Books by Petar Milojević
The Prehistory of the Sokobanja Region: Archaeological Evidence of Cultural Developments at the Watershed of the Timok and South Morava Basin, 2024
The monograph "Prehistory of the Sokobanja Region: Archaeological Evidence of Cultural Manifestat... more The monograph "Prehistory of the Sokobanja Region: Archaeological Evidence of Cultural Manifestations at the Watershed of the Timok and South Morava Basins" represents a synthesis of long-term research and data collection on archaeological remains from the prehistoric era of the Sokobanja area. The scientific research that contributed to the finalization of this monographic work emerged from the project "Investigation of Early Iron Age Sites in the Sokobanja Municipality," which is still active and is being carried out through the collaboration of the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade and the "Stevan Sremac" Public Library in Sokobanja. The implementation of the project, as well as the printing of the monograph, was made through the complete financial support of the Sokobanja Municipality Assembly.
The Sokobanja region, for the purposes of this study, is defined as the area covered by the Sokobanja municipality, encompassing a slightly larger space than the geographical boundaries of the Sokobanja basin. This area includes the northern parts of Moravski Golak, a separate geographical unit, yet strongly connected to the upper basin of the Moravica River, with Sokobanja serving as the main urban center. The Sokobanja region is located in the central part of eastern Serbia, situated between the Timok and Morava basins. On a regional scale, this area belongs to the mountain-valley-basin macro-region, the meso-region of eastern Serbia, and the micro-region of Balkan Serbia. Administratively, the municipality falls under the Zaječar administrative district, comprising the town of Sokobanja and 24 rural settlements: Beli Potok, Blendija, Bogdinac, Vrbovac, Vrmdža, Dugo Polje, Žučkovac, Jezero, Jošanica, Levovik, Mužinac, Milušinac, Nikolinac, Novo Selo, Poružnica, Radenkovac, Resnik, Rujevica, Sesalac, Trgovište, Trubarevac, Cerovica, Čitluk, and Šarbanovac.
The present borders of the municipality consist of two distinct geographical units: the Sokobanja basin with its hilly area and part of Moravski Golak. The Sokobanja basin is located in the Moravica River basin, at the confluence of the Carpathian and Balkan mountains, between the Crnorečka, Svrljiška, Aleksinačka, and Knjaževac basins. The boundaries of the basin are clearly defined, as the entire area is surrounded by medium-high mountains (up to 1600 m). To the north, it is separated from the Crnorečka basin by the high and long ridge of Rtanj. Further to the east, the boundary with the Timok basin crosses the Slemenska mountain and the Krstatac ridge, descending through the Skrobnica gorge. To the south, the basin is separated from the Morava valley and Golak by the Ozren and Devica mountain ranges, while the western boundary with the Μorava valley is marked by the Rožanj and Bukovik mountains. On the other hand, Moravski Golak refers to the area along the southern slopes of Ozren and Devica, representing the smallest landscape unit of the Aleksinac basin. It occupies the northeastern part, which is also the highest, with peaks ranging from 500 to 900 m above sea level. This area is administratively divided among three municipalities: Aleksinac, Svrljig, and Sokobanja. The boundaries of Golak are not precisely defined, but roughly extend from the highest peaks of Ozren (Leskovik 1174 m) and Devica (Čapljinac 1187 m) in the north to the foot of Ljuti Vrh (784 m) and the Svrljiški Timok River in the south, from the Svetostefanska River in the west to the Bela River in the east. Until the mid-20th century, most of the mentioned villages belonged to the Sokobanja municipality, but today only the territories of three villages—Jezero, Novo Selo, and Radenkovac—are part of it.
The geographical position, terrain configuration, and economic potential of the Sokobanja region contributed to the early settlement of this area, which began as early as the Paleolithic. The fact that Sokobanja never developed museum activities or established an adequate institution for the collection and preservation of antiquities led to the archaeological material in this area being mostly collected by institutions from other regional centers, such as the National Museum of Serbia, the National Museum of Niš, the Homeland Museum in Knjaževac, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Niš, the Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, and the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade. Since archaeological investigations have rarely been conducted, the primary source of knowledge about the prehistory of the Sokobanja region comes from accidental finds that have ended up in museum collections or remained in private collections. The following chapters will present the knowledge base regarding finds and archaeological sites from the prehistoric era in the Sokobanja region.
by Vesna Vuckovic, Vojislav Filipovic, Roberto Risch, Jovan D . Mitrović, Vojislav Djordjević, Vajk Szeverényi, Carlos Velasco Felipe, Katarina Dmitrovic, Marija Ljustina, Carla Garrido García, Eva Celdrán Beltrán, János Dani, Gucsi László, Viktória Kiss, Petar Milojević, aleksandar bulatovic, Gabriella Kulcsar, María Inés F Fregeiro Morador, and D. Gómez-gras Crafting pottery in Bronze Age Europe: the archaeological background of the CRAFTER project, 2021
Introduction
The proceedings before us, comprised of seven papers, are inspired by the subjec... more Introduction
The proceedings before us, comprised of seven papers, are inspired by the subject of the almost completed CRAFTER programme Creative Europe project. The full title of the project is Crafting Europe in the Bronze Age and Today, and in brief, the idea was to draw inspiration from Europe’s Bronze Age pottery to help revive modern-day artisanship. The project targets the appreciation of Europe's cultural heritage as a shared resource and the reinforcement of a sense of belonging to a common European space. In particular, it hopes to make cultural heritage a source of inspiration for contemporary creation and innovation and strengthen the interaction between this sector and other cultural and creative sectors. The main framework of the project was the idea that four potters from Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Serbia will draw on their skills to (re)create ceramic vessels representative of some of the most outstanding Bronze Age cultures of Europe: El Argar (southeast Spain), Únětice (Central Europe), Füzesabony (eastern Hungary) and Vatin (Serbia).
