engleski

Patterns everywhere: Geophysical prospection strategies at archaeological sites in Northern and Eastern Croatia

Between 2014 and 2019 several geophysical prospection campaigns on archaeological sites in Northern and Eastern Croatia were realised. Survey layout, data and interpretation from the Hallstatt site of Jalžabet (Varaždin), from the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age site of Dolina (Nova Gradiška), and several prehistoric and Roman sites in Slavonia are presented and discussed in this paper. All data sets can be considered as incomplete since the investigations faced several serious constraints. Firstly, intensive agricultural use and small property sizes result in limited accessibility of the areas to be inves- tigated. On no account a complete coverage of the site’s cores was possible. Secondly, the limited budgets also implicate a methodological narrowness. Do these resulting incomplete data sets contribute to increase our archaeological knowledge? From a purely scientific point of view, a total coverage not only of the “site” but also of the surrounding “landscape” is self-evident. In fact, archae-ological fieldwork and research in today’s “austerity societies” remain mere wishful thinking. Yet, couldn’t we consider this kind of prospection campaigns as a full-value tool in archaeological research?Due to the wide availability of multi-channel equipment, data collection has become a standard procedure during the last 15 years. By contrast, the archaeological interpretation of the data is a matter of permanent epistemological develop-ment. The combination of the mentioned incomplete data sets and poor documentation of archaeological information on historical excavations and surveys present a challenge for both archaeologists and geophysicists. The presented examples prove that substantial archaeological information can be gathered even from limited data sets. Taking into account geological, geomorphological and archaeological information, prevents us from both, merely describ-ing geophysical data as well as from over-interpreting. It is self-evident that all information is assembled and presented in GIS, so that continuous reworking of the data is possible for all involved parties.

Magnetic prospection ; geophysics ; GIS ; data interpretation ; Croatian archaeology

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