Original scientific paper
A new finding of the Metroac religion from Kruševo near Zadar, Croatia
Kornelija A. Giunio
; Arheološki muzej Zadar, Zadar, Hrvatska
Abstract
The Archaeological Museum Zadar undertook archaeological excavations in 2007 and 2008 at the site of the ancient St. George’s Church at the cemetery in Kruševo near Obrovac. Kruševo is a village located south of Obrovac, in northern Dalmatia, in the Zadar County, the town located in the canyon of the river Zrmanja (Tedanius flumen), 45 km from Zadar. In the immediate vicinity is the Liburnian hillfort of Cvijina Gradina, one of the larger Liburnian fortifications. The archaeological excavations at the site in Kruševo uncovered architectural remains and small findings from prehistory to the present day, as a Roman structure of unknown purpose. Among all the findings there is the fragment of a relief at issue in this article. It is a fragment of a thinner stone slab, the front decorated with a bas relief, a fragment of a frieze. With almost any doubt we can identify the figure of the mourning Attis (Attis tristis). The relief can be dated about middle 2nd century AD. Diverse, important and quite numerous are the findings of the cult of the Great Mother in Liburnia (Iader, Aenona, Burnum, Asseria, Sidrona). The first sanctuaries and monuments dedicated to Magna Mater appeared at the end of the 1st or the beginning of the 2nd century AD, when in numerous Liburnian cities strengthens the influence of colonists from the East in economic and social terms, resulting in expansion and acceptance of Oriental religions.
Keywords
Liburnia; Kruševo; Attis; Metroac religion
Hrčak ID:
162410
URI
Publication date:
10.5.2016.
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