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The paper covers 26 small Roman seal boxes, of which four have been preserved in their entirety and the rest only partially. They were used to protect the wax seals that secured sent packages, such that with the help of wax the box was affixed to the knot (bond) of the string with which the package was tied. The seal was protected in this way. Any damage to it, whether intentional or not, diminished the inviolability of the package. All of the items analysed in this work are held in the Archaeological Museum in Split. Most of them were obtained by the Museum through purchases, so no precise data on the discovery circumstances have been preserved. Only data on the find sites and the year and method of procurement are known. Only three of the boxes analysed in this paper were found in archaeological excavations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with nine epigraphic monuments from the lapidarium of the Archaeological Museum in Split which most likely came to the Museum in the period from the 1920s through the 1940s.1 There are specific data on the location and time of discovery for some of the monuments covered herein, but for most there is no precise data on location and time in the inventory logs. The monuments are mainly from the area of Solin and Kaštela, and they are in large part gravestones. The inscriptions in their restored form and as photographs have already been accessible for some time in the digital database Ubi erat Lupa and, consequently, in the Epigraphic Database Clauss-Slaby, but they are incorporated here as inscriptions found in Split. Nonetheless, since they have not been comprehensively published thus far, they are interpreted in this paper. There are mostly complete inscriptions which contain several new names not previously known in the Roman onomastics in Dalmatia. All of the inscriptions can be dated from the 1st to 3rd centuries. Two monuments in particular may be highlighted, as from the typological standpoint they have a lesser presence in Dalmatia, and these are large built-in funerary plaques. Based on comparisons to several similar monuments, it appears that the production of such plaques may be dated from the mid-1st to the beginning of the 2nd century. It may be assumed that several monuments were in secondary use, but since there are no data on the discovery context for most, nothing can be confirmed with any certainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with a variant of Aucissa fibulae, specific for its decoration and quality of workmanship. These fibulae are ornamented with riveted animal figures. At present, four fibulae with the same characteristics can be distinguished, which we named the Otok variant after the find-spot of the most beautiful specimen. Three fibulae originate from Dalmatia, while one was discovered in Haltern, Germany. The paper discusses the dating and distribution frameworks, as well as the iconography of the Otok variant of Aucissa fibulae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers into Diocletian's Palace have long observed that Roman staircases existed on both sides of the mainland gates. They led to the upper floor of the buildings located along the perimeter walls of the Palace. However, those researchers had a different notions of their appearance. In this paper, the original appearance of the Roman staircases shall be reconstructed for the first time on the basis of new finds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Roman oil-lamps discovered in Salona and held in the Roman Provincial Collection of the Archaeological Museum in Split are analysed in this paper. Besides a typological determination of the oil-lamps, emphasis has been accorded to an analysis of the scenes and motifs on them. This provides some insight into lunar cults and the scenes depicted on the oil-lamps are discussed as a potential form of their manifestation. The goddesses Luna, Diana, Isis and Minerva are shown on the discuses of the oil-lamps, and the key to the interpretive section rests in their lunar character, as structured in their mythology and iconography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents new data on the finds of Greek and Greco-Illyrian coins that came from several archaeological sites in Herzegovina. These data encompass 48 examples of coins that were minted during the period from the 4th to 1st centuries BC. Most of them were discovered as chance surface finds, while a smaller portion was yielded during archaeological excavations. Coins from the Greco-Illyrian cities of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium in present-day Albania predominate, followed by issues of the Illyrian King Ballaios, as well as examples of coins from Corinth, Pharos, Issa and other Greek cities. In addition to new data tied to numismatic topography, this paper also provides new insights into the oldest circulation of coins in the former territory of northwestern Illyria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pottery from the collection of Grgur Bučić, a prolific researcher on the island of Hvar, is analyzed in this paper. This pottery originated in Markova Cave (on the island of Hvar), and a variety of ceramic forms (bowls, pots, cups, beakers) are present that may be dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages based on their decorations, handles and shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site of Tor, an ancient tower on the island of Hvar in Dalmatia, has been the subject of several scholarly studies. However, many of them are controversial, and our understanding of the site's functions and chronology remains incomplete, mainly due to of a lack of systematic excavations. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of what has been published or unpublished about the site in the last five centuries and re-examines all thus far proposed interpretations. It also analyses the architectural remains and other archaeological evidence found at Tor and discusses the questions that still need to be answered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a hoard of late antique coins from the 4th century. The hoard was discovered in 1905 near the church of St. Michael in Dugopolje. It consists of 38 pieces of bronze coins, catalogued by the emperors they were struck under. Three emperors are represented: Constans (Flavius Julius Constans), Constantius II (Flavius Julius Constantius), and Vetranio. Given the degree of preservation of 26 coin pieces, it was possible to identify them more precisely, unlike the rest, due to poor preservation, wear and corrosion damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of polychromy on stone from previous decades were largely based on the evaluation of pigments analysed with the naked eye or the microscope, with no chemical analyses to substantiate them. Nowadays, analytical chemistry can greatly help in identifying residues of the original colours, i.e. the pigments used. It is known that polychromy has been applied onto stone in all time periods, but well-preserved polychromy on stone is a rarity indeed. The greatest issue concerns antique sculptures, whose polychromy is often invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen with the help of a microscope. The reason for such poor preservation of polychromy lies in the weathering that causes chemical changes in the stone and colour. The application of chemical analyses as used by restoration professionals can help in preserving rare examples of polychromy, preparing credible reconstructions of polychromy on objects and selecting suitable methods of restoration and conservation. The constant development of new methods and techniques, as well as computer and digital technologies and technology in general help to preserve very rare and valuable information, useful for understanding our past. For the purpose of the research, polychromy samples from stone sculptures from several museums in Croatia were analysed. This paper presents the results of the analyses of four antique objects from the Archaeological Museum in Split. The purpose of the research was to make an instrumental analysis of pigments from stone sculptures, and to determine the composition of pigments, the origin and frequency of use of respective materials. There is much one can learn about the time, place and circumstances in which a work of art was produced through analyses and interpretations of often very subtle differences in the composition of pigments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with gravestone inscriptions of Armenian and Greek merchants from the Dominican church in Split. The Armenian inscriptions, along with a Greek one from 1637 from the tomb for foreigners, are respectively dated to 1624 and 1678. The inscriptions, recorded in the 19th century by Francesco Carrara and Mijat Sabljar, are an interesting testimony to the lively trade that took place via the Lazaretto in Split. They tell of the fates of Christian merchants and their forgotten role in Levantine trade. The names of Philipos, son of Mkrtich, Grigor, son of Karapet, and Giannoulis, a merchant from Pogoniani, have all been brought to light. In the case of Armenian and Greek inscriptions from Split, the phenomena of marginality in art, first systematically dealt with in Croatian art history by Ljubo Karaman, confirm the multiculturalism of Split's heritage and specifically pave the way for the idea of memento mori - an after-life of the Baroque period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During rescue archaeological excavations conducted in Solin in 1986-1987 on the expansion of a section on the Trogir-Split road (the so-called Solin bypass), among the finds 561 graves were discovered and examined. In this paper, I shall describe the method employed to clean the coins from grave 207, a skeletal burial without architecture in sector III (Hortus). The grave contained a ceramic oil lamp (its stamp reading VIBIANI), approximately 30 poorly preserved iron nails and 20 Roman provincial coins. The coins were cleaned and, with the help of an XRF device, a metal analysis was conducted and the results thereof are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the conservation and restoration works on the imperial sculpture from the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Split. Various methods and procedures applied in the process are described, such as analysis of the marble type, radiographic imaging, 3D imaging, plastic modelling, reconstruction and support structure making, which preceded the joining of the parts of the sculpture, as well as various types of sculpture surface cleaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Archaeological Museum in Split holds the largest collection of Roman-era intaglios and cameos in Croatia. In the Museum's hand-written gem inventory, known as "Catalogue I", Fr. Frane Bulić registered a total of 2,559 gems, of which 35 are cameos. Up to the present, 17 cameos have been preserved and they have been partially published or their publication is pending. The remaining four cameos and one plaster cast from that inventory list are covered in this paper. The find-spots of two examples from this group have been recorded (Split and Konjsko), while this information has not been preserved for the other three. The cameo bearing the head of a boy/Eros and the inscription ΤΥΧΗ/ΚΑΛΗ dates to the Roman era, as does the plaster cameo featuring an erotic motif of a satyr and maenad. The cameo with a bust of a young African man and the cameo featuring a laureate man's head date to the Early Modern period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sepulchral monument with the inscription of Remmia Maxima, embedded in the cloister of the monastery of St. Bernardino of Siena in Kampor on the island of Rab, has been known since the end of the 19th century. It was published in the CIL (III 3125), but its typology has not been analysed in detail yet. This paper defines the typological affiliation of the monument, which corresponds to the osteothecae of Salonitan production, on account of its stylistic and formal features, and especially its dimensions. This, together with the content of