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THE STONE MONUMENTS FROM »BEGOVACA« AT BILJANE DONJE · NEAR ZADAR
Vedrana Delonga
; Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika HR -Split 21 000
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The stone monuments discovered some ..thirty years ago (1959-1962) in archaeological excavations at the site of Begovača in Biljane Donje north of Zadar are published here for the first time. This is the third article in a series of publications discussing the specific problems arising from this site. The first publicati·on of the site by the excavators, D. Jelovina and D. Vrsalović, was mainly concerned with the study of the mediaeval cemetery which had been formed at the site of "Begovača«, while the second article, by N. Jakšić, attempted to define the development of the architecture of the late Roman and early mediaeval phases, particularly in relation to the successive growth of the cemetery during the mediaeval period .
In this article the author has published the stone material from all established strata at the site. The catalogue descriptions of the stone monuments classify them according to basic cultural-typological characteristics, from classical-Roman finds and early Christian fragments to pre-Romanesque stone scuipturai material. Joining the recovered stone material to data from the field documentation and information from earlier publications has shown the relevance of the presented stone material to the confirmation of Roman, early Christian and early mediaeval architectural complexes at the site. The classical finds corroborate the existence of the earliest horizon at the site, which was documented by the remains of an extensive Roman villa rustica, well built and furnished with architectural groups and separate sepulchral areas. The entire appearance and function of the complex was predicated by the position of the noted villa in a region of exceptional economic advantages as well as the lengthy pax romana in the area of classical Liburnia in the early Imperial period.
The stone material of early Christian provenience entirely affirms the early Christian cultural horizon at the site, while the architectural complex intended for use in the Christian cult is perceived as a certain spatial-constructional articulation within the extant Roman architectural complex in the sense of the existence of an early Christian oratorium or chapel in the context of a private late Roman estate (praedium).
The discovered remains of a pre-Romanesque ahar screen attest to the presence of a pre-Romanesque church which began to exist at this site during the second half of the 9th century. The most interesting details among the pre-Romanesque material are reve aled by the contents of an epigraphical text in Latin carved on the architrave of the ahar partition. Considering the linguistic elements, especially the formula De donis dei; pro remedio anime sue, it is concluded that this was il votive inscription offering information about the private familiar donation of an early Croatian noble of the region , perhaps even a župan (prefeet), who had renovated an extant sacral structure as his votary church. The onomastic elements contained in the name of the dedicant indicate that this had been an individual of Croatian ethnicity, which is confirmed by the remnant of a morpheme -selav -on one fragment of the inscription, which is otherwise characteristic for Slavic, i. e. Croatian, nomenclature and is most common in Croatian mediaeval anthroponomy to the end of the 14th century. The inscription is interesting in relation to the interpretation of the succession of construction at the site, as it indirectly confirms the existence of an early Christian cult area which the epigraphical citation claims had been renovated (i. e. in the early mediaeval period) . According to the linguistic expressions used and the level of quality of the Latin, it may be concluded that the author of the pre-Romanesque epigraph had obviously been an educated priest who had been in very close contact with the epigraphical accomplishments of the early mediaeval Byzantine cities of Dalmatia Inferior, and thus with the late Roman models which formed the standards of early mediaeval epigraphy.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
95223
URI
Datum izdavanja:
16.10.1992.
Posjeta: 1.766 *