Page 22 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(1) (2024)

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studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 12 (2024), številka 1 / volume 12 (2024), number 1

Figure 5. Graves 1 and 8 dug into the bedrock at the Preko mosta site (Lošinj) (Los 2018, elaborated by Martina Blečić
Kavur, 2024)

location (fig. 1), within the Roman necropolis, Tène scheme, a silver plate fibula, bronze and sil-
three more Iron Age graves were documented. ver earrings of the Kvarner type, as well as other
These were skeletal burials, although the osteo- jewellery pieces. The richest of these graves was
logical remains were barely preserved due to the grave 1 (fig. 5). Unlike previous graves from the
high salinity of the limestone substrate, as the urban area, these graves allow for a reassessment
graves were located right above the sea. Given of the material culture from the Late Iron Age
the small size of the burial pits, it is likely that to the 4th/3rdcentury BCE (Blečić Kavur 2015,

the deceased were buried in a crouched position. 158–177; 2021, 545). In this context, the discov-
Despite the poor preservation, these graves are ery of a third silver plate fibula is significant, es-
extremely valuable, providing new insights into pecially given that it represents the first archae-
burial customs. For the first time, smaller grave ological record of such an item in Osor and may
pits, dug directly into the bedrock, were docu- lead to the re-evaluation of older findings.
mented, with the deceased placed in the pits
along with grave goods (Los 2018, 12–14). The Sv. Marija
grave goods included known items from the East of the city walls, near today’s cemetery and
Osor repertoire, such as a spectacle fibula from the church of Sv. Marija, a large tumulus was
grave 8, a Baška-type fibula, fibulae of Middle La partially excavated. Based on the gathered arte-