A round table on the Croatian-Australian archaeological research at Bribirska Glavica featured presentations by historians, archaeologists and museum experts from Sydney, Oslo, Zagreb, Šibenik, Zadar and Split.
A round table was staged at the Croatian Heritage Foundation by organiser the Australian embassy in Croatia to showcase the Croatian-Australian work in exploring Bribirska Glavica. Archaeological excavations have been launched at Bribirska Glavica spearheaded by the ancient history and Croatian studies departments at Sydney’s Macquarie University, the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split, the Museum of the City of Šibenik and a number of other partners. Bribirska Glavica is one of the largest archaeological sites in Croatia and was inhabited from the Neolithic (New Stone Age) right up to the 17th century. It is best known as the seat of the House of Šubić in the 13th and 14th centuries. See the photo gallery of the site at: www.sibenikregion.com.
The round table was moderated by Mirjana Piskulić, a Croatian Heritage Foundation staffer who returned from Australia two years ago where she served as the Croatian general consul in Sydney.
The guests and lecturers were greeted at the opening of the event by Susan Cox, the Australian ambassador to Croatia, followed by the presentations of the round table participants. The first lecture on the Multiple Dimensions of Bribirska Glavica was given by Dr Danijel Dzino of Sydney’s Macquarie University, followed by a presentation on the 2014 Varvaria/Breberium/Bribir Archaeological Project by professor Victor Ghica of the University of Oslo, and by a lecture on Roman Pottery from Bribirska Glavica in 2014 presented by Dr Kristina Jelinčić Vučković and Dr Ivana Ožanić Roguljić of Zagreb’s Institute of Archaeology.
In the second part of the event the history of the project at Bribirska Glavica was presented by Nikolina Uroda of the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split, Emil Podrug of the Museum of the City of Šibenik spoke of the Prehistory of Bribir and its environs, professor Mladen Ančić of the University of Zadar spoke of yet another lost medieval urban settlement, professor Nikola Jakšić of the University of Zadar discussed the artistic heritage of medieval Bribir, and Dr Ante Milošević of the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split spoke of examples of ritual sacrifice during the construction of houses in medieval Bribir.
One of the most significant archaeological sites in Croatia, Roman Varvaria, i.e. old Croatian Bribir, now known as Bribirska Glavica, is located in the Šibenik hinterland, some twelve kilometres to the northwest of Skradin. The plateau of Bribirska Glavica hill (300 m.a.s.l.) is a culture monument of the highest category, known among archaeologists as the “Croatian Troy”. Traces of habitation have been preserved at the site from prehistory almost to the present day – prominent among the visible remains are megalithic walls erected during an unknown period in the ancient past. Bribirska Glavica was also the site of the Croatian capital during the 13th to 14th centuries. The “uncrowned Croatian king Pavao I Šubić Bribirski, Ban of Croatia and ruler of Bosnia, founder of the house of Šubić Zrinski” ruled, namely, from Bribirska Glavica at the time.
In 2008 the portal of the Croatian Culture Council ran an excellent article by Ljubomir Škrinjar under the headline Bribirska Glavica – the Croatian Troy, in which he notes that the “first research began in 1908 under the leadership of Friar Lujo Marun Skradinjanin (the father of Croatian archaeology) and has lasted to the present day with brief interruptions, with only a fifth of the area within the walls having been researched to date.”
Research of the site and the conservation of the walls have been continued as of a few years ago. Ljubomir Škrinjar notes that the European Union has financed archaeological excavations, restoration and preservation of the site since 2005 through the CARDS programme.
Friar Lujo Marun referred to Bribirska Glavica as the Croatian Troy as early as in 1908. The oldest traces of human habitation have been discovered in the nearby fertile field along the Bribirčica creek, which flows into the Krka River – the remains of a settlement and pottery from the New Stone Age were found at the village of Krivače. In his article on Bribir – the Croatian Troy published on the Drniš portal Ivan Begonja reports that the “first traces of a human presence are from the Neolithic period (The Impresso, Danilo and Hvar cultures), while the beginnings of habitation date to the early Bronze Age. Based on the pottery found a greater settlement developed only by the late Bronze Age, with uninterrupted habitation since that time.” (dšš)
Read more at udruga-kameleon.hr.
Photo by: Snježana Radoš