The papers published within these proceedings are not strictly related to the project itself, but the problems of Bronze Age pottery in Europe in general. The problems discussed in the presented papers and the inspirations are drawn from the CRAFTER project. The original idea was to delve into the content of the pottery and define its composition and quality. These are, in fact, the elements responsible for the final appearance of the ceramic vessel and its function. Considering that out of four editors, two have presented papers within the proceedings, I have been honoured to write this short introduction on their significance and essence. The thread that connects all of the papers, although their concepts do not seem similar at the first glance, since some of the papers are dwelling on interdisciplinarity while others deal with certain chronological and cultural-historical problems, is that the primary analytical material in all of the papers is Bronze Age pottery, from beyond the Pyrenees, across Central Europe, to the Balkans, which is not unexpected considering that a Serbian institution was credited for publishing. The positive aspect is that the pottery is Crafting pottery in Bronze Age Europe: the archaeological background of the CRAFTER project discussed in a manner uncommon for archaeology, while on the other hand pottery studies have been more and more neglected in the past few decades, as such subjects are considered as passé in archaeology. The ever-rising number of specializations and specialists have pushed the pottery and potters into an undeserved corner, even though without such a set of analytic work the past can not be completely and adequately perceived.
The pottery is “slow-moving”. It changes, circulates, and exchanges at a slow pace and it enables the perception of the beginning, development, decadence, and the end of a certain society. The pottery has regional character and reflects the primary contacts, the esthetics of a community, and the inspiration of the artist. Certainly, this implies to prehistoric pottery and communities which do not function within centralized social systems, such as the Bronze Age beyond Mediterranean Europe, which is indeed in the focus of these proceedings. With the appearance of the potter’s wheel, the production and distribution of pottery merge with industry and economy, and at that moment a puzzle of a small man from the past loses a piece. A piece without which we are unable to perceive small communities through such an important, fruitful, and data-rich object such as pottery and which we often tend to neglect as a discipline. In order to identify the contacts, exchange, and trade or reconstruct the communication routes in past, we often reach to the so-called luxurious artifacts: metals, amber, glass, and artisan objects… Likewise, pottery could narrate a story of one meal, one house, one potter, one village, or one community in the past, which is, like it or not, a fact that will make the interdisciplinary and diverse analyses of prehistoric pottery one of the primary archaeological methods.
Vojislav Filipović
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade
Poznoneolitska i ranoeneolitska figuralna plastika iz severnih oblasti centralnog Balkana / Late Neolithic and Early Eneolithic figurative sculpture from the northern areas of the Central Balkans, 2019
Due to the physical properties of fired clay objects, the Neolithic, unlike the Paleolithic era, ... more Due to the physical properties of fired clay objects, the Neolithic, unlike the Paleolithic era, left behind a significantly larger quantity of material evidence, allowing us to fathom the economic, social, spiritual and artistic trends of the populations of the New Stone Age. Figurines stand out as one of the most remarkable features of Neolithic material culture, reflecting the image of Neolithic man and his style of life in a very direct and impressive way. Through various forms and stylizations, figurines reveal details about the clothing, adornment, hairstyle or physical appearance of an individual, while their functional and spiritual character remains a burning issue in archaeological debates.
In European Neolithic era, the culture of Vinča stands out as the one characterized by superior craftsmenship in clay modeling, its most prominent aspect being figurative sculpture, one of the most outstanding artistic achievements of the Neolithic era. Although figurative sculpture is present in all phases of Vinča culture (5400- 4500 BC), it could be claimed that its diversity, profusion and high artisanship culminated in the centuries around 4800 BC (Тасић 2008: 144). It is assumed that such flourishing of art is connected with the continual existence of the settlements and stable economy, followed by an organized social system with a developed belief system and established ritual practices.
The sample chosen for the statistical analysis of the sex or any other detail is limited to the specimens with preserved body parts on which it is possible to notice the existence of the required element. Thus, if we are interested in the sex of the figurine, the analytical sample will only be comprised of the specimens with preserved body parts on which sex attributes could be expected. The procedure is similar if we are interested in the number of bracelets shown on female figurines, in which case the sample will include only the specimens with defined sex and at least one preserved arm. Such sampling procedure was followed consistently in all the statistical analyses of the presence of certain elements on the figurines.
The total of Neolithic and early Eneolithic figurines from northern areas of the Central Balkans is 359 specimens of figurative sculpture, collected from fifteen sites from four narrow geographical areas, marked as Župa aleksandrovačka, lower section of Južna Morava, Ponišavlje and Toplica. The number of sites and figurines per area varies considerably from one area to another; thus, in Župa aleksandrovačka, only one site with twenty-three figurines has been registered, while only seventeen figurines have been collected from four sites in Ponišavlje. On the other hand, 225 specimens from five sites in Toplica were included in the sample for analysis, and only ninety-four specimens from the same number of sites registered in the lower section of Južna Morava entered the catalogue. Such irregular concentration is connected with the degree to which these areas have been researched, but also with the inference that the highest concentration of figurines has been noted between the lines Vinča- Gladnice and Starčevo – Pavlovac. More precisely, the concentration of figurines decreases with the increase of the distance between Vinča’s settlements and these lines.
The total sample showed that the largest number of specimens is incomplete and can be classified into some of the categories according to the preserved elements (Table 1). The specimens with only heads preserved are the most common ones (152 items or 42%), while the fragments which represent only preserved body parts are much less frequent (64 items or 18%), followed by headless figurines (58 items or 16%), complete figurines (46 items, 13%), busts (22 items, 6%) and limb fragments (17 items, 5%). Some researchers noted that the fragmentation of figurines is related to deliberate breaking and mutilation of certain body parts. This thesis is based on the fact that complete figurines are most commonly found in the remains of Neolithic houses, while a much larger number of figurines’ fragments are found scattered across the site or thrown into the garbage pit (Porčić 2011, 2012a). Hence, it is assumed that deliberate breaking of figurines was a part of a widespread ritual which used to define or regulate the complex social relations among the members of Vinča’s communities (Chapman J. 2000; Porčić 2012b; Лазић 2015).
The fragmentation of the zoomorphic figurines allowed sex analysis in seventeen items (52%), while 16 items (48%) had no preserved body parts where the attributes for sex recognition would be expected. Thus, in the chosen sample of zoomorphic figurines, there are three items with a clearly defined male sex organ (18%), while it was impossible to clearly determine the sex in the rest.
An interesting characteristic of the figurines from the sample is that the heads on the male and sexless ones are preserved in the majority of cases (64% and 65%), while the percentage of female figurines with preserved heads is much lower and amounts to 23%. Such statistic supports the thesis that figurines without clear sex characteristics are also male representations. If we take into account the assumption that each figurine represents an individual from the community (Лазић 2015), as well as the fact that complete figurines are mainly found in houses (Porčić 2011, 2012a; Porčić and Blagojević 2014), we can assume that the majority of male figurines actually used to represent the head-of-household, i.e. the protector of the family. Although family relations in the communities of Vinča culture remain unknown to us, the long established thesis of complete absence of matriarchal societies throughout the entire history of humankind (Vezel 1983) could point to this possibility. However, such conclusions do not necessarily negate the importance of women in religion, cult and ritual practices. Observing their artistic beauty, representations and frequency, it could be assumed that certain female figurines justifiably represented an infinite source of inspiration for the study of Neolithic religion, where fertility cult and woman as a supreme deity of the Neolithic pantheon, with names such as Mother goddess, Great goddess, or the proto-mother, have always been emphasized.
