Page 28 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(1) (2024)

The flat graves were located in a sinkhole, while tained, which is now being fully evaluated and
to the west and north of the sinkhole stretched interconnected.
graves under tumuli. The entire necropolis was It has been confirmed, through the exca-
partially destroyed by unprofessional excavations vation of new burial complexes, that larger ne-
and digs during World War II (1941?), reported- cropoles existed along the eastern and south-
ly conducted by an officer named Mario Botter, western approaches to the settlement, near the
though without any professional publications or still-active land routes. Now, a northern necrop-
documentation (Baćić 1951; cf. Botter 2020). It is olis has also been confirmed, which was not
assumed that burials were carried out here dur- outside the urban fabric but within it, assum-
ing the Bronze Age, based on the fragments of ing that the prehistoric settlement followed the
pottery found in the area. Despite cautions from terrain configuration and existing walls to the
Boris Baćić, who attempted to document the site greatest extent. Given the thick cultural layers in
28 as thoroughly as possible during the 1960s, no re- the northern stretch of the settlement, especially
cent research or revisions of the site have never from the prehistoric period, and the Bronze Age
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 12 (2024), številka 1 / volume 12 (2024), number 1
been conducted (Baćić 1960, 2; 1964b, 1). Nev- grave excavated near Sv. Katarina, this thesis re-
ertheless, this site offers significant potential for mains credible, though still under-researched.
understanding the funerary archaeology of the Certainly, these three necropoles testify to a sig-
Osor society and its wider surroundings, in con- nificant population during the beginning and
nection with the settlements on nearby hillforts early phases of the Iron Age, and their need to
and the evaluation of the entire cultural space be buried in various, but strategically important,
during the Bronze and Iron Ages. places. All of them were partially destroyed and
only partially excavated, although the preserved,
Discussion albeit small, sample points to certain peculiari-
‘Death in Osor’, or the methods, practices, and ties as well as many similarities.
Thus, the necropolis near the cemetery and
burial rituals during the Bronze and Iron Ages, Sv. Marija has been classified as tumulus burials
is an extensive and immensely important topic, and the one at Kavanela as a flat grave necrop-
which has only been briefly presented through olis, while the necropolis at Sv. Petar, based on
this synthetic review. Knowledge of this seg- available data, cannot yet be clearly classified in
ment of social life in ancient Osor had been con- terms of burial methods, with no approach be-
siderably modest, with the exception of the pub- ing ruled out. These findings reveal different fu-
lished excavation of the tumulus near Sv. Marija. nerary practices reflected in graves with varying
Due to the lack of documentation from older principles of grave architecture: from urn and
excavations, scientific discussions over the past simple grave pits and graves carved into bedrock
fifty years have focused on analysing numer- at Kavanela and Sv. Petar, to those surrounded
ous finds of material culture, the vast majority by unworked stone blocks and possibly covered
of which came from graves or from the sacrifi- with slabs, and more complex stone chests at Sv.
cial site of the western necropolis at Kavanela. Petar and Sv. Marija.
These finds represent a wealth of potential for It is noticeable, however, that the wealthi-
understanding and interpreting this exception- er graves, with a greater number and variety of
al part of Osor's cultural history (Glogović 1982; grave goods, are typically those found in stone
1989; 2003; Blečić Kavur 2014b; 2015; 2020; chests, primarily documented at Sv. Marija, fol-
2022). Thanks to archival resources and the re- lowed by Sv. Petar and Mala Prepoved. Multiple
sults of new systematic and rescue excavations, burials are known so far only from one exam-
a significant amount of new data regarding the ple of a grave in the tumulus at Sv. Marija, sug-
topography and typology of graves has been ob- gesting its use over a longer period, but within at