Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/yvjrdcqg8y
Ošlje-Gradac Fortification and the Village of Ošlje from a Historical-Archaeological Perspective
Josipa Baraka Perica
; University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Nikša Grbić
Abstract
Presented in this article are the results of an archaeological investigation carried out in October 2015 of a small fortification situated on Mount Gradac, in the environs of the Ošlje village. The fortification is part of a significant microlocation which, apart from the mentioned structure, is dominated by an eight-leafed sacred building, the so-called Rotonda.
Archaeological excavations have confirmed that the fortification dates from the late antiquity, of rectangular ground plan with a cistern on the west side. Small fortifications of this type were primarily used as watchtowers and as such have been detected on several locations of the once Roman province of Dalmatia. Although they usually follow simple rectangular architectural solutions, square-ground plan fortifications can also be found. Commanding positions in the immediate vicinity of a village were most commonly chosen for their construction, that is, locations above sacred buildings or any other space that might be considered sacred, on the locations overlooking a villa, port, road or by the edge of a field. Future archaeological investigation of the space surrounding the so-called Rotonda should illuminate the archaeological topography and chronology of this microlocation.
Keywords
Ošlje; Gradac; late antiquity fortifi cation; Rotonda; early Middle Ages; ancient Christianity; kastra oikoumena; Iosli
Hrčak ID:
224955
URI
Publication date:
11.9.2019.
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