Papers by Marko Sraka
V diplomskem delu tudi s pomočjo modernih Bayesovih analiz v kalibracijskem programu OxCal obravn... more V diplomskem delu tudi s pomočjo modernih Bayesovih analiz v kalibracijskem programu OxCal obravnavamo 14C serije najdišč 5. tisočletja pr. n. št. na prostoru celinske Slovenije. 14C datirane kontekste umeščamo na koledarski časovni okvir, z vključevanjem 14C serij za kulture sosednjih in bolj oddaljenih regij Srednje in Jugovzhodne Evrope pa tudi v širši prostorski okvir. S primerjavo radiokarbonskih in kulturnih zaporedij pokažemo na nekatere neustreznosti in kontradiktornosti slednjih, ki so pogosto uporabljene za etnične in kulturno-historične razlage arheološke kulture.In the present diploma thesis we also use modern Bayesian analysis in the OxCal program to deal with series of 14C dates of archaeological sites from 5th millennium BC in the continental Slovenia. We present the 14C dated contexts on the calendric time-scale and in a broader spatial framework by including 14C dates for archaeological cultures in neighbouring and more distant regions of Central and South-eastern E...
Documenta Praehistorica, 2012
In the paper, Bayesian analysis of 14C dates implemented in the OxCal program is used to develop ... more In the paper, Bayesian analysis of 14C dates implemented in the OxCal program is used to develop calendric time-scale chronologies of individual sites and archaeological cultures of the 5th millennium calBC in Slovenia and Croatia. Case studies are presented in which 14C dates are analysed and reinterpreted with the aid of contextual archaeological data. At the site level, stratigraphic sequences are used in models to constrain and then precisely date activities within them. At the regional level, the results of the chronological modelling of archaeological cultures are used to present them on a calendric time-scale and within a broader spatial framework of Central and Southeastern Europe. Special emphasis is placed upon critical comparison of modelled calendar and cultural sequences. On the basis of this comparison, some inconsistencies and contradictions in the relative chronological schemes of periods and archaeological cultures are presented.
Documenta Praehistorica, 2013
Recently obtained AMS 14C dates and the stratigraphic matrix from the Moverna vas site show incon... more Recently obtained AMS 14C dates and the stratigraphic matrix from the Moverna vas site show inconsistencies in the upper part of the stratigraphic sequence. The Bayesian approach to chronological modeling in the OxCal program is used in the paper to present the calendar chronology of Neolithic and Eneolithic settlement phases at the site and to propose a revision of the upper part of the stratigraphic sequence, also partly supported by a typological comparison of a pottery vessel from one of the 14C dated contexts.
Documenta Praehistorica, 2014
The research discussed in this paper focused on the analysis and identification of organic resid... more The research discussed in this paper focused on the analysis and identification of organic residues either preserved as visible or absorbed organic remains on Neolithic and Eneolithic pottery from various archaeological and geographical contexts. These are connected with various food preparation strategies and past human activities, i.e. cave burials in Ajdovska jama (food as a grave good/offering), the rock shelter at Mala Triglavca (meat and dairy animal husbandry practices) and Moverna vas, which had a long occupation sequence (complex farming and animal management). The preservation of biomarkers mirrored past human activities and different pottery uses at various types of sites. The carbon stable isotope ratios of primary fatty acids in lipid pottery extracts confirmed the presence of adipose and dairy fats as well as biomarkers of plant fats, beeswax and birch bark tar.
Beiträge zur Kupferzeit am Rande der Südostalpen. Akten des 4. Wildoner Fachgesprächs am 16. und 17. Juni 2016 in Wildon/Steiermark (Österreich) , 2020
In the present paper we present and discuss the results of Bayesian chronological modeling of the... more In the present paper we present and discuss the results of Bayesian chronological modeling of the Gradec pri Mirni and Bukovnica settlement and the Ajdovska jama cave necropolis calendar chronologies. Archaeological records at these key sites traverse the supposed transition between the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods and are essential in explanations of the cultural dynamics in the 5 th millennium BC. In the discussion we argue that the 3 rd quarter of the millennium in Slovenia is characterized by gradual and continuous changes in pottery production leading to the transformation of material culture and by continuity of settlement until a final rupture of the settlement pattern, which correlates with events of rapid climate change. Furthermore, an unprecedented temporality of the burial rituals in the Ajdovska jama cave necropolis is presented with a brief period of excarnation followed by centuries-long commemoration of ancestors.
