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Exploration of the Igralište site in Crikvenica in 2007
Goranka Lipovac Vrkljan
; Institute of archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Bartul Šiljeg
; Institute of archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The most recent explorations in 2007 are a direct continuation of explorations in 2006. Excavations continued at the same site all the way to a layer which represents a first-century workshop. At the moment, the earliest activities of the workshop cannot be defined because the level of sterile soil for this entire site has not yet been defined.
Apart from the large western kiln which was entirely examined, archaeological structures are not completely defined. Namely, an approximately 20 cm archaeological layer remains above sterile soil over the entire area of the site (ca. 2,000 m2), which will be the subject of explorations in 2008. This situation occurred due to the complexity of stratigraphic events at the archaeological site. Just when the use of a given position at the site was fully clarified, there suddenly appeared new elements which indicated that the workshop’s activities changed several times during its operation. However, these changes were all within the scope of pottery production. This was the reason why the area of explorations was not extended, rather research was limited to the same area which opened in 2006. Another reason for this decision is the exceptional value of the discoveries within the pottery workshops. It is fortunate that there was no urban development at the Igralište site in Crikvenica over the course of the past centuries. This fact helped preserve the site and finds in situ, seemingly over its entire area. The level of preservation of the finds makes this site a unique case anywhere in Croatia. Judging by published reports, the uniqueness of this site is not even limited to Croatia, but is much broader. Up to the present, apart from Crikvenica, none of the excavated pottery manufacture sites revealed the entire assortment of preserved archaeological structures and finds of a pottery workshop. The finds from Ptuj, which was a prominent crafts centre, including pottery production, are comparable to those from Crikvenica. The finds from Italy, from the Forlimpopoli site near Rimini, can be placed alongside this site. In this very short list, the Crikvenica pottery workshop stands out due to the discovery of pottery with local features, which reveals strong domestic production at the very beginning of Romanization. Its typology will be defined in the coming years and this will be the basic sample from which it will be possible to deduce the basis of Roman provincial pottery in Croatia.
The previous hypothesis that there was a pottery workshop with local features at the Igralište site was confirmed. Also, parts of the workshop were discovered over the entire open area: a room with eaves, channels for water supply and drainage, rooms used for pottery production and other finds. The stamps of the workshop’s owner were found on tegulae bearing the name Sextus Metillius Maximus. In addition, a special type of amphorae was discovered which is presumed to have been produced in the Crikvenica workshop as a local type, albeit modelled after samples of Forlimpopoli amphorae (Late Republic and Early Imperial amphorae with flat bottoms).
Keywords
Classical Antiquity; Crikvenica; Ad turres; pottery workshop; kilns; amphorae
Hrčak ID:
34062
URI
Publication date:
19.3.2009.
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