, separated naturally by two land depressions approximately 75 m long. The site yielded rich archaeological remains ranging from Neolithic, through Eneliothic, Bronze and Early Iron Age, to the late La Tène period, despite the fact that the excavated area within the expropriated zone only covered a possible periphery of the settlement, that could have been further north, where the land elevation is at its highest. Both vertical and horizontal stratigraphy were documented, with most of the finds in the western (Sector 1) and central sector (Sector 2). La Tène period on the site included at least 20 buried archaeological features, out of 75 documented on Marjansko brdo, and a cultural stratum spread sporadically across the western and central sector. Most of these features were pits filled with pottery, and animal bones to a lesser extent, that sometimes disturbed earlier horizons, most notably Vinča period houses. Movable finds included pottery fragments and metal objects that proposed late La Tène period dating. This paper will present finds of this horizon on the site as a contribution to the understanding of the period in the Eastern Serbia.