by Lulzim Osmanaj. Translation Petrit Latifi.

The Hallstatt Period (8th–5th centuries BC) represents the earliest phase of the Iron Age in Central Europe and at the same time the environment where the early ethno-cultural identities of the populations later known as Illyrians, Veneti, Liburnians, Breucians, Raetians, Taurians, Norics and other groups living in the Alpine–Danubian area and the western Balkans were formed.

The Illyrian Cultural Landscape in Hallstatt

Excavations in the Alpine and pre-Alpine areas – such as those documented in Kleiner Göllikogel, Galgenkogel, Strettweg/Solva, as well as throughout the center of present-day Austria – clearly show that in the 7th–6th centuries BC there was a developed material culture in this region, closely related to the Illyrian populations of the south and west.
This culture includes elements known from the Illyrian tradition:
Large earthen burial mounds, with stone surrounds (Illyrian characteristic from Dalmatia to the Eastern Alps).

Cremation of the dead, with the deposition of ashes in urns – early Illyrian ritual. Clay vessels with black graphite, decorated with meanders, geometric stripes, carved bowls – of the Illyrian typology.
Iron weapons: swords, knives, spearheads – associated with a warrior aristocracy, characteristic of the Illyrian tribes.

Bronze ornaments such as bow fibulae, lead spirals, decorative needles – identical to the Illyrian tradition of Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and northern Albania. Bronze helmets with circular eyes – a common form in the Illyrian repertoire of the 7th–6th centuries BC.

Ceremonial chariot – also found in the famous Strettweg mound (one of the emblematic finds of the Illyrian world in the Eastern Alps). One of the most important artifacts of the Göllikogel area is the multi-spoked clay wheel, which suggests the deposition of a ritual chariot, a custom known to the Illyrian aristocracy of the Early Iron Age.Continuity from the Alpine Illyrians to the Raetians and the Noricians

The Illyrian Hallstatt culture in the Eastern Alps did not disappear, but gradually transformed into later formations:

Raetians (Rhaetii) – population of the Eastern Alps, mixed, but with a strong Illyrian base, as shown by the typologies of graves, vessels and weapons.
Noricians – founders of the kingdom of Noricum, documented in Roman sources, who are preserved as an Illyrian-Alpine population with later Celtic influences.

The archaeological correspondences are clear: the material culture from the Hallstatt mounds in Styria is Illyrian in form and technique, and only later is it mixed with Celtic elements.The Illyrians as the earliest historically documented population in this region.

Data from Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, Slovenia, northern Croatia and Istria show a cultural continuity that begins at least from the 11th–10th centuries BC and continues until the Roman period. In this region, the Illyrian culture of Hallstatt plays the role of a strong ethnic and linguistic “substrate” that later also influenced:

The Raetians,
The Noricians,
The Alpine and Adriatic Veneti,
The historical Liburnian, Japodian, Breucian, Dardanian and Dalmatian populations.

The Solva finds and their importance for the study of the Illyrians.

The material published by Austrian scholars (Fuchs, Hesch & Mirsch) and the excavations of Walter Schmid (1913–1916) in Solva show a rich and organized culture: Clearly planned tumulus graves.
Abundant inventory of weapons, which testifies to a stratified social structure. Ceremonial objects that connect Solva with other Illyrian centers of the Alps.

Vessels decorated with bronze foil, a technique known from the Illyrian Hallstatt culture in present-day Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia.
These elements prove that the Alpine regions were not peripheral, but part of a developed center of the early Illyrian world.Continuity of Illyrian culture until the early Middle Ages

Even after the arrival of the Slavs in the 1st century. 6th–7th centuries AD, many pre-Slavic elements were preserved in:
toponymy,
hydronymy,
ancient rituals,
elements of onomastics,
traditions of settlements.

The example of Malantina → Malta/Malontina in Carinthia illustrates that the Illyrian heritage was preserved: in the names of mountain castles,
on rocky slopes, in ancient fortification structures, and in the basic meanings of pre-Slavic languages, which survived for centuries.

The Austrian, Slovenian–Croatian and Balkan Hallstatt data clearly show that: The Illyrians were strongly present in the Alpine–Danubian space.
Centers such as Solva, Strettweg, Göllikogel and Galgenkogel represent organized Illyrian elites.

The Raetians, Norics and many later populations of the Eastern Alps are partly derived from the Illyrian substrate.
The Illyrian cultural and linguistic tradition in these regions was preserved until the early Middle Ages and was documented by Latin and Byzantine sources.

This testifies to the deep continuity of the Illyrian world, which is not limited only to the Balkans, but extends deep into the Eastern Alps and Central Europe.

The tombs, mostly located within the refugee camp, give us a rich insight into the lives of the inhabitants of Solva. Several tombs date from the Illyrian period of Hallstatt, the seventh and sixth centuries BC, such as Gallikogel (sic!) and Galgenkogel, large earthen mounds within a stone environment containing cremated remains, vessels painted with graphite with red stripes and meanders, bowls with carved geometric designs, iron knives and swords, spearheads, horse spears, lead spirals, knotted bow brooches, decorative needles, helmets and bronze axes decorated with circular eyes.

The most memorable find is perhaps a large clay vessel, coated with shiny black graphite and decorated on the outside with ornate bronze sheets. The remains of a multi-spoke clay wheel found nearby suggest that a similar, but much simpler, cart-like structure, such as the Strettweg tank cart – a mobile mixing vessel – was deposited in this mound.

References

Fig. 39: Clay wheel, old find from Kleiner Gollikogel, UMJ Inv.-Nr. 14.790, BDA/ LK photo archive p. Stmk.
146 Schmid 1917, 5.
2 G. Fuchs, O. Hesch & I. Mirsch – Topography and history of research