Plano mezolitsko najdišče na planini Pretovč Matija TURK, Miha MLINAR, Janez TURK, Janez BIZJAK in Pavel JAMNIK z dodatkom Metke CULIBERG Izvleček V prispevku obravnavamo kamenodobno najdišče na planini Pretovč pri Tolminu, kjer so bile na dveh različnih mestih odkrite površinske kamene najdbe. Predstavljamo izsledke arheološkega izkopavanja na Gorenjem Pretovču. Najdišče razlagamo kot mezolitski lovski tabor. Ključne besede: planina Pretovč, Tolminsko, mezolitik, kamena orodja Abstract The contribution deals with the stone age site on Pretovč alp by Tolmin, where surface stone finds were discovered at two different places. The results of archaeological excavation on Gorenji Pretovč are presented. The site is interpreted as a Mesolithic hunting camp. Keywords: Pretovč alp, Tolmin, Mesolithic, stone tools UVOD Planina Pretovč (sl. 1) na Tolminskem leži na višini med 1.100 in 1.200 m. Razteza se na območju sedla med Mrzlim vrhom (1.359 m) na jugu in Visoč vrhom (1.482 m) na severu. Sedlo, ki povezuje dolino Soče z dolino Tolminke, deli planino na dva dela. Del, ki leži na severnem pobočju Mrzlega vrha, se imenuje Pretovč, del na južnih pobočjih Visoč vrha pa Gorenji Pretovč. Pastirski stanovi ležijo pod Mrzlim vrhom na višini 1.140 m. Na obeh straneh sedla je več izvirov. Največji vodotok je Mrzli potok, ki izvira pod sedlom na položnejši zahodni strani. Vzhodna stran sedla se takoj za robom strmo spusti v dolino Tolminke. Na planino Pretovč pelje iz Zatolmina slaba in ozka cesta, ki se nadaljuje naprej proti planinama Medrje in Sleme. V bližini lovske koče na Gorenjem Pre-tovču se cesta odcepi levo proti vasi Krn in kmalu preide v neprevozno pot. Planina Pretovč leži na območju, ki je sestavljeno pretežno iz zgornjega krednega volčanskega apnenca. Zanj je značilno menjavanje breč in kalkarenita, vmes pa se pojavljajo plasti laporja. Za volčanski apnenec so značilne pole in plasti roženca, ki so debele do 10 cm. Roženec ima izvor v radiolarijih in spikulah spongij in je nadomestil bolj debelozrnati del kamenine. V bližini je severno od planine nariv, ki ga sestavljajo zgornje Sl. 1: Pogled na planino Pretovč z Mrzlega vrha. S puščicami sta označeni najdišči na Gorenjem Pretovču (levo) in na Pre-tovču (desno). Fig. 1: View of Pretovč alp from Mrzli vrh. The sites on Gorenji Pretovč (left) and Pretovč (right) are marked with arrows. kredne flišne plasti. Te gradijo svetlo sivi, zelenkasti, rdeči in vijoličasti lapornati apnenci in laporji. V nižjih plasteh laporja se lahko pojavljajo debelejši vložki apnenčeve breče z lapornatim vezivom (Buser 1986). ODKRITJE KAMENODOBNEGA NAJDIŠČA IN PREGLED RAZISKAV Kamenodobno najdišče na planini Pretovč je pri sistematičnem pregledovanju planin v okviru projekta Triglavskega narodnega parka "Železarstvo in pašna kultura od železne dobe do 20. stoletja", odkril Janez Bizjak. Spomladi leta 2002 je na Gorenjem Pretovču našel prve roženčeve odbitke. Pobral jih je na cesti med prekopom pod lovsko kočo in odcepom proti vasi Krn1. Ob ponovnih obiskih najdišča2 in površinskem nabiranju arte-faktov sta J. Bizjak in Pavel Jamnik ugotovila, da ležijo ti na cesti in ob njej v dolžini najmanj 75 m, in sicer od prekopa pod lovsko kočo do ostrega ovinka ceste v desno kmalu za odcepom k lovski koči. Artefakte sta našla tudi na začetku ceste proti vasi Krn in na pobočju pod ostrim ovinkom. Med obiski Gorenjega Pretovča sta J. Bizjak in P. Jamnik pregledovala celotno območje planine Pretovč. Tako sta spomladi 2003 na erodiranem pobočju nad cesto, ki vodi do pastirskih stanov na Pretovču, našla nove roženčeve odbitke (sl. 2). O tem, da jih je izdelal človek, ni bilo dvoma, vendar pa med njimi ni bilo nobenega tipološko oprijemljivega elementa. Poleti istega leta so arheologi opravili strokovni ogled najdišča na Gorenjem Pretovču3. Ne da bi vedeli za novo odkritje s Pretovča, so svojo pozornost namenili tudi erodira-nim površinam pod pastirskimi stanovi. Našli so nove artefakte, med njimi tudi mikrolitsko orodje (Turk et al. 2004, 15; sl. 2.1). Ta najdba je okrepila domneve o mezolitski kulturni in časovni pripadnosti najdišča na planini Pretovč. Da bi pridobili nove mikrolitske najdbe in ugotovili stra-tigrafijo se je Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU v sodelovanju s Tolminskim muzejem odločil za manjše arheološko izkopavanje, ki sta ga izvedla v septembru 2004. .