Students from several faculties and their professors unearthed an ancient coin at the Kastel Fortress in Banja Luka and believe they may have discovered an ancient necropolis. Definitive confirmation is expected soon, once precise carbon-14 dating has been conducted.
Senior Associate at the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural and Historical Heritage, Boris Radic, stated that the discovery occurred during an archaeology school attended by Archaeology and History students from both public universities in the Republika Srpska (RS).
The practical component of the studies began six years ago, specifically at the Kastel Fortress, as it is one of the few locations with layers dating from the early Stone Age, more than 10.000 years BCE, as well as findings from the 20th century.
The archaeology school initially began as a cleaning project six years ago, under the assumption that the site had been fully excavated in the 1980s.
“During the first cleaning, six years ago, we found that it was not fully examined and that additional archaeological layers remained. We then decided to make this a regular archaeology school, which now serves as practical instruction for History and Archaeology students,” explains Radic.
He notes that students and professors have the opportunity to see how the layers mix at Kastel, as the site was continuously inhabited, which on the other hand makes their work difficult, as it is hard to separate the layers.
“So now we unexpectedly came across a necropolis, and each year, we come across human skeletons. This isn’t a conventional cemetery; based on the orientation of the deceased, we assume they are from an earlier period, as they do not align with Christian or Muslim burial customs. Moreover, these graves are embedded into ancient walls, and this year, we discovered that people disregarded the walls, digging graves and thereby destroying walls that could date to the 2nd century,” Radic explains.
The assumption is that this is a late antique necropolis, but they cannot be certain until precise confirmation is received.
“There is also ancient pottery in that layer, but it is mixed with Turkish pottery. We also found an ancient coin from the 4th century, but a single coin on its own does not mean much. We believe we are in an ancient layer. We haven’t yet reached prehistoric layers, but they certainly exist in this part of Kastel,” adds Radic.
The archaeology school lasts seven days at the start of each academic year, supervised and authorized by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural and Historical Heritage. Interest among archaeology school participants grows each year, Federalna writes.
