Search

The paper presents fragments of silver jewelry from grave nos. 9 and 10 at Dragišic hillfort near Šibenik that were explored in 2001, and from grave n. 26 excavated in 2003. The jewelry consists of new finds of plate fibulae of the Liburnian type in the area of Southern Liburnia. The plate fibulae have been classified in two groups: plate fibulae and plate fibulae with serpentinelike features. The fibulae fragments from Dragišic presented in this paper possibly belong to versions nos. 3 and 4 dated to the period B of the last phase of the Liburnian Culture (2nd and 1st century BC). The finds of plate fibulae of the Liburnian type from coastal Croatia and Lika have been analysed, and the following sites have been added to their distribution map: Dragišic and Nezakcij in Istria. Dragišic hillfort is the southernmost site in coastal Croatia where plate fibulae of the Liburnian type have been found, while the northernmost site is Rijeka in Kvarner Bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of human remains from two medieval sites in continental Croatia: Crkvari and Kliškovac. To date, the remains of 121 persons (47 children, 27 women and 47 men) have been excavated from the two sites, and the remains of adult individuals (n=74) have been studied to determine the frequency and distribution of traumas. The average age of males in the analysed sample was 37.4 years, while the average age of females was 36.5 years. A total of 573 long bones were analysed. The overall frequency of trauma on postcranial bones was 2.8% (16/573). In 14 persons (8 females and 6 males), signs of antemortem trauma were observed, while in 6 individuals (4 women and 2 men) perimortem trauma were observed. All perimortem traumas were caused by sharp bladed weapon (probably a sword or battle knife). The overall frequency of cranial trauma was 16.7%. Similar to the postcranial traumas, among these traumas there were several perimortem injuries. A comparison with a number of osteological series from Croatia and other parts of the world shows that the Crkvari and Kliškovac sample is specific because of the high frequency of cranial traumas and the large number of perimortem fractures. Considered together, these results indicate that there was a high risk of interhuman violence at the analysed sites. The fact that four out of six persons with perimortem cuts were women suggests that the observed injuries may have been the results of violence committed by swiftly-moving armed marauding gangs, set on terrorising and looting the civilian population, rather than the results of armed clashes between two military groups. Further multidisciplinary research incorporating osteological, archaeological and historical analysis is necessary to confirm the results obtained from this sample, and to attempt to identify specific episodes of intentional violence that resulted in the observed traumas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]