--i Sl. 2: Najdišče na Pretovču. Fig. 2: Site on Pretovč. ARHEOLOŠKO IZKOPAVANJE NA GORENJEM PRETOVČU Že pri odkritju artefaktov na Pretovču je bilo jasno, da je bilo to najdišče med 1. svetovno vojno močno poškodovano. Le nekaj metrov stran se na grebenu ob ostankih betonskega objekta lepo vidijo sledovi okopov in jarkov, v bližnji okolici pa je več granatnih kraterjev.4 Tako smo se odločili za izkopavanje na Gorenjem Pretovču. Izkop velikosti 2x2 m smo zakoličili tik pred odcepom, kjer se s ceste proti planinama Sleme in Medrje odcepi cesta k lovski koči. Za izkopavanje na tem mestu smo se odločili na 1 Po pripovedovanju pastirjev so to pot proti planinama Medrje in Sleme prvič nekoliko razširili med 1. svetovno vojno. Leta 1985 so jo poglobili in v poglobitev naložili skale in kamenje. Po posegu je na več mestih vse do danes ostalo razgaljeno pobočje od nivoja ceste do travnika. Zadnji večji poseg je bil opravljen spomladi 2003, ko so že močno erodirano pot ponovno nasuli in izravnali. 2 Podatek o odkritju najdišča sta Janez Bizjak in Pavel Jamnik takoj po odkritju posredovala Mihu Mlinarju iz Tolminskega muzeja. Ob končanem pobiranja artefaktov so bile najdbe izročene Tolminskemu muzeju. 3 Ogled so opravili Miha Mlinar iz Tolminskega muzeja, Ivan Turk z Inštituta za arheologijo ZRC, SAZU in Matija Turk. 4 Med 1. svetovno vojno je bil Mrzli vrh poleg Mengor glavni steber obrambe tolminskega mostišča. Čez planino Pretovč je potekala prva obrambna črta avstro-ogrske armade. podlagi naslednjih dejstev: v bližini je bila na površju najdena večja koncentracija artefaktov, teren je tu bolj raven in brez vidnih sledov vkopov in terasi-ranja, večja erozijska ogroženost na tem mestu. Sondo velikosti 4 m2 smo razdelili na 4 kvadrante po 1 m2. Orientirana je bila v smeri JZ-SV. Za merjenje relativnih višin smo izbrali točko 0 na edini večji skali na levi strani ceste proti planini-nama Sleme in Medrje, in to na vrhu rdeče označbe, ki verjetno predstavlja parcelno mejo. Izhodišče koordinatne mreže na sondi je bilo v spodnjem levem vogalu (JZ vogal), ki je bil od točke 0 na skali oddaljen 15,60 m in od levega vogala lovske koče (prvi vogal levo od vhodnih vrat) 71,50 m. Pred izkopom sonde smo ob njenem JZ robu, ki ga je že močno načela erozija, odkopali profil do globine 76 cm (sl. 3). Ugotovili smo tri plasti: plast ruše s humusom debeline do 15 cm, plast ilovnate zemlje debeline do 30 cm ter plast močneje ilovnate zemlje. Med kopanjem profila smo ugotovili koncentracijo najdb v 2. plasti. Matične lapornate osnove nismo dosegli. Sl. 3: Očiščen JZ profil pred izkopom sonde na Gorenjem Pretovču. Sl. 3: Outline of SW profile before excavation of the exploratory trench on Gorenji Pretovč. Sondo smo izkopali stratigrafsko. Vso izkopano zemljo smo mokro presejali in pregledali na situ prepustnosti 3 mm. Le del izkopane zemlje nam je zaradi slabega curka vode in s tem posledično počasnega spiranja uspelo mokro presejati tudi na situ prepustnosti 1 mm. Kjer je bila večja koncentracija najdb, smo shranili obe celotni sprani frakciji za natančnejši pregled v laboratoriju. Arheološke najdbe predstavljajo le kameni ar-tefakti5. V 1. plasti smo našli le en kameni arte- fakt. Drugi kameni artefakti so bili najdeni v 2. plasti, predvsem v njeni zgornji polovici. Proti dnu 2. plasti smo zasledili upadanje kamenih najdb in nazadnje njihovo odsotnost. Drobci oglja so bili redki. Kostne najdbe so povsem odsotne, z izjemo nedoločljivega, verjetno recentnega fragmenta. Vzrok za popolno odsotnost kostnih najdb je verjetno iskati v kislosti zemlje.6 V vseh plasteh so bili najdeni drobci granat in svinčene kroglice iz 1. svetovne vojne. Kljub tem najdbam, ki so se med vojno najverjetneje zarile v zemljo, nismo opazili nobenih znakov, da bi bile plasti na tem mestu že kdaj kakorkoli prekopane. KAMENE NAJDBE Na Gorenjem Pretovču je bilo do sedaj najdenih približno 550 kosov kamene industrije (sl. 4). Površinsko nabiranje sta opravila J. Bizjak in P. Jamnik, malo več kot polovica vseh zbranih arte-faktov pa je bila pridobljena med izkopavanjem. Kamene najdbe lahko razdelimo na odpadke, ki zajemajo razbitine, jedra, jedrne odbitke, lamelarne odbitke in luske, ter na orodja. Med orodja uvrščamo vse retuširane artefakte, tudi takšne z uporabno retušo. Uporabna retuša se pojavlja na odbitkih, klinicah in jedrnih odbitkih. Delež orodij med vsemi artefakti je približno 10 %. TEHNOLOGIJA IN SUROVINA Število, različne oblike in velikosti jeder kažejo na izdelavo orodij in loco. To potrjujejo tudi robni odbitki ter veliko število manjših in večjih odbitkov in lusk. Skupaj je bilo najdenih 16 jeder: 6 enopolarnih (t. 1: 6,7), 4 navzkrižna (t. 1: 1-3), 3 neizoblikovana, 2 prizmatični (t. 1: 4) in eno dis-koidno jedro (t. 1: 5). Vse naštete tipe jeder poznamo že iz najdišča Viktorjev spodmol (Turk et al. 2004, 56). Večina jeder ima ohranjen korteks. Manjša jedra so iz kakovostnega roženca, večja pogosto tudi iz slabše surovine. Slednja so zaradi slabše kakovosti verjetno tudi prej zavrgli. Pri nekaterih jedrih lahko po obliki in korteksu vidimo, da so izdelana iz prodnikov (t. 1: 1,4,6). V celoti ali v večji meri ohranjeni prodniki niso prisotni. Jedrnih odbitkov, to je odbitkov, ki so 5 Pod pojmom arheološke najdbe na tem mestu ne upoštevamo ostankov iz 1. svetovne vojne, ki bodo morda nekoč tudi pri nas deležni pozornosti arheologov. 