Page 50 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

The discussion offers a brief evaluation of study (fig. 7). Given the difficult ground condi-
the new results and compares them with those tions and technical resources available in the late
of previous studies. It also considers the poten- 1960s, it is evident that his documentation of the
tial of archaeological remote sensing for study- settlement features was – from today´s perspec-
ing topographically prominent settlements in tive – only partially successful. The settlement of
agro-pastoral karst landscapes. To this end, it is Vela Straža (48) located on the Punta Križa Pen-
necessary to address the fact that the dry stone insula, for example, appears completely different
wall enclosures visible in the ALS data are not in the ALS data than on well-known maps (fig.
necessarily equivalent to the (prehistoric) hill- 7a). The settlement’s unusual shape may have
fort settlements. been caused by the area’s agricultural use, mean-
ing the original layout is no longer visible. Fur-
The Hillforts of the Cres-Lošinj Archipelago ther minor errors in the original plan are also
50 The standard practice of documenting visible visible, such as the dry stone wall surrounding
ramparts, which has been employed since the ear- the sinkhole, which was mistakenly attributed
liest studies of fortified hilltop settlements (e.g. to the hillfort at the time. Similar results are re-
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 2 / volume 13 (2025), number 2
Marchesetti 1924), must nowadays be modified vealed by the other comparisons shown in fig. 7.
and extended. This is most easily demonstrat- Evaluating the 500 km² area provided new
ed by comparing the hillfort plans in Mirosav- insights into the distribution, shape and location
ljević’s publication (1974) with the results of this of the hillforts. However, the dating of the indi-

Figure 7: A Comparison of the Ground Plans (in Approximate Scale) From Mirosavljević’s Work (1974) With Those
Obtained Through the Analysis of ALS Data: a) Vela straža (48); b) Skulka (26); c) Jelovica (32) and d) Pelginja (20)
(background data: DTM HR (https://dgu.gov.hr/); elaborated by Martin Fera, 2025)