The Velebit necropolis, located in the southern Carpathian Basin remains to this day an unpublished archaeological site, although it has been known for almost 50 years. It represents the only systematically-investigated Tumulus (Hügelgräber) culture necropolis in the territories of Serbia and Vojvodina which has not been completely published so far. Bi-ritual burial rites from the Bronze Age perspective of the Velebit necropolis are not so rare in the Tumulus Culture commonwealth (Central Europe, Carpathian Basin and Transdanubian region), but the equal representation of both burial customs is quite uncommon. Graves from the undisturbed contexts at the Velebit necropolis show some differences in Koszider bronze and pottery burial gifts, gender and maybe social differentiation in communities. Certain artefacts possibly indicate economic stratification and the presence of craftsmen (metallurgists) in these Middle Bronze Age communities, which is considered one of the more significant traits of the Tumulus culture.

AUTHOR
Aleksandar Kapuran was born in Belgrade, where he completed his doctoral studies (2011) at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. Since 2006 he has been a member of the Prehistoric Department at the Institute of Archaeology. Currently, his work centres around numerous Bronze and Iron Age projects in Serbia and abroad.

REVIEWS
‘This manuscript is an extremely important contribution to better understanding Tumulus culture and the ethnocultural relations between the Late Bronze Age communities in the Pannonian plain and in the central Balkans.’ Dr Aleksandar Bulatović, Insitute of Archaeology, Belgrade

‘Considering the fact that the excavation took place several decades ago and parts of the documentation as well as some of the finds are not traceable, the author made a great effort to collect all the relevant information and to put all the puzzles together in order to reconstruct prehistoric burial contents at the site. The study … is a solid archaeological work with a significant value for the better understanding of the Middle Bronze Age in this part of the continent.’ Mario Gavranović, Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology - OREA

‘Kapuran’s work is the first monograph which presents the Velebit necropolis in detail and in all its aspects. … The contribution of the book is considerable because Velebit with its characteristics broadens our knowledge of the Tumulus culture and the Bronze Age in South Europe in general.’ Rastko Vasic, Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade