In 2005, the OEAI carried out new research in Colatio in cooperation with the Koroški pokrajinski muzej in Slovenj Gradec and with Archeo Prospections®. According to the information provided by the Tabula Peutingeriana Colatio lay along the road laid out under Emperor Claudius between the provincial capital Virunum (A) and the municipium Celeia-Celje (Sl) in south-east Noricum. This important site, located today in the Slovenian region of Koroska, was discovered by H. Winkler and first presented by R. Egger in 1914. Between 1909-1912, a Norican temple with surrounding porticoes, numerous residential buildings dating from the mid-1st to the early 5th century A.D., and parts of an early Imperial burial ground were investigated here. The temple and the buildings which have been examined to date flanked the course of the Roman road. The vicus of Colatio corresponds to the type of street village, with houses which reflect the traditionally Celtic structural type of a single-room house with portico and which are present throughout the rural settlements of Noricum.
Whereas the temple and the settlement lay along a road which ran approximately north-south on the edge of a river terrace, the necropolis at the south evidences an alignment in an east-west direction; thereby, it follows the course of the road from Virunum to Celeia. Tomb Building I, first studied in 1911, stands out amongst the graves of the southern necropolis with regard to its architecture and grave goods. According to an inscription, a prominent civil servant was probably buried in this tomb.
In the course of cooperative research, Archeo Prospections® carried out geophysical measurements in the southern necropolis of the vicus, using radar and magnetic imaging; the measurements have led to new determinations regarding the arrangement of this field of tombs. The focus of investigation is the presentation of the entire tomb inventory of the monumental Tomb Building I and its rectangular enclosure wall. The prominent position of this tomb, and that of its occupant, is reflected in the burial ritual and the grave goods. Based on the related finds, a burial of three individuals can be concluded: one of them, following Italian tradition, was preserved on a highly decorated deathbed with bone carvings; after this, the body was cremated, along with grave goods which are no longer identifiable, in an ustrina and finally laid to rest in a smaller room of the tomb. A fragmentary inscription from the court of the tomb indicates that its occupant probably belonged to the upper echelons of Celeia or the ordo decurionum. The monumentality of the tomb, aided by Mediterranean-style architecture, and the dedication of personal, traditional objects from daily life appear to be a result of acculturation combined with the persistence of Norican-Celtic traditions.
Tomb Building I and its entire inventory represent the most important evidence to date of the early romanization of the population of the vicus of Colatio, and, together with the bone-carving of a kline from Baldersdorf in upper Carinthia, provides an insight into costly burial practices in Noricum in the 2nd half of the 1st century A.D. In the course of a research project, an analysis was carried out of the bone-carving from the kline from the necropolis of Baldersdorf, found in 1939 and kept today in the museum of the Villach. The Baldersdorf tombs and the tomb from Celeia have similar ground plans and comparable sizes, while the grave goods from both reveal strongly Norican features. Bone-carvings from klinai are only attested at 27 find-spots in the north-western provinces of the Roman Empire; outside Gaul, klinai are found in only ten additional sites, two of which are located in southern Noricum. This fact underscores the significance of the province, rich in mineral resources, and the early formation - based on these resources - of a class of nobility founded on Norican-Celtic roots.

Picture Captions
Fig. 1: View, from the south-east, of Stari trg (© OEAI, St. Groh)
Fig. 2: Plan of the settlement and of the burial field of Stari trg (after S. Djura Jelenko, H. Winkler, in: Njegov prispevek k arheologiji Mislinjske doline, Koroški pokrajinski mujez Slovenj Gradec [Slovenj Gradec 2004]).
Fig. 3: Geophysical prospection 2005 in the south necropolis of Stari trg (© OEAI, St. Groh)

Bibliography:
R. Egger, Ausgrabungen in Norikum 1912/13, ÖJh 17, 1914, Beibl. 59-86.
St. Groh, Beinerne Möbelbeschläge aus Flavia Solva, FÖ 31, 1992, 51-58.
S. Djura Jelenko - H. Winkler in: njegov prispevek k arheologiji Mislinjske doline, Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec (Slovenj Gradec 2004).
St. Groh - S. Djura Jelenko, Ein frühkaiserzeitlicher Grabbau in der Südnekropole des norischen Vicus von Colatio, Slowenien, AKorrbl 36, 2006, 405-422.