engleski

Research, Protection and Presentation of Late Antique Sarcophagi in the Bay Pocukmarak on Silba

Sarcophagi, stone coffins with covers, sometimes with rich relief decorations were used in the antique as tombs. They were used more often in the Early Christian Times from the 4th to the 6th centuries, when the decoration were often reduced to the symbol of cross. Simple Early Christian sarcophagi on Croatian coast and islands were mainly manufactured on the island of Brač and were ordered by richer members of Christian community. On the island of Silba a Liburnian settlement was identified above the inlet of Vele Stene. The territorial side of the settlement was protected by a stone mound, and the sea side by sloping cliffs. Today visable remains of drystone constructions at the top of the sloping cliff and numerous pottery fragments are the only material culture remains of the Liburnians who lived on the silvan island (whose name Silva was to derive from that term) and were engaged in livestock breeding. Through the port in todays inlet of Sv. Ante and with their vessels they were connected to neighbouring settlements on the islands and coastal area, more than a hundred of which have been identified by now. At the end of the first millennium B.C. the Rome established its governance over the Liburnians who accepted the acquisitions of the antique civilization, mainly new building techniques, usage of mortar, ceramic elements and other products of the advanced manufacture economy, while the market for their stock products (livestock, dry meet, wool, chees, ect.) was wide open. The settlement above Vele Stene was abandoned and during the first or the second century A.D. the farm rural facility at the inlet of Pocukmarak hinterland was built. Today it is barely recognizable by few mortar ashlar stones and pottery fragments in long ago cleared land of the later Silba inhabitants. The christian communities, that went through heavy prosecutions during the first centuries of the Empire, gained fully freedom and started building churches at the fourth century. Therefore, enriched and Romanized Liburnians, according to new Christian doctrine, built in Silba a church for their community. We can assume that the church was built at the part of todays sacristy of St. Marko's church at Silba's cemetry and was devoted to the same saint. In and around the church a necropolis (cemetry) was formed, and one or more enriched Silban families, during the 5th and 6th century ordered sarcophagi for the funeral of their family members and placed them inside the church itself ot in its close proximity. Political changes that took place in the Empire foretold its nearly end, and it came even before the great movement of the people changed the idyllic picture of this part of the Empire. The part of the inhabitants escaped to the islands and further via Italy and new immigrants, the Croats who accepted the Christianity and invaded the coastal area, reached Silba and other islands. The Old Christian title of St. Marko was preserved in the name of the later church, as well as in the name of the little port of Pocukmarak. The new population used the sarcophagi and their covers as good building material for a little mole in the inlet of Pocukmarak. The sarcophagi were covered by stone pile and preserved until today. Therefore, after the exploration we present these Early Christian tombs under the sea, so an ordinary swimmer with just a a mask could meet the small part of Silban and Croatian heritage.

Silba; underwater archaeology; sarcophagi; Roman Empire

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