This first article in the Issa series presents the evidence for the existence of monumental architecture in ancient Issa. The evidence is drawn from a catalogue of known architectural elements of Hellenistic and Roman structures in Issa, along with a catalogue of monumental sculptures from the same location. For the first time, the architectural elements are analysed to reconstruct the architecture of the objects and their origins.
The paper posits a link between an epigraphic monument found in the mid-19th century with a group cremation grave found in 2011 during excavations in a part of the Salonitan South-eastern Necropolis at the Smiljanovac location.1 It consists of three cylindrical urns containing goods, of which two have the names of the deceased engraved onto the lids. The combination of the names engraved on the urns leaves no room for doubt that these are the deceased individuals mentioned in the sepulchral inscription CIL III 2120, which was known to have come from Salona even earlier. According to the inscriptions, the parents of these three young women came to Salona from Ravenna and it would appear that they settled permanently at the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd century. Given the names, this was apparently the family of a freedman, while the type of monument that jointly commemorated them was popular among this population in Salona during that period. Besides an epigraphic analysis, the paper also contains a description of the archaeological materials found in the urns. The discovery of a link between these inscriptions made it possible to not only identify the persons involved, but also the inscription could be more reliably dated on the basis of the grave goods found in the urns.
The paper examines the belt set from Salona, which is part of the late antique collection of the Archaeological Museum in Split. This three-piece chip-carved belt set dates back to the late 4th and early 5th century and was acquired by the museum in the late 19th century. The analysis is based on archaeological findings and studies of similar materials from the former Roman Empire. In addition to a typological-chronological analysis of the belt buckle, an overview of the restoration procedures and preliminary results of the metal composition analysis are also presented.
As a student at the Pedagogical Academy, Arsen Duplancic displayed a clear affinity for ethnography, a passion he further developed as a library employee at the Archaeological Museum in Split. Serving as the long-time head of this extensive library, he had access to a wealth of cultural and anthropological texts and documents, which he incorporated into his professional writings and contributions, often focusing on the Split-Kastela region.
This paper contains a preliminary publication of the results of reconnaissance and test excavations in the western side of the urban territory of Issa outside of its perimeter wall, on the lowest north-eastern slopes of Bandirica Hill. The remains of buildings were found in this area, which covers approximately 1,000 m2, and it is posited that they formed a suburbium, probably Issa's residential-artisanal quarter. Reconnaissance of the entire area indicated that it contains a high quantity of dolium shards, sintered dolium shards and discards of amorphously-shaped pottery, and the possible walls of a pottery or some other type of kiln. The excavations are only at their very beginnings, and it is impossible to draw any firm conclusions, but without doubt this is one of the most important discoveries in general when speaking of research into Issa, which will largely help facilitate greater insight into Issaean urbanism and the urban planning and organization of space in Issa, its economy, urban expansion and other features and in turn contribute to a better understanding of the population density of the city and the island.
This abstract introduces the research interests and published works of Arsen Duplancic, primarily derived from the library and archival materials of the Archaeological Museum in Split. It also highlights his contributions to library collection development, archive organisation, numerous exhibitions, and bibliographic work. He led this oldest Croatian special library for over 40 years and played a significant role in preserving its rich repository of materials. Emphasised is his analytical approach to library materials, which is recognised as a hallmark of his efforts in providing museum staff and external users access to relevant professional and scientific information.
The article discusses the archaeological site of Tor above Jelsa, where a square Greek tower is situated leaning against a prehistoric mound. The developmental phases of the site are described. The first is the so-called limit tumulus, which had a cultic role; in the second phase, a wall is erected on its southern side; and in the third, a tower is built in front of the mound. The author believes the second phase wall protected the Greek rural settlement oriented towards the Jelsa Plain (Jel & scaron;ansko polje) and the central hilly area of the island of Hvar. A similar method of fortifying an Illyrian mound with a megalithic wall can be found in Daorson (Gradina in O & scaron;tani & cacute;i near Stolac). The tower on the Tor hill, together with the older rampart wall built on the southern side of the limit tumulus, was connected to a unified fortification complex dating from mid-to-the second half of the 4th century BCE. After the foundation of Pharos, its chora was organised in today's Stari Grad Plain, while a Greek rural settlement, important for the economic life of the colony, was established on the edge of the hilly area in the central part of the island of Hvar.
This paper examines a ceramic oil lamp discovered as a grave good alongside Grave 169 in the Western Necropolis of Salona, unearthed during the "Zaobilaznica" excavations in 1986 and 1987. Through typological-chronological comparison and analogies, the lamp is attributed to the Broneer XXVII C type and to Eastern Mediterranean workshop centres, likely Greek, or perhaps Corinthian in origin. The paper includes an analysis and interpretation of the discus' depiction assuming it features a motif of a winged Eros being led by the hand by Silvanus. Silvanus is portrayed with goat legs and horns (anthropo-theriomorphic), holding a pedum or syrinx in his hand. Additionally, other glass and ceramic artefacts from this incineration grave are discussed, as well as dated to the beginning and first half of the second century, based on the lamp and glass inventory.
The article discusses hillforts, potential hillforts, and aro-und fifty mounds located within and around Stari Grad and Jelsa Plains on the island of Hvar. This area covers 10 to 15% of the island's surface and contains the largest fertile plain among all the Adriatic islands. These are the only visible mo-numents, which generally could have belonged to the Bron-ze and Iron Ages, i.e. the period before the foundation of the Greek city of Pharos at the site of modern Stari Grad town, at the very edge of the Stari Grad Plain. Although some have been known since the time of the Hvar Statute (14th century), only one mound, namely, one of the smallest ones, has been arc-haeologically explored thus far, while minor excavations have been conducted on the largest one, Purkin Kuk. In addition, preliminary trenches have been excavated on only one hillfort. As hillforts, and especially mounds, in Dalmatia appear over a period of approximately 2500 years and their abundance in the analysed area is significant, the aim was to show that these sites are a clear indicator that the central northern part of the island of Hvar was inhabited during the periods in focus and that hillforts and mounds were of great importance to the in-digenous population. Despite numerous uncertainties enco-untered during the study, an attempt was made to provide the most comprehensive insight into this issue to date.
