A Typological Analysis of Selected Prehistoric Pottery Fragments from Pećina Ispod Sela Srbani

Na sjevernom obronku doline rijeke Mirne smještena je pećina koja je svojim bogatim arheološkim nalazima privukla pažnju jednog od pionira moderne istarske arheologije, Borisa Baćića, koji je 1974. i 1975. godine obavio njezino istraživanje. Tom je prilikom skupio veću količinu prapovijesne keramike, a tipološka obrada odabranih ulomaka čini temelj ovog rada. Uz pomoć raznih analogija pokušala se donijeti preciznija stratigrafija pećine pošto je veći dio slojeva bio disturbiran. Pronađeni ulomci keramike nepobitno dokazuju da se život u pećini kontinuirano odvijao u periodu eneolitika i brončanog doba, dok je u doba antike i srednjeg vijeka pećina imala ulogu kratkotrajnog refugija. Najvažniji pronađeni nalazi pripadaju ljubljanskoj kulturi koja je na području Istre zastupljena u tek nekoliko skromnih ulomaka, pa samim time, ovi, pronađeni u Pećini ispod sela Srbani, uvelike doprinose boljem poznavanju ljubljanske kulture na području Istre. Velika količina brončanodobnih nalaza, s druge pak strane, svjedoči da su se na području Istre osim brončanodobnih gradina i pećine koristile kao jedan vid naseobina. Daljnjim istraživanjima ovoga značajnog lokaliteta dobila bi se preciznija stratigrafija te bi se konačno potvrdilo je li njezin početak zaista započeo u doba eneolitika ili su u njezinim slojevima skriveni i stariji nalazi.Located on the northern slopes of the Mirna River Valley is a cave that with its rich archaeological finds attracted the attention of one of the pioneers of modern Istrian archaeology, Boris Baćić, who in 1974 and 1975 conducted a series of excavations there. During the exploration of the cave he collected a rather large amount of prehistoric pottery, and the typological analysis of some of these selected fragments forms the backbone of this work. We endeavored to establish a more precise stratigraphy of the cave with the help of different analogies, because the majority of the layers were disturbed. The discovered pottery fragments represent irrefutable proof that life in the cave flowed continuously in the periods of the Eneolithic and Bronze Age, whereas in the subsequent Roman and medieval periods the cave was used only as a temporary refuge. The most important finds that were unearthed belong to the Ljubljana culture that is on the territory of Istria represented by a very small number of fragments, which in turn means that these that were discovered in Pećina ispod sela Srbani greatly contribute to a better understanding of the Ljubljana culture in the Istrian region. The great amount of Bronze Age finds, on the other hand, bear witness that alongside Bronze Age hillforts, caves too were used as settlements on the Istrian Peninsula. By further exploration of this important site we would obtain a more precise stratigraphy, and we would finally be in a position to verify whether its beginnings really start in the Eneolithic period, or, if there are still older finds that the cave hides amongst its layers