Other
Archaeological Excavations of Stari grad Krapina in 2008
Tatjana Tkalčec
orcid.org/0000-0003-3963-7706
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
On the slopes of Strahinjščica, above medieval Krapina, there used to be two burgs, on one side Stari grad Krapina, and on the opposite side, on the hill called Josipovac, Novi grad, where perhaps there was a fortress even in older periods. Krapina with its two burgs was a firm base for the defence system toward Carniola. A particularly favourable strategic position was that of Krapina’s Stari grad, with its Romanesque nucleus on the highest hill at 270 m above sea level, but encompassing also up to 70 m lower hill terraces. The steepness of the hill facilitated exemplary control of the Krapinčica River valley. Archaeological excavations conducted in 2008 generated a new understanding of the functions of the space of the upper courtyard of the fortress that was formed in later stages of the functioning of the fortress. Moveable archaeological finds and single finds of wooden facilities and building structures already suggest the functioning of this space within the fortress in the Late Middle Ages. While on one side, in the zone of so-called sector A, layers were identified that are rich in pottery finds and animal bones, i.e. the waste and discards of the medieval urban population which accumulated in that area over a longer period in the High and Late Middle Ages, mostly because it slid downhill from a higher point, probably from the tower of the upper gate, on the other side, in sectors B and C, the identified shape of this space suggests residential and economic structures either made of stone and mortar (sector C) or wood (sector B).
Keywords
burg; archaeological excavations; Stari grad Krapina; Late Middle Ages; thirteenth-fifteenth centuries
Hrčak ID:
50448
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2009.
Visits: 2.416 *