archaeology in croatia

[irac]

I'm glad you're joking about it. we had a site almost ruined in Ireland, Moynaghlough, because of jack as ses deciding that they could grab a few precious items while we were off work for a long weekend. Thankfully some locals who ahd more sense let a couple of shot gun cartridges off over their heads to chase them off.

You don't need a detector to find treasures in Croatia, they're sitting on the ground, outside sites exposed to the elements and retards graffiti! What's that old maxim about neglect the past ruin the future?

[star]

I read a book on archaeology in Croatia and the author stated that most of the people researching the area were actually foreigners. The Yugoslav government cared very little for it because they were afraid it would accentuate the differences between the ethnic groups So Croatia never developed a strong tradition of archaeology and preservation.

My heart almost sank when one western archaeologist described how the remains from an ancient cemetary were simply tossed into a landfill to make way for a road.

Hopefully this will change. Precious little is known about the region from the early medieval period except from biased sources.

[irac]

that's a fallacy, it's Croats ruining their own heritage star, one of the leading lights, who has her hands in a lot of soups, is the Premier's own wife! If they took a look at the butchery that took place on Dublin's Wood Quay, which was needless, then some guidelines might be strengthened, but the truth is, the government knows the people care little and can "develop" as they wish!

[star]

I think that's what I was getting at Irac. There was never a strong tradition of preservation in Croatia so today people do whatever they want.

Under the communist period the goal was to industrialize as quickly and cheaply as possible. Everything else was secondary.

[star]

Check out the news coming out of the Cetina region in Croatia! Aparently researchers from the the University of Birmingham feel it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe. Fascinating.

Click for video goodness:

www.research-tv.com/stories/creative/cetina/bb/

[valiant 1]

yeah i know all about the cetina valley region. my parents are from there. if you go up to gardun , near trilj. every household has their own collection of ancient artifacts that they found wehile working on the land. everything from rings and engraved and carved precious stones to rings and glass bottles, medallions that once belonged to roman soldiers.they will gladly show you their collections . tell me that gardun isnt a potentially huge tourist attraction that would bring money to a small town like trilj. i once stood on a sarcophagus there and noticed that i was standing on a complete skeleton. some farmer dug it up while ploughing with a traktor. i know of a man who found two complete ancient roman miltary uniforms, shileds , helmets etc... and the police came for them a few days later after someone spread the word. there are ammature archaeologists looking for artifacts in the cetina river , as its a gold mine for artifacts , that only recently has become widely known about becuase of the publishing of the finds there by dr gaffney of the birminghan universtiy on the net . they found about 30 greeko illyrian helmets and swords in the river. there is a lot of unwritten , fascinating history in croatia , but nobody cares until someone sees that theres money in it.

[star]

I'm afraid of the looting that will inevitably take place like in the heyday of Egyptian "archaeology".

If Croatia was smart they would invest alot of money to do a thorough excavation. They would get a return on that investment once everything has been catalogued and museums and other tourist attractions are set up.

[valiant]

check out the ads at the top of this page??? boy are they quick to provide us ammature archaelogoists with the equipment we would love to buy if we had enough money.