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Decisions on Designation of Properties as National Monuments

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60th session - Decisions

Korića Han, the archaeological site

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Status of monument -> National monument

             Pursuant to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, at a session held from 5 to 12 May 2003 the Commission adopted a

 

D E C I S I O N

 

I

 

            The archaeological site of Korića han in Gračanica is hereby designed as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

            The National Monument is on a site covering cadastral plots 5313/1 (old  survey 539/1, Land Registry 6736) and 5313/2 (old survey 539/12), 5315 (old survey 539/3), 5316  (old survey 539/4, Land Registry 2482), and 5333/1, cadastral municipality Gračanica, Gračanica Municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            The provisions relating to protection and rehabilitation measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of  BiH nos. 2/02 and 27/02) shall apply to the National Monument specified in the preceding paragraph.

 

II

 

            The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, display and rehabilitate the National Monument.

            The Government of the Federation shall be responsible for providing the resources for drawing up and implementing the necessary technical documentation to investigate the National Monument.

            The Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Commission) shall determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and setting up signboards with the basic data on the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.

 

III

 

            In order to preserve the National Monument, Protection Zone I is hereby designated, covering c.p. nos. 5313/1,5313/2, 5314,5314/1, 5314/2, 5314/3, 5315, 5316, 5333/1, 5333/3, 5333/14.

            The Government of the Federation shall be responsible in particular for ensuring that the following protection measures are enforced:

            In Protection Zone I only archaeological investigations and works of conservation, including those intended for the display of the monument shall be permitted, to a project approved by the Federal ministry responsible for regional planning and under the professional supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority).  The monument should be open to the public so that it can be used for educational and cultural purposes.

            The construction of any buildings or facilities is prohibited, as are all other works that could have the effect of altering the archaeological site and endangering the archaeological strata beneath the soil.

            The building erected on c.p. 5315 must be removed.

 

            Protection Zone II is hereby designated on the west of the site extending to 50 m from the boundaries of Protection Zone II and covering c.p. nos. 5327/4, 5328, 5333/9, 5333/10, 5333/11, 5334, 5336.

            In Protection Zone II the construction of all new buildings and any alterations to the landscape are prohibited other than the renovation of existing buildings.

 

            The Government of the Federation shall provide the funds for setting up a notice board and a fence around Proteciton Zone I of the site of Korića Han.

 

IV

 

            All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are to be revoked, and the relevant authorities are responsible for revoking all administrative acts contrary to the provisions of this Decision.

 

V

  

            Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument specified in Clause I of this Decision or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.

 

VI

 

            The Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for town planning, the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II, III and IV of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.

 

VII

 

            The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.anek8komisija.com.ba) 

 

VIII

 

            Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.

 

IX

           

            This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption and shall be published in the Official Gazette of BiH and the Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH.

 

            This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović,  Ljiljana Ševo and Tina Wik.

 

        

Chairman of the Commission

Amra Hadžimuhamedović

No: 06-6-95/03-1

6 May  2003

Sarajevo           

                                                                       

                                                                                              

E l u c i d a t i o n

 

I – INTRODUCTION

           

            Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter referred to as Annex 8) and as property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of  BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.

            A petition to designate the immovable property of the Neolithic settlement of Korića han as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina was submitted to the Commission by Gračanica Municipality on 13 December 2002 and received as no. 01-420/02. 

            Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National Monument, pursuant to Article V of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.

 

II – PROCEDURE PRIOR TO DECISION

           

            In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:

-         Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and copy of land registry entry)

-         Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage if any, data on restoration or other works on the property if any, etc.

-         The current condition of the property

-         Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.

 

            The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:

 

1. Information on the site

Location

            The archaeological site of Korića han is a Neolithic site with traces of an early Bronze Age settlement, located on a small hill on the edge of the valley of the Spreče river, which flows south of the site at a distance of about 1 km.  The site is 2 km. south of Gračanica, to the left of the Tuzla-Gračanica-Doboj road. The river Sokoluša flows to the south-east of the site, some 200 km. away.  The hillock, with a central plateau and gentle slopes, was the site of a prehistoric settlement occupying an area of some 12000m2.

            The archaeological site is on cadastral plots 5313/1,5313/2, 5314,5314/1, 5314/2, 5314/3, 5315, 5316, 5333/1, 5333/3, 5333/14.

Historical information

            The site dates from the prehistoric era, and has material evidence from the periods of the middle and upper Neolithic and the early Bronze Age, from about 5000 to 2500 BCE.       

 

Legal status to date

            The archaeological site has not been under legal protection and the site is not included in the Regional Plan for BiH.

       

2. Description of the monument

            On the basis of the remains of above-ground houses found in the excavated area of the settlement, four strata or stages of building can be differentiated.  In its features the settlement belongs to the type of Neolithic and early Bronze Age settlement from north-eastern Bosnia.  Part of the southern limits of this type of settlement run along the Spreče valley.  The settlement in Korića han belongs in part to the mid and upper Neolithic, that is to the peripheral, impoverished variant of the Vincha culture.  The proximity of lesser and more significant watercourses was one of the major factors in the choice of areas for settlement by people of the Vincha culture.  Settlements were usually built on hillocks, promonteries or river terraces.  In the early Bronze Age the Spreče valley belonged to the so-called northern Bosnian zone.  This period is little known in northern Bosnia, but everything points to its being naturally linked with the Danube basin.  In the early Bronze Age settlements in this region were built on the same sites as Neolithic open lowland settlements.  Throughout the settled period the economy of the inhabitants of the site of Korića han was based on agriculture and livestock.  Small communities were fairly mobile and not intimately connected with specific territories.  The majority of the remains of the settlement were found on the plateau in the centre of the hillock and on its east and west slopes.

