Page 44 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

riod in the 2nd millennium BC. During this to 1900 cal BC (Ilijanić et al. 2024) is a rare ex-
time, climate fluctuations and natural disasters ample of geological research that archaeology
caused population shifts, resulting in new types can profit from.
of fortified settlements in protected locations. Another approach to studying hillforts is
The widespread presence of prehistoric, forti- the use of GIS analysis. Čučković (2017) argues
fied settlements on Cres-Lošinj archipelago was for a link between seafaring and the Bronze
first noted at the beginning of the 20th century, Age settlements on the island of Lošinj due to
when Marchesetti (1903) documented and listed the numerous hillforts, which, in his opinion,
more than 400 hillforts in Istria and the Kvarn- are unlikely to have been built for agricultural
er Bay region. His work from 1924 is dedicated purposes due to the limited amount of availa-
to the Kvarner Islands (Marchesetti 1924). ble agricultural land. A comparison with Istria
Since then, the state of preservation and vis- could suggest that most of the hillforts are likely
44 ibility of dry stone walls – which formed hillfort to date in the Bronze Age (Čučković 2017, 532).
settlement features, topographically distinctive Overall, research into prehistoric hillforts
enclosures, or were used as a part of agro-pasto- within the Cres-Lošinj archipelago is insuffi-
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 2 / volume 13 (2025), number 2
ral activities – has changed in many locations. cient. While some studies have been conducted
The large-scale abandonment of agro-pastoral on other islands in the Kvarner Basin (e.g. Kon-
use, especially after the Second World War, has estra and Nowacki 2020), a general comparison
led to complete coverage by scrub or bushland in with prehistoric karst research on the nearby
many areas (fig. 1b and fig. 1c). Some enclosures mainland illustrates the advances that have been
or presumed hillforts are not visible in the relief made in the study of prehistoric settlements and
due to intensive agricultural terracing or mili- landscapes in general (e.g. Bernardini et al. 2013;
tary installations (e.g. Piccolo Calvario, Umpil- Vinci and Bernardini 2017; Bernardini et al.
jak and M. Telegrafo on the island of Lošinj). 2020; Lozić and Štular 2024; Mlekuž Vrhovnik
Archaeological research into hillforts has and Fabec 2024).
focused so far on unsystematic surveys and
small-scale excavations (Marchesetti 1924; Mi- Methodological Approach
rosavljević 1955; 1956; 1959; 1960; 1974). A de- In a region where no new systematic research on
tailed summary of this research can be found in hillfort settlements has been conducted for dec-
publications of Blečić Kavur (2014, 25–41; 2015, ades, the first step is to compile basic documen-
25–38). Works summarising the distribution of tation. This was achieved through a systematic
hillforts across the entire Cres-Lošinj archipel- interpretation of ALS data. Operated from an
ago essentially reported the same information aircraft, this remote sensing technique can cov-
without verifying their distribution in the field er large areas in a relatively short time, providing
(e.g. Ćus-Rukonić et al. 2013; Ćus-Rukonić 1982, dense 3D point clouds that represent the terrain
9–13; 2005). The difficult terrain combined with of the scanned area, as well as all vegetation and
dense vegetation probably also played a role here. objects located thereon (Vinci et al. 2024). Based
Stražičić ‘s work (1981, 106–13) provided a good on a classification of the individual points, dig-
overview for the time, offering his thoughts on ital terrain models (DTM) and digital feature
the functions of hillforts. Recent research is still models (DFM) can be derived through appro-
limited to unsystematic surveys, either carried priate selection (Pingel et al. 2015; Štular et al.
out for professional interest (Branković and Ben- 2021), especially in the latter case revealing the
vin 2024) or in response to large-scale construc- terrain and all modern and archaeological struc-
tion projects (Fidon and Eko invest 2021). The tures that are still visible in relief.
dating of the paleosoil with pottery fragments The nationwide ALS-derived digital terrain
next to the hillfort above Vrana lake (Hrib (34)) model (DTM) for Croatia, mentioned above,