the inscription, facilitates its more precise dating. Furthermore, given the low abundance, and insufficient knowledge of this type of monument in the province of Dalmatia, the osteotheca from Rab is classified in a wider group of such and related monuments from the central Dalmatian area. The analysis of available information on the spolium itself and on other monuments from the area of Kampor is an attempt to reconstruct its possible find-spot as well as its numerous reuses, ultimately including embedment in its present location. The osteotheca from Rab, as a new type of sepulchral monument on the island, as well as in the greater area of Kvarner, enhances previous knowledge about ancient funerary monuments of northern Liburnia and their origin, all the while pointing to another more monumental solution within the (rural?) necropolises of Rab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As today, in the past, performing and playing music, as well as singing, were integral parts of everyday human life. Singing and playing were regular on various occasions, both private and official, and, of course, in religious (cult) rituals and ceremonies. Singing and playing could be heard in all parts of the globe, as directly confirmed by modern research of indigenous peoples. Therefore, it is quite logical that the early Christians, as an integral part of the ancient world, incorporated singing from their very beginnings, i.e. from the first century, together with their prayers and reading of sacred texts, which would later enter the canon of Scripture, into this preliturgy. This is evidenced by literary sources, as well as by some archaeological facts. The great importance and appreciation of the act of singing in the early Christian liturgy can be illustrated by the famous dictum from our title, attributed to St. Augustine: He who sings well, prays twice. Today, not enough is known about the manner of singing at the time, much less about the repertoire of chants performed by Christians during preliturgical cult rites, but let it not go unnoticed that the focus of Augustine's saying is on singing well. The extent of importance of this in constituting the singing component of the later development of the Christian liturgy will be shown below. Notwithstanding, the original aim of our paper is to record the previous results and knowledge of the role of singing in early Christian rites, i.e. in the first decades of the development and spread of Christianity, and, especially in this context, to verify possible archaeological evidence of the cantors' activities in the early Christian Salonitan Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caring for water is one of the most important aspects of supply for all communities. This is corroborated by numerous archaeological finds of ancient water lines, draw-wells, cisterns and fountains. Such examples of water supply infrastructure were revolutionised precisely in Roman times, when a number of technologies were added to the existing knowledge of water management. However, archaeological finds often do not tell us everything we would like to find out about this very important economic field. In an attempt to consider some further aspects of ancient water supply works, specifically in the Croatian Adriatic, the aim of this paper is to collect the preserved ancient epigraphic evidence on water supply infrastructure maintenance in this area and put them in the context of already known information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some twenty years ago, foundations of a part of a large antique building consisting of orthogonal walls and three concentric circular walls were discovered at the site of Ad basilicas pictas, 500 meters north of Diocletian's Palace. The researchers interpreted the finds as remnants of an ancient odeon, which they dated to the first or second century based on the archaeological material. The new 2013/2014 excavations, conducted east of this site, in the area of Domovinskog rata Street, identified that the circular walls continued further to the east, forming a full circle and were located in a building with a square ground plan, its external dimensions measuring 67 × 67 meters. This paper will provide an overview of all researches to date and attempt to reconstruct the ground plan of the discovered building, its original purpose and the time of its construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opinions on the initial section of Pliny's description of Illyricum (Nat. hist. 3, 139) diverge. It is believed that this part of the text is incomplete due to discrepancies in information borrowed from various sources. The emphasis placed on the Liburnians, where one would expect an introduction to Illyricum and neighbouring regions, is problematic. Lacking suitable sources for a comprehensive introduction, Pliny began the text with the Liburnians and associated them with other peoples, such as the Mentores, Himani. In doing so, Pliny essentially describes the situation that preceded the emergence of the term Illyricum. This was, as Suić rightfully stated, yet another reminiscence about the importance of the Liburnians in the distant past. However, the statement on the Liburnians, from the Raša (Arsia) to the Krka (Titium), should not be downplayed, as it originates from erudite sources within educated, literary circles of the late Augustan era. This paper offers a new reflection on Pliny's initial description of Illyricum and suggests that the text reflects Pliny's "encyclopaedic" style, wherein the author, not having uniform sources for all the areas he intended to describe, decided to leave out an introductory section, and proceed with the remaining text in his customary, concise style. Moreover, the question of the ethnic and/or political affiliation of the communities around Kvarner was left unresolved and remained open to further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fragment of a ceramic cult vessel discovered in Pula is notable for its composition depicting a snake catching a lizard. This paper presents examples of related vessels with the context of their discovery and period of use, various cults in which they were applied and relatively close workshop centres whose production of cult vessels with relief depictions of a snake and a lizard has been attested. Based on known finds, the vessel can be approximately dated to the period from the first to the fourth century AD, but it is not possible to reliably determine the cult it served. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Movable archaeological finds bearing inscriptions from the area of the Roman legionary fortress at Tilurium (today the village of Gardun near Trilj) are presented in this paper. The scholarly analysis encompassed the so-called instrumenta inscripta, i.e., the ceramic, glass, bone and metallic finds which have an inscription and/or stamp on them. These are finds yielded by systematic archaeological excavations, as well as finds today stored in the Trilj Regional Museum in Trilj, the Cetina Territorial Museum in Sinj, the Franciscan Monastery Archaeological Collection in Sinj, the Archaeological Museum in Split or finds recorded in the older scholarly literature. Most of the finds date to the period from the first half of the 1st century AD, while individual finds can be dated to the very end of the 1st century BC. Their dating thereby largely overlaps with the dating of Tilurium as a Roman legionary fortress and then a fort used by auxiliary contingents. A small number of finds can be dated to the period prior to the time when Tilurium became the fortress of Legio VII at the beginning of the 1st century AD. By the same token, a small number of finds testifies to the continuity of life in Tilurium once it ceased being a Roman military base after the mid-3rd century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aftermath of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) found the Greek world in a state of general uneasiness, decimation of population, and weakening of political institutions. Soon, new high casualties were caused by the Corinthian War (395-387 BC). The peace imposed in 386 BC, brought autonomy for the Greek states of the mainland and most of the islands but new conflicts arose again, first upon the ascendancy of Thebes to power following the battle at Leuktra (371 BC), and after the middle of the century under the new rising power of Philip of Macedonia. In the paper, the political and socio-economic conditions of Paros during this period will be described, especially in the first half of the century when the colony of Pharos was founded in the Adriatic Sea. Secondly, the new building projects and artistic production in the city of Paros and other areas of the island will be presented in connection with Pharos' foundation and the possible purposes served by such a colonial enterprise of the Parians. Finally, possible trade interactions and links among all three major Parian colonies in the Mediterranean will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hill-fort on the Sutilija hill, towering over Trogir's Malo polje from the north-west, is one of the most important sites for understanding the prehistory and protohistory of the Trogir-Kaštela area. This is best reflected in the huge volumes of collapsed ramparts, the complexity of visible structures and the high concentration of surface finds, including imported pottery. Despite this, but also due to the devastation of the site during the modern exploitation of technical-building stone, its material heritage is almost completely unknown. The paper provides an overview of previous research using non-destructive methods on the Sutilija hill, which aimed to document the present state and expand scientific knowledge about the properties and significance of the site. Particular emphasis is given to analysis of various categories of surface finds, from prehistoric local pottery, amphorae and other pottery imports to other finds for personal and/or practical use. Previously unknown finds suggest a broader dynamics of anthropogenic activity at this site, as well as economic and cultural changes that this undoubtedly significant Iron Age centre experienced in the fourth century BCE. It was the result of increasingly active regional trade and multicultural interaction, which took place in the context of protohistoric transformation of Central Dalmatian Iron Age communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will present the results obtained by the study of the route and the physical characteristics of the Aqueduct of Salona. The study was conducted during the first year of the research project entitled "Ancient Water Systems of Salona and the Diocletian's Palace and Their Impact on the Sustainability of the Urban Environment", which has been financed by the Croatian Science Foundation. The significance of the study lies in the fact that, the overall route of the Aqueduct, its longitudinal profile, capacity, typical sections in various field conditions, as well as the method of construction have been determined for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper thematises so far unknown Adriatic Corcyra coin, accidentally discovered at Budim, a Liburnian hillfort in northern Dalmatia. The obverse bears a head of Apollo, identical to the earlier known coins of Corcyra. However, its reverse die, alongside the grain ear, for the first time shows the legend KOP. The legend's shortened version places this coin in the new category of extremely rare Adriatic Corcyra coinage. This numismatic discovery from the Hellenistic period from the Budim hillfort represents the oldest coinage circulating in the territory of southern Liburnia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beginning of farming in Croatia (ca. 6000 cal BC) is little understood and few archaeobotanical studies have been conducted to explore the nature of subsistence economies at this time. This paper presents new archaeobotanical data from the middle Neolithic site of Danilo Bitinj and the early/middle Neolithic site of Pokrovnik, providing a significant contribution to the current evidence on early farming in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]