Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.33254/piaz.39.2.2
On the Stone Mounds of the Island of Šćedro
Mia Marijan
orcid.org/0000-0001-8101-8517
; Split, Croatia
Abstract
Within the project ‘Mapping, Documenting, and Surveying the Archaeological Sites on the Island of Šćedro’, conducted in the summers of 2018 and 2019, many stone mounds were discovered on the island of Šćedro that had not been recorded in previous expert and amateur archaeological research. The field survey and remote (aerial) sensing documented circular, oval, and elongated bulk cairns, in addition to modern dry-stone walls. A review of satellite images from the State Geodetic Administration from 1968 and new aerial records observed the influence of vegetation on the (reduced) visibility of the archaeological formations from the air. In particular, the study of the circular cairns identified patterns in the selection of stone material and the position for their erection. Based on their characteristics, their location in the landscape, and similar structures already researched in the region, we assume that they are of an archaeological character, probably prehistoric burial mounds, whose presence on the island of Šćedro may indicate a marked intensity of use of the island in the past. However, the character and time of construction of each mound should be confirmed and clearly defined by expert archaeological excavations.
Keywords
island of Šćedro; prehistory; cairns; tumuli; burials; field survey; remote sensing; aerial archaeology
Hrčak ID:
287984
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2022.
Visits: 729 *