Original scientific paper
Pottery from Vela Cave near Vranja (Istria)
Stašo Forenbaher
Petra Rajić Šikanjić
Preston T. Miracle
Abstract
Pottery from Vela Cave near Vranja (Istria )
Stašo FORENBAHER, Petra RAJIĆ ŠIKANJIĆ, Preston T. MIRACLE
Vela Cave is located in Vela Draga, at the western foot of Učka Mountain. A large,
northwest-facing rock shelter, some twenty metres wide, opens in the steep hillside about
thirty metres above the bottom of a narrow gorge (Figure 1). Directly across the gorge, in
its opposite flank, lies the entrance to Pupićina Cave. Pupićina was excavated extensively in
the course of an international scientific research project, aimed at gathering evidence about
the paleoenvironment, prehistoric settlement and subsistence strategies in northern Istria
during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene. On that occasion, Vela Cave
was investigated archaeologically from 1996 until 2001 (Figure 2). This report discusses the
phasing of Vela Cave, briefly describes its stratigraphy and the general characteristics of the
pottery, and presents the results of the detailed analyses of the pottery assemblages from
specific phases of the site.
Archaeological layers are about five metres thick near the western end of the excavated
area, while they become considerably thinner towards the east. We divided these deposits
into seven chronological phases (Figures 3 & 4). Although some of them have been badly
disturbed (especially the two most recent phases), it seems that the disturbance did not result
in extensive mixing of the archaeological evidence.
Phase 1 contained small archaeological finds, primarily consisting of faunal remains and
flaked stone artifacts. They were dated by radiocarbon to the early Holocene (Beta-145093:
9680±170 bp, calibrated 1SD range: 9290-8810 BC), and have been attributed provisionally
to the Mesolithic. Three potsherds, considered intrusive finds from later phases, were recovered
from near the top of the youngest contexts attributed to this phase.
Phase 2 contained pottery, all of which can be attributed to the Neolithic, based on its
stylistic traits (Figures 7 & 8).
Phase 3 contained an approximately equal number of temporally sensitive potsherds
attributable to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. A single radiocarbon date (Beta-188922:
5540±120 bp, calibrated 1SD range: 4520-4250 BC) corresponds to the Late Neolithic. Some
of the contexts seem to have been disturbed, others contain mixed artifacts from different
periods, and stratigraphic inversions are apparent. We have therefore isolated this phase as an
“intermediate zone” between the Neolithic Phase 2 and the Bronze Age Phase 4.
Phase 4 contained pottery, all of which is attributable to the Bronze Age, based on its stylistic traits (Figures 9-13). Many of the potsherds can be more closely attributed to the
Middle and Late Bronze Age. Near the bottom of this phase’s deposits, we encountered a
dense concentration of pottery (Figure 17). A context some forty centimetres in diameter
and some twenty centimetres deep (Context 130a) yielded more than 12 kilograms of pottery
fragments, belonging to some fifteen vessels (Figures 10-12). Presumably, a small pit was filled
with broken pottery vessels and silty clay, which would have been indistinguishable from the
surrounding soil, save for the density of finds.
Phase 5 contained mostly nondiagnostic fragments of coarse vessels that may be attributed
either to the Bronze Age or the Iron Age (Figure 14). According to the general character
of the pottery and its stratigraphic position, this phase can be assigned roughly to the final
Bronze Age or the Iron Age.
Phase 6 did not contain pottery, except for a couple of nondiagnostic fragments that were
recovered from the very bottom of this phase and are considered residual finds. Since it yielded
no datable evidence, we attribute Phase 6 to a period between the Late Bronze Age and the
Late Roman Period, according to its stratigraphic position.
Phase 7 contained occasional fragments of coarse pottery vessels, most of them exhibiting
clear evidence of having been wheel thrown. Two brick-red fragments of a small bowl are
attributable to the Late Roman Period (Figure 15). All other finds from this phase probably
belong to the same period.
The results of the stratigraphic analysis, the formal analyses of the pottery, as well as the
relative frequencies of the finds (Figure 16), indicate that Vela Cave should be seen as an
integral part of a complex site, consisting of two neighbouring caves: Pupićina and Vela.
Apparently, during all of the post-Mesolithic phases, Vela Cave served primarily as a place
for keeping flocks. Most likely, it was used by the same herders who occasionally occupied
Pupićina Cave, just across the ravine. The function of the cave varied somewhat only during
the Middle and/or Late Bronze Age. During that period, ritual activities may have been
carried out in Vela Cave. The unusual contents of a small pit (Context 130a) may represent
the modest remains of those activities.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
34460
URI
Publication date:
15.11.2008.
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