The mediaeval cemetery around the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Tribalj - protective research in 2015

Članak se bavi zaštitnim arheološkim istraživanjem srednjovjekovnog groblja oko Crkve Pohođenja Blažene Djevice Marije Elizabeti u centru Triblja. Grobovi s nalazima starohrvatskog nakita pronađeni su početkom 20. stoljeća, a nalazi su 1917. pohranjeni u tadašnjem Narodnom muzeju u Zagrebu. Prva stručna arheološka istraživanja provodio je Pomorski i povijesni muzej Hrvatskog primorja Rijeka 1999. i 2002., kojom prilikom je otkriveno 17 grobova. U prosincu 2012., prilikom izvođenja građevinskih radova unutar arheološke zone otkrivena su još 3 groba jugozapadno od crkve, a u lipnju 2015., kod ponovnog izvođenja građevinskih radova, Muzej je proveo zaštitno arheološko istraživanje 33 otkrivena groba različite orijentacije. Prevladavali su ukopi s određenim otklonom u smjeru zapad – istok. Gotovo svi otkriveni ukopi bili su jednokratni, što je jednood obilježja groblja na redove iz 9. i 10. stoljeća, dok se višekratni obiteljski ukopi javljaju od 13. stoljeća. Svi pokojnici polegnuti su u zemljanu raku na leđa, većinom s rukama uz tijelo. Svi otkriveni nalazi bili su nakitni predmeti izrađeni od bronce: naušnice (21 karičica, jedna jednojagodna naušnica) i 7 prstena. Istraživanjima je potvrđeno da se ovdje nalazi srednjovjekovno groblje, i to daleko većeg opsega i značaja nego što se smatralo. Riječ je o kompleksnom i višeslojnom groblju s dugotrajnim ukapanjem, koje nije u cijelosti istraženo. Pronađene su trideset i tri grobne cjeline, no kako je prekopavanje grobova radi novih ukopa bilo učestalo točan broj pokojnika znat će se tek nakon antropološke analize. Prema orijentaciji pokojnika, visini ukopa te odnosu stratigrafskih jedinica, za sada možemo uočiti tri faze pokapanja. Analizom sakupljenog materijala, uzimajući u obzir i materijal prikupljen prethodnim istraživanjima, može se zaključiti da je riječ o groblju s kontinuitetom pokapanja od 9. - 13. stoljeća.. Nalazi povezuju ovo stanovništvo s bjelobrdskim kulturnim krugom (nalaz karičice sa „S“ završetkom) te karantansko – ketlaškom kulturom (karičice sa zadebljanim krajevima), tj. s alpsko - panonskim prostorom. Krajem 11. i početkom 12. stoljeća pokapanje uz crkve postaje obavezno, te se vjerojatno groblje u Triblju tada počinje intenzivnije koristiti jer preuzima funkciju ostalih groblja u okolici. Koristi se sigurno tijekom zrelog srednjeg vijeka (12. -13. stoljeće), a postoji i mogućnost kontinuiteta pokapanja do 19. st.The article deals with the protective archaeological research of the mediaeval cemetery around the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth in the centre of Tribalj. Graves with finds of Old Croatian jewellery were found at the beginning of the 20th century, and in 1917, the finds were stored in the then National Museum in Zagreb. The first archaeological research was conducted by the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka from 1999 - 2002, when 17 graves were uncovered. In December 2012, during the building works inside the archaeological zone another 3 graves southwest of the church were discovered, and in June 2015, with the carrying out of building works, the museum preformed protective archaeological research of 33 uncovered graves of different orientations. Burials of a determined west-east orientation were the most predominant. Almost all of the graves were single-use, which was one of the characteristics of graves from cemeteries from the 9th and 10th centuries, whilst multi-use family burials appeared from the 13th century. All the deceased were laid in an earth pit on their back, mostly with their arms by the side of their bodies. All the uncovered finds were items of jewellery made of bronze: earrings (21 beaded, one single beaded earring) and 7 rings. With the investigations it was confirmed that a mediaeval cemetery is situated here, and to a greater extent and with more significance than originally thought. It is a complex and multi-layered cemetery with long-term burial usage, which has not been entirely investigated. 33 gravesites were found, however due to the digging up of graves for new burials the exact number of the deceased will only be known after anthropological analysis. According to the orientation of the deceased, the height of the burial and the arrangement of the stratigraphical units, for now we can see three stages of burial. With the analysis of the collected material, also taking into consideration material collected in the previous investigation, it can be concluded that it was cemetery that was used continually for burials from the 9th to the 13th century. The finds connect this population with the Bijelo Brdo cultural circle (a find of a multi-bead earring with ‘S’ ending) and the Carantania-Celtic cultural (earrings with thick endings), i.e. with the Alpine-Pannonia region. At the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century burial at church became mandatory, and it was probably then that the cemetery in Tribalj began to be more intensively used because it took over this function from other cemeteries in the area. It was certainly used during the Late Middle Ages (12th-13th centuries), and there is the possibility that it was used for burials until the 19th century