6 To je le domneva, saj kemične analize niso bile narejene. Na agresivno delovanje zemlje sklepamo zaradi močno zarjavelih železnih ostankov iz 1. svetovne vojne. površinsko nabiranje izkopavanje razbitine 63 7 jedra 14 2 jedrni odbitki 5 1 odbitki 132 130 retuširani odbitki 15 8 lamelarni odbitki 8 2 retuš. lamelarni odbitki 1 / luske / 98 klinice 13 17 retuširane klinice 2 1 nazobčana orodja 3 / prečne retuše 2 / izjede 4 / praskala 5 1 mikrolitska orodja 2 10 E 269 277 Sl. 4: Pregled kamenih najdb, zbranih pri površinskem pobiranju in pri izkopavanju. bili odbiti z namenom, da se popravi udarni rob jedra, je skupaj 6. Na mikrovbadalno tehniko lomljenja klinic kaže mikrovbadalo (t. 1: 12). Pogostejša tehnika lomljenja klinic je bilo enostavno lomljenje, brez pomoči izjede, saj smo našli večje število umetno prelomljenih, segmentiranih klinic. Več kot polovica od skupaj 30 neretuširanih klinic je segmen-tirana (t. 1: 8-11). Dva bazalna segmenta klinic imata poleg bulbusa na dorzalni strani viden tudi kontrabulbus (t. 1: 11). Tovrstne klinice lahko nastanejo le s pritiskanjem ob jedro s koščenim, roženim ali lesenim tolkačem. Imajo tanek talon zvončaste oblike. Kontrabulbus kaže na to, da so bile odbite zaporedno, ena za drugo. Nekaj arte-faktov ima na mestu bulbusa ligule (t. 2: 20). Takšne poškodbe oz. ligule pogosto nastanejo pri uporabi togih tolkačev. Tako med odpadki kot med orodji so tudi krakelirani primerki. Surovina je zelo raznolika. Med vsem zbranim kamenim inventarjem smo ugotovili vsaj 20 skupin posameznih različic roženca. Prevladuje kakovosten, raznobarvni roženec, ki se z lahkoto loči od avtohtonega roženca slabše kakovosti. Najdena sta bila tudi dva razbita kosa kamene strele, ki prav tako sodita v inventar kamenodobnih ostankov. KAMENA ORODJA Med orodji prevladujejo retuširani odbitki. Ti so večinoma nepravilnih oblik in površno izdela- ni. Med njimi so tudi pravilnejši odbitki s strmo retušo (t. 2: 18,19). Retuširane klinice so redke, dve imata uporabno retušo (t. 1: 13,14). Nazobčana orodja zastopajo trije primerki. Eno izmed njih ima tudi poševno prečno retušo (t. 2: 16). Poleg tega orodja se prečna retuša pojavlja še v dveh primerih. V prvem primeru je poševna (t. 2: 15), v drugem vbočena (t. 2: 17). Izjedo imajo štirje artefakti. Bazalni del masivne prelomljene kline (t. 2: 20) ima dobro izraženo izjedo na desnem lateralnem robu. Desni lateral-ni rob je na ventralni strani skoraj po celi dolžini retuširan z manjšimi ploskovnimi retušami. Na ventralni strani je na mestu bulbusa večja ligula. Zanimiv je odbitek s slabše izraženo izjedo, izdelano z inverznimi retušami (t. 2: 21), ki ima na dorzalni strani več širokih ploskovnih retuš. Izje-da je dobro izražena tudi na segmentu klinice (t. 2: 22). Praskal je skupaj 5 (t. 2: 23-28). Delimo jih na praskala na klini (t. 2: 23-25) in praskala na odbitku (t. 2: 26-28). Praskala št. 23, 24 in 27 imajo čelo izdelano z lamelarno retušo. Praskalo na odbitku št. 26 ima rahlo poševno čelo izdelano s strmo retušo in spominja na odbitek s poševno prečno retušo. Praskalo na debelem odbitku št. 28 ima del čela odlomljen. Mikrolitskih orodij je 12 (t. 2: 29-40). Med njimi je enakokraki trikotnik, ki ima s polstrmo re-tušo retuširano najdaljšo stranico (t. 2: 29). Kot klinice s hrbtom in prečno retušo smo opredelili štiri mikrolite (t. 2: 30-32,34). Pri mik- rolitih št. 30 in 31 gre za tipični klinici s hrbtom in poševno prečno retušo. Primerek št. 30 ima retuširan tudi desni lateralni rob. Pri mikrolitih št. 32 in 34 hrbet zvezno preide v prečno retušo. Čeprav nekoliko spominjata na krožni segment, ju kot taka ne moremo opredeliti, saj nimata popolnega loka (G.E.E.M. 1969, 360). Fragmenta mikrolita št. 33 ne moremo ožje opredeliti, saj gre lahko bodisi za klinico s hrbtom in poševno prečno retušo ali za krožni segment. Klinici s hrbtom sta zastopani z dvema primerkoma (t. 2: 35,36). Prvi ima odbit bulbus, drugi pa retuširan desni lateralni rob. Kot sauveterrienske konice sensu lato smo opredelili tri mikrolite (t. 2: 38-40). Prvi primerek je v celoti ohranjen in gre za dvokonico, pri drugem pa za terminalni fragment konice. Pri primerku št. 40 gre verjetno za fragment enojne konice z ohranjenim bazalnim delom. Pri atipični konici št. 37 stik lateralnih robov ne tvori izrazite konice. Moteč je tudi precej debel desni lateralni