Living at the edge of the plain : adaptability in Late Bronze Age husbandry at Brinjeva gora (SE Slovenia)

Toškan, Borut (author), Omahen, Manca (author), Črešnar, Matija (author)

Brinjeva gora above Zreče is a hilltop settlement with remains dating primarily to the Late Bronze Age and the Roman period. This article presents the results of an archaeozoological study of prehistoric animal remains (N = 5500; NISP = 1999), providing detailed insight into contemporary livestock farming practices. The most economically impor-tant species were cattle and sheep, with a clear emphasis on the exploitation of secondary products. The same applies to goats, whereas pig husbandry was primarily oriented towards meat production. Hunting played a negligible role in quantitative terms. The study suggests that the prehistoric community at Brinjeva gora sought to maximise the efficient use of the diverse range of habitats in the wider hinterland of the settlement. An important component of this system was the year-round grazing of part of the cattle herd near lowland agricultural settlements, while the remainder was integrated into a mountain grazing regime on the Pohorje Mountains. The concluding section of the article discusses the number, composition, and spatial distribution of horse and carnivore remains.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: Brinjeva gora (občina Zreče, Slovenija, arheološko najdišče), pozna bronasta doba, arheozoologija, živinoreja, transhumanca
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 7-73
• Numbering: 77
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185179
• UDC: 904:59(497.4)"637.7"
• ISSN on article: 0570-8966
• DOI: 10.3986/AV.77.16
• COBISS.SI-ID: 286039043
• Publication date in RUL: 27.07.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Arheološki vestnik
• Shortened title: Arheol. vestn.
• Publisher: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti, Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU
• ISSN: 0570-8966
• COBISS.SI-ID: 6431490

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
• Description: A Creative Commons license that bans commercial use and requires the user to release any modified works under this license.

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Življenje na robu ravnice : prilagodljivost poznobronastodobne živinoreje na Brinjevi gori

Abstract

Brinjeva gora nad Zrečami je višinska naselbina z naselbinskimi ostalinami predvsem iz pozne bronaste dobe in rim-skega časa. V članku so predstavljeni izsledki arheozoološke študije živalskih ostankov prazgodovinske starosti (N = 5500; NISP = 1999), ki ponujajo podroben vpogled v način tedanje živinoreje. Gospodarsko najpomembnejši vrsti sta bili govedo in ovca, pri katerih je bilo v ospredju izkoriščanje drugotnih proizvodov reje. Enako velja za kozo, medtem ko je bila prašičereja usmerjena v prirejo mesa. Vloga lova je bila v količinskem smislu zanemarljiva. Ponujena je razlaga, po kateri naj bi prazgodovinska skupnost na Brinjevi gori težila h kar najučinkovitejšem izkoriščanju velike pestrosti habitatnih tipov v širšem zaledju naselbine. Pomemben element takšnega načina reje naj bi bila celoletna paša nekaterih goved v bližini kmetijsko usmerjenih nižinskih zaselkov in vključitev preostalih v sistem planinskega pašništva na Pohorju. V sklepnem delu prispevka je podan komentar na število, vrsto in prostorsko razpršenost ostankov konja in zveri.

• Keywords: Brinjeva Gora Site (Občina Zreče, Slovenia), Late Bronze Age, archaeozoology, livestock farming, transhumance