engleski

Radiocarbon dating of Late Bronze Age cremated burials in northern Croatia

We present a preliminary report on 27 new radiocarbon dates from five Late Bronze Age cemeteries in northern Croatia. The dates cover the earlier part of the Late Bronze Age (Br. D, Ha A1 and Ha A2 periods), as well as the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age (Ha B3 and Ha C1 periods). Material of all but one of the dated samples is cremated bone, taken from incineration burials. All of the radiocarbon-dated burials also contained temporally sensitive finds, attributable to a specific period. Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates was employed to estimate periods of interment in excavated parts of particular cemeteries (their beginning, duration, and end). For the earlier part of the Late Bronze Age (Br. D, Ha A1 and Ha A2), radiocarbon dates are internally consistent and correspond very well to periods suggested by traditional typological criteria ; the two dating techniques support each other remarkably well. For the final Late Bronze Age and incipient Iron Age (Ha B3, Ha C1), radiocarbon dates are affected by to the well- known Halstatt plateau in the calibration curve, which renders radiocarbon dating ineffective. While this was expected, their wide temporal scatter and several stratigraphic inversions cannot be explained by the Halstatt plateau alone. The presented results must be considered as preliminary, since a dozen more dates has been submitted for radiocarbon dating in an attempt to clarify some of the outstanding issues.

radiocarbon dating, Bronze Age, cremation, burials, Carpathian Basin

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