Developing a micro approach to a big narrative: A geoarchaeological comparative study of urbanism at the Pungrt and Stična hillforts, Slovenia

The exploration of Iron Age hillforts – central places of power –  is a crucial archaeological research topic dealing with the emergence and characteristics of Europe's earliest cities and processes of urbanisation, centralisation and even early state formation. 

Recent excavations have revealed the urban character of both Pungrt and Stična hillforts (Figs. 1 and 2). However, they have not provided information on settlement-wide variability and temporal changes needed to reconstruct their internal organisation and biography and detect a broader range of archaeological urban attributes to better understand the type of their urban character. Therefore, site-wide data on deposits are needed to trace various elements expected in urban centres and the chronology of their internal development.

These problems call for extensive research that can provide high-definition data. Traditionally, this would mean extensive excavation. However, these are impossible (vast investments, high degree of cultural heritage protection) and unethical from a conservation point of view. Therefore, an alternative methodology that is extensive and provides high-definition data simultaneously is needed. 

This research project addresses the abovementioned problems by conducting the first comparative geoarchaeological study of two Iron Age urban centres in Slovenia and the broader region and, in the process, developing a methodology for further systematic research. It will do so by building upon the solid foundations of, first, the recent excavations at Pungrt and Stična hillforts; second, extensive geophysical research at both sites; third, a systematic micro-geoarchaeological sampling of excavated contexts at both sites; and fourth, the already obtained micro-geoarchaeological reference base of excavated deposits at Pungrt (Figs 1 and 2). The project, therefore, has great potential for achieving significant scientific discoveries of supra-regional importance. 

Figure 1. A) Current extent of the geophysical mapping of Pungrt using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetic method measurements. B) and C) show preliminary results, including the outline of terraces and buildings similar to those exposed in the excavated area. D) Composite plan of the excavated area at Pungrt.  E–J) Photomicrographs of selected floor deposits from Pungrt: E) constructed, clay-rich floor (PPL); F) clay-lime floor plaster (XPL); G) beaten floor accruing on top of the mineral finishing coat (PPL); H) thin, red clay floor wash (PPL); I) PPL and J) XPL images of a stabling crust with the upper, highly phosphatised, and lower, organic-rich, section.

Figure 2. A) The current extent of the geophysical mapping of Stična using magnetic and electromagnetic mapping (Artwood, Harris 2015) with the locations of 1967–1974 and 2022 excavations. B-C) Aerial photos of the excavation area in 2022. D–F) Photos taken during geoarchaeological sampling at the site: D) the team during sampling, E) profile (ca. 3 m high) with a complex stratigraphic sequence through one of the building plots and F) detail of the profile in E with delineated and labelled micromorphological samples.

The proposed project seeks to characterise and understand Iron Age urbanism through a comparative study of Pungrt and Stična hillforts. The prerequisite is high-definition primary contextual data starting at the deposit level. Therefore, a micro-geoarchaeological analysis (i.e., radiocarbon dating, micromorphological, micro-refuse and physio-chemical analysis) of deposits from excavated contexts is necessary. In the case of Pungrt, such an analysis is already underway (Fig. 1: E-J; see project The proto-urban hillfort of Pungrt above Ig: from 10 hectares to 10 hectares). The project will thus focus on excavated contexts at Stična by analysing a representative selection of geoarchaeological samples from buildings and open areas. In this way, a reference base of deposit types with reliable high-definition interpretations will be established at both sites.

A complex array of urban activities and social, economic and political interactions typical of urban centres produce and influence the built environment, preserved mainly as deposits in the archaeological record. Therefore, significant variability and change are typical of urban centres and should be the focus of comparative studies. The recent excavations at Pungrt and Stična only provide insights into a limited area. Therefore, to characterise the entire settlement, the project will use minimally intrusive coring to rapidly acquire data on stratigraphy and collect deposit samples for micro-geoarchaeological analysis. Based on geophysical mapping results, the coring will primarily target building interiors and open areas across the sites. The deposits will be analysed with the same micro-geoarchaeological methods as those from the excavated contexts, representing the reference base to which data from cores will be compared and contrasted. In this way, the project aims to trace both spatial and temporal variations in types of deposits and their characteristics across both sites. By doing so, the project will answer the questions about how densely built they were and about the presence or absence of neighbourhoods, open public spaces, elite buildings, agriculture within the settlement, and exterior settlement parts, and, therefore, about functional and social differences between different settlement areas.

Micro-geoarchaeological analyses of deposits from excavated contexts and cores at Pungrt and Stična will allow for the first comparative geoarchaeological study of two Iron Age urban hillforts in Slovenia. The first step will be to compare micro-geoarchaeological results from well-documented contexts excavated at both sites to seek differences and similarities in construction materials, maintenance practices, day-to-day activities and post-depositional processes. The data from the excavation will then be compared to coring data within sites to determine the variability and change throughout each site and reconstruct its internal structure and settlement biography. Finally, we will compare both sites' established characteristics and biographies to identify processes and patterns and distinguish between unique and universal features within and between both sites. The synchronic and diachronic comparison focusing on variability and change will ultimately help us better understand both cases and allow for first generalisations about the Iron Age urbanism in Slovenia, especially regarding the urban built environment and its social and economic features.

This first comparative geoarchaeological study of two urban centres will fundamentally improve our knowledge of Iron Age urbanism in Slovenia and simultaneously open many new questions that will set a trajectory for further research. Therefore, the project's ultimate goal is to test and develop a minimally intrusive methodology capable of providing site-wide high-definition data on deposits. Developing such a methodology is crucial for further systematic research of Iron Age urbanism in Slovenia and comparative urbanism studies in general.

The production of micromorphological thin sections from Stična Hillfort is currently underway at the Geological Survey of Slovenia.

The first coring campaign at Pungrt Hillfort started on April 1^st and lasted until June 30^th, encompassing 93 cores across the site.

On November 18, 2025, the Slovenian node of the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science – E-RIHS.si awarded a prize for excellence in heritage science to Res. Assoc. Dr Luka Gruškovnjak from the Department of Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts and Agni Prijatelj from the Department of Agronomy at the Biotechnical Faculty for their outstanding work in the field of developing geoarchaeological methods and research. They have introduced a modern geoarchaeological approach to the research of archaeological deposits and their contents into Slovenian archaeology, including, among other things, micromorphological and micro-refuse research. These enable the identification of traces of human activity at archaeological sites that are invisible to the naked eye, as well as geomorphological processes that have contributed to the formation of the archaeological record. All of this significantly enhances our understanding of the past and archaeological heritage and will undoubtedly continue to influence both the interpretative power of archaeological research and heritage protection in the future, where soil sampling is already being introduced as part of the site's physical archive.  

The award ceremony took place during the 3rd conference of the Slovenian node of the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science E-RIHS.eu, organised by the University of Primorska at the InnoRenew CoE in Izola. 

Photo: Darya Herman