rob. Vse retuše pri mikrolitskih orodjih so direktne, le fragment sauveterrienske konice št. 40 ima desni lateralni rob izdelan z izmenično retušo. SKLEP Ne le iz bolj oddaljenih Dolomitov (Bagolini et al. 1984), tudi iz naše bližnje okolice poznamo plana gorska najdišča, ki so bila predvsem na podlagi površinskih najdb pripisana mezoliti-ku: v zahodnih Julijskih Alpah Sella Bieliga in v Karnijskih Alpah Casera Valbertad ter več najdišč v okolici Mokrin (Bressan 1983, 170). Odkritje gorskih mezolitskih postaj pri nas je bilo tako le vprašanje časa. Plano mezolitsko najdišče na planini Pretovč je prvo mezolitsko najdišče v slovenskih gorah z značilnimi mezolitskimi najdbami. Jama za skalami nad Staro Fužino, v kateri so našli ostanke kurišča in tik nad njim dve razbitini sileksa, je bila pripisana mezolitiku le na podlagi antrakotomske analize oglja, ki je bilo datirano v zgodnji holo-cen (Dirjec, Šercelj, Turk 1989). Od odkritja prvega kamenodobnega najdišča v Krnskem pogorju na planini Kašina pod Krnom7 (Jamnik, Bizjak 2003) poznamo danes najdišča kamenih artefak-tov poleg planine Pretovč še na planinah Zaslap (1.360 m) in Zaprikraj (1.208 m). Arheološko izkopavanje na Gorenjem Pretovču in na površju zbrane najdbe kažejo, da gre po vsej verjetnosti za sezonski tabor mezolitskih lovcev, ki je stal na položnejšem delu prisojnega pobočja pod Visoč vrhom, kjer so danes pašniki planine Pretovč. Del najdišča, ki ga počasi uničuje erozija, je že poškodovala cesta, ki je bila od ceste proti planinama Medrje in Sleme speljana k lovski koči. Tabor je bil verjetno poseljen daljše časovno obdobje v sezoni, saj so lovci s seboj prinesli surovino in tu izdelovali orodja. Na podlagi tipologije artefaktov lahko sklepamo na ožjo kulturno opredelitev najdišča znotraj mezolitika. Enakokraki trikotnik z retuširano najdaljšo stranico, sauveterrienske konice sensu lato in predvsem odsotnost trapezov za zdaj kažejo na starejši mezolitik ali sauveterrien. Z arheološkim izkopavanjem na planini Pretovč in s kulturno umestitvijo najdišča v mezolitik pa ostaja, zaradi za zdaj premajhnega števila površinskih najdb vprašanje ožje kulturne umestitve preostalih kamenodobnih planih najdišč v Krnskem pogorju še vedno odprto. Prav tako ostaja odprto vprašanje baznih taborov v dolini. Edino vez z dolino predstavlja spodmol pri Bjarču (Riparo di Biar-zo) v dolini Nadiže, kjer je bilo odkopano sosledje plasti iz končnega epigravettiena, mezolitika in neolitika (Guerreschi et al. 1996). BAGOLINI B., A. BROGLIO in R. LUNZ 1983, Le Mesolit-hique des Dolomites. - Preist. Alp. 19, 15-36. BRESSAN, F. 1983, Le Mesolithique au Friuli: les sites se referant au Mesolithique sur la base des decouvertes de surface. - Preist. Alp. 19, 169-174. BUSER, S. 1986, Osnovna geološka karta SFRJ 1:100.000. Tolmač listov Tolmin in Videm (Udine), L 33-64, L 33-63. - Beograd. DIRJEC, J., A. ŠERCELJ in I. TURK 1989, Stara Fužina-Jama za skalami. - Var. spom. 31, 202-203. G.E.E.M., 1969, Epipaleolithique-Mesolithique, Les microli- thes geometriques. - Bull. Soc. Prehist. Frang. 66, 355-366. GUERRESCHI, A. (ur.) 1996, Il sito preistorico del Riparo di Biarzo (Valle del Natisone, Friuli). - Udine. JAMNIK, P. in J. BIZJAK 2003, Kamenodobno najdišče na planini Kašina pod Krnom. - Triglavski razgledi. Znanstveno-izobraževalni časopis Triglavskega narodnega parka 7/10. Anthropos 2, Bled. TURK, I. (ur.) 2004, Viktorjev spodmol in Mala Triglavca. Prispevki k poznavanju mezolitskega obdobja v Sloveniji. - Opera Instituti Archaeologici Sloveniae 9. 7 Najdišče na planini Kašina so leta 2001 odkrili Ivan, Matija in Janez Turk. Odkritje je spodbudilo ljubiteljska arheologa J. Bizjaka in P. Jamnika, da sta med drugim v okviru projekta "Železarstvo in pašna kultura od železne dobe do 20 stoletja", ki ga izvaja Triglavski narodni park (Dovoljenje ministrstva za kulturo št. 616-9/99, z dne 4. 4. 1999), začela sistematično pregledovati planine v Krnskem pogorju in tako odkrila druga najdišča. DODATEK Lesno oglje z lokacije mezolitskega najdišča na planini Pretovč Metka CULIBERG Na planini Pretovč, na območju planega mezolitskega najdišča, je bila izkopana manjša sonda. S spiranjem in sejanjem sedimenta so bili v 2. plasti (SE 2) najdeni tudi koščki oglja ter večje število drobnih semen, velikosti od 1 do 2 mm. Večina semen ni pooglenelih in so verjetno recentne starosti. Njihova determinacija še ni dokončna, gotovo pa je, da vsa pripadajo zeliščni, to je travniški vegetaciji. V treh od štirih kvadrantov je bilo najdenih 11 primerkov oglja, eden pa na površini (tab. 1). Ta je bil močno impregniran in zato zelo trde strukture. Sedem primerkov pripada jesenu (Fraxinus), trije brinju (Juniperus) in dva bukvi (Fagus). Na pobočjih okrog planote danes pretežno uspevajo termofilni bukovi gozdovi združbe črnega gabra in bukve (Ostryo-Fagetum) (Marinček, Čarni 2002). Opuščene senožete in pašnike, na katerih najdemo tudi brinje, pa kot pionir zarašča jesen. Glede na ugotovljene drevesne vrste bi oglje lahko izviralo od recentne vegetacije, vendar bi v tem primeru pričakovali več primerkov bukve in pa morda tudi kakšen primerek črnega gabra. Prav tako pa gre lahko tudi za oglje primarne, zgodnjeholocenske vegetacije, ko se je bukev pričela širiti (Šercelj 1996). Tem ugibanjem bi se lahko izognili le z radiokar-bonsko datacijo oglja. Tab. 1: Planina Pretovč. Oglje. Table 1: Planina Pretovč. Charcoal. SE 2, kv. 1 SE 2, kv. 2 SE 2, kv. 3 Vzorec s površine Fraxinus 1 Fagus 1 Fraxinus 6 Juniperus 3 Fagus 1 MARINČEK, L. in A. ČARNI, 2002: Komentar k vegetacijski karti gozdnih združb Slovenije v merilu 1:400 000. - Ljubljana. ŠERCELJ, A., 1996: Začetki in razvoj gozdov v Sloveniji. - Dela 4. razr. SAZU 35, 1-142. Metka Culiberg Biološki inštitut Jovana Hadžija Znanstvenoraziskovalnega centra SAZU Novi trg 2 SI-1000 Ljubljana Mesolithic open air site on Pretovč alp Translation INTRODUCTION Pretovč alp (Fig. 1) in the Tolmin vicinity lies at an altitude between 1,100 and 1,200 m. It spreads over the area of the saddle between Mrzli vrh (1,359 m) to the south and Vi-soč vrh (1,482 m) to the north. The saddle, which connects the valley of the Soča with the valley of the Tolminka, divides the alp into two parts. The part lying on the northern slope of Mrzli vrh is called Pretovč, and the part on the south slopes of Visoč vrh is called Gorenji Pretovč. Shepherd huts are located below Mrzli vrh at an altitude of 1,140 m. There are a number of springs on both sides of the saddle. The largest watercourse is Mrzli potok, which rises below the saddle on the more gently sloping western side. The eastern side of the saddle drops steeply immediately after the edge, into the valley of the Tolminka. A bad and narrow road leads from Za-tolmin to Pretovč alp, continuing on towards Medrja and Sleme alp. The road branches left near a hunting lodge on Gorenji Pretovč, towards the village of Krn, and soon becomes undriveable. Pretovč alp lies in an area composed predominantly of Upper Cretaceous limestone of Volče formation. It is characterised by alternating breccia and calcarenite, with layers of marl appearing in between. Limestone of Volče formation is characterised by sheets and layers of chert, up to 10 cm thick. The chert originates in radiolaria and sponge spicules and replaced the larger grained parts of the stone. North of the alp nearby there is a thrust fault, consisting of Upper Cretaceous flysch layers. These are constructed of light grey, greenish, red and violet marly limestone and marl. In the lower layers of marl, thicker insertions of limestone breccia with marl binding can appear (Buser 1986). DISCOVERY OF STONE AGE SITE AND REVIEW OF RESEARCH The archaeological stone age site on Pretovč alp was discovered by Janez Bizjak during systematic investigation of the mountain pastures within the framework of the Triglav National Park project "Iron working and pasture culture from the Iron Age to the 20th century". He found the first chert flakes on Gorenji Pretovč in the spring of 2002. He collected them on the road between the cutting below the hunting lodge and the turn-off towards the village of Krn1. During revisits to the site2 and surface collection of artefacts, J. Bizjak and Pavel Jamnik established that they are scattered on and beside the road for a length of at least 75 m: from the cutting below the hunting lodge to a sharp bend in the road to the right soon after the turn-off to the hunting lodge. They also found artefacts at the start of the road towards the village of Krn and on the slope below the sharp bend. During visits to Gorenji Pretovč, J. Bizjak and P. Jamnik investigated the entire area of Pretovč alp. Thus in spring 2003, on an eroded slope above the road leading to the shepherds' huts on Pretovč, they found new chert flakes (Fig. 2). There is no doubt that they are man-made, although there was no typo-logically identifiable element among them. In the summer of the same year, archaeologists performed an expert inspection of the site on Gorenji Pretovč3. Without knowing about the new finds from Pretovč, they also devoted attention to the eroded surface below the shepherds' huts. They found new artefacts, including a microlithic tool (Turk et al. 2004, 15; Fig. 2.1). This find strengthened the suspicion of a Mesolithic cultural and temporal affiliation of the site on Pretovč alp. In order to obtain new microlithic finds and establish the stratigraphy, Tolmin Museum and the Institute of Archaeology ZRC SAZU decided on a small archaeological excavation, which was carried out in September 2004. