K. Palágyi Sylvia szerk.: Balácai Közlemények 1997/5. (Veszprém, 1997)

STRMCNIK GULIC, MIRA: Roman Use of Area in prehistoric Space - Őskori lelőhelykörzet római kori igénybevétele

In the south eastern part of the grave there was an up to 10 cm thick layer of soot mixed up with bone remainders. Ten different whole or cracked vessels were found (tripod bowl, pot with lid, pot, jug, 4 cups, fragment of a small pot, plate and other vessels). The finds belong to the Flavius period at the end of the 1st century DC. A Roman grave was found also in tumulus No. 18 in the western lower part of the cemetery (height 0.5 m). The grave was lined with stones and vertical plates, but due to the planted trees it was not excavated. If we are not mistaken in our present study of the Maribor region, the Romans came with their army to this area by the well-established routes of Italic tradesmen. As their military breakthrough was oriented towards the Danube river, their first important goal was to take control of the Drava passage at Ptuj. We do not know exactly what they found on the plains of Maribor, but they certainly hit upon two elevated Celtic hillforts - Postela on Pohorje and Meljski hrib on the other side of the Drava river. This was not a hostile clash, as the profiles of Postela rampart show no signs of a violent capture of the hillfort, whereas Meljski hrib is still completely unexplored. In the pre-Claudius period and afterwards we can speak of a peaceful coexistence in this area during which the Roman way of economy and their civilization level predominated and gradually lured the Celts from their elevated hillforts to the valley (for example in Slivnica - after the last excavations in 1996). The first tumulus that belongs to the second half of the 1st century is the one with the grave vault at Miklavz on the bank of the former Drava riverbed

5 (Fig. 3). It shows the evidence of the Roman settlers on a completely new, for the Romans very important location, as proved by other finds at this site. The tumulus near Miklavz is thus the oldest known representative of the Roman colonization in the country, though at that time Miklavz might have had for Romans also some other economic significance. Here we could therefore hardly supply evidence of a native tradition, since the new settlers obviously brought the idea of an on-the-surface grave vault with them. This could hold also for a similar though smaller single tumulus at the neighbouring Loka on the traffic road along the Drava river from Petoviona towards the northwest. Rich finds of Roman stones at Starse provide an even stronger evidence of this route.

6 The Roman coins and some other finds at Postela can be regarded as an element of coexistence between the Celts and Romans though they can be also interpreted as new acquisitions taken on by the Celts and Romans in the 1st century. The new Roman authority was most likely not interested in settling its people among strangers. Due to the economic development of the Romans it was rather the other way round. However, all that does not bring us any farther in clarifying the origin of the Roman tumuli. In this early time at the foot of Pohorje no Roman finds are known that would give an indication of the expansion of the Roman settlements and traffic routes to the area of tumuli at Pivola and Razvanje. Hoce with villa rustica

7 and various Roman stones did not become an important Roman settlement until later. In addition to single tumuli, tumulus cemeteries with a smaller number of tumuli are to be found in the first half of the 2nd century at the latest, possibly, however, as early as in the pre-Flavius period - at Dogose, Pékre, Limbus and further on up to Ruse, in the south presumably at Hoce and the neighbouring Creta near Slivnica. The hitherto finds from these tumuli show a middle-class population which for the most part did not exist in this area as early as the 1st century. That leads us to further search of the origin of these finds and the tumuli.