Original scientific paper

Archeological Confirmation Of Fishing And Shell And Snail Harvesting In The Region Between Cetina And Neretva

Marinko Tomasović orcid.org/0000-0003-4148-4470 ; Gradski muzej Makarska

Abstract

Human communities, whose supplementary source of food besides shell and snail harvesting was fishing, had been present in the region between Cetina and Neretva since the Neolithic. The shells were found in the caves Livčina above Marušići, Lisičja east of Marušići and na Klisurama (on the cliffs) above Pisak. Svetica on Dubci confirms the settlement even in the Paleolithic. The inhabitants of Javornice along the left low flow of Cetina and the nearby Smolašnica had to be engaged in river fishing. Intensive shell and snail harvesting was proven in the explored cave Bubnjavača above the sanctuary Vepric near Makarska from 6000 BC till 2000 BC. About 250 shells were found in one probe. Their remains were found to the east in Postinje along the cliffs of Biokovo, in the village Makar. Snails and shells were registered on the site of St Peter in the marine centre of Makarska, founded in the 3rd millennium BC with the continuity in the late antiquity. It is assumed that the Phoenicians collected snails in the sea of Makarska to produce purple colour from their glands and they also established their colony. Among these snails are Murex brandaris L. and Murex trunculus L, found on the archeological sites in Makarska.
Although the ancient period has been a synonym for the archeology of this coastal region for a long time in comparison to the previous period there are no significant progresses in the economy. In the famous fishing positions for the seine nets in the bays there are Roman ruins on which are found ceramic weights for smaller nets or hooks. The stone anchor from Osejave in Makarska is probably the rest of the fishing gear. A characteristic fishing gear was found in Narona. Iron hook is among the findings from the 3rd century BC up to 7th century AD, and the bronze needle for mending nets is also from the Roman period. Fishing in the Middle Ages was obviously based on the experience within the Roman economy. The trading activity of the forts at the mouth of Neretva, Brštanik in the 14th century and Posrednica and Koša in the 15th century in the area near today’s Opuzen where backwaters separate, had to have impact on fishing. In their work shipyard Brštanik had to take into consideration the needs of fishing which the sources from the 14th and 15th century did not specifically mention as in the neighboring areas. It is known that the fishermen from Pelješac went fishing in the estuary of Neretva at the end of the 16th century. Fish trade from the coastal areas to Bosnia, registered in the first half of the 15th century, also had to be on Neretva. The eel (anguille) was the only individually mentioned type of fish. In Pasičina, on the right side of Neretva, the name Tangarija for one hill-fort is associated with dyer’s workshop, maybe for net protection.
The benefit of shells and snails had a broader significance. The decoration of vessels by imprinting the edges of shells and snails was characteristic for the impresso culture of the Neolithic (around 6000 till 4500 BC) in the Mediterranean. Such decoration is represented on numerous exemplars from the cave Bubnjavača. Dye Murex brandaris L was used in the first half of the 20th century as an oil lamp. The oil was poured into the snail shell and the rocks were pulled through its channel (‘‘spike’’). Art and epigraphic monuments do not provide direct indication of fishing. Perhaps the exception is the graphite illustration of fish on the tile fragment from Brela, Jakiruša bay.

Keywords

sea shells and snails; purple snails; villae rusticae; ceramic weights for nets; trade in the estuary of Neretva

Hrčak ID:

137871

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/137871

Publication date:

15.4.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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