Centenary of Jaroslav Palliardi's Neolithic and Aeneolithic Relative Chronology (1914-2014), 2016
This contribution is a critique of the established cultural chronologies of east-Central eu-rope,... more This contribution is a critique of the established cultural chronologies of east-Central eu-rope, dealing especially with the lengyel culture. An alternative calendar chronology for Slovenia is briefly presented at the end, which is based on the approach of Bayesian modelling of archaeological chronologies and derives from two well-dated archaeological sites from Slovenia.
by Lazarovici Gheorghe, Adam Crnobrnja, Nerantzis Nerantzis, Krisztián Oross, Wolfram Schier, Diaconescu Dragos, Gaal Istvan, Marko Sraka, mirjana blagojevic, Florin Drasovean, Anett Osztás, Zsuzsanna Siklósi, and Lea Čataj
The research discussed in this paper focused on the analysis and identification of organic residu... more The research discussed in this paper focused on the analysis and identification of organic residues either preserved as visible or absorbed organic remains on Neolithic and Eneolithic pottery from various archaeological and geographical contexts. These are connected with various food preparation strategies and past human activities, i.e. cave burials in Ajdovska jama (food as a grave good/offering), the rock shelter at Mala Triglavca (meat and dairy animal husbandry practices) and
Moverna vas, which had a long occupation sequence (complex farming and animal management). The preservation of biomarkers mirrored past human activities and different pottery uses at various types of sites. The carbon stable isotope ratios of primary fatty acids in lipid pottery extracts confirmed the presence of adipose and dairy fats as well as biomarkers of plant fats, beeswax and birch bark tar.
The Neolithic and Eneolithic in Southeast Europe. New approaches to dating and cultural dynamics in the 6th to 4th millennium BC (Prähistorische Archäologie in Südosteuropa 28)
In the paper we use Bayesian modeling of site-based and regional 14C calendar chronologies to pr... more In the paper we use Bayesian modeling of site-based and regional 14C calendar chronologies to provide calendar age estimates for events related to the transition between the Neolithic and the Eneolithic period in the late 5th millennium cal BC in Slovenia and Croatia. We discuss the limitations of the established relative chronologies, their underlying assumptions and explanations. We suggest a more complex temporality of change and continuity and present some implications of our results for calendar chronology of Southeastern Europe.
Documenta Praehistorica 40 (2013)
Recently obtained AMS 14C dates and the stratigraphic matrix from the Moverna vas site show incon... more Recently obtained AMS 14C dates and the stratigraphic matrix from the Moverna vas site show inconsistencies in the upper part of the stratigraphic sequence. The Bayesian approach to chronological modeling in the OxCal program is used in the paper to present the calendar chronology of Neolithic and Eneolithic settlement phases at the site and to propose a revision of the upper part of the stratigraphic sequence, also partly supported by a typological comparison of a pottery vessel from one of the 14C dated contexts.
Documenta Praehistorica 39 (2012)
In the paper, Bayesian analysis of 14C dates implemented in the OxCal program is used to develop ... more In the paper, Bayesian analysis of 14C dates implemented in the OxCal program is used to develop calendric time-scale chronologies of individual sites and archaeological cultures of the 5th millennium calBC in Slovenia and Croatia. Case studies are presented in which 14C dates are analyzed and reinterpreted with the aid of contextual archaeological data. At the site level, stratigraphic sequences are used in models to constrain and then precisely date activities within them. At the regional level, the results of the chronological modeling of archaeological cultures are used to present them on a calendric time-scale and within a broader spatial framework of Central and Southeastern Europe. Special emphasis is placed upon critical comparison between modeled calendar and cultural sequences. On the basis of this comparison, some inconsistencies and contradictions in the relative chronological schemes of periods and archaeological cultures are presented.
Conference Presentations by Marko Sraka
Deconstructing archaeological cultures, reconstructing settlement dynamics: Boom and bust at the turn of the 4th and 5th millennia BC in Northeastern Slovenia?
We problematize two aspects of how radiocarbon calendar chronologies for the Neolithic and Eneoli... more We problematize two aspects of how radiocarbon calendar chronologies for the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods in Slovenia are established. The first is methodological - informal or visual inspection of radiocarbon dating results, which often gives wrong answers to questions of when something happened and how long it lasted. The second is conceptual - prehistoric time understood as a sequence of temporally exclusive and internally homogenous blocks (cultures), by which changes in e.g. material culture and settlement patterns can only be observed at the transitions between blocks. Radiocarbon dates and "culture-historical" premises are combined in a way that the cultural sequences are replicated within a calendric time framework. We use Bayesian modeling as an exploratory approach to developing site-based and regional calendar chronologies for Northeastern Slovenia in the late 5th and early 4th millennium BC (Lasinja and Retz Gajary cultures). We integrate radiocarbon data with archaeological information in different ways and use sensitivity analyses to provide some alternative interpretation of the settlement dynamics in the region. Our results suggest a relatively intensive and short-lived period of settlement occupation ca. 4300 cal BC across the region, followed by a possibly centuries long gap after which same locations are occupied again.
