Torčec – Cirkvišče, archaeological research 2011

Rad donosi sažet prikaz rezultata istraživanja na lokalitetu Torčec – Cirkvišče, provedenih u listopadu 2011. godine. Ovogodišnja istraživanja se nadovezuju na ona koje je Institut za arheologiju proveo 2009. godine. Otvorena je površina od 50 m2, a do zdravice je istraženo 25 m2. Definirano je i istraženo 37 novih grobnih cjelina. Osim grobova, u kvadrantu J 10, pronađen je i negativ sjevernog temelja crkve.During the period between 3rd and 15th of October 2011 the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb conducted archaeological research on the site Torčec - Cirkvišče which was explored in 2002 and 2009. Quadrants J 10 and J 11 were open in order to find the remains of the church of St Stephen the King. The main goal of the research was achieved with the discovery of the robber trench of the northern church wall in the quadrant J 10. In addition to the robber trench of the wall, 37 newly discovered graves were explored as well as the graves which could not have been fully excavated in the 2009 campaign since they penetrated the eastern profile of the probe. Most of the burials originate from the Modern Ages, and only few graves could be dated to the late Middle Ages. Skeletons in all graves were found lying on their backs in the outstretched position, and oriented east - west, with their heads facing west. Grave 83, with the skeleton laid face down, differs from the common practice at this graveyard. So far it cannot be determined if this type of burial was motivated by superstition, or was it the fear of vampires, or maybe the deceased was turned face down merely by accident. Possibly the anthropological analysis of the deceased would reveal more