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Tijekom 2015. g. na lokalitetu Stancija Blek (općina Tar-Vabriga) nastavila su se istraživanja na području tzv. Prostorije 8. Preciznije, definiran je stratigrafski slijed njezinoga zapadnoga dijela, gdje se kroz kasnoantičko razdoblje (a vjerojatno i ranije) nalazila veća prostorija čiju funkciju, barem u jednom trenutku, možemo povezati uz aktivnosti pripreme/konzumacije hrane. Na istoku, unutar cisterne, ustanovljena je kompleksna arhitektonska slika naknadnih pregradnji. U funkciji očuvanja i konzervacije lokaliteta, bagerom je očišćena šuta na području Prostorije 4, a kako bi se smanjio pritisak na ovdje sačuvane zidove. Pred kraj istraživanja u Taru je održano predavanje o rezultatima projekta namijenjeno široj javnosti. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site Stancija Blek is strategically located on the left side of the river Mirna, on the fertile land that was, during the Roman period, incorporated in the ager of Poreč and linked to the marine communications, i.e. with the Tar Bay. The Tar Bay is the position at which the road communication Poreč - Novigrad intersects the one that passes through the Mirna river valley and goes toward the central Istria. Archaeological and historical knowledge are primarily brought to us by Gaetano Benčić (Benčić 2006, 324). The first mention of the site Stancija Blek in the medieval sources was the one in the chart of Otto II from 983, which mentions praedium (...) Turrim quae est supra piscatione None (Benčić 2006, 324). Archaeological and architectural study of the site is given in Progetto Torre. Relazione Preliminare della Campagna di Rilievo in 2006 (Benčić 2006; Cuscito, Riavez 2008) and in the works about researches carried out in 2008 and 2010 (Šiljeg 2009; Šiljeg et al: 2011). At the site St Blek there was initially a villa rustica recognized as the earliest form of settlement. It is situated in the densely populated part of the ager of Poreè (Šonje 1982: 100, n. 1; Matijašiæ 1988: 66, 84-5). The first phase of the villa architecture is visible in parts of the walls of the tower being built in opus quadratum technique. Traces of wine and oil production are preserved in the ruins of presses and millstones. Many small ceramics, glass and metal finds on the wider area of the site testify the intensive life lead in a small town or a larger complex villa. The life during the Middle Ages is witnessed by the find of the pre-Romanesque interlace, window pillars in the Romanesque style, as well as the coins, glass and pottery from the 13th and 14th century (Šonje 1982; Benèiæ 2006; Cuscito, Riavez 2008; Šiljeg 2009; 2011). The works carried out in 2011 included further stripping of the layers in the room 8 (Quadrant F/H/I-29/30/31). Late medieval layer of the debris (SU 064) in places thick nearly two meters (max 75.18 m and min 73.31 m) provided the usual material such as more or less cut stone and ceramic building materials: tegulae and tubules (Fig. 1). Removal of the layer of the debris revealed the structures and layers of the walls of the medieval and ancient phase and larger doors with preserved threshold and the lower part of the jamb, the tessellation of flat stone and the layer of burning; ranging from red to black in colour (Fig. 1). The wall consists of two faces (SU 054 and 056) and a fill (SU 055) between which the outer wall of a large cistern, from earlier phases of Roman occupation of this area, is located. After discovering the cistern it became clear why the quite regular opus quadratum is preserved on this part of the construction assembly. The wall thickness of 1 m with two faces built in opus quadratum and bound with opus caementicium managed to resist the weather and abundant alterations. Opus quadratum is clearly visible in the interior of the room 1 (Cuscito, Riavez 2008: Tav. 1). The interior of the cistern is coated with insulating plaster. It can be said that the cistern dates to another period or phase, different from the one that was excavated northeast of the construction assembly. In fact, the cistern discovered earlier (Cuscito, Riavez 2008: Tav. 1) was not build in opus quadratum and the insulating plaster was applied in three layers. Newly discovered cistern is filled with small debris. On the west side, the wall was discovered, which extends in the north-south direction, and continues to the western wall of the room 2. It was at the height of 74.28 m that the threshold of the larger double door was found (SU 070). The threshold is made of one face (side) of the sarcophagus (Fig. 1 and 2). It is interesting to note that in this location, only