Neolithic or Eneolithic? Contradictions between calendar and cultural sequences in Slovenia and Croatia and the importance of stratified settlements
Comparison between the long-standing relative chronological schemes or cultural sequences on the ... more Comparison between the long-standing relative chronological schemes or cultural sequences on the one and the increasingly precise calendar chronologies derived from C14 dates on the other hand shows obvious contradictions in the 2nd half of the 5th millennium calBC when the transition between the Neolithic (Lengyel and Sopot cultures) and the Eneolithic (Lasinja culture) occurred in Slovenia and Croatia. C14 dated sites that are attributed to sequential and temporally exclusive periods and/or cultures exhibit a considerable temporal overlap or even suggest an inversion of the expected sequence. Contradiction can be explained by the inconsistency of the typological classification, which abstracts the changes in material culture within arbitrary cultural sequences, but could also be related to statistical scatter of probability inherent in C14 chronologies and consequently aggregation of temporally distinct events that produces overlaps. With case studies from Slovenia (Moverna vas) and Croatia (Sopot-Vinkovci tell settlement) I will stress the importance of vertically stratified sites that allow us, by means of Bayesian modeling, to constrain and precisely date pottery assemblages as well as to suggest the timing of major changes in the production of pottery. The potential sources of the contradictions between calendar and cultural sequences can thus be more thoroughly explored.
Multiscalar approach to 14C calendar chronologies of the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and its neighbouring regions
In traditional relative chronological schemes from Slovenia and neighbouring regions the transiti... more In traditional relative chronological schemes from Slovenia and neighbouring regions the transition from the Neolithic to the Copper age is dated to the 2nd half of the 5th millennium calBC. This transition is recognised both at the site- and at the regional level through changes in material culture, especially pottery production, and the settlement pattern. Until recently, these changes could only be temporally positioned within the framework of the long-standing relative chronological schemes or cultural sequences. The abstractions of the variability of material culture within sequential spatially and temporally exclusive units through typological classification limited the temporal precision and supported the culture-historical view that changes appeared suddenly, e.g. by demic diffusion. The increasing number of 14C dates and available tools for their contextual analysis and interpretation allow us to date these changes more precisely, to look for potential temporal continuities or discontinuities in the archaeological record and to view them within the calendric time-scale.
In the paper, Bayesian modeling of archaeological chronologies in the OxCal program, which allows the integration of the increasing number of 14C dates and archaeological data, is used as a heuristic tool to establish a calendar chronology of the complexity of changes related to the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and Croatia. At the site level (Moverna vas and Vinkovci-Sopot), stratigraphic and typological sequences are used to constrain and precisely date changes in pottery production and other activities within them. At the regional level, spatio-temporal modelling of period within which a specific variety of pottery was produced i.e. archaeological cultures (Sava group of the Lengyel culture, Sopot culture and Lasinja culture) is used to show their temporal relations.
Our results show inconsistencies in typological classification of pottery and cultural attribution of settlements that are contemporary on a calendric time-scale, temporal overlap of supposedly temporally exclusive archaeological cultures and contradictions when calendar and cultural sequences are compared. We propose that changes in material culture, economic practices and settlement patterns appear at different times and with variable intensity in different regions. The increased temporal resolution and multiple scales of our calendar chronologies allows us not just to look more closely at the timing and tempo of changes in different regions, but also to look for potential causes of the changes related to the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and neighbouring regions.
14C dates and cultural sequences - case studies from continental Slovenia and contradictions in selected cultural schemes of Central and South-east European Neolithic and Eneolithic cultures
We use modern Bayesian analysis in the OxCal program to deal with series of 14C dates of some arc... more We use modern Bayesian analysis in the OxCal program to deal with series of 14C dates of some archaeological sites from 5th millennium BC in Slovenia. We present the 14C dated contexts on the calendric time-scale and in a broader spatial framework by including 14C dates for archaeological cultures in neighbouring and more distant regions of Central and South-eastern Europe. Cultural sequences are often used for conceptualizations of past identities. By comparing radiocarbon and cultural sequences we present some contradictions in the latter and thus problematize these conceptualizations.
Book Reviews by Marko Sraka
Documenta Praehistorica 41 (2014)
Documenta Praehistorica 41 (2014)
Dissertations by Marko Sraka
Doktorska disertacija je nastajala med leti 2011 in 2016 v času moje zaposlitve na Oddelku za arh... more Doktorska disertacija je nastajala med leti 2011 in 2016 v času moje zaposlitve na Oddelku za arheologijo v okviru programa mladi raziskovalci, ki ga je financirala Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost v okviru Ministrstva za izobraževanje, znanost, kulturo in šport Republike Slovenije. Spodbudno je bilo tudi delo s projektno skupino v okviru raziskovalnega programa "Arheologija (P6-0247-058)" in predvsem raziskovalnega projekta "Arheologije lovcev, poljedelcev in metalurgov: kulture, populacije, paleogospodarstva in okolje (J6-4085-0581)".
