The archaeological study of the Second World War requires an interdisciplinary approach and covers a wide range of topics, which include the study of battlefields, fortifications, concentration camps, remains of military vehicles and individual or mass graves. Industrially produced objects which, due to their nature, contain a large amount of valuable information, form a special field of study when they appear as archaeological artefacts. Slovenian archaeologists have thus far limited themselves to the study of the remains of military vehicles and mass graves. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to cover similar topics in Slovenia that have been studied abroad, with regard to certain specific circumstances resulting from guerilla warfare during the National Liberation Struggle. The study of the remains from the period of the National liberation struggle on Pugled hill is used as an example. Three groups of dugouts (locations A, B and C), representing camps used by partisans, have been documented on the hill. On the basis of a survey of literature written about partisan units that were stationed in the vicinity of Pugled at various times. This paper argues that they were most likely built by partisans of the 2nd batalion of the Tomšič brigade and of the 3rd battalion of the West Dolenjska detachment (Zapadnodolenjski odred) in late autumn/early winter of 1942. The dating of at least some dugouts on location B to the winter of 1941/1942 during the presence of the II. Styrian battalion (II. štajerski bataljon) cannot be ruled out. The non-invasive approach used leaves several questions unanswered. The main findings and several suggestions on how to improve the results obtained during this study are presented at the end.
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