            Based on the typology of the pottery in the settlement, two periods can be diferentiated:

            1.  The earlier period, from the subsoil to a depth of about 1.4 m, with two building strata (a, b)

            1.a. The older building stratum at a depth above the subsoil, depending on the depth of the probe, of 3 to 2.4 m.  The material the lodgings were built of was badly disintegrated, but it was possible to determine that they were wood-frame buildings with the walls covered with lime, that they had hearths, and that they were floored.  This building stratum dates from the mid Neolithic period.

            2. A later period of 0,1-1.4 m with two building strata (a, b).

            2a The older building stratum is at a depth of 1.4-1.3 m.  On the plateau a lodging of rectangular outline, with wattle and daub walls and floor.  A grindstone was found alongside the hearth.

            2b  the more recent building stratum is at a depth of 0.8-0.6 m. The destroyed remains of lodgings were found at a depth of 0.35 m., with the remains of an oven.

            In the more recent period of settlement in this site, covering the upper Neolithic and early Bronze Age, the shape of vessels with indented or wavy rim characteristic of the mid Neolithic was lost.  In the more recent period vessels appear with the rim curving outwards and cylindrical neck.  There are many vessels with band-like handles attached at or immediately beneath the rim.  The vessels were decorated with bands and impressed and cannelure decorative motifs.

            The area remained settled over a long period and provided good living conditions.  It dates from the fifth to the mid third millennia (5000-2500) BCE.

 

3.   Research and conservation and restoration works

            1971. Reconnaissance and trial excavations over a small area of a single probe conducted by experts under the auspices of the Museum of Eastern Bosnia.  At that time traces of hearths and much pottery was found, proportionate to the excavated area.  It was determined that the finds belonged to the group of Neolithic settlements of north-eastern Bosnia.

            1972-1975. Under the auspices of the archaeological investments of the prehistorical settlement in the Spreče area undertaken by Milica Kosorić of the Museum of Eastern Bosnia in Tuzla, more extensive excavations were conducted in nine areas.  Over a surface of some 1200 m2, in the central part of the hillock and the surrounding slopes, about 150 m2 was excavated using the method of trial probes.

 

4. Current condition of the site

            An on-site inspection established the following:

Ÿ          that the area most at risk is the eastern side where the terrain has been cleared on plots 5313/1 and 5313/2 over an area of 60 x 43 m for the construction of a manufacturing plan.  On the western cut of the dug-out area at a height of some 4 m. there are clearly visible traces of the prehistoric site to which these works pose a grave danger;

Ÿ          that the site is endangered by the construction of private houses and weekend cottages on the plateau and the east sloopes (in the north-east corner and the south-east part).  On plot 5315 the owner has built a weekend cottage;

Ÿ          on the north-west slope of the site an entire settlement of private houses has sprung up;

Ÿ          alongside the south-west slope the construction of foundations for a house has begun (plot 5333/3) and one house has been built (plot 5333/14);

Ÿ          on the southern edge of the site yet another production facility is being built on plot 5314 which is not designated in the petition as forming part of the site;

Ÿ          other than the buildings on plots 5313/1 and 5313/2 (with the surface dug away for foundations) and the weekend cottage on part of plot 5315, the other buildings have been erected on the outer edges of the archaeological site.

 

III – CONCLUSION

           

            The site of Korića han is of great importance for the study of prehistoric settlement in the area of north and north-east Bosnia.  It has been very little investigated.

Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument, adopted at the fourth session of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments (3 to 9 September 2002), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.

            The Decision is based on the following criteria

                        A) Time frame

                        D) Clarity

                                    i. material evidence of a lesser known historical era

                                    v. evidence of the typical lifestyle of a certain period

                        F)  Landscape value

                                    i relation to other parts of the group                

                        G) Authenticity                        

                                    v Location and setting         

 

            The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-         Copy of cadastral plan

-         Copy of land register entry and proof of title;

-         Photodocumentation;

-         Drawings

            The documentation annexed to the Decision is public and available for view by interested persons on written request to the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Bibliography:

            During the procedure to designate the site as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

 

Kosorić, Milica, Sondažno rekognosciranje lokaliteta Korića han u Gračanici. (Trial reconnaissance of the site of Korića han u Gračanica) Articles and material for the cultural history of eastern Bosnia IX, Museum of Eastern Bosnia in Tuzla, Tuzla, 1972, 5-7

 

Kosorić, Milica, Praistorijska naselja na području Spreče. (Prehistoric settlements in the Spreče area) Articles and material for the cultural history of eastern Bosnia, Museum of Eastern Bosnia in Tuzla, Tuzla, 1980, 103-116.



Industrial site and the surroundings of the Korića han siteView from the upper plataeu at the industrial siteKorića han, upper plateau of the siteKorića han, upper plateau of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age <br>Preparation of the site for construction of the manufacture object that endangers the archeological site
Surroundings of the upper plateau of the site Korića hanKorića han, photo from 1971  


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