Histria antiqua, Vol. 21 No. 21, 2012.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Some Particularities of Ancient Sea Traffic in the Eastern Adriatic
Marin ZANINOVIĆ
; Zagreb
Sažetak
The Adriatic Sea is a large arm of the Mediterranean. Due to its position, it offered the shortest route to the
north Italic plains and across the Alpine passes to Noricum, Rhaetia and Germania. This sea route was used in
ancient times, as demonstrated by archaeological finds and sunken ship cargoes. The route had also connected
remote Mediterranean areas since the early days of mankind, as shown by Palaeolithic finds and, in particular,
Neolithic finds of the earliest Impresso and Cardium pottery. A particular trait of the Adriatic is the geographic
difference between the eastern Illyrian and western Apennine coasts. The Apennine coast is devoid of islands and
bays suitable for navigation, while our eastern coast is protected by one thousand five hundred islands and islets,
which favoured navigation by offering protected channels between firm land and the islands. Ivan Lučić, a Croatian
historian, had asserted the existence of three antique naval routes as far back as the 17th century. One route, used by
larger vessels, was on the open sea, another was between the islands, and the third ran along the coast. The coastline
consists of mountain ranges (Velebit, Mosor, Biokovo and Orjen) between which rivers run to the sea. Land routes
for humans, livestock and goods led along river gorges from the interior to the coast. Another distinctive trait of the
eastern Adriatic coast is the presence of a large number of hill forts, both on the coast and islands, which appeared
during the Early Bronze Age at the time that the Indo-Europeans arrived. They were built on strategic hills and
could be used to oversee all navigation routes. The Amber Road ran along our coast in the 13th century BC. This
route also ran through the Iapodic lands in western Croatia. There is also evidence of contacts between Mycenaean
ships and prehistoric hill forts on the island of Brač (Škrip) and in Istria (Monkodonja). Numerous antique writers
noted the naval and military qualities of the ancient peoples who lived along our coast and exercised supremacy in
different historical periods. These included the Histri, who lived in pre-Roman times and who controlled the routes
along the Istrian coast using their ships and hill-fort centres.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
100862
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.8.2012.
Posjeta: 3.314 *