BLACK – BLACK Black-fired pottery of Dolenjska

Black – Black, a temporary exhibition in Knez’s Room of the Museum of Dolenjska Novo mesto, represents a selection of black-fired Early Iron Age pottery from the region of Dolenjska. The exhibition features several archaeological sites and pottery artefacts spanning from the 8th to the 4th century BC. 

The first black-fired products appear at the end of the Bronze Age, i.e. in the 9th century BC, and black-fired pottery remained in use throughout the Early Iron Age, from the 8th to the 4th century BC. The vessels were decorated with incised, buckled, fluted, and plastic decoration, and also with shiny bronze rivets. As a rule, their walls are thin and shiny, of diverse designs. Black-fired pottery belongs to fine tableware and was never used in the kitchen. Many pieces of such pottery, skilfully made and masterfully fired, were found at the two largest Novo mesto cemeteries – Kandija and Kapiteljska njiva.