Research results for Lovas (Western Syrmia) – Discovery of an Early La Tène biritual cemetery

Sa？etak The archaeological site in Lovas in Western Syrmia is located in the very centre of the village, on the eastern edge of the loess elevation above a small stream. The construction works in A. Star？evi？a Street in the 1970s uncovered inhumation graves that were dated to the latter phase of the Early Iron Age on the basis of the finds of weapons and jewellery. Within the FEMINE project, there were trial excavations in the accessible areas of the site that discovered a biritual cemetery from the beginning of the Late Iron Age (LT B2); the find of an inhumation grave with no finds might indicate that the burials already started in the ？urug phase, i.e. at the end of the Early Iron Age. Notable discovery include an Early La Tene cremation grave of a warrior and an inhumation grave of a woman that was richly furnished with items of costume and jewellery. Considering the earlier insights and the new finds, the burials in the cemetery probably started during the end of the Early Iron Age already, and continued uninterruptedly at the beginning of the Late Iron Age. Therefore, the trial excavations undertaken within the FEMINE project on the site of Lovas – A. Star？evi？a Street confirmed the assumption that it was an exceptionally important site from the turn of the Early and Late Iron Age, which will be crucial for the future research of this dynamic period, especially because, for the first time in northern Croatia, the excavations documented closed funerary complexes with finds and a related anthropological sample, which will enable the implementation of interdisciplinary bioarchaeological analyses