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 19 to 25 January 2006 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The archaeological site of the mediaeval necropolis with stećak tombstones of Barzonja, Municipality Tomislavgrad is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of a necropolis with 64 stećak tombstones.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as part of cadastral plot no.  2235/1 Land Register entry no. 54, cadastral municipality Kongora, Municipality Tomislavgrad, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The provisions relating to protection 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, 27/02 and 6/04) shall apply to the National Monument.

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, and display the National Monument.

The Commission to Preserve National Monuments (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

            To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument, the following measures are hereby stipulated:

Protection Zone I consists of the area defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision. 

• in this zone, all works are prohibited other than research and conservation and restoration works, routine maintenance works, and works designed to display the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),
• the site of the National Monument shall be open and accessible to the public, and may be used for educational and cultural purposes.

A protective strip with a width of 500 m from the boundary of the site on which the National Monument stands is also stipulated.

• the extraction of stone, the location of potential environmental polluters as defined by law, the construction of industrial facilities, major infrastructural works or any structures the construction or operation of which could be detrimental to the National Monument are prohibited
• the dumping of waste is prohibited.

The Government of the Federation is required in particular to ensure that the following measures are carried out:

• archaeological survey of the potential archaeological site dating from the prehistoric period
• clearing the stećak tombstones of lichens and moss
• making good cracked stećak tombstones
• drawing up and implementing a programme for the presentation of the National Monument

IV

            All movable artifacts found during the course of the archaeological survey shall be deposited in the nearest museum or in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, processed, and suitably presented.

The removal of the movable artifacts found during the archaeological survey from Bosnia and Herzegovina is prohibited.

By way of exception to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Clause, the temporary removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable artifacts for the purposes of display or conservation shall be permitted if the survey manager determines that a given artifact must be processed abroad, and provides evidence to that effect to the Commission, which may permit the temporary removal of the artifact from the country subject to detailed conditions for its export, treatment while out of the country and return to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Upon receipt of a report on the investigations conducted, the Commission shall identify which movable artifacts shall be subject to protection measures to be determined by the Commission.

V

All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.

VI

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 or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.

VII

            The Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for regional 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 to VI of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.

VIII

            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.aneks8komisija.com.ba) 

IX

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.

X

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

No: 05.1-2-282/05-3

January 2006

Sarajevo

Chairman of the Commission

Dubravko Lovrenović

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 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  and 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.

On 24 October 2005 the board of experts of the archaeological department of the National Museum in Sarajevo submitted a proposal/petition to designate the historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones of Barzonja as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
• 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. Details of the property

Location

            The Barzonja necropolis is about 1000 m to the west of Blidinje lake.  It is located in natural surroundings with a fine view of the lake and surrounding highland.  Apart from a macadam road that divides the necropolis into a southern and a northern section and low stone walls nearby, there are no buildings or structures in the immediate vicinity.

Historical information

The plateau by the Blidinje lake, with its pastures, arable areas and mountain massifs of luxuriant vegetation, abundant stone and timber, wealth of wildlife and numerous springs, offered relatively favourable conditions for the area to be settled at an early date.

There have been no systematic archaeological investigations of the area.  Archaeological methodology has been used to locate or to hypothesize the existence of about thirty sites the knowledge of which is based solely on chance finds or the results of reconnaissance.  In Barzonja, reconnaissance conducted in 1953 discovered the remains of an open prehistoric settlement(1).There is a prehistoric hillfort in Podjelinak, a small settlement (50 x 25m), where shards of earthenware vessels and grindstones, probably dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages, were found.  In Sesaruša, the remains of a prehistoric hillfort (85 x 85 m) and Roman fortifications abound in archaeological material indicating the Bronze and Iron Ages and the Roman era.

Stone tumuli have been recorded in Hrbine-Risovac, with numerous tumuli of which the most prominent is the Zmijska tumulus(2) and the Marića cemetery-Risovac-Lokve(3).

Chance finds of coins, two Greek drachmas of Dyrrachium (229-100 BCE) and a drachma of Apollonius (229-100 BCE) from the Bare site, are evidence of a money-based trading economy from the late Iron Age.

A Roman coin of Galien (235-268) and Aurelian (270-275) has been found on the Bare site(4). Apart from this coin and traces of the presence of the Romans in prehistoric hillforts, and the assumption that Roman roads ran through the area, there are as yet no known monuments of antiquity.

