Prethodno priopćenje
Preliminary Communication-Rescue Archaeological Excavations at the Fortress in Sinj 1998-1999
Anita Librenjak
Dubravka Čerina
Sažetak
Above the town of Sinj there is a fortress called Grad built on top of the hill. This prominent place was inhabited from the prehistoric times to the recent times. Roman Osinium, Late Roman castle Asinio, and the seat of Nelipići in the Middle Ages - castrum regale Zyn, have all left the name to the modern town of Sinj.
In the summer of 1998 heavy equipment was used to widen and make a trail at the foot of the hill all round the Grad Fortress in Sinj, and all the way to the main western gate. Illicit construction started due to the urged wish to erect sculpture compositions of the Way of the Cross. The medieval fortress Grad is a protected cultural monument, which is the reason why the Conservation Department for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage in Split stopped the illicit work. Rescue archaeological excavations followed; they started in November 1998 and were completed in December 1999. The excavations were done at the foot of the fortress at the site of the Fourteen Stations of the future Way of the Cross and in the area of korlat - the outer yard on the western side of the fortress (Fig. 3). A part of the western and northern fencing wall with traces of palisade was discovered in the korlat, and the remains of walls of two military objects from 17th/18th c. These are most probably barracks - for the military, as indicated in depictions of the fortress in the late 17th and 18th c. (Figures 1 and 2). Architectonic remains of buildings and houses were excavated under the southern walls of Grad. According to the fragments of glazed pottery, the most frequent among small archaeological finds, the remains of residential architecture can be dated as early as the 16th century, when a minor settlement was developing at the foot of the hill.
At the Sixth Station, six circular holes were excavated, dug in bedrock. They were most probably used as pits where food from the nearby houses was stored, and in the first half of the 20th century, in their secondary use, they were used as a storage space for water. The elderly locals remember that rainwater and precipitation water from the “holes” was used to water the nearby vineyards and gardens.
From the archaeological point of view, the most interesting of all is the Twelfth Station, situated on the northern slope of the fortress. Some hill settlement remains were found - fragments of dry wall and a large quantity of coarse pottery, dated back in the Iron Age. Most of the pottery is not decorated, and the ornamented samples are decorated with applied ribbon relief, geometrical motifs made with a sharp object on fresh clay. Pottery was made of poorly purified clay with the addition of crushed limestone and sand, showing the characteristics of the early Iron-Age vessels with thick walls and a pronounced rim. The future systematic archaeological excavations might discover the possible terraces of the prehistoric fort-settlement.
Ključne riječi
fortress Grad in Sinj; Way of Cross; rescue archaeological excavations; korlat; palisade; pits; Iron Age
Hrčak ID:
2637
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.2005.
Posjeta: 3.068 *