The practice of keeping male anthropomorphic figurines may have been preserved through the cult of ancestral spirits, so this type of figurines was passed down from generation to generation as the idol and protector of the home. In relation to this, the reason for generally lower frequency of male statuettes on Vinča sites should be looked into. Potential scenarios which emerged from the analyses of the figurines found in a precisely registered context present us with several possibilities, but the assumption that each household had a figurine whose duration equalled that of the household itself or one generation (Porčić 2011) is the most well-argumented one. Activities connected to ancestor worship lead to the development of a belief system which could have evolved into concepts of heroes and gods in the course of time. The notion of ancestor cult and common history of a society limited the process of social differentiation through inherited power, authority or status, thus lowering social tensions (Insoll 2011). That way, male or sexless figurines can also be interpreted as status symbols of family's origins.
On the other hand, the sample showed that female figurines were broken more often, which could be related to a certain ritual during a woman's marriage and leaving the family home, but, since there are no insights in the structure of Neolithic society, this thesis remains just a bold assumption. We must note that such interpretation of Late Neolithic anthropomorphic figurines cannot be applied to all items in the sample, since it contains figures which represent babies, hermaphrodites, as well as individuals or groups in various scenes from the life of the community.
Praistorijska nalazišta u Aleksinačkoj kotlini - Evidencija i revizija starih podataka, Dec 1, 2017
Monografija "Praistorijska nalazišta u aleksinačkoj kotlini: Evidencija i revizija starih podatak... more Monografija "Praistorijska nalazišta u aleksinačkoj kotlini: Evidencija i revizija starih podataka" predstavlja rezultat dugotrajnog rada na objedinjavanju svih raspoloživih podataka o arheološkim istraživanjima praistorijskih lokaliteta u Aleksinačkoj kotlini, koji je sproveden u sklopu projekata Arheološka prospekcija Aleksinačke opštine i Arheološka prospekcija donjeg toka Južne Morave. Osnovni cilj projekta je izučavanje odnosa između ljudskih naselja i okoline, odnosno interakcije između ljudi i okolnog predela u dijahronoj perspektivi. Jedna od glavnih težnji jeste sagledavanje primenjivosti različitih modela naseljavanja i uočavanje određenih pravilnosti u izboru mesta za naselje kroz različite praistorijske periode. S tim u vezi posebno je bilo bitno odrediti tačan položaj lokaliteta, čemu je u značajnoj meri doprinela revizija dokumenata iz muzejskih arhiva. Ona je podrazumevala i tumačenje rukopisa i kritičku procenu verodostojnosti podataka o arheološkim nalazištima. Napor autora da determinišu i u kulturno-hronološkom pogledu evidentiraju faze naseljavanja na nalazištima u Aleksinačkoj kotlini na osnovu arheološkog materijala, arhivske građe i publikovanih radova predstavlja temelj za buduća istraživanja u okviru projekta. Posebna pažnja je usmerena na geografske odlike regije i naseljavanje različitih mikro-predela i visinskih zona u cilju utvrđivanja obrazaca naseljavanja tokom različitih faza praistorije. Predstavljeno monografsko izdanje pokriva period od prvih istraživačkih saznanja o praistoriji Aleksinačke kotline do današnjih dana, čime je popunjena praznina, duža od jednog veka, tokom koje nije izdata ni jedna arheološka publikacija koja objedinjuje godinama gomilanu građu. Na taj način prikazano delo prezentuje niz korisnih podataka koji na prvom mestu pružaju uvid u položaj arheoloških nalazišta, objedinjujući pri tome i sve ostale relevantne podatke.
This monograph connects to the research results Petar Milojević presented in his graduation paper... more This monograph connects to the research results Petar Milojević presented in his graduation paper titled “The Survey of potential Paleolithic sites in the region of the Sokobanja basin and closer vicinity” the research for which was conducted within the project “Research of the transition from the middle to the upper Paleolithic in eastern Serbia” conducted by the Faculty of Philosophy from Belgrade in cooperation with the University of Arizona from Tucson (USA), under the auspices of Dušan Mihailović and Steven Kuhn. The research was conducted based on data collected by a team of three authors during only two research campaign each of which lasted two weeks conducted
during 2012 and 2013.
The contribution of this study in the archaeological survey of the Paleolithic
represents a standardized and systematic method of collecting data by means of forms and their compiling by applying Geographic Information Systems and the locating of
apsolute coordinates by means of a GPS device, which enables any further researcher to conduct a thorough preparation prior to fieldwork by means of selecting data of interest and enabling and entirely independent localization of the mentioned speleological objects. Our objective was also to point out the archaeological potential and instigate further archaeological researches of the Sokobanja region because it belongs to a group of areas with the least number of archeological researches. Besides their importance for archaeology, the presented data is solid starting point for geomorphological and speleological research.
Papers by Petar Milojević
Interaction, Transmission, Transformation. Long-distance Connections in Metal Ages of South-eastern Europe (eds. A. Bulatović, A. Kapuran, M. Gajić Kvaščev, M. Ljuština, V. Filipović, P. Milojević, O. Mladenović, B. Milić). Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade., 2025
The paper presents the results of the first provenience study conducted on ceramic materials that... more The paper presents the results of the first provenience study conducted on ceramic materials that belong to different stratigraphy layers on the same archaeological site. The suitable site was Bubanj, positioned on a high terrace near the Nišava River in the middle of the Niš Plain. The period from the Early to Late Eneolithic was archaeologically divided into cultural groups associated with these phases: Early Eneolithic, the Bubanj-Hum I group, Middle Eneolithic, the Chernavoda III-Boleraz-Baden group, and Late Eneolithic, the Cotofeni-Kostolac group. This study aims to determine similarities/differences in the origin of raw materials (based on compositional and mineralogical analysis) as well as the production technology (based on firing temperature assessment). The elemental composition of the ceramics and clay was determined using EDXRF
spectrometry, and the mineral composition and its phases were determined using XRPD analysis, while FTIR spectrometry results were used for the firing temperature estimation. The analytical techniques used and mathematical models developed in this study showed that they were efficient in analyzing materials made of the same/similar raw materials. The usage of local raw and non local raw materials was confirmed, and the archaeological grouping was confirmed based on the results. The results substantiate the notion of dynamic social interactions in the period following the mid-4th millennium calBC. This is evident not only by the distinct stylistic and typological features of Early Eneolithic ceramics compared to those of the Middle and Late Eneolithic but also by the technological differences in firing ceramics.
