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Finds from the Graves in Saint Martin's Church near Sukošan
Jakov Vučić
; ~inistarstvo kulture Uprava za zaštitu kulturne baštine Konzervatorski odjel Zadar
Sažetak
St. Martin 's church is situated about 2.5 km north-east of the village Sukošan near Zadar. It is situated on a natural hill called Kaštelina, along the north-eastern edge of the field, confined between the two slopes spreading in a northwest-southeast direction. A cemetery is spread around the church. The church is for the fust time mentioned in a will in 1386. It was situated in the now non-existent village of Prljani (Kozmani). During the late middle ages, Prljani was the centre of the parish community while Sukošan and Mokro appertained to the community as well. Thus, inhabitants of these three villages were buried in and around St. Martin's church. The centre of the parish was transfered to Sukošan during the Turkish conquests. During the Croatian War of Independence, rebel Serbs mined it and destroyed it. After the war, using methods off acsimile reconstruction, the church was completely restored. For the purpose of replacing and making the floor, protective archaeological excavations were canied out inside the church. On replacing the pavement of the old floor, a grave made of stone, G.3., was found in front of the altar. This grave was made at the same time as the old floor in the second half of the 18th century. Besides this grave made of stone, four other burials were also found. Adult male s were buri ed in all the graves. G.I and G.2 are especially interesting as a larger amount of late medieval coins was found within them. The position in which the coins were found in G.2 and its very placement, neatly folded to the left of the scull and additionally protected with the vertically piled stone, clearly point to the conscious placement of the coins next to the deceased. The earliest dating of this burial is represented by a little denar of Padova, minted from 1350. This burial was most probably performed in the fifties of the 14th century. Coins of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo and of the town of Mantova, minted much before the burial, were also found amongst the placed coins. It was Irma Čremošnik who pointed to the phenomenon of placing coins into graves. While publishing late medieval sarcophagus burial on Glavica in Bila near Travnik, she noticed that in this grave, besides Italian piccolos from the 13 th century, there was also a Hungarian coin of Queen Mary (1382-1384) which led her to the conclusion that little denars cannot be used for more precise dating. It was, however, Nikola Jakšić who most recently refined to more examples of the 12th and the 13th century coins besides the 14th century ones, found in either closed graves or in piles. He also pointed out that dating on the basis of certain numismatic finds is very uncertain. Coins found in graves G.I and G.2 are but a mere confirmation of such thinking. Besides the coins, a round iron fibula and a large iron nail were also found in G.2. Because of the amount as well as the position of the coins found in G.l., it cannot be stated with certainty that this is a case of deliberately left coins at the deceased's side. It is also possible that the coins were sewn into the inside of the deceased's shirt and as a result they ended up in a grave by mistake. The earliest dating of this burial is determined by a found pfennig minted in 1395. The largest number of coins are denars from the time of Lodovic I the Great, minted from 1358 until 1371. This burial could be dated back to the very end of the 14th century and to the very beginning of the is th century. A piece of cloth, big belt buckle, metal ending from a belt and a little metal buckle deriving most probably from a shoe, were also found in this grave. In contrary to G.I and G.2 graves, there were no finds in graves GA and G.5 . . . However, due to the identical method of burial and relation towards the church pavement, these graves may also be dated from late medieval period. Adult males were buried in all of the four late medieval graves in the church. According to the richness of the grave finds we are able to presume that rich and prominent members of the community were buried in G.l and G.2. As there were no finds in graves GA and G.5, it is more likely that members of the church were buri ed in these two graves. Absence of dislocated bones in an excavation, suggests that apart from the discovered graves there were no other burial s within the church. From the above mentioned, we may presume that in the late medieval parish of Prljani, the privilege of being buri ed inside St Martin's church, was granted only to some people, to either respected members of the community or to clergymen. While clearing out the ruins of St. Martin's church, some finds of Early Christian architectural decoration and church furnishings were discovered. Besides the typical Early Christian titular, the finds point to the existence of an Early Christian church in the vicinity. A fragment of a glass dish with a small ear, which could have been a part of a hanging Early Christian oil lamp found in a church, is a warning that for now on we should not exclude the possibility that the church itself was located right on Kaštelina. Translation: Marijana Birtić Vučić 2
Ključne riječi
Sukošan; Prljani; late medieval graves; late medieval co ins
Hrčak ID:
81738
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.9.2006.
Posjeta: 1.887 *