Histria antiqua, Vol. 21 No. 21, 2012.
Prethodno priopćenje
Vižula near Medulin, Maritime Residential Villa: Investigation Campaign of 2011
Vesna GIRARDI JURKIĆ
Kristina DŽIN
; Međunarodni istraživački centar za arheologiju Instituta Ivo Pilar Pula, p.p. 554, 52103 Pula, Hrvatska
Aleksandra PAIĆ
; Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile, I. Matetića Ronjgova 1, 52100 Pula, Hrvatska
Zrinka ETTINGER-STARČIĆ
orcid.org/0000-0003-4106-9920
; Lošinjski muzej, 51550 Mali Lošinj, Hrvatska
Sažetak
In September 2011, archaeological investigations continued in the northern area of the residential maritime
villa, located in the west of the peninsula of Vižula near Medulin. In the course of this investigative campaign,
room 58 was unearthed and investigated all the way to the living rock. The excavations followed the stratigraphic
layers starting from the surface, right to the bottom of the room. The top layer was fairly thick and compact and
consisted of stone building material which collapsed when the building was devastated. In and under this layer,
fragments of early medieval coarse black pottery were found. The pottery has quartz inclusions and is decorated
with wide undulating lines. A gray layer, 25 cm to 30 cm thick, followed after the stone layer. It consisted of loose
earth and ash material, and also yielded finds. Fragments of Late Antique pottery and several Late Antique bronze
coins were recovered. Of particular interest are the recovered small feet and fragments of light blue glass cups from
the 3rd century AD.
The third layer was dug down to the living rock. It was 50 cm to 60 cm thick and consisted of mixed building
debris. The unearthed third layer uncovered a network of wall foundations of the earliest architecture built on live
rock. The foundations are at the level of the oldest walls belonging to the first phase of the villa, the Augustan phase.
Fragments of fine relief pottery – terra sigillata, belonging to the same period, were recovered in the northeastern
corner of the room. The pottery is decorated with small flowers and nubs. Other finds recovered were a large (male)
bronze ring, a glass pearl bead from a female necklace and several examples of bronze coins. The backfill material
also yielded black and white mosaic tiles and large bronze nails (6.0 cm – 8.0 cm). Large roof tegulae with the stamp
Q. Clodius Ambrosius and Glabrio Glabrionis, found directly on the oldest foundation walls from the 1st century AD,
are indications of the remains of architectural elements belonging to the oldest phase of the villa.
The investigations carried out in 2011 once again confirmed the life span of the maritime villa, with different
phases of construction, reconstruction and destruction, from the 1st to 7th centuries AD. The villa later became
a settlement of the compact type, but the reason for the villa itself to be definitively abandoned still remains unknown.
However, thanks to a partly excavated gravesite in Burle, which ceased to be used for burial at the time
when life in Vižula ceased, we could assume that the population was weakened by illness (malaria) and threatened
by the rising level of the sea in the bay and the flooding of the necropolis. Therefore, it is probable that the then new
wave of immigrants, together with the local population, left the peninsula and moved to the hill where the modern
settlement of Medulin is now situated.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
104359
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.8.2012.
Posjeta: 1.519 *