Materials, 2025
The archaeological materials from the Velika Humska Čuka site on the northern fringe of the Niš B... more The archaeological materials from the Velika Humska Čuka site on the northern fringe of the Niš Basin in southeastern Serbia were analyzed to reveal the provenance of ceramics and other artifacts. This study focused on the elemental analysis of 61 samples, including local clay pits, potsherds, and whole vessels. Samples were chosen based on stylistic and typological characteristics to distinguish local and "foreign" pottery. Elemental analysis was conducted using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry, complemented by principal component analysis (PCA) for data interpretation. Results indicated that the majority of pottery samples, over 80%, were produced using local clay from deposits near the site. However, approximately 20% of the analyzed vessels were made using clay from deposits near the Bubanj site, 8 km south of Velika Humska Čuka. A vessel on a hollow high foot combining stylistic elements of the Bubanj-Hum I group and Early Eneolithic Pannonian groups was made of clay not sourced from any identified local deposits, suggesting its non-local origin. While the predominance of local materials suggests self-sufficient production, the use of non-local clays and stylistic influences highlights long-distance connections and exchanges. The study emphasizes the importance of Velika Humska Čuka in understanding the development of ceramic traditions and the cultural dynamics of the Early Eneolithic in the Central Balkans.
Starinar n.s. 73, 2023
The paper presents an extraordinary new find from the site of Velika Humska Čuka near Niš, in Sou... more The paper presents an extraordinary new find from the site of Velika Humska Čuka near Niš, in Southeastern Serbia. During the 2022 excavation campaign, a set of bronze jewelry was discovered, comprised of a pin, a band, ten salteleons, and ten circular pendants. Of particular importance are finds of circular pendants, which are known throughout the Bronze Age in the territory of Europe. Such pendants are traditionally connected with Central Europe and the Hügelgräber culture, therefore representing an uncommon find for the Central Balkans. The paper provides a stylistic and typological analysis of jewelry, complemented with physical and chemical analyses, and further discusses the scope and effects of interactions between Central Europe and Central Balkans during the Bronze Age.
A Step into the Past Approaches to Identity, Communications and Material Culture in South-Eastern European Archaeology, 2023
The paper analyses two iron swords that represent chance finds from the valley plains between the... more The paper analyses two iron swords that represent chance finds from the valley plains between the present-day cities of Niš and Aleksinac, within the lower course of the South Morava river. Both examples are well preserved double-edged swords utilised during two different periods. The first sword belongs to the collection of the Hometown Museum in Aleksinac. It was discovered during gravel extraction on the left bank of the South Morava river, between the villages of Lužane and Tešica. Without a doubt, the sword represents an early Celtic type, positioned into the LT B2/C1 period, based on existing analogies, or the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The other sword comes from the collection of the National Museum in Niš, where it was stored as a chance find from the village of Draževac. For years, the sword has been interpreted as a Late La Téne example. An audit analysis has shown that this sword, a long-term exhibition piece of the prehistoric collection, in fact, represents a solidly preserved Roman spatha. In conclusion, several military campaigns across the territory of the Central Balkans, along with their archaeological records, are analysed, in order to provide a comparison with the Celtic campaigns towards the southern Balkans in 279 BC, and provide a possible interpretation for the uncommon location of the sword.
KATALOG IZLOŽBE, 2018
The insufficient development of the museum activity in Aleksinac contributed to the fact that the... more The insufficient development of the museum activity in Aleksinac contributed to the fact that the work on the collection of archaeological material in this area is mainly carried out by institutions from other regional centers, such as the National Museum of Niš, the National Museum of Kruševac, the National Museum of Belgrade, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Nis, the Republic Institute for the Protection of Monuments of Culture and the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade. Given that archaeological excavations have been conducted in only a few cases, most expert research includes material collected by reconnaissance of the terrain. The remaining, but in this case very extensive material, includes accidentally discovered objects that most often reached the museum collections through purchases and gifts. The results of field work on the recording of prehistoric sites in the Aleksinac region have not been published for the most part, while the data on the place of accidental finds are mostly incomplete and incidental.
This publication is the logical conclusion and crown of many years of reconnaissance, sounding excavations, collection of random finds and hard work to reconstruct many precious objects and save them from oblivion and make them available to experts and the general public. So we owe the greatest gratitude to all the older researchers of the prehistoric era in the Aleksinac basin, and first of all to the former workers and collaborators of the Niš and Aleksinac museums: Aleksandar Nenadović, Adam Oršić-Slavetić, Rudolf Bratnić, Aleksandar Simović, Dušan Krstić, Miodrag Vuković, Radmila Ajdić, Natalija Đurić, Miroslava Jocić, Miodrag Spirić and Aleksandar Ratković.
ZBORNIK NARODNOG MUZEJA SRBIJE / RECUEIL DU MUSÉE NATIONAL DE SERBIE, 2023
This paper presents the results of archaeological excavations carried out in 2022 at the site of ... more This paper presents the results of archaeological excavations carried out in 2022 at the site of the hillfort of Popovica, near Sokobanja, in eastern Serbia. The site of Popovica has not been archaeologically excavated until now, even though it has already been known from surveys and accidental finds from museum records in Belgrade, Niš and Knjaževac. Test trench excavations were carried out as part of the project Archaeological research of sites from the Early Iron Age in the territory of the municipality of Sokobanja, organised by the Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, and the Public Library “Stevan Sremac” in Sokobanja. Four trenches were opened, on the basis of which data on vertical stratigraphy, material culture and remains of prehistoric architecture were obtained. The research documented 3,597 mobile archaeological findings, namely, ceramic fragments, animal bones, flint, worked stone and daub. Most of the findings are ceramics fragments, 3,211 in total, out of which 475 specimens were selected as indicative of chronological and cultural characterisation. Almost no material from the historical phases of the past was recorded in the researched layers, therefore, on the basis of the research conducted so far, it can be concluded that Popovica was an exclusively prehistoric site. Three settlement phases were clearly established at the hillfort, identified on the basis of stratigraphic units and stylistic-typological traits of the ceramic material. Horizons from the Iron Age, Middle/Late Bronze Age and Late Eneolithic were singled out, which, according to the dominant cultural manifestations, can be linked to the Basarabi, Bubanj–Hum IV and Coţofeni–Kostolac cultures. Additionally, pottery pieces with elements of the Vučedol, Gamzigrad, Paraćin and Mediana II-III cultures were found sporadically, with the presence of surface findings of Late La Tène ceramics made on potter’s wheel, documenting, at the same time, the remains of the devastated layer from the most recent phase of settling of the hillfort. The mentioned research also revealed remnants of a drywall, which were probably the remains of prehistoric fortification architecture. The drywall most likely had two construction phases, considering the fact that two of its elements with different extension direction and different techniques of stacking stones were registered.