The water supply network within the ancient city of Salona has not been thoroughly studied to date due to insufficient preservation. The majority of the pipes were made of lead, which has been plundered from this site for centuries. In an attempt to shed light on this topic, this article presents a catalogue of lead pipes from the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Split. In addition to the preserved pipes, those mentioned in inventory books and published works are also discussed, while traces in Salona suggest the evidence of additional lead pipes.
This paper contains an analysis of the raw material composition, technological categories and typology of the artefacts made by the reduction of chert cores that were found on the surface of the Middle Neolithic site of Lokvica in Blatsko poje on the island of Korcula. The lithic artefacts exhibit typical Neolithic features, which is apparent in the well-represented prismatic blades and the tools made on them, while the general properties of the lithic industry correspond to the situation known in the wider area. A materials analysis of the lithic artefacts conducted in order to determine the types of rocks, i.e., the lithic types used in their production, was aimed at ascertaining the origin of the stone materials and reconstructing the strategy for their procurement. The results obtained undoubtedly point to the Apennine Gargano peninsula as the source of the vast majority of the raw materials used and products made in Lokvica, which particularly pertains to regular prismatic blades. This discovery points to a Neolithic shift in relation to the earlier, Mesolithic strategy of procuring raw materials and opens a series of intriguing questions tied to the process of Neolithization and development of the Neolithic not only on Korcula but in the entire Eastern Adriatic seaboard.
A Roman victory monument was erected near the Porta Caesarea in Salona; it was rectangular and its sides formed beams adorned with a Doric frieze bearing depictions of military equipment and a continuous relief to which a fragment of an anthropomorphically-conceived tropaeum (trophy) may have belonged. This was most likely a memento of the total pacification of the province of Dalmatia after the end of the Pannonian-Delmataean wars, celebrated in the triumph Ex Pannone-is et Delmateis. The Augustan tropaeum, respected over lengthy period, was secondarily used for the same purpose, when Consul Flavius Julius Rufinus Sarmentius marked the victory of Constantius over the usurper Magnentius in 351 AD. This fact is corroborated by the preserved parts of beams in Split's Archaeological Museum, as well as those noted in Garagnin's archival drawings, on which the ornaments were scraped from the frontal and rear sides when the inscription of Constantius was being carved.
This article valorizes the extensive body of work by Arsen Duplancic, a long-time librarian at the Archaeological Museum in Split. By summarising the most important theses from a series of books, studies, articles, and exhibition catalogues, it explores the breadth of his interests and multidisciplinary scholarly approach through which he created a work of considerable scope within the framework of archaeological and art historical disciplines, specifically focusing on the history of local culture. He writes in a characteristic style, always uncompromisingly precise and comprehensive.
Pottery from the collection of Grgur Bucic, a prolific researcher on the island of Hvar, is analyzed in this paper. This pottery originated in Markova Cave (on the island of Hvar), and a variety of ceramic forms (bowls, pots, cups, beakers) are present that may be dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages based on their decorations, handles and shapes.
The author presents new data on the finds of Greek and Greco-Illyrian coins that came from several archaeological sites in Herzegovina. These data encompass 48 examples of coins that were minted during the period from the 4(th) to 1(st) centuries BC. Most of them were discovered as chance surface finds, while a smaller portion was yielded during archaeological excavations. Coins from the Greco-Illyrian cities of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium in present-day Albania predominate, followed by issues of the Illyrian King Ballaios, as well as examples of coins from Corinth, Pharos, Issa and other Greek cities. In addition to new data tied to numismatic topography, this paper also provides new insights into the oldest circulation of coins in the former territory of northwestern Illyria.
Researchers into Diocletian's Palace have long observed that Roman staircases existed on both sides of the mainland gates. They led to the upper floor of the buildings located along the perimeter walls of the Palace. However, those researchers had a different notions of their appearance. In this paper, the original appearance of the Roman staircases shall be reconstructed for the first time on the basis of new finds.
Five Roman oil-lamps discovered in Salona and held in the Roman Provincial Collection of the Archaeological Museum in Split are analysed in this paper. Besides a typological determination of the oil-lamps, emphasis has been accorded to an analysis of the scenes and motifs on them. This provides some insight into lunar cults and the scenes depicted on the oil-lamps are discussed as a potential form of their manifestation. The goddesses Luna, Diana, Isis and Minerva are shown on the discuses of the oil-lamps, and the key to the interpretive section rests in their lunar character, as structured in their mythology and iconography.
The author supports the opinion that the polygonal building in Diocletian's Palace in Split was not a mausoleum. By way of analogy, he cites the Octagon in the Galerius Palace in Thessaloniki, which did not have a funerary character. The relief sculptures in the polygonal building in Diocletian's Palace also includes hunting Erotes motifs. This theme is common on sarcophaguses, but also on secular buildings, such as, for example, the reliefs in Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli.
During rescue archaeological excavations conducted south of Petra Kresimira IV street in Solin in 1989, nine non-architectural stelae and an acroterion fragment with a portrait were found which belonged to the so-called South-east Necropolis in Salona. The inscriptions on them mention eighteen civilians, of whom several may have been foreign in origin. They have been dated to the late Principate and have been directly linked to eight gravestone inscriptions discovered slightly farther north during construction works in 1995 and 1996.
