Field research of the Institute

Virovitica-Kiškorija north

The salvage investigations at the Virovitica-Kiškorija north site, on the route of the western by-pass of the town of Virovitica, yielded the remains of a Late Iron Age settlement of the La Tène culture. The site is situated at the western periphery of Virovitica, on a gentle elevation lying north of the Podravina main road. Floodplains surround the settlement on the south and the east, while on the west it extends into gentle sandy elevations.

The total area covered by the investigations was 19600 m2. The infrastructure of the La Tène culture settlement included structures of various types, among which pit-houses, pits, wells, channels, ditches and posts can be identified. Their fills yielded abundant movable finds, among which potsherds were the most common type. A few of the structures can be attributed to the Early Iron Age.

The basic residential structures were houses, of which post-holes arranged into rectangular plans aligned north-south have been preserved. A few small plans probably refer to the remains of accessory features or storages. The largest house measured 12 x 9.1 m. Semi-sunken pit-houses, mostly of an oval layout, except for a single rectangular one, may be interpreted as residential-working structures. There were also a great many pits of various shapes, dimensions and depths. Those deeper than 1.5 m were presumably used as wells. Channels of U- and V-shaped cross-sections served as the fence of the courtyard. The importance of the results of the investigations of the settlement at Kiškorija comes to the fore in the definition of family-based organizational units – courtyards that surrounded the houses, around which other infrastructural facilities were then organized.

The key elements for determining the date of the site are the finds of ceramic vessels and metal and glass objects. The most common finds are fragments of various types of pots and bowls, as well as wheel- or hand-made kantharoi. The analysis of pottery showed that the settlement at Kiškorija belongs to the Mokronog group. Among the metal objects, Beletov vrt-type bronze fibulae, as well as a Late La Tène cast fibula made of copper and lead alloy can be singled out. Other important finds for a chronological determination of the settlement are fragments of bracelets of cobalt-blue or purple glass of a D-shaped cross-section, dated to the Late La Tène, as well as cylindrical amber beads.

The investigations have shown that this was a lowland settlement with a family-based organization. The settlement may be attributed to the Mokronog group, that is, the eastern distribution area of the Scordisci. It is dated to the Late La Tène, that is, from the second half of the 2nd century to the mid-1st century BC.