Preliminary communication
Underwater archaeological research at the prehistoric site of Pakoštane -Janice
Luka Bekić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9200-0176
; Međunarodni centar za podvodnu arheologiju u Zadru, Zadar, Hrvatska
Mladen Pešić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0889-0768
; Međunarodni centar za podvodnu arheologiju u Zadru, Zadar, Hrvatska
Roman Scholz
; Roemisch-Germanischen Kommission, Frankfurt a. M., Deutschland
Marko Meštrov
; Agencija Han-Vrana, Biograd na Moru, Hrvatska
Abstract
The underwater archaeological research of the Roman port in Janice Cove was carried out in 2004, 2011 and 2012. While the research was initially focused on the Early Roman port, the interest of archaeologists soon shifted to the nearby prehistoric site discovered by Marko Meštrov. In the early phase of the research on this site, a few locations with a large concentration of surface finds of potsherds and flint tools were identified. Two 2x1m archaeological trenches were placed at these positions in subsequent year. Large quantities of potsherds, flint tools and some bone fragments were found in both trenches, and wooden elements were found in Trench 1 at a depth of only 10 centimeters. All these finds could be dated to Neolithic or Eneolithic. The developed layering of the site and significant quantity of the flint tools, pottery and organic material collected indicate that the area had been settled over a long period of time. We still cannot reliably determine the character of the settlement that used to be here, but by all accounts it was a pile-dwelling settlement above shallow water. In any case, only a small number of prehistoric settlements submerged as a result of sea-level changes have been found in Croatia so far and their research has been very scarce.
Keywords
Pakoštane – Janice; prehistoric site; pottery; flint tools; Neolithic; Eneolithic; pile-dwelling settlement
Hrčak ID:
162395
URI
Publication date:
10.5.2016.
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