Awards by Marko Sraka
Fakultetna Prešernova nagrada tudi Marku Sraki
Med fakultetnimi Prešernovimi nagrajenci je poleg Janje Popovič še en pomurski obraz. Marko Sraka... more Med fakultetnimi Prešernovimi nagrajenci je poleg Janje Popovič še en pomurski obraz. Marko Sraka iz Lipovec je namreč prejel Prešernovo nagrado za diplomsko nalogo Radiokarbonska in kulturna zaporedja v 5. tisočletju pred našim štetjem na prostoru celinske Slovenije.
»Fakultetne Prešernove nagrade nisem pričakoval in sem bil zato pozitivno presenečen. Nagrada mi pomeni potrditev, da sem na dobri poti in predvsem obilo dodatne spodbude za raziskovanje,« je dejal. Marko je študent drugega letnika doktorskega študija arheologije in je kot mladi raziskovalec zaposlen na Oddelku za Arheologijo na Filozofski fakulteti. V svoji diplomi in tudi na doktorskem študiju se ukvarja z vzpostavljanjem koledarskih kronologij v neolitskem in eneolitskem obdobju v Sloveniji s pomočjo novih statističnih orodij.
»Vrednost diplome in mojega nadaljnjega raziskovanja je v uveljavljanju standardov radiokarbonskega datiranja v slovenski arheologiji, v problematiziranju dosedanjih kronoloških diskusij obravnavanih prazgodovinskih obdobij in v predstavitvi novih možnosti razlage preteklosti, ki se odpirajo z novimi koledarskimi kronologijami,« pravi Marko, ki si srčno želi službe v rodnem Pomurju, a meni, da bo moral svojo zaposlitev iskati drugje.
http://sobotainfo.com/novica/lokalno/fakultetna-presernova-nagrada-tudi-marku-sraki/17429
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Papers by Marko Sraka
Moverna vas, which had a long occupation sequence (complex farming and animal management). The preservation of biomarkers mirrored past human activities and different pottery uses at various types of sites. The carbon stable isotope ratios of primary fatty acids in lipid pottery extracts confirmed the presence of adipose and dairy fats as well as biomarkers of plant fats, beeswax and birch bark tar.
Conference Presentations by Marko Sraka
In the paper, Bayesian modeling of archaeological chronologies in the OxCal program, which allows the integration of the increasing number of 14C dates and archaeological data, is used as a heuristic tool to establish a calendar chronology of the complexity of changes related to the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and Croatia. At the site level (Moverna vas and Vinkovci-Sopot), stratigraphic and typological sequences are used to constrain and precisely date changes in pottery production and other activities within them. At the regional level, spatio-temporal modelling of period within which a specific variety of pottery was produced i.e. archaeological cultures (Sava group of the Lengyel culture, Sopot culture and Lasinja culture) is used to show their temporal relations.
Our results show inconsistencies in typological classification of pottery and cultural attribution of settlements that are contemporary on a calendric time-scale, temporal overlap of supposedly temporally exclusive archaeological cultures and contradictions when calendar and cultural sequences are compared. We propose that changes in material culture, economic practices and settlement patterns appear at different times and with variable intensity in different regions. The increased temporal resolution and multiple scales of our calendar chronologies allows us not just to look more closely at the timing and tempo of changes in different regions, but also to look for potential causes of the changes related to the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and neighbouring regions.
Book Reviews by Marko Sraka
Dissertations by Marko Sraka
Awards by Marko Sraka
»Fakultetne Prešernove nagrade nisem pričakoval in sem bil zato pozitivno presenečen. Nagrada mi pomeni potrditev, da sem na dobri poti in predvsem obilo dodatne spodbude za raziskovanje,« je dejal. Marko je študent drugega letnika doktorskega študija arheologije in je kot mladi raziskovalec zaposlen na Oddelku za Arheologijo na Filozofski fakulteti. V svoji diplomi in tudi na doktorskem študiju se ukvarja z vzpostavljanjem koledarskih kronologij v neolitskem in eneolitskem obdobju v Sloveniji s pomočjo novih statističnih orodij.
»Vrednost diplome in mojega nadaljnjega raziskovanja je v uveljavljanju standardov radiokarbonskega datiranja v slovenski arheologiji, v problematiziranju dosedanjih kronoloških diskusij obravnavanih prazgodovinskih obdobij in v predstavitvi novih možnosti razlage preteklosti, ki se odpirajo z novimi koledarskimi kronologijami,« pravi Marko, ki si srčno želi službe v rodnem Pomurju, a meni, da bo moral svojo zaposlitev iskati drugje.
http://sobotainfo.com/novica/lokalno/fakultetna-presernova-nagrada-tudi-marku-sraki/17429