Page 145 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

Figure 6: Osor, Old Port – Lay-
out of The Archaeological Ex-
cavation with Marked Sectors
and Trenches (sectors – red; ar-
chaeological trenches – white; 145
reference points – yellow)
(made by Sara Popović and
Denis Jakopović, 2023)
wooden piles were recorded (fig. 4). These likely The most recent underwater rescue excava-
date from the Venetian period and were used for tions in the waters of Osor took place in 2023, as Zrinka Ettinger Starčić
mooring ships (Dugonjić 2010, 218–9; Ettinger part of two projects: the Nerezine Linear Con-
Starčić 2012, 625). struction Agglomeration and the route for a new
The entire area to the north, from Osor 110 kV underwater cable from Cres to Lošinj.
and its medieval walls to Bijar Bay, was also sur- Two different locations in Osor Port were in-
veyed, as it had been in the 1970s. The presence vestigated: the first by the Department for Un-
of a large quantity of archaeological and build- derwater Archaeology of the Croatian Conser-
ing material was confirmed, including fragments vation Institute from Zagreb, and the second
of various types of amphorae, pottery, tegulae, by the ARS NAUTICA Institute for Maritime
imbrices, and stoppers from different periods, Heritage and the University of Zadar.
ranging from antiquity to the modern era. An At the first location, directly in front of the
exceptional find was a fragment of stone sculp- entrance to the Kavanela channel, a trench was
ture, dated to the 9th century, which was most excavated measuring 107 m long, 3 m wide, and
likely part of a pluteus (a low stone screen) from up to 4 m deep (fig. 2; 6). The excavation area
an Osor church (fig. 5) (Dugonjić 2010, 218; Et- was divided into five sectors. On the Cres side
tinger Starčić 2012, 625). of the trench (sectors 1 and 2), around ten wood-
In 2014, another amphora was discovered en piles were found in sector 2, which had been
at the entrance to Osor Bay on the Lošinj side. used to secure the stone embankment. Along
During a rescue excavation led by Zrinka Et- the coast of the island of Lošinj (sectors 4 and
tinger Starčić of the Lošinj Museum, a com- 5), approximately thirty wooden piles were dis-
plete Lamboglia 2-type amphora was found covered in sector 4, which had secured the mud-
at a depth of 11.7 metres. However, due to the dy and sandy Lošinj coastline, in contrast to the
circumstances of its discovery, it was not pos- rocky Cres side (fig. 6). This difference is due to
sible to determine its original site, and the the stronger sea currents on the Cres side, which
amphora was therefore classified under Vrs- prevent as much sediment from being deposited
alović’s category of isolated or individual ob- as along the Lošinj stretch. As this is a shipping
jects and is now kept in the Osor Archaeolog- channel with strong currents, it has been estab-
ical Collection. lished that the canal is mechanically cleaned and