The territory of present-day Slovenia reached one of its economic and cultural peaks in the 1st millennium BC, when the Hallstatt Culture prospered, its achievements being comparable with the most developed cultures in Ancient Europe. This culture arose from Urnfield Culture roots under the influence of the Mediterranean world~they adopted the new technology of iron production, implemented a new social pattern and fully developed their artistic inspiration.

Arheološko najdišče na hribu Molnik v zaledju Ljubljane je že dolgo znano. Sistematične raziskave so potekale v 80. in 90. letih dvajsetega stoletja, vodil pa jih je arheolog Ivan Puš, nekdanji sodelavec Mestnega muzeja v Ljubljani. Na samem vrhu hriba so ohranjeni nasipi in naselbinske terase, v bližnji okolici so bili na petih mestih odkriti plani in gomilni pokopi iz starejše železne dobe ter nekaj najdb iz poznejšega časa. Monografija predstavlja rezultate terenskih raziskav in analiz najdišča, ki je bilo v starejši železni dobi mejna postojanka dolenjske halštatske skupnosti. Opremljena je s številnimi kartografskimi prikazi, načrti, preglednicami in dokumentarnimi fotografskimi posnetki, celoten fond najdb pa je predstavljen v risbah na tablah. Kulturno-historično ovrednotenje molniških najdb bogati razumevanje dogajanj v obdobju med 8. in 4. st. pr.n.št. na prostoru današnje Slovenije. V tretjem delu knjige je dopolnjeno z rezultati antropoloških, arheoozooloških, arheobotaničnih in radiokarbonskih analiz ter spektrografske analize materiala izbranih predmetov, ki dajejo celovitosti obravnave dodatno težo.

Most na Soči sodi med najpomembnejša prazgodovinska najdišča Evrope. Znano je postalo zlasti po veliki nekropoli iz starejše železne dobe, ki so jo raziskovali ob koncu devetnajstega stoletja in na kateri so izkopali čez 6000 grobov. Hiter razvoj kraja je v sedemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja vzpodbudil ponovna arheološka izkopavanja. Trajala so enajst let, v tem času pa je bilo na območju današnje vasi temeljito raziskano eno najpomembnejših železnodobnih naselij ne le pri nas temveč tudi na širšem jugovzhodnoalpskem prostoru. Na začetku monografije je podan geografski oris kraja, temu pa sledi izčrpna zgodovina raziskovanj, ki ji je dodan seznam dosedanjih objav. V osrednjem delu knjige so predstavljeni gradbeni izvidi šestintridesetih hiš, ki so bile odkrite v vzhodnem predelu današnjega Mosta na Soči. Besedilo spremlja 229 načrtov in fotografij, ki odlično dopolnjujejo detajlne opise objektov. V zadnjem delu monografije je na sto tablah predstavljeno drobno gradivo, ki je bilo najdeno v stavbah. To je doslej najobsežnejša objava kakega železnodobnega naselja, ki daje povsem nova spoznanja o bivalni kulturni železnodobnega človeka na območju Caput Adriae oziroma jugovzhodnih Alp. Iz številnih podatkov, dobljenih z izkopavanji, je bilo moč rekonstruirati tlorisno zasnovo naselja, način gradnje hiš in številne tehnične detajle. Ugotovljeno je bilo, kako so bili zgrajeni drenažni zidovi, škarpe in temelji, pa tudi kakšni so bili podi, lesene konstrukcije sten, odtočni jarki in jame, v katerih so se odvijali različni proizvodni procesi (npr. metalurgija, lončarstvo). Med drobnim gradivom prevladuje seveda lončenina, vendar pa so bili odkriti tudi številni kamniti, koščeni in kovinski predmeti. Slednji so še posebej pomembni, saj je moč z njimi natančno datirati objekte, hkrati pa kažejo na visoko tehnološko znanje takratnih obrtnikov. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Most na Soči ranks among the most prominent prehistoric sites in Europe. It is mainly known for the extensive cemetery from the Early Iron Age, which was first investigated in the late 19th century and revealed over 6000 burials. The rapid growth of the modern village of Most na Soči again led to large-scale archaeological excavations in the 1970s. These were conducted in the span of eleven years and unearthed one of the most significant Iron Age settlements in Slovenia and the wider south-eastern Alpine region. The monographic publication on this settlement begins with a geographic outline of the site and its surroundings, which is followed by a detailed history of research complete with a list of contributions and reports on the subject published thus far. The main part of the book is dedicated to presenting the settlement structures that include thirty-six houses excavated in the eastern part of the modern village. It is the most comprehensive publication of an Iron Age settlement to date in Slovenia, which offers new insights into the living conditions of the Iron Age population inhabiting the area of Caput Adriae or the south-eastern Alps. The multitude of data gained from the excavations enabled a reconstruction of the settlement’s plan and provided an understanding of the construction methods and numerous technical details, revealing how drainage walls, dividing walls and foundations were built, and also revealing the appearance of the floors, wooden wall constructions, drainage ditches and pits used in different production processes (for instance metallurgy, pottery). The text is illustrated with 229 plans and photos that complement the detailed descriptions of the structures. The book concludes with the illustrations of small finds recovered in the houses, presented on a hundred plates. These predominantly consist of pottery sherds, but also include numerous stone, bone and metal items. Those of metal are particularly important because they are chronologically diagnostic and allow the archaeologists to precisely date individual houses and their phases, but also reveal the remarkable technical skills that the craftsmen of the day possessed.

The territory of present-day Slovenia reached one of its economic and cultural peaks in the 1st millennium BC, when the Hallstatt Culture prospered, its achievements being comparable with the most developed cultures in Ancient Europe. This culture arose from Urnfield Culture roots under the influence of the Mediterranean world~they adopted the new technology of iron production, implemented a new social pattern and fully developed their artistic inspiration.