The following finds from this period belong to a dam aged Germanic, also 
m ilitary, grave. By the grave goods, i. e. the shield boss and the Elbe type cup 
and o th e r objects, the grave is dated to the tu rn of the 5th and 6th centuries.
F u rth e r in the text the au th o r attem pts to ascribe some historical validity to 
these finds. Because of the position of Svete Gore, above the Sotla valley, w ith 
the crossing of com m unication routes below it, the au th o r belives, because of the 
ch aracter of the finds, th at th ere was a m ilitary po st som ewhere in the im m ediate 
vicinity, perhaps n ea r B istrica ob Sotli. Bearing in m ind Rom e’ s m ilitary policies 
and h e r defence system, the author does not exclude the possibility that this m ili­
tary p o st w as one of the b o rd er defence posts b u ilt along the Sotla. Because of 
innum erable barbarian attacks, a refuge o r sanctuary grew up on the sum m it 
during the 5th century, judging by the ruined w all on the north-eastern slope of 
the hill. The presence of the above-m entioned grave, w hich belongs to the period 
of G othic dom ination in this area, has caused the au th o r to think th a t this outpost 
still existed a t the beginning of the 6th century, as a p a rt of "civitas N oricum ” or 
“Pannonia U rbs”. The m aterial found fu rth er raises the question of the ethnic 
stru ctu re of the settlem ent. Thus the author visualises, as continuing elem ents, an 
indigenous population, w ith m ilitary "im m igrants” w ho w ere undoubtedly in 
authority.
Finally the au th o r touches once again on the already m uch discussed relief 
from th e fa$ade of the St. George chapel. In spite of all analogies postulated to 
date, the 3-dimensional form finds its m ost genuine analogies in the figures on 
the golden bracteates w hich originate from the sam e cultural circle as the content 
of the G erm anic grave. F rom these points the au th o r concludes th a t the stylistic 
and iconographical evidence does not point the way so m uch to the actual creator 
of this relief but m ore reliably gives an indication of the taste and perhaps even 
m ore the spiritual inclinations of the custom er for w hom it was made.
EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
ON KUČAR NEAR PODZEMELJ*
J. DULAR
I n š titu t za arheologijo SAZU , L ju b lja n a
P o d zem elj is a n im p o rta n t arch aeo lo g ical s ite w h ich b ecam e w ell-know n 
th ro u g h its m an y p re h is to ric fin d s.1 Y et, in n e a rb y O to k d u rin g th e la st c e n tu ry 
R o m an g rav es w e re fo u n d , show ing th a t th is a re a w as ce rtain ly in h a b ite d 
d u rin g th e R om an e ra as w ell.2
T h e p re h isto ric s e ttle m e n t sto o d on th e so u th e rn su m m it o f K u čar w h ich 
rises ste e p ly above P odzem elj fro m th e p la in o f th e riv er K olpa. O n th e 
n o rth e rn , so m e w h at lo w e r su m m it s ta n d th e still easily visible re m a in s of 
m o r ta r w alls, su ch th a t a t le a st th re e b u ild in g co m p lex es can b e d istin g u ish e d 
over th e extensive p la tea u .
T h e ru in s of K u č a r w e re kn o w n co m p a ra tiv e ly early , a lre ad y m e n tio n e d 
in s h o r t n o te s by A. M illiner a n d J. P ečn ik ,3 th ey w e re also k n o w n by J. Szom - 
b a th y , w h o even m a d e se v e ra l ex p lo ra to ry e x c av a tio n s a t th is site in 1891.4 
The sm a lle r b u ild in g o n th e n o rth e rn su m m it o f K u č a r w as also ex c av a te d
* The report w as published in Slovene in A rh eo lo ški pregled 17 (1975), 121—123.

