Cultural integration, social change and identities in late Iron Age and Roman Liburnia

This thesis aims to investigate key issues relating to cultural and social developments in Late Iron Age and Roman Liburnia, based on analysis of archaeological material and ancient written sources. The Late Iron Age, ca. 4th-1st c. BCE, was a period of intensive connectivity and cultural change in Dalmatia that resulted from the Greek economic penetration of the Adriatic and colonization of the central Dalmatia islands. The incorporation of Liburnia into the Roman empire caused dramatic changes to the structure of Liburnian society, as well as existing cultural templates. Rather than a broad overview of all the material, focus is given in this study to select issues and phenomena that are specific to Liburnia, within the context of Late Iron Age Europe and the Roman Empire, and highlight aspects of cultural connectivity. Key topics that are discussed include analysis of imported materials, developing burial practices, social structure, religion and cults, economic issues ,Liburnian identities and how these communities were integrated into the Roman provincial system. The overall objective is to highlight the roles of the indigenous and immigrant populations in cultural changes and social discourses that took place over these two periods, and re-assess some critical issues relating to identities and social structure in Liburnia that are entrenched in scholarship.