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The archaeology of genocide, war crimes, and mass death has become a growing sub-discipline in recent decades, with the most attention given to the locations of National Socialist 'terror and mass death'. Within genocide research, the porajmos, or genocide of Romani people, is not a well-known topic, especially in Slovenia. Contrary to popular belief, the mistreatment of Romani and violence against them was not inflicted only by the Nazis and their allies, but by pro-communist-orientated Slovenian partisans as well. Archaeological traces of three mass executions have provided us with evidence of serious and poignant crimes committed against the Romani ethnic minority. The remains might have a significant role in determining whether these crimes are a part of porajmos or not and represent a unique material testimony of crimes against the Romani population in the Slovenian and the wider European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the applicability of a metal detector survey and distribution analysis of mostly metal objects at four post-World War II mass execution sites in Kočevski Rog, Slovenia. All locations were surveyed with the intent to gather the material evidence, reconstruct the events and identify areas of different activities. With the distribution analysis, we were able to reconstruct pathways leading through forest to the execution sites; places of untying, undressing and restricting of the victims; and places of shooting. Locations with discarded and sometimes burned clothing, equipment and personal belongings were also found, containing various metal and non-metal objects. Metal detector survey and distribution analysis of objects proved to be an excellent tool for researching, interpreting and reconstructing poorly documented events, such as World War II and post-war extrajudicial mass executions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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