1 K učar p ri Podzem lju; view of the church from the south-west. — K u č a r p ri 
P o d zem lju ; pogled na ce rkev z ju g o za h o d a
in th e su m m e r o f 1968, b u t ev e n a fte r th is ex c av a tio n th e p u rp o se o f th is b u ild ­
in g h a d n o t b ee n co m p le te ly ex p lain ed .5
T h u s th e f irs t sig n ific a n t re s u lts w e re n o t a c h ie v ed u n til th e re s c u e exca­
v a tio n o rg a n ise d in Ju ly a n d A ugust 1975 by th e L ju b lja n a R egional In s titu te 
fo r th e P re se rv a tio n of H is to ric a l M o n u m e n ts a n d th e B ela K ra jin a M useum 
a t M etlik a. T his e x c av a tio n w as m ad e n e c e s sa ry b y th e p re se n c e n e a r th e 
n o r th e r n su m m it o f K u č a r of a larg e sto n e q u a r r y w h ic h h a d b e g u n se rio u sly 
to je o p a rd is e th e a rc h a e o lo g ic a l rem a in s. R e se a rc h w as th e re fo re c o n c e n tra te d 
o n th e m o s t th re a te n e d b u ild in g , th e ru in s ly in g n e a re s t to th e ed g e o f th e 
q u a rry .
T h e re sc u e ex cav atio n s re v e a le d th a t o n th e n o r th e r n su m m it o f K u č a r w e 
h a d s tu m b le d o n th e e x tre m e ly w ell p re se rv e d fo u n d a tio n s of a la te R om an 
c h u rc h w h ic h h a d also h a d a n a rth e x a n d sm a ll an n ex e. T he b u ild in g (21.5 m 
long, 8 m w ide) h a d b e e n b u ilt fro m b ro k e n sto n e s o f v ary in g th ic k n ess, 
c e m e n te d w ith m o rta r, so th a t th e w alls w e re a n av erag e of 70 cm th ick . 
In so m e p la ce s th e w alls w e re p re se rv e d u p to m o re th a n a m e tre high.

2 K učar pri Podzem lju; eastern half of the church w ith sem icircular bench. — 
K u ča r p ri P o d zem lju ; vzhodna polovica ce rk ve s polkrožno klopjo
T h e n av e of th e ch u rc h , alig n ed in a n east-w est d irectio n , w as effectively 
d iv id e d in to tw o p a rts b y a so m e w h at ra ise d s q u a re p o d iu m . B e h in d th e 
p o d iu m sto o d a se m i-circu lar bench, 4.6 m w id e a n d m ad e o f sm all sto n e s. 
A lthough th e w all w as n o t very hig h a t th is p o in t (m any sto n es w ere m issin g 
esp ec ially a t th e rig h t-h a n d end), th e sh a p e of th e b e n c h w as still clear. T h ere 
w as a 70 cm w ide gap a t th e c e n tre of th e b en c h . As th e w all a t th e fo u n d a ­
tio n s w a s co n tin u o u s, a n d as b o th edges of th e gap w ere stra ig h t, w e can 
a ssu m e th a t a la rg e sto n e b lo c k (seat) w as fo rm e rly fixed a t th e c e n tre of th e 
b e n c h a n d w as m o st p ro b a b ly rem oved a t som e tim e in th e p ast.
In th e a re a b etw e en th e a rm s of th e b en ch w a s a 35 cm deep w alled sp ace 
fo r a re liq u ary . Ju d g in g b y th e groove ro u n d th e edge of th e cavity, it w as 
once c o v e red by a sto n e sla b , no lo n g er p re se rv e d today. On th e n o rth e rn sid e 
of th e p re sb y te riu m w as a 6 m long, 4.5 m w ide an n ex e, w hich w as co n n e c te d 
to th e m a in bo d y of th e c h u rc h th ro u g h a p a ssa g e b eh in d th e le ft a r m of 
th e se m ic irc u la r bench.
T h e n a rth e x o n th e w e ste rn side o f the b u ild in g w as 4 m w ide. I t w as 
d iv id ed fro m the nave b y a w all co n tain in g a 1.6 m w ide e n tra n c e a t th e

3 K učar p ri Podzem lju; plan of church. — K u ča r p ri P o d zem lju ; tloris c e rk ve

ce n tre . T he c h u rc h h a d a sc re e d flo o r w h ich w as w ell p rese rv e d except a ro u n d 
a n d w ith in th e b en ch fo r th e clergy, a lth o u g h in th e n arth e x , th e an n ex e a n d 
to a la rg e e x ten t in th e lo w e r p a r t of th e nave th e glazing h ad b een d e stro y e d 
b e c a u se of se ttle m e n t o f th e floor. A la y er o f c in d e rs a n d ash es u p to 5 cm 
th ic k w as fo u n d above th e p av in g in all room s, a n d , in th e n a rth e x especially, 
la rg e r, b u r n t p ieces of ro o f c o n s tru c tio n lay in se v eral places. In th e s o u th e rn 
p a r t of th e n a rth e x , w h e re th e screed w as also d estro y e d , th e re w as a n em p ty 
to m b , rig h t b esid e th e w all, d u g in to th e ro c k itself.
