Histria antiqua, Vol. 19 No. 19, 2010.
Review article
RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS NEAR POREČ: THE ANTIQUE SITE OF RADI AND THE DISCOVERY OF A NEARBY PREHISTORIC CAVE
Teodora ŠALOV
; Arheološki muzej Istre Carrarina 3 HR - 52100 Pula
Abstract
From 5 to 23 October 2009, a protective archaeological
investigation was conducted at the location Radi - VU
303, near the village of Garbin, southeast of the town
of Poreč. The investigation started after the location VU
303 had been marked as a possible archaeological site
due to a large number of tegulae and imbrices observed
during the survey of a section of a future gas pipeline.
The investigators laid out a grid of squares. Ten squares
were investigated and twenty-four stratigraphic units
were recorded.
Preliminary results allowed for the dating of the site
in the later period of the Roman Empire, from the 2nd to
4th centuries AD. At the moment, we cannot be sure of the
purpose and character of this site, although architectural
remains were observed, which are greatly devastated and
not sufficiently investigated, thus yielding few data about
the site.
At the beginning of 1969, the company Agrolaguna
from Poreč planted a field of hazelnut trees, which
devastated the site in question. The field was cultivated
until some twenty years ago. Some architectural remains
continue to the west, and future investigations might
reveal the purpose of the structure.
Ceramic and glass finds recovered at the site are
indications that the site holds mostly coarse kitchenware
and only some fine pottery examples, and that the glass
items are mostly in fragments. What is surprising is the
number of particular finds, such as twenty bronze coins,
which should help in dating the site more precisely, after
laboratory treatment.
While the investigations of the site of Radi were going
on, I made a survey of the area northeast of the site where
unusual fissures were observed in the ground and on the
rocks, which could be read as indications of the possible
presence of a cave. I observed fragments of prehistoric
pottery with brushed surface decorations scattered
around, probably unearthed by foxes or badgers which
had dug holes there.
The speleologist Nenad Kuzmanović, who has priceless
knowledge of caves and pits, and also experience in
archaeological investigations relating to them, confirmed
my suspicions about the presence of a cave.
The constructing of a ring road around Poreč, which
passes close to the cave site, might bring about new insights
into the purpose of the site of Radi VU 303, and also lead
to more revelations about the prehistoric cave.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
85458
URI
Publication date:
1.11.2010.
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