Preliminary communication
Salamandrija on Palagruža: site formation from the Early Neolithic to the present day
Maja Miše
orcid.org/0000-0003-3616-670X
; Marie Curie Research Fellow, UCL Institute of Archaeology
Vedran Barbarić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6258-0168
; University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Asja Zec
Branko Kirigin
Abstract
The authors are presenting the results and interpretation
of archaeological excavations spanning two decades
on the small island of Palagruža situated in the
centre of the Adriatic Sea. Palagruža attracted the attention
of researchers when the cult site of the Greek
hero Diomedes was discovered in 1994. However, archaeological
excavations yielded numerous artefacts
and architectural remains, which have shown that
Palagruža was visited in different historic periods, in
the Early Neolithic and the Late Copper/Early Bronze
Age, from the Archaic to Early Roman Imperial Period,
in Late Antiquity, the Early Middle Ages and
from the 19th century to the present. Analysis of the
archaeological artefacts unearthed on Palagruža has
shown that this small island was utilized for different
purposes: it was used as a staging post, an orientation
and observation point, a sacred place, a fort and
as a lighthouse. The interpretation of cultural layers
presented here demonstrates that Palagruža was in the
focus during the main turning points in human history,
testifying to its importance in Adriatic and Mediterranean
seaborne traffic.
Keywords
Adriatic Sea; Palagruža; Salamandrija; stratigraphy; seaborne traffic
Hrčak ID:
217264
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2018.
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