The Quarries in Stari Grad Bay: Deciphering the Provenance of Stone Used for Building the City Walls of Ancient Pharos

U fokusu arheoloških istraživanja najčešće su prostori s najvećom koncentracijom ostataka materijalne kulture jedne zajednice poput naselja i nekropola, dok krajolici, pa time i oni industrijski, često ostaju na margini istraživanja. To je slučaj s kamenolomima, koji svjedoče o industrijskoj prošlosti jednog prostora, a daju uvid i u socijalnu organizaciju društva određenog vremena. U mediteranskoj regiji, pa tako i našoj obali i otocima, antički su kamenolomi izuzetno brojni, zahvaćajući velike površine krajolika, no budući da se mnogi koriste i u kasnijim razdobljima, antički tragovi ekstrakcije sirovine često su uništeni novijima. Sličan je slučaj i s kamenolomima pronađenim u Starogradskom zaljevu. Na sjevernoj strani zaljeva nalazi se šest lokacija na kojima su vidljivi tragovi ekstrakcije kamena. Prirodne, izrazito velike slojnice kamena dale su naslutiti da je riječ o antičkim kamenolomima iz kojih su vađeni veliki blokovi za gradnju bedema grčkog Fara. Proučavanju kamenoloma pristupilo se koristeći više metodoloških pristupa i na multidisciplinaran način. Na svim lokacijama učinjen je površinski pregled terena, zračna prospekcija, analiza arhivskih fotografija i katastra. Učinjena je komparativna analiza tehnologije ekstrakcije sirovine, mikropaleontološka analiza uzoraka kamena iz kamenoloma i bedema, a sve je kartirano u geografskom informacijskom sistemu (GIS).Archaeological investigations are usually focused on areas with the highest concentration of the remains of the material culture of a community, such as the settlements and cemeteries, while landscapes, including the industrial ones, often remain on the margins of research. This is the case with quarries, which testify to the industrial past of an area and provide an insight into social organization of a society in a given period. In the Mediterranean region, including our coast and islands, ancient quarries are numerous, which extend over large areas of landscape, but since many are used in subsequent periods, traces of extraction of raw material from antiquity are often destroyed. Similar is the case with the quarries found in Stari Grad Bay. Along the northern side of the bay there are six locations with visible traces of stone extraction. Extremely large contour lines of the rock suggested that these are ancient quarries from which large blocks were extracted and used in construction of city walls of the Greek Pharos. Multidisciplinary approach to the study of the quarries included using multiple methods of research. Surface surveys were conducted on all six locations, as well as aerial prospection and analysis of historical imagery and cadastral maps. A comparative analysis of the technology of extraction of raw material and micropaleontological analysis of samples from the quarries and city walls were also conducted, and everything was mapped in geographic information system (GIS)