Archaeology and Science, 2023
The paper summarises the results achieved during the first 18 months of the project THE FLOW (Int... more The paper summarises the results achieved during the first 18 months of the project THE FLOW (Interactions-Transmission-Transformation: Long-distance connections in Copper and Bronze Age of the Central Balkans). The project team has visited 12 museums in the territory of Central Serbia and accumulated a total of 5,000 km of road trips. More than 400 pottery samples from 67 archaeological sites were collected for provenance analyses, thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence dating. Samples have also been collected from more than 150 bronze and 64 copper artifacts, as well as more than 25 samples from clay pits and ore deposits. A total of 30 samples from obsidian artifacts have been collected. Following the collection of samples, procurement procedures were conducted for AMS and TL/OSL dating, as well as calls for isotopic analyses of copper and tin provenance. Contracts for TL/OSL analyses have been signed with Instituto Universitario de Geología “Isidro Parga Pondal” from La Coruña (Spain), and for AMS analyses with Isotoptech Zrt. from Debrecen (Hungary), and Rutgers University in New Jersey (USA).
Laboratory research within the project has so far brought many important results, among which are those on the origin of the raw materials for making the analysed ceramic vessels, as well as the pigments used for their decoration. Extremely significant data was obtained on the composition of the analysed items made of metal - weapons and jewellery, on the basis of which preliminary conclusions were made about the technology of their production, and them belonging to a certain region or workshop.
The project initiated the creation of a network of scientific collaborations that can be continued through future joint projects and applications on international calls. The following project activities will be aimed towards the consolidation of already established methodological procedures as well as the interpretation of the awaited outcomes and their integration into explanatory models of complex processes in the societies in later prehistory.
Archaeology and Science , 2022
The paper presents the basic research principles of the project THE FLOW (Interactions-Transmiss... more The paper presents the basic research principles of the project THE FLOW (Interactions-Transmission-Transformation: Long-distance connections in the Copper and Bronze Age of the Central Balkans), which is carried by the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, the Institute of Nuclear Sciences “Vinča, and the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. The theoretical and methodological perspectives of the project research engage an interdisciplinary approach based on analytical techniques incorporated within archaeology and natural sciences, such as physics and chemistry. The project‘s goal is to apply an exact method to the problems of the origin of raw materials for the production of four specific groups of objects made of obsidian, pottery, copper, and bronze. Each of those materials represents a unique problem and requires a specific treatment, presented within this paper, together with the existing practice, analytic techniques, and methodological procedures for the collected samples. Further, the project incorporates the collection of absolute dates through AMS and OSL dating, with the application of the latest OxCal 4.4. calibration. The acquired dates, combined with the disposition of samples and raw materials will serve as
the backbone for the creation of spatio-temporal models and the formation of an SQL database, all with the goal of creating the interpretative basis for the study of local paleo-economies, long-distance connections, and social networks in the Central Balkans during the Copper and Bronze Age
ГЛАСНИК ДКС 44, 2020
У самом урбаном језгру Параћина, на локалитету Глождак–ДИС, реализована су током августа и септем... more У самом урбаном језгру Параћина, на локалитету Глождак–ДИС, реализована су током августа и септембра 2020. године заштитна археолошка истраживања,иницирана услед изградње супермаркета ДИС на том простору.
Локалитет Глождак је у стручну литературу као некропола из позног бронзаног доба и дакогетског периода ушао средином XX века, након првих заштитних археолошких истраживања под руководством Драге и Милутина Гарашанина. На основу претходних и овогодишњих истраживања простирање локалитета на левој обали Црнице може се само делимично реконструисати. Јужни део локалитета данас је покривен модерним насељем Глождак, али се према плану сонди са поменутих истраживања може са сигурношћу тврдити да се простире јужно од данашње Улице Браће Југовић. Истраживања 2018. године утврдила су да се
према истоку локалитет простире источно од данашње улице краља Милутина. Северна и западна граница нису јасно утврђене како је читав овај простор неистражен и прекривен савременом инфраструктуром.
Glasnik Srpskog arheološkog društva 35, 2019
Abstract: The paper addresses the research on topographic features and economic potentials of lan... more Abstract: The paper addresses the research on topographic features and economic potentials of landscapes connected with Metal Age sites, in order to compile fundamental data on settlement trends in the Toplica District during the Eneolithic, Bronze and Iron Age. Considering that our current knowledge on Metal Ages within the Toplica District is quite scarce, the paper presents basic data for each of the sites that had been compiled for decades, together with the accompanying archeological material which originates from prehistoric collections of museums in Prokuplje and Niš. The archaeological data is complemented by topographic, geological, natural-geographical and ethnographical data related to the landscape of the sites, which indicate certain economic perspectives of Metal Ages populations in the Toplica District (4500-1 BC).
Karadžić, časopis za istoriju, etnologiju, arheologiju i umetnost, Nova serija, br. 10/2018. , 2019
During the course of conducting archaeological prospecting in the Sokobanja basin in 2018, remain... more During the course of conducting archaeological prospecting in the Sokobanja basin in 2018, remains of old roads with stone pavement were found on Mount Ozren (the Municipality of Sokobanja, The Central Balkan). This fact is somewhat surprising given that the Mountain System Ozren today represents an extremely peripheral area with extremely low traffic importance. In this area, there were two old road sections with stone pavement remains. As their position, dimensions and structure differ, it was concluded that these are the remains of two independent routes that were probably created during two different periods of time. The road with the popular name „Turkish Cobble“ was discovered not far from the road to Vlasina (932 m above sea level), where it is preserved in the length of 1 km. It is assumed that the discovered part of the Turkish cobblestone section is part of the caravan route, most probably from the late Middle Ages on the route Paracin - Sokobanja - Nis. The remains of the second road were recorded at the Kopane pare site and they can only be monitored on a 100-150 m section. However, based on a well-preserved road segment, it was found that the width of its pavement reached as much as 5.5 m. The layout of the fort fortifi cations in the microregion suggests that this road was used as a communication route connecting the late antique sites located at the northern and southern edges of Ozren Mountain.
