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Mediaeval Hillforts and Moated Sites in North-Western Croatia: Aerial Archaeology and Archaeological Reconnaissance

Medieval hillforts and lowland moated and mounded sites are found throughout the entire area of the interfluve of the rivers Mura, Drava, Sava and Danube, in northern Pannonian part of Croatia, which has always constituted a cultural/historical corridor that is intersected by longitudinal east-west transit routes and transversal routes that are vital to communication between Central and Eastern Europe and the Adriatic and wider Mediterranean sphere. Many of the fortifications in east Croatia remain unidentified, due to lower archaeological activity concerning both research and publication. Nowadays, undertaking field surveys of a number of forts in eastern part of Croatia is not possible due to residuals of undermined areas from the Croatian War of Independence. That’ s why the research is concentrated to northwest Croatia where nearly hundred of the fortifications were explored both from aerial photographs and through archaeological reconnaissance, and the results of undertaken archaeological excavations were also consulted as well. These fortifications consist of a central elevation protected by a ditch and a rampart or a system of ditches and ramparts. Unlike stone-castles, they are built mostly with earth and timber. Out of 91 medieval hillforts and moated sites in North-Western Croatia only two can be dated in the 11th century with substantial archaeological evidence. The invasion of the Mongols in 1241, as well as the long lasting danger of Turkish attacks in Late Middle Ages, contributed to an intensified construction of such fortifications.

hillfort; moated site; the Middle Ages; 11th-16th century; North-Western Croatia; archaeological excavation; field survey; topography; aerial snapshot

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