These three volumes deal with the Iron Age grave materials from Magdalenska gora, excavated by the Duchess Paul Friedrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Duchess of Mecklenburg, a member of an Austrian royal family with estates in Slovenia, conducted her excavations in the early years of the twentieth century. The materials from Magdalenska gora were purchased by the Peabody Museum in the 1930s.

The finds and preserved grave groups from its tumulus cemeteries, which are kept in several museums in different countries (Narodni muzej Slovenije, Ljubljana~Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien~Peabody Museum of Harvard University in Cambridge, USA), give a good insight into the cultural and social processes of the time. Together with notes on the circumstances of find and contents of graves, they represent a valuable source for the study of social structure and differentiation, as well as cultural identity.

This work discusses social organisation and exchange in the South East Alpine Region between 1000 and 300 BC. The Late Bronze Age groups studied were characterised by a typical Urnfield burial rite, with relatively undifferentiated flat cremation cemeteries, which developed into the pattern typical of the Early Iron Age groups, that of barrow cemeteries, containing grave lots, with clear evidence of inequality in the grave goods, clustered around hill forts. Various models are discussed to explain this transition and the development of ranked society during the Early Iron Age, concentrating on the role of prestige exchange and elite competition in the Dolenjska and Wies-Martijance groups. Exchange systems and trade are also considered; extra-regional systems are of particular importance, as much of the elite artefact set in the Dolenjska group comprised direct imports or copies of material derived from Northern Italy, the Balkans, and the Pannonian Plain.

"In A Noble Pursuit, Gloria Polizzotti Greis provides an overview of the European Iron Age and brings the duchess's archaeological career to life. Archaeology as a profession with defined standards and methodologies was still in its infancy at the turn of the twentieth century, and the duchess's fieldwork, which became increasingly sophisticated and scientific over time, mirrored the development of archaeological practice in Europe." "The sites the duchess excavated encompass the scope of Iron Age cultures in Slovenia and form an important resource for studying the cultural history of the region. Most of the materials from these sites reside today in the Mecklenburg Collection at Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, where they make up the largest systematically excavated group of European antiquities outside of Europe. This volume presents a selection of artifacts from the collection, photographed by Hillel S. Burger: bronze pendants, bracelets, neck rings, helmets, and armor; glass and amber beads; iron axes, swords, and spears; Roman glassware; and Greek wine vessels." "Greis incorporates previously unpublished archival documents, including the duchess's personal correspondence, to create a portrait of an extraordinary woman. This account of the Duchess of Mecklenburg and her archaeological contributions provides an overview of the scope and importance of the collection as a whole and attests to the enduring quality of the duchess's pioneering work."--BOOK JACKET.