Rad se bavi analizom arheološkog materijala sa gradinskog lokaliteta Ljiljače kod sela Bovna, opš... more Rad se bavi analizom arheološkog materijala sa gradinskog lokaliteta Ljiljače kod sela Bovna, opština Aleksinac. Uvodni deo rada sumira dosadašnja saznanja o arheološkim nalazištima iz atara sela Bovna, kao i o prirodno-geografskim odlikama užeg okruženja, gde su izneseni i osnovni podaci o gradini na Ljiljaču, prikupljeni prilikom rekognosciranja 2014-2016. godine. U radu su prezentovani slučajni nalazi, koji su dospeli do arheološke zbirke Zavičajnog muzeja u Aleksincu, na osnovu kojih je ustanovljeno da se život na gradini odvijao tokom najmanje pet faza u vremenskom okviru od starijeg gvozdenog doba do poznog srednjeg veka.
Hillfort Ljiljace is situated near Bovan village in the Municipality of Aleksinac, the Republic of Serbia. A chronological outline of populating Gradina on Ljiljaca, can be made according to the archaeological material from the collection of the Heritage Museum in Aleksinac, as well as some artifacts from private collections. The archaeological material from the Museum’s collection is made up of chance findings: 108 indicative ceramic fragments, two completely reconstructed containers, 38 metal artifacts and 11 coins. By analyzing stylistically-typological features of the materials, it was determined that there were at least five stages of settlement. The earliest stage begins with the early Iron Age (VIII-VI century BC), continuing during La Tène (IV-I century BC), Late Antiquity (IV-VII century) and the Early Middle Ages (VII – XIX century), after which this area is abandoned and it is only occasionally used for certain purposes either in the Late Middle Ages (XIV-XVI century) or in the New Century (XVI-XIX century). Extensive quantities of construction waste together with ashlar and bricks of an antique form, testify the existence of a solid fortification. However, it is still uncertain when exactly it was built. For the time being, the available data as well as the number of findings, point to the fact that Hillfort Ljiljace had the greatest significance during the Late Antiquity (IV-VII century).
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Books by Petar Milojević
The Sokobanja region, for the purposes of this study, is defined as the area covered by the Sokobanja municipality, encompassing a slightly larger space than the geographical boundaries of the Sokobanja basin. This area includes the northern parts of Moravski Golak, a separate geographical unit, yet strongly connected to the upper basin of the Moravica River, with Sokobanja serving as the main urban center. The Sokobanja region is located in the central part of eastern Serbia, situated between the Timok and Morava basins. On a regional scale, this area belongs to the mountain-valley-basin macro-region, the meso-region of eastern Serbia, and the micro-region of Balkan Serbia. Administratively, the municipality falls under the Zaječar administrative district, comprising the town of Sokobanja and 24 rural settlements: Beli Potok, Blendija, Bogdinac, Vrbovac, Vrmdža, Dugo Polje, Žučkovac, Jezero, Jošanica, Levovik, Mužinac, Milušinac, Nikolinac, Novo Selo, Poružnica, Radenkovac, Resnik, Rujevica, Sesalac, Trgovište, Trubarevac, Cerovica, Čitluk, and Šarbanovac.
The present borders of the municipality consist of two distinct geographical units: the Sokobanja basin with its hilly area and part of Moravski Golak. The Sokobanja basin is located in the Moravica River basin, at the confluence of the Carpathian and Balkan mountains, between the Crnorečka, Svrljiška, Aleksinačka, and Knjaževac basins. The boundaries of the basin are clearly defined, as the entire area is surrounded by medium-high mountains (up to 1600 m). To the north, it is separated from the Crnorečka basin by the high and long ridge of Rtanj. Further to the east, the boundary with the Timok basin crosses the Slemenska mountain and the Krstatac ridge, descending through the Skrobnica gorge. To the south, the basin is separated from the Morava valley and Golak by the Ozren and Devica mountain ranges, while the western boundary with the Μorava valley is marked by the Rožanj and Bukovik mountains. On the other hand, Moravski Golak refers to the area along the southern slopes of Ozren and Devica, representing the smallest landscape unit of the Aleksinac basin. It occupies the northeastern part, which is also the highest, with peaks ranging from 500 to 900 m above sea level. This area is administratively divided among three municipalities: Aleksinac, Svrljig, and Sokobanja. The boundaries of Golak are not precisely defined, but roughly extend from the highest peaks of Ozren (Leskovik 1174 m) and Devica (Čapljinac 1187 m) in the north to the foot of Ljuti Vrh (784 m) and the Svrljiški Timok River in the south, from the Svetostefanska River in the west to the Bela River in the east. Until the mid-20th century, most of the mentioned villages belonged to the Sokobanja municipality, but today only the territories of three villages—Jezero, Novo Selo, and Radenkovac—are part of it.
The geographical position, terrain configuration, and economic potential of the Sokobanja region contributed to the early settlement of this area, which began as early as the Paleolithic. The fact that Sokobanja never developed museum activities or established an adequate institution for the collection and preservation of antiquities led to the archaeological material in this area being mostly collected by institutions from other regional centers, such as the National Museum of Serbia, the National Museum of Niš, the Homeland Museum in Knjaževac, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Niš, the Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, and the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade. Since archaeological investigations have rarely been conducted, the primary source of knowledge about the prehistory of the Sokobanja region comes from accidental finds that have ended up in museum collections or remained in private collections. The following chapters will present the knowledge base regarding finds and archaeological sites from the prehistoric era in the Sokobanja region.
The proceedings before us, comprised of seven papers, are inspired by the subject of the almost completed CRAFTER programme Creative Europe project. The full title of the project is Crafting Europe in the Bronze Age and Today, and in brief, the idea was to draw inspiration from Europe’s Bronze Age pottery to help revive modern-day artisanship. The project targets the appreciation of Europe's cultural heritage as a shared resource and the reinforcement of a sense of belonging to a common European space. In particular, it hopes to make cultural heritage a source of inspiration for contemporary creation and innovation and strengthen the interaction between this sector and other cultural and creative sectors. The main framework of the project was the idea that four potters from Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Serbia will draw on their skills to (re)create ceramic vessels representative of some of the most outstanding Bronze Age cultures of Europe: El Argar (southeast Spain), Únětice (Central Europe), Füzesabony (eastern Hungary) and Vatin (Serbia).