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION ON GORENJI PRETOVČ of the road towards Sleme and Medrja alp, on the top of a red marking which probably indicated the land boundary. The starting point of the coordinate net in the exploratory trench was in the lower left corner (southwest corner) which was 15.60 m from point 0 on the rock and 71.50 m from the left hand corner of the hunting lodge (first corner left of the entrance door). Before digging the exploratory trench, we dug a profile to a depth of 76 cm (Fig. 3) beside its southwest edge, which had already started to strongly erode. We found three layers: a layer of turf with humus up to 15 cm thick, a layer of clayey earth up to 30 cm thick and a layer of more strongly clayey earth. While digging the profile, we established a concentration of finds in the second layer. We did not reach the marl bedrock. We excavated the exploratory trench stratigraphically. All the excavated earth was wet sieved and examined on a 3 mm sieve. Because of the weak jet of water and consequent slow sieving, we only succeeded in wet sieving part of the excavated earth also on a 1 mm sieve. Where there was a greater concentration of finds, we preserved both entire washed fractions for more careful examination in the laboratory. The archaeological finds consisted only of stone artefacts5. We only found one stone artefact in layer one. The other stone artefacts were found in layer 2, mainly in its upper half. Towards the bottom of layer 2, there was a fall in the number of stone finds and finally their absence. Fragments of charcoal were rare. Bone finds were completely absent, with the exception of unidentifiable, probably recent fragment. The cause of the complete absence of bone finds can probably be sought in the acidity of the soil6. Fragments of grenades and lead pellets from the First World War were found in all layers. Despite these finds, which were probably buried in the earth during the war, we observed no signs that the layers had ever been dug over at this place. Even at the time of the discovery of the artefacts on Pre-tovč, it was clear that this site had been greatly damaged during the First World War. Only a few metres to the side, on the ridge beside remains of a concrete object, traces of cuttings and trenches are easily visible, and there are a number of grenade craters in the near vicinity4. A decision was thus made to excavate on Gorenji Pretovč. A cutting 2 x 2 m was marked out immediately before the junction, where the road to the hunting lodge turns off from the road towards the Sleme and Medrja alp. We decided to excavate at that point on the basis of the following facts: a major concentration of artefacts was found on the surface in the vicinity, the terrain was more level here and without visible traces of cuttings or terracing, and there was greater threat from erosion at this place. We divided the 4 m2 exploratory trench into four quadrants of 1 m2. It was oriented in a SW - NE direction. For measuring relative heights we chose point 0 on the only large rock on the left side STONE FINDS On Gorenji Pretovč, approximately 550 pieces of lithic scatter (Fig. 4) have to date been found. Surface collection was done by J. Bizjak and P. Jamnik, slightly more than half of all collected artefacts were obtained during excavation. Stone finds can be divided into waste, which includes shatter fragments, cores, core flakes and laminar flakes and chips, and tools. We classified as tools all retouched artefacts, including those with use wear retouch. Use wear retouch appears on flakes, blade-lets and core flakes. The proportion of tools among all artefacts is approximately 10%. TECHNOLOGY AND RAW MATERIALS The number, different shapes and size of cores indicate the production of tools in loco. This is also confirmed by cortical 1 According to the stories of shepherd's, the road towards Medrja and Sleme alp was first slightly widened during the First World War. In 1985, it was deepened and rocks and small stones laid in hollows. Since the intervention, bare slopes from the level of the road to the grasslands have remained in several places until today. The last major intervention took place in spring 2003, when the greatly eroded path was again metalled and levelled. 2 Janez Bizjak and Pavel Jamnik communicated data on the discovery of the site to Miha Mlinar of Tolmin museum immediately after the discovery. 