sentences:  However, at this time the hill ranges hemming in the Sulm river were used as an east-to-west transit route between the Balkans, the southern parts of the Basin of Graz and what would much later become the Austrian’s southernmost province, Carinthia.In the early alpine Iron Age, from the early 8th century BC to the early 600s BC, a significant Hallstatt culture settlement of more than regional importance existed on the Burgstallkogel, a prominent hill just across the Sulm valley.The inhabitants of this settlement maintained long-range trade relations, and it would have been reasonable for them to keep at least a watch post on the terrace on the opposite side of the valley; however, nothing to this effect has been found so far.