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Two Early Croatian Graveyards in Biskupija
Maja Petrinec
Sažetak
The village of Biskupija near Knin (former Kosovo) is certainly the richest archaeological site in the area inhabited by Croats in the 7th century, where the medieval Croatian state was formed later. It has long been clear that one of its most significant centres was in that area.
In the late 19th century Friar Lujo Marun, as an amateur, did some archaeological excavations in certain sites there, however mainly with no technical documents; therefore, the only data on most of the finds refer to the sites where they belong. This is the reason why at most of the sites S. Gunjača did revision excavations in the 1950s. Although the finds from Biskupija have always been a matter of interest for many local and foreign experts, a surprising fact is that most of them have neither been published nor has a professional catalogue been made, which particularly refers to the burial material. Moreover, even the burials excavated in the revision excavations have never been completely published.
This is why I am using the opportunity to publish complete results of the revision archaeological excavations done at the burial site at Bukorovića Podvornica, and a few finds that according to Friar Maruna’s notes and the data from MHAS Archives could be confirmed to have belonged to the burial site at a former plough-field, the property of Aćim Popović.
At the former plough-field, belonging to Aćim Popović, two burials were excavated: a female burial in a vaulted masoned tomb with luxury jewellery finds (golden earrings, a necklace of metal and glass moulded bosses, torques), and a male burial with spurs containing zoomorphic strap ends and loops. Based on the analogies both burials are dated between the late 8th and the mid 9th century, and considering the finds from the female burial, and the fact that the male burial is nearby, they probably belong to the late 8th c., or not later than the beginning of the 9th century. Rich finds of jewellery and horsemen’s equipment, as well as burial in the vaulted masoned tomb show that the tombs belong to members of high social rank.
A total of 124 burials were excavated at Bukorovića Podvornica in revision excavations. Although the burial site is situated round a pre-Romanic church, it was formed on the principle of tombs in rows with the west-east orientation of the body. The oldest tombs according to certain finds (ceramic vessels, arrows, flints) probably belong to the mid 9th century. These tombs were mainly destroyed by later burials. More recent tombs contain relatively modest finds of jewellery with many analogies in other sites in the area of early medieval Croatian principality, and they can be dated in the 10th and 11th centuries. In the 11th century the church at Bukorovića Podvornica was no more in function as proved by the fragments of stone furniture and the pavement of the church used as slabs on tombs. This was probably the reason why the burial site was also abandoned when, on the turn of the 11th to 12th century, burials in burial sites without sacral objects were no more permitted.
Ključne riječi
Biskupija; Jewelry; Graveyards
Hrčak ID:
2526
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.2005.
Posjeta: 5.221 *