Several Late Bronze Age sites in the southern Carpathian Basin and northern Balkans – today situated in continental Croatia and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina – have been thoroughly excavated during the last decades. Thus, settlement patterns as well as customs and rites practiced by the Late Bronze Age population of the Virovitica- and Barice-Gredani group could be studied in detail.

Cepinski Martinci, being one of the largest excavated settlements in the region, proved to be a perfect case study for the understanding of Late Bronze settlement dynamics, as a large part of a settlement plan was revealed and individual houses with related infrastructure were identified. In addition several phases of the settlement development could be determined.

Special attention was paid to the cemeteries, their organization and the remnants of cremation rituals. The existence of grave marks was equally examined. The pottery used in the burial rites also seems to be significant for our understanding of the customs of these populations, as the pottery used as grave goods could not have been used in daily activities and was produced solely for funeral purposes. Completely new insights and much refined information on procedures of funeral rituals were obtained by the use of computed tomography (CT).

Thorough insights in settlement organization, defensive systems, metallurgical activity / production, and burial rites were gained. New conclusions could be drawn on the relations between individual communities from the Carpathian basin and northern Balkans, but also on the structure of society during this period.