New archaeological findings were discovered on the Gradac hill in the Municipality of Prozor-Rama during the second phase of excavation works.
Tino Tomas from the Department of Archeology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Mostar said that the site of Gradac has a very interesting toponym that is linked to Gradina, which are the sites that are linked to the beginning of metal periods in this cultural macro-region.
“This year’s goal was to detect the earliest layers of these metal periods, in which we have succeeded. We opened a few test probes, and in the second probe were discovered the remains of the dwellings, which is a very rare finding, since these remains are linked to those oldest metal periods or the transition from eneolithics to the Bronze Age. Moreover, some typical material that is related to the daily activities of the population that inhabited this area somewhere between 2200 and 2000 BC was found as well,” said Tino.
He added that one of these typical findings are ceramic vessels.
“They have a typical decoration in the form of applied plastic strips, which are further decorated with fingertips, and thus we have fingerprints of those early residents as well,” he added.
He also noted that life in that region did not stop in the early Bronze Age, but it was present in the late Bronze Age, as well as in the younger and older Iron Age.
“When it comes to the Iron Age, we found characteristic remains of pots, which are handles with the so-called horned plastic extensions, which are typical for this area in the period of transition to the early Iron Age. Moreover, ceramics from the 4th century BC are indicating a very prosperous community that could contact with the more prosperous world, towards the south, Greece and the Mediterranean. We found the remains of iron ore in the layers of the older and earlier Iron Age. We can say that this raw material, or iron, probably went south, while in the direction of the north, towards Gradac, went luxurious products from this Mediterranean workshop, such as Greek ceramics that we found,” said Tomas.
Jozo Ivancevic, the Mayor of the Municipality of Prozor-Rama, noted that the municipality will continue to support this project, as it did before.
He added that a large part of the funds will be allocated from the municipal budget for this project and there is a plan for some kind of museum as well.
(Source: klix.ba)
