A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL TOPOGRAPHY OF MOKRO POLJE NEAR KNIN

The territory of Mokro Polje is a whole that makes part of a larger Knin area, situated in the fertile valley on the edge of the carst plateau of Bukovica in the northern Dalmatia. That is one of numerous rich, but still badly researched archaeological areas on the territory of Bukovica. This paper deals only with some characteristic features connected with the archaeological topography of Mokro Polje. The author\u27s aim is to complete archaeological map of this part of northern Dalmatia by series of researches on smaller wholes and to gather the results of earlier excavations on Mokro Polje thus encouraging futher ones. In 1930 Lujo Marun invited Danish architect E. Dyggve to undertake some researches on several archaeological sites at Mokro Polje. Early Christian basilica at Sučevići and late Roman and early mediaeval fortress on Cuker were excavated, while on the sites Crkvina and Keglevića Gradina Dyggve only surveyed the remains of architecture. Only few Dyggve\u27s plans and photographies concerning these excavations have remained. On this ocassion the author publishes the remains of Early Christian church decoration from the second half of the 6th century excavated by E. Dyggve at Sučević and several interesting fragments of Early Christian sculpture from the unexcavated site at the hamlet Vagići. Pre-Romanesque fragments of sculpture come from Crkvina site at Mokro Polje where the remains of church and mediaeval necropolis with some MO stone slabs -stećci are still evident. The fragments of Pre-Romanesque sculpture and inscriptions testify to the existence of an early mediaeval cult building on that site which in the late Middle Ages und>:!rwent certain reconstructions, because of demographic changes in this region. On a prominent strategic point, so called Keglevića Gradina, the remains of a mediaeval fortress built by feudal family Keglević which had properties on the territory of the upper course of the river Zrmanja, are still visible. When studying the distribution, as well as chronological and cultural features of the archaeological finds on the above mentioned sites at Mokro Polje one can notice certain differencies in the topic continuity of cult buildings and fortifications, but the basic cultural continuity on the whole region was not changed. The part of the valley to the east of the Zrmanja river must have been more densly inhabited in the late Roman period as is evident by two Early Christian churches at Sučevići and Vagići and late Roman refugium on Cuker hill. Since the early Middle Ages the territory to the West of the river under the slopes of the mountains must have become more important and new religious Christian structures ad tundamentis (Crkvina) were buiIt while new fortification on Keglevića Gradina was used for defence of the inhabitants