3 The inspection was carried out by Miha Mlinar from Tolmin museum, Ivan Turk of the Institute of Archaeology ZRC SAZU and Matija Turk. 4 During the First World War, Mrzli vrh, in addition to Mengore was the main pillar of defence of the Tolmin bridge. The forward defence line of the Austro-Hungarian army ran across Pretovč alp. 5 The term archaeological finds does not here include remains from the First World War, which will perhaps also one day receive the attention of archaeologists here. 6 This is only suspected since chemical analyses were not carried out. We conclude the aggressive action of the earth because of the strongly rusted iron remains from the First World War. surface collecting excavation shatter fragments 63 7 cores 14 2 core flakes 5 1 flakes 132 130 retouched flakes 15 8 laminar flakes 8 2 retouched lam. flakes 1 / chips / 98 bladelets 13 17 retouched bladelets 2 1 denticulate tools 3 / truncations 2 / notches 4 / endscrapers 5 1 microlithic tools 2 10 total 269 277 Fig. 4: Survey of stone finds collected on the surface and during excavation flakes and the large number of both small and larges flakes and debris. Altogether, 16 cores were found: six unidirectional (Tab. 1: 6, 7), four cores with cross-blanked removals (Tab. 1: 1-3), three unshaped, two prismatic (Tab. 1: 4) and one discoid core (Tab 1: 5). All the enumerated types of core are already familiar from the site Viktorjev spodmol (Turk et al. 2004, 56). The majority of cores have the cortex preserved. Smaller cores are from high quality chert, the larger ones also frequently from poorer material. The latter were also probably discarded earlier because of the poor quality. It can be seen by the shape and cortex of some cores that they were made from pebbles (Tab. 1: 1, 4, 6). In entirety or to a large extent preserved pebbles were not present. There were a total of six core flakes, i.e., flakes that had been broken off in order to repair the striking edge of the core. The microburin (Tab. 1: 12) indicates a microburin technique of modifying bladelets. A more frequent technique was simple braking, without the aid of a notch, since we found a larger number of artificially broken, segmented bladelets. More than half of the total of 30 unretouched bladelets are segmented (Tab. 1: 8-11). Two basal segments of bladelets have, in addition to the bulb of percussion on the dorsal side, also a visible contrabulb (Tab. 1: 11). Such bladelets can only be created by pressure along the core with a bone, chert or wooden striker. They have a thin, bell-shaped butt. The contrabulb indicates that they were flaked off successively, one after another. Some artefacts have a ligula on a bulb of percussion (Tab. 2: 20). Such damage or ligula is often created with the use of rigid strikers. There are also thermally cracked pieces among both the waste and the tools. The raw material is very varied. Among all the collected lithic inventory, we identified at least 20 groups of individual variants of chert. High quality, variously coloured chert prevails, which can be easily distinguished from autochthonous chert of poorer quality. Two broken pieces of rock crystal were also found, which similarly belong in the inventory of lithic scatter. STONE TOOLS also include more regular flakes with an abrupt retouch (Tab. 2: 18, 19). Retouched bladelets are rare, two have use wear retouch (Tab. 1: 13, 14). There are three examples of denticulate tools. One of them also has an oblique truncation (Tab. 2: 16). In addition to this tool, truncation appears in two specimens. In the first example it is oblique (Tab. 2: 15), in the second concave (Tab. 2: 17). Four artefacts have a notch. The basal part of a solid broken blade (Tab. 2.: 20) has a well expressed notch on the right lateral edge. The right lateral edge is retouched on the ventral side with smaller flat retouches almost throughout the entire length. There is a larger ligula on the ventral side on a bulb of percussion. A flake with a poorly expressed notch, made with inverse retouches (Tab. 2: 21), is interesting, with a number of wide flat retouches on the dorsal side. The notch is also well expressed on a segment of bladelet (Tab. 2: 22). There is a total of 5 endscrapers (Tab. 2: 23-28). They have been divided into endscrapers on blades (Tab. 2: 23-25) and endscrapers on flakes (Tab. 2: 26-28). Endscrapers no. 23, 24 and 27 have face made with a parallel retouch. The endscrap-er on flake no. 26 has a slightly oblique face made with an abrupt retouch and is reminiscent of a flake with an oblique truncation. The endscraper on the thick flake no. 28 has part of the face broken. There are 12 microlithic tools (Tab. 2: 29-40). They include an isosceles triangle, which has the longest side retouched with a semi-abrupt retouch (Tab. 2: 