Retracing the past

The project addresses the question of approaching a wider public regarding archaeological facts of an area through spatial presentation. In order to reveal a broader picture of space-time context of the archaeological landscape the presented proposals go beyond solely providing site information, they encompass the surrounding landscape as well.

The project area lies on the outskirts of Karst, a bordering sub-Mediterranean region shared between Slovenia and Italy – in the area of UNESCO listed Škocjan caves to be precise. Due to its geomorphological characteristics and geostrategic position Karst has been thought of as transitional area at least since the Bronze age. It was when the first primitive network of paths arose and over time grew and changed according to different centres of social importance in the vicinity. On the other hand, its rocky surface with scarcely scattered areas of farming soil and no surface water resulted in intensification of pastures, resulting in a web of stone drywalls across the whole landscape, which remain one of the main visual imprints of the Karst landscape until today. In addition, the case area consisting of a fertile valley with a river so alien to Karst and the mysterious surrounding landscape of Škocjan caves attracted people from near and far due to functional as well as spiritual reasons. Their life in the area left traces combined in a so called space-time palimpsest which are all summarized in today’s landscape. Such multidimensionality is hard to read as the traces in the landscape are intertwined and many times almost inseparable. To make this complexity easier to understand my interpretation is based on landscape archaeology case studies of the area which describe the actual locations (archeological remains) and their function in five different archaeological landscapes. The assessment through qualitative analysis and field visits that followed results in a selection of five sites. Even though this final spatial presentation proposals of the sites are mainly location-bounded, they are conceptualised holistically, retracing their historic structure as well as presenting their past meaning in the current space context.