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Protective Excavations of AS 2a Markovac Našički-Orašje 2 during Construction of the Našice Bypass
Daria Ložnjak Dizdar
orcid.org/0000-0002-5769-2269
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
During trial excavations on the Našice Bypass section of the D-2 state road (County of Osijek-Baranja) east of the settlement of Markovac Našički, a previously unknown Lasinja culture settlement was found (Fig. 1). The AS 2a Markovac Našički-Orašje 2 site lies on a mild elevation located above what used to be a small stream. After machine-digs of the humus layer, different kinds of fills were separated, mostly of a grey-brown or grey colour (Fig. 2). The kinds of unearthed artefacts suggest the following basic types:
- remains of houses with preserved pillar holes (Fig. 4);
- shallow-sunk oval pits;
- a shallow-sunk ditch.
In the southern part of the site, under a layer of humus (SU 1), the remains of a grey-brown layer (SU 3) with finds of pottery, house daub, fragments of stone artefacts and charcoal were classified (Fig. 3). These probably represent the remains of a flooded layer which accumulated immediately along the small stream that used to flow along the southern margin of the site. Traces of above-earth houses, of which pillar holes remained, mostly up to 0.50 m in diameter (Fig. 4), can be identified in the central part of the site. Smaller oval pits were also identified. These contained smaller quantities of pottery shards and house daub. Along the northern margin of the settlement, a shallow dug ditch SU 65 was found, which could be the remains of a fence that surrounded part of the settlement or a courtyard.
The typological characteristics of the pottery fragments, their forms as well as decorative motifs, suggest that they belong to the Lasinja culture. The pottery includes shards of beakers and pots with an S-profile. On the shoulder of the beakers there is frequently a horizontal decorated zone with diagonal lines with tiny incisures.
The AS 2a Markovac Našički-Orašje 2 site, where a surface of approximately 3800 m2 has been excavated, represents the marginal part of a smaller Copper Age settlement which probably had a family structure. The processing of finds will shed light on the previously less known material heritage of the Copper Age population of the wider area of the Našice part of the Podravina region. Pottery shards belonging to the developed and to the later phase of the Lasinja culture have been found at several more sites in the Našice area.
Keywords
rescue excavations; Našice; Lasinja culture; settlement; infrastructure
Hrčak ID:
89780
URI
Publication date:
25.10.2011.
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