29). We identified four microlithic tools (Tab 2: 30-32, 34) as backed and truncated bladelets. Microliths no. 30 and 31 are typical backed and obliquely truncated bladelets. Specimen no. 30 is also retouched on the right lateral edge. With microliths no. 32 and 34, the back flows into a truncation. Although they are slightly reminiscent of circular segments, they cannot be categorised as such since they do not have a complete arc (G.E.E.M. 1969, 360). The fragment of microlith no. 33 cannot be more narrowly defined, since it is either a backed and obliquely truncated bladelet or a circular segment. There are two specimens of backed bladelets (Tab. 2: 35, 36). The first has a flaked bulb of percussion, and the other a retouched right lateral edge. We defined three microliths (Tab. 2: 38, 39, 40) as Sauve-terrian points sensu lato. The first specimen is preserved in entirety and is a bipoint and the second is the terminal fragment of a point. Specimen no. 40 is probably a fragment of a unipoint with the basal part preserved. The contact of the lateral edges does not form a pronounced point with the atypical point no. 37. The fairly thick right lateral edge is also atypical. All the retouches on the microlithic tools are direct, only the fragment of Sauveterrian point no. 40 has the right lateral edge made with an alternating retouch. CONCLUSION Open air mountain sites which have been ascribed to the Mesolithic mainly on the basis of surface finds, are known not only from the more distant Dolomites (Bagolini et al. 1984) but also from the near vicinity: Sella Bieliga in the western Julian Alps and Casera Valbertad and a number of sites in the vicinity of Mokrine in the Carnic Alps (Bressan 1983, 170). The discovery of mountain Mesolithic camps in Slovenia was thus only a question of time. The open Mesolithic site on Pretovč alp is the first Me-solithic site in the Slovene mountains with typical Mesolithic finds. The cave Jama za skalami above Stara Fužina in which the remains of a hearth were found, and immediately above it two broken fragments of flint, was only ascribed to the Me-solithic on the basis of anthracotomic analysis of charcoal, which was dated to the early Holocene (Dirjec, Šercelj, Turk 1989). Since the discovery of the first stone age site in the Krn massif on Kašina alp below Krn7 (Jamnik, Bizjak 2003), sites of stone artefacts are known today from Zaslap (1,360 m) and Zaprikaj alp (1,208 m), in addition to Pretovč alp. Archaeological excavation on Gorenji Pretovč and finds collected on the surface show that it was in all probability a seasonal camp of Mesolithic hunters which stood on the gentler part of the sunny slope below Visoč vrh, where today there are the pastures of Pretovč alp. Part of the site, which is slowly being destroyed by erosion, was already damaged by the road which leads to the hunting lodge from the road towards Medrja and Sleme alp. The camp was probably used in season over an extended period, since the hunters brought with them raw materials and made tools here. On the basis of the typology of the artefacts, we can conclude a narrower cultural classification of the site within the Mesolithic. The isosceles triangle with retouched longer side, the Sauveterrian point sensu lato and, above all, the absence of trapezes, for the moment indicate the Early Mesolithic or Sauveterrian. The archaeological excavation on Pretovč alp and identifying the site as from the Mesolithic culture, however, leaves open the question of the cultural placing of other stone age open sites in the Krn massif, because of the too few surface finds so far. The question of base camps in the valley remains similarly open. The only link with the valley is the overhang cave by Bjarč (Riparo di Biarzo) in the valley of the Nadiža, where successive layers from the end of the Epigravettien, the Mesolithic and the Neolithic have been uncovered (Guerres-chi et al. 1996). Matija Turk Lunačkova 4 SI-1000 Ljubljana turkenstein1905@hotmail.com Miha Mlinar Tolminski muzej Mestni trg 4 SI-5220 Tolmin miha.mlinar@tol.muzej.si Janez Turk Lunačkova 4 SI-1000 Ljubljana Janez Bizjak Rečiška 1 SI-4260 Bled Pavel Jamnik Kočna 5 SI-4273 Blejska Dobrava 7 The site on Kašina alp was discovered in 2001 by Ivan, Matija and Janez Turk. The discovery encouraged the amateur archaeologists, J. Bizjak and P. Jamnik, to begin, within the framework of the project "Iron working and pasture culture from the Iron Age to the 20th century", which is being carried out by Triglav National Park (Ministry of Culture permit no. 616-9/99, of 4.4.1999), systematically to examine the mountain pastures in the Krn massif and they thus also discovered other sites.