T h e excavation u n c o v e re d relatively few sm a ll fin d s. W orthy of n o te am ong 
th e m a r e a sm all silv er cro ss, a few riv ets a n d fra g m en ts o f la te R o m an 
p o tte ry . N o t less sig n ific an t w ere th e re m a in s o f p re h isto ric vessels w h ich 
w ere fo u n d u n d e r th e p av in g an d clearly in d ic a te th a t th e n o rth e rn su m m it 
of K u č a r w as also in h a b ite d in p re h isto ric tim es.
1 F. E. Barth, D ie h a llsta ttzeitlich en 
G rabhügel itn B ereiche d es K u tsch e r bei 
P o d zem el (Slow enien), A ntiquitas 3, Bd. 
5 (Bonn 1969). J. Dular, P o d zem elj, Arh. 
katalogi in m onografije 16 (Ljubljana 
1978).
2 A. Dular, A rh eo lo ški v e stn ik 27 
(1976) 196.
3 A. M üllner, G eschichte des E ise n s in 
K rain (1909) 78 ff.; J. Pečnik, Č rnom elj 
m a n u scrip t in the archives of the N atio­
nal M useum in Ljubljana.
4 J. Szom bathy, Tagebuch 31 (a copy 
is kept in the Institute of Archaeology, 
Slovene Academy).
5 V. Šribar, V arstvo sp o m en iko v 13 
—14 (1970) 178.
AJDNA
FRANCE LEBEN, ANDREJ VALIČ
I n š titu t za arheologijo SAZU , L ju b lja n a 
G orenjski m u zej, K ra n j
Im n o rd ö stlic h en S lo w en ien , in G o ren jsk o , sin d b is h e r w enige F u n d stä tte n 
e rfo rs c h t u n d w enige b e k a n n t gew orden, d ie m a n k u ltu re ll u n d zeitlich 
k la r als au s d e r S p ä ta n tik e sta m m e n d b e stim m e n k ö n n te . B e so n d erh e iten d er 
M a te ria lre ste au s d ie se r Z eit, die in einigen n ä h e re n u n d e n tfe rn te re n g eo g ra­
p h isc h e n u n d k u ltu re lle n G ebieten (S te ie rm a rk , K ä rn te n , F riau l, Istrie n ) schon 
b e s s e r e rfo rsc h t u n d w isse n sc h a ftlic h b e h a n d e lt w o rd e n sind, sin d m it n ah ezu 
d en selb e n E ig e n sch a fte n h ie r verg leich b ar. D ie A usw ahl u n d V erteilu n g d er 
P lätz e zu m B au von S tü tz p u n k te n u n d d ere n g erin g es m aterielles K u ltu rg u t 
zeu g en davon, d ass d as L eb en h ie r d am als ä h n lic h v erla u fe n u n d äh n lic h e n 
V e rä n d e ru n g e n u n te rw o rfe n w ar. G o re n jsk a (O b e rk ra in ) d ie ser rä u m lic h kleine 
u n d en tleg en e W inkel, von e in e r K ette h o h e r u n d ste ile r B erge um geben, d er 
Ju lisc h e n A lpen u n d S a v in jsk e Alpe u n d d e r K a raw a n k en m it ih re n V orge­
b irg e n u n d B erg p ässen in den F lu sstä lern , e r h ä lt m it dem U n terg an g des 
rö m isc h e n S ta a te s u n d m it dem B eginn d e r V ö lk erw an d e ru n g e n eine p o litisc h e 
u n d stra te g isc h e Rolle. An die H a u p ts tra sse n A q u ile ia — E m o n a u n d A q u ile ia —