The papers published within these proceedings are not strictly related to the project itself, but the problems of Bronze Age pottery in Europe in general. The problems discussed in the presented papers and the inspirations are drawn from the CRAFTER project. The original idea was to delve into the content of the pottery and define its composition and quality. These are, in fact, the elements responsible for the final appearance of the ceramic vessel and its function. Considering that out of four editors, two have presented papers within the proceedings, I have been honoured to write this short introduction on their significance and essence. The thread that connects all of the papers, although their concepts do not seem similar at the first glance, since some of the papers are dwelling on interdisciplinarity while others deal with certain chronological and cultural-historical problems, is that the primary analytical material in all of the papers is Bronze Age pottery, from beyond the Pyrenees, across Central Europe, to the Balkans, which is not unexpected considering that a Serbian institution was credited for publishing. The positive aspect is that the pottery is Crafting pottery in Bronze Age Europe: the archaeological background of the CRAFTER project discussed in a manner uncommon for archaeology, while on the other hand pottery studies have been more and more neglected in the past few decades, as such subjects are considered as passé in archaeology. The ever-rising number of specializations and specialists have pushed the pottery and potters into an undeserved corner, even though without such a set of analytic work the past can not be completely and adequately perceived.
The pottery is “slow-moving”. It changes, circulates, and exchanges at a slow pace and it enables the perception of the beginning, development, decadence, and the end of a certain society. The pottery has regional character and reflects the primary contacts, the esthetics of a community, and the inspiration of the artist. Certainly, this implies to prehistoric pottery and communities which do not function within centralized social systems, such as the Bronze Age beyond Mediterranean Europe, which is indeed in the focus of these proceedings. With the appearance of the potter’s wheel, the production and distribution of pottery merge with industry and economy, and at that moment a puzzle of a small man from the past loses a piece. A piece without which we are unable to perceive small communities through such an important, fruitful, and data-rich object such as pottery and which we often tend to neglect as a discipline. In order to identify the contacts, exchange, and trade or reconstruct the communication routes in past, we often reach to the so-called luxurious artifacts: metals, amber, glass, and artisan objects… Likewise, pottery could narrate a story of one meal, one house, one potter, one village, or one community in the past, which is, like it or not, a fact that will make the interdisciplinary and diverse analyses of prehistoric pottery one of the primary archaeological methods.
Vojislav Filipović
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade
In European Neolithic era, the culture of Vinča stands out as the one characterized by superior craftsmenship in clay modeling, its most prominent aspect being figurative sculpture, one of the most outstanding artistic achievements of the Neolithic era. Although figurative sculpture is present in all phases of Vinča culture (5400- 4500 BC), it could be claimed that its diversity, profusion and high artisanship culminated in the centuries around 4800 BC (Тасић 2008: 144). It is assumed that such flourishing of art is connected with the continual existence of the settlements and stable economy, followed by an organized social system with a developed belief system and established ritual practices.
The sample chosen for the statistical analysis of the sex or any other detail is limited to the specimens with preserved body parts on which it is possible to notice the existence of the required element. Thus, if we are interested in the sex of the figurine, the analytical sample will only be comprised of the specimens with preserved body parts on which sex attributes could be expected. The procedure is similar if we are interested in the number of bracelets shown on female figurines, in which case the sample will include only the specimens with defined sex and at least one preserved arm. Such sampling procedure was followed consistently in all the statistical analyses of the presence of certain elements on the figurines.
The total of Neolithic and early Eneolithic figurines from northern areas of the Central Balkans is 359 specimens of figurative sculpture, collected from fifteen sites from four narrow geographical areas, marked as Župa aleksandrovačka, lower section of Južna Morava, Ponišavlje and Toplica. The number of sites and figurines per area varies considerably from one area to another; thus, in Župa aleksandrovačka, only one site with twenty-three figurines has been registered, while only seventeen figurines have been collected from four sites in Ponišavlje. On the other hand, 225 specimens from five sites in Toplica were included in the sample for analysis, and only ninety-four specimens from the same number of sites registered in the lower section of Južna Morava entered the catalogue. Such irregular concentration is connected with the degree to which these areas have been researched, but also with the inference that the highest concentration of figurines has been noted between the lines Vinča- Gladnice and Starčevo – Pavlovac. More precisely, the concentration of figurines decreases with the increase of the distance between Vinča’s settlements and these lines.
The total sample showed that the largest number of specimens is incomplete and can be classified into some of the categories according to the preserved elements (Table 1). The specimens with only heads preserved are the most common ones (152 items or 42%), while the fragments which represent only preserved body parts are much less frequent (64 items or 18%), followed by headless figurines (58 items or 16%), complete figurines (46 items, 13%), busts (22 items, 6%) and limb fragments (17 items, 5%). Some researchers noted that the fragmentation of figurines is related to deliberate breaking and mutilation of certain body parts. This thesis is based on the fact that complete figurines are most commonly found in the remains of Neolithic houses, while a much larger number of figurines’ fragments are found scattered across the site or thrown into the garbage pit (Porčić 2011, 2012a). Hence, it is assumed that deliberate breaking of figurines was a part of a widespread ritual which used to define or regulate the complex social relations among the members of Vinča’s communities (Chapman J. 2000; Porčić 2012b; Лазић 2015).
The fragmentation of the zoomorphic figurines allowed sex analysis in seventeen items (52%), while 16 items (48%) had no preserved body parts where the attributes for sex recognition would be expected. Thus, in the chosen sample of zoomorphic figurines, there are three items with a clearly defined male sex organ (18%), while it was impossible to clearly determine the sex in the rest.