Historical information on the region in the mediaeval period is very meagre.  Blidinje belonged to the Drežnica district, which formed part of the župa (county) of Večerići (Večenike) in Hum land (Anđelić, T. 2005. 417).

From 1325, Blidinje was part of Bosnia, ruled by the Kotromanić stock.  From 1357, along with western Hum, it belonged to Hungary's King Ludovic I, as the dowry of his wife Jelisaveta, daughter of Stjepan Kotromanić.  Following the death of King Ludovic, the region became part of the mediaeval Bosnian state, where it remained until at least 1463.

Written sources refer to the Blidinje area as Polja, or at times Planina.

During the reign of Tvrtko I Kotromanić, the Bosnian noble Mastan Bubanjić lived in Drežnica.  He is referred to as a witness in royal charters dating from 1354 and 1355.  In the 14th century he had his own estate in Blidinje, Masna Luka, where he and his sons were cattle farmers.  A 14th century inscription in Bosnian Cyrillic, carved into the living rock in Donja Drežnica, refers to him.

Necropolises with stećak tombstones are evidence of settlement in this area in the mediaeval period. The stećak tombstones can  be dated to the second half of the 14th and the 15th centuries (Bešlagić, Š. 1955. 70).

2. Description of the property

The  necropolis with stećak tombstones is divided into two by the old macadam road leading to Svinjača.  The tombstones fall into three groups.  One consists of ten stećak tombstones on an elevation at the extreme southern end of the necropolis.  A second group occupies the central, western part of the necropolis and runs alongside the road.  The largest number of stećak tombstones (49 in all) lie to the north of the road.

The necropolis consists of a total of 64 stećak tombstones(5). Of these, three are ridge-shaped (gabled), sixteen chest-shaped and 45 slab-shaped. In the immediate vicinity are several displaced stećak tombstones or fragments used in the stone walls. Eleven of the stećak tombstones are decorated.

Stećak no. 1 (measuring 190 x 80 x 130 cm) is a tall chest, lying north-east/south-west.  It is decorated, but it is not possible to determine with certainty what the designs are.  A relief scene is eroded and damaged by weathering and the action of plant organisms.

Stećak no. 2 is a small slab without decoration.

Stećak no. 3. is ridge-shaped, damaged and without decoration.

Stećak no. 4 is a chest, overturned.

Stećak no. 5 is a chest, overturned and sunken.

Stećak no. 6 is a chest.

Stećak no. 7 (measuring 148 x 65 x 15cm), a slab, is decorated with a carved cross.

Stećaks nos. 8,9,10 are sunken slabs, without decoration.

Stećak no. 11. is an isolated ridge-shaped tombstone 56 m away from the first group of stećak tombstones. It is overturned and partly sunken. Undecorated.

Stećak nos. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 are sunkenslabs without decoration. Stećak no. 17 is cracked.

Stećak no. 19 is a chest, cracked.

Stećak no. 20 is a slab without decoration.

Stećak no. 21 (measuring 154 x 62 x 60) is a chest, decorated with a stylized cross-rosette.

Stećak no. 22 is a slab without decoration. Cracked.

Stećak no. 23 is a small slab, sunken.

Stećak no. 24 (measuring 180 x 87 x 36 cm), is a slab decorated with a carved rectangle on the upper surface.

Stećak nos. 25, 26, 27, 28 are sunken slabs, without decoration.

Stećak no. 29 is a chest, without decoration.

Stećak nos. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, are sunken and damaged slabs.

Stećak no. 40 (measuring 140 x 70 x 68 cm), is a chest, decorated on the upper surface with a carved cross the upper and lower arms of which are forked.

Stećak no. 41 is a slab, sunken.

Stećak no. 41 is a slab, sunken and damaged.

Stećak no. 43 (measuring 170 x 62 x 100 cm) is a tall chest, overturned onto its side  The upper surface is decorated with an anthropomorphic cross.

Stećak no. 44 je slab, damaged.

Stećak no. 45 is a chest, sunken.

Stećak no. 46 is a slab, sunken.

Stećak no. 47 is a chest, overturned and damaged.

Stećak no. 48 is a chest, overturned.

Stećak no. 49 is a slab, sunken.

Stećak no. 50 (measuring 170 x 120 x 30 cm), is a slab, decorated but badly damaged.  A carved band can be seen on the east side.

Stećak no. 51 is a slab, sunken.

Stećak nos. 52, 53, 54 are chests, overturned.