slightly higher, the window columns were found (Šonje 1968: 437-438; Benčić 2006: 327). In front of the threshold three walls are preserved, most likely dating to the earlier stage. They enclose a smaller room covered with slabs of stone as is the most of the northern higher part of the explored area. A layer of stone slabs (SU 062, 067 and 069) which naturally flake was probably used as a levelling and the insulating layer before the construction of the floor. A similar phenomenon was noticed in the room 5 during the research in 2008 (Fig. 2). Beneath stone slabs cremation layers in various shades of red, gray and black appeared (SU 073, 074, 076, 077, 079, 080) (Fig. 2 and 3). Within them sporadic finds of ceramics, glass and metal (usually nails) appeared. In the southern part of the explored area, below the first layers of the burning, the remains of three walls began to show. They differ from other walls in their structure. Perhaps the reason for this is in the fact that they were perhaps the foundations or the wall from some other phase of life on the site. Since we have only discovered the walls by lowering surrounding layers, we will get a clearer picture of the correlation of this wall with walls of the cistern. In the incineration layers, alongside the Roman finds, medieval Majolica pottery, coarse pottery and glass is present as well. During the excavations carried out this year a fragment of pottery, probably Majolica with multicoloured painted decoration on a glazed surface (maiolica policroma), was found in room 5 and in the collapses layer (SU 064). All layers, except the cistern, can therefore be ascribed to the medieval period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical and earlier archaeological works have already been published (Benčić 2006; Cuscito, Riavez 2008). This year we continued the work from 2008 in room 5 (Šiljeg 2009). After cleaning the probe, we continued removing the layers, but for the sake of the vertical stratigraphy, this time we left a control profile in the northeastern part of the room (Fig. 1). The entire surface was covered by a layer of rubble SU 020. Under the 20-cm-thick layer of rubble, there was an extraordinarily dark layer of soot SU 021. In the layers beneath, there were exclusively late antiquity finds (coarse pottery with a wavy line and plastic decoration). Of particular significance is a pot with a plastic band (Fig. 4), which is characteristic of the 5th and 6th centuries in the region (Juroš-Monfardin 1986: T. III: 1; Marušić 1986: 83, Fig. 6: 1; Ruffieux 2010: 251-252, 254, 266, Fig. 6). The room's northern wall ends on a layer of soot and the remains of a wall familiar from earlier excavations (Cuscito, Riavez 2008: Tal. 2. US 023). The remains of wall SU 027 (038), oriented north-south, and passing under SU 009, testify to the affluence of life in classical antiquity. The remains of two floors directly above sterile soil are also associated with this wall. Alongside the northern wall, the remains of a smaller wall SU 042 enclosing a smaller basin were found. The basin was covered by hydraulic mortar opus signinum SU 040 (Fig. 2). In room 5a, the removal of the 14th-century layer, in which there was still glass of the same shapes as in the 2008 excavations (Šiljeg 2009: 114-115), continued. Within the same layer, two small, almost entirely preserved ceramic bowls were unearthed (SF 75 and 79) (Fig. 3), decorated with engobe, over which a green coloured glaze had been coated. Their manufacture is associated with the Italian region of Veneto, and they are particularly widely distributed in northeastern Italy. They can be dated to the 14th and 15th centuries. (Bradara 2006: 19-21, Gusar 2007: 178). From the same layer, there is also a pottery fragment, probably of the majolica type with multicoloured decoration on the outside and a maiolica policroma glaze on the inside (SF 77), also dating from the period of the Late Middle Ages. The excavations inside room 5 have enabled the relationship between the walls found there to be determined. The latest wall is southern wall SU 034, which divided the largest room into two: rooms 2 and 5 (Cuscito, Riavez 2008: Tav. 1). Older than this wall are walls SU 006 and SU 009, which were partly utilised in the structure of wall SU 034. Walls SU 036, 037 and SU 035 are mediaeval. Wall SU 027 (038), the smaller wall SU 042 and the wall below wall SU 034 belong to the classical antiquity stage. The numerous walls and layers discovered and defined in 2010 confirm assumptions concerning the affluence of life on the Stancija Blek site in classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]