An interesting characteristic of the figurines from the sample is that the heads on the male and sexless ones are preserved in the majority of cases (64% and 65%), while the percentage of female figurines with preserved heads is much lower and amounts to 23%. Such statistic supports the thesis that figurines without clear sex characteristics are also male representations. If we take into account the assumption that each figurine represents an individual from the community (Лазић 2015), as well as the fact that complete figurines are mainly found in houses (Porčić 2011, 2012a; Porčić and Blagojević 2014), we can assume that the majority of male figurines actually used to represent the head-of-household, i.e. the protector of the family. Although family relations in the communities of Vinča culture remain unknown to us, the long established thesis of complete absence of matriarchal societies throughout the entire history of humankind (Vezel 1983) could point to this possibility. However, such conclusions do not necessarily negate the importance of women in religion, cult and ritual practices. Observing their artistic beauty, representations and frequency, it could be assumed that certain female figurines justifiably represented an infinite source of inspiration for the study of Neolithic religion, where fertility cult and woman as a supreme deity of the Neolithic pantheon, with names such as Mother goddess, Great goddess, or the proto-mother, have always been emphasized.
The practice of keeping male anthropomorphic figurines may have been preserved through the cult of ancestral spirits, so this type of figurines was passed down from generation to generation as the idol and protector of the home. In relation to this, the reason for generally lower frequency of male statuettes on Vinča sites should be looked into. Potential scenarios which emerged from the analyses of the figurines found in a precisely registered context present us with several possibilities, but the assumption that each household had a figurine whose duration equalled that of the household itself or one generation (Porčić 2011) is the most well-argumented one. Activities connected to ancestor worship lead to the development of a belief system which could have evolved into concepts of heroes and gods in the course of time. The notion of ancestor cult and common history of a society limited the process of social differentiation through inherited power, authority or status, thus lowering social tensions (Insoll 2011). That way, male or sexless figurines can also be interpreted as status symbols of family's origins.
On the other hand, the sample showed that female figurines were broken more often, which could be related to a certain ritual during a woman's marriage and leaving the family home, but, since there are no insights in the structure of Neolithic society, this thesis remains just a bold assumption. We must note that such interpretation of Late Neolithic anthropomorphic figurines cannot be applied to all items in the sample, since it contains figures which represent babies, hermaphrodites, as well as individuals or groups in various scenes from the life of the community.
during 2012 and 2013.
The contribution of this study in the archaeological survey of the Paleolithic
represents a standardized and systematic method of collecting data by means of forms and their compiling by applying Geographic Information Systems and the locating of
apsolute coordinates by means of a GPS device, which enables any further researcher to conduct a thorough preparation prior to fieldwork by means of selecting data of interest and enabling and entirely independent localization of the mentioned speleological objects. Our objective was also to point out the archaeological potential and instigate further archaeological researches of the Sokobanja region because it belongs to a group of areas with the least number of archeological researches. Besides their importance for archaeology, the presented data is solid starting point for geomorphological and speleological research.
Papers by Petar Milojević
spectrometry, and the mineral composition and its phases were determined using XRPD analysis, while FTIR spectrometry results were used for the firing temperature estimation. The analytical techniques used and mathematical models developed in this study showed that they were efficient in analyzing materials made of the same/similar raw materials. The usage of local raw and non local raw materials was confirmed, and the archaeological grouping was confirmed based on the results. The results substantiate the notion of dynamic social interactions in the period following the mid-4th millennium calBC. This is evident not only by the distinct stylistic and typological features of Early Eneolithic ceramics compared to those of the Middle and Late Eneolithic but also by the technological differences in firing ceramics.
This publication is the logical conclusion and crown of many years of reconnaissance, sounding excavations, collection of random finds and hard work to reconstruct many precious objects and save them from oblivion and make them available to experts and the general public. So we owe the greatest gratitude to all the older researchers of the prehistoric era in the Aleksinac basin, and first of all to the former workers and collaborators of the Niš and Aleksinac museums: Aleksandar Nenadović, Adam Oršić-Slavetić, Rudolf Bratnić, Aleksandar Simović, Dušan Krstić, Miodrag Vuković, Radmila Ajdić, Natalija Đurić, Miroslava Jocić, Miodrag Spirić and Aleksandar Ratković.
Laboratory research within the project has so far brought many important results, among which are those on the origin of the raw materials for making the analysed ceramic vessels, as well as the pigments used for their decoration. Extremely significant data was obtained on the composition of the analysed items made of metal - weapons and jewellery, on the basis of which preliminary conclusions were made about the technology of their production, and them belonging to a certain region or workshop.
The project initiated the creation of a network of scientific collaborations that can be continued through future joint projects and applications on international calls. The following project activities will be aimed towards the consolidation of already established methodological procedures as well as the interpretation of the awaited outcomes and their integration into explanatory models of complex processes in the societies in later prehistory.
the backbone for the creation of spatio-temporal models and the formation of an SQL database, all with the goal of creating the interpretative basis for the study of local paleo-economies, long-distance connections, and social networks in the Central Balkans during the Copper and Bronze Age
Локалитет Глождак је у стручну литературу као некропола из позног бронзаног доба и дакогетског периода ушао средином XX века, након првих заштитних археолошких истраживања под руководством Драге и Милутина Гарашанина. На основу претходних и овогодишњих истраживања простирање локалитета на левој обали Црнице може се само делимично реконструисати. Јужни део локалитета данас је покривен модерним насељем Глождак, али се према плану сонди са поменутих истраживања може са сигурношћу тврдити да се простире јужно од данашње Улице Браће Југовић. Истраживања 2018. године утврдила су да се
према истоку локалитет простире источно од данашње улице краља Милутина. Северна и западна граница нису јасно утврђене како је читав овај простор неистражен и прекривен савременом инфраструктуром.
Hillfort Ljiljace is situated near Bovan village in the Municipality of Aleksinac, the Republic of Serbia. A chronological outline of populating Gradina on Ljiljaca, can be made according to the archaeological material from the collection of the Heritage Museum in Aleksinac, as well as some artifacts from private collections. The archaeological material from the Museum’s collection is made up of chance findings: 108 indicative ceramic fragments, two completely reconstructed containers, 38 metal artifacts and 11 coins. By analyzing stylistically-typological features of the materials, it was determined that there were at least five stages of settlement. The earliest stage begins with the early Iron Age (VIII-VI century BC), continuing during La Tène (IV-I century BC), Late Antiquity (IV-VII century) and the Early Middle Ages (VII – XIX century), after which this area is abandoned and it is only occasionally used for certain purposes either in the Late Middle Ages (XIV-XVI century) or in the New Century (XVI-XIX century). Extensive quantities of construction waste together with ashlar and bricks of an antique form, testify the existence of a solid fortification. However, it is still uncertain when exactly it was built. For the time being, the available data as well as the number of findings, point to the fact that Hillfort Ljiljace had the greatest significance during the Late Antiquity (IV-VII century).