Stećak no. 55 (measuring 168 x 87 x 45 cm), is a chest, decorated but badly damaged. The south side face bears a carved women’s round dance.

Stećak nos. 56, 57, 58, 59 are sunken slabs.

Stećak nos. 60-64 are to the south of the road.

Stećak no. 60 is a slab, sunken. The visible part of the upper surface (measuring 120 x 30cm) is decorated with a carved rosette.

Stećak no. 61 is ridge-shaped with plinth (measuring 176 x 113 x 25 cm). The stećak is decorated, but badly damaged.  All that survives are parts of the reliefs on the upper surface and west side face.  Part of a shield can be seen on the upper surface, and a stylized cross on the west side face.

Stećak nos. 62.and 63 are sunken slabs.

Stećak no. 64 (measuring 220 x 175 x 42 cm) is a decorated slab.  The upper surface has a border of spirals, with a width of 12 cm.

Reconnaissance has revealed the vestiges of an open prehistoric settlement between the stećak tombstones and to the east of the necropolis (P. Oreč, 1978).  

3. Legal status to date

There are no details of previous legal protection.

The property is not on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments; the decision is based upon the petition referred to above.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works 

Thus far no conservation or restoration works have been carried out on the stećak tombstones of the Barzonja necropolis.

Experts from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federation Ministry of Culture have drawn up a “Study of the impact of forestry on biologically sensitive sites,” with a separate section “Individual national parts and nature parks: Prenj-Čvrsnica-Čabulja," which includes the Blidinje area.  The Barzonja necropolis is listed as an important cultural and historical monument of the area.  The study did not include specific protection measures.

5. Current condition of the property

An on site inspection in September 2005 ascertained as follows:

The majority of the stećak tombstones, particularly the slab-shaped ones, are sunken.  Several chest-shaped tombstones have been overturned.

Plant organisms and weathering have badly affected the condition of the stećak tombstones, as is to be seen in particular on the decorated surfaces.  About ten of the stećak tombstones are cracked.

There is no building in the immediate vicinity.

6. Specific risks to which the monument is exposed

Long-term lack of maintenance could result in lasting damage to the decorations on the tombstones.

III – CONCLUSION

Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.

The Decision was based on the following criteria:

A.  Time frame

B.  Historical value

C.  Artistic and aesthetic value

C.iv. composition

C.v. value of details

G. Authenticity

G.i. form and design

G.ii. material and content

G.v. location and setting

            The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

o    Copy of cadastral plan

o    Copy of land register entry

o    Drawings – plan of the necropolis by  J. Burnazović, associate for archaeology of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments

o    Documentation of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport: “Study of the impact of forestry on biologically sensitive sites,” with separate section “Individual national parts and nature parks: Prenj-Čvrsnica-Čabulja," which includes the Blidinje area

o    Photodocumentation from the site, September 2005: nos. 1-1c, 7, 11, 12,19, 21, 24 -24c, 40, 40a, 50, 50a, 55-55b, 61-61d, 62, 63, 64-64c, view a-d, surroundings, group of stećak  tombstones.

Bibliography

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

1959.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Stećci na Blidinju (Stećak tombstones in Blidinje), Zagreb 1959.

1971.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled (Stećak tombstones, a catalogue and topographical survey), Sarajevo, 1971. 142-143.

1978.    Oreč, Petar, Prapovijesna naselja I grobne gomile, (Posušje, Grude I Lištica) (Prehistoric settlements and grave mounds [Posušje, Grude I Lištica] Jnl of the National Museum XXXII/1977., Sarajevo, 1978.181-291, 1-10.

1982.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Stećci-kultura i umjetnost (Stećak tombstones – culture and art), Sarajevo, 1982.

1988.    Various authors, Arheološki leksikon Bosne i Hercegovine (Archaeological lexicon of BiH) vol. 3, National Museum in Sarajevo, Sarajevo 1988.

2005.    Proceedings of the First International Symposium Blidinje 2005 (16.09 -17.09.2005).

(1)  AL BiH, Vol. 3, 260.

(2)  AL BiH, Vol. 3, 216.

(3)  AL BiH, Vol. 3, 220.

(4)  AL BiH, Vol. 3, 260.

(5) Šefik Bešlagić recorded seventy stećak tombstones. The Commission's associate Jasna Burnazović visited and surveyed the necropolis in September 2005, when she found sixty-four stećak tombstones.