GRADINE OD KRASA DO KVARNERA, DIO KULTURNOG I KRAJOBRAZNOG IDENTITETA SJEVERNE ISTRE.

Hillforts, prehistoric settlements on top of hills, are an inexhaustible source of information about Istria in prehistory. During two long millennia B.C. man lived in the whole of Istria, while the greatest concentration of settlements are recorded in the wider area around the Lim and Pula bays. Since they arose from the strategic need to defend their inhabitants and the wider territory, a considerable concentration has been recorded in Ćićarija and the Učka mountain massif where they were grouped around the main traffic routes along which people, goods, and ideas travelled, bringing progress. Natural characteristics, shortage of fertile land, lush forests but above all the cold continental climate, largely determined life as well as the exploration of the area from the Karst to Kvarner. In the KAŠTELIR Project, we place special emphasis on the sites of Rašpor on Ćićarija and Ozida near Brseč, which we analyse through the prism of numerous approaches: the recording of sites by means of surveys; interdisciplinary archaeological excavation; the history of research; typology, economy, the toponymy of hillforts; the density of hillforts in the landscape; the role of hillforts in communication; the diachronic study of hillforts; continuity and degradation of sites; finally, the issue of revitalization of space "by actively preserving the heritage of hillforts through their evaluation, protection, and promotion". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]