Status of monument -> National monument

Published in the „Official Gazette of BiH“ no. 29/08

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 20 to 27 November 2007 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I.

The historic site of the necropolis of stećak tombstones at Crkvenjak and the necropolis of stećak tombstones at Klupe in Komari, Municipality Kreševo, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of two necropolises with a total of 53 stećak tombstones.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no.6, Land Register entry no. 520, c.p. no. 1627, Land Register entry no. 291, c.p. no. 1629, Land Register entry no. 352, cadastral municipality Alagići, Municipality Kreševo, 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 providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation and presentation of 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 protection measures are hereby stipulated, to apply to the area defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision.

• all works are prohibited other than research and conservation and restoration works, routine maintenance works, and works designed to display the monument, subject to the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) 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 monument shall be open and accessible to the public, and may be used for educational and cultural purposes,
• infrastructure works are prohibited except with the approval of the relevant ministry and the subject to the expert opinion of the heritage protection authority,
• burials shall be permitted on condition that new graves are no closer than five metres from the stećak tombstones.

The Government of the Federation of BiH shall be responsible in particular for the following:

• drawing up a programme for systematic archaeological investigations and conservation of the necropolis.

IV

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

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 or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.

VI

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 V 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.aneks8komisija.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.

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

No: 02-2-909/03-10

21 November 2007

Sarajevo

Chair of the Commission

Ljiljana Ševo

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 2 June 2003 Anto Buzuk of Kreševo submitted a proposal to designate the historic site of the necropolis of stećak tombstones at Crkvenjak (Roman Catholic cemetery) in Komari, Municipality Kreševo, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

At its 23rd session, held on 8-13 November 2005, the Commission decided that the decision to designate the necropolis with stećak tombstones at Klupe should include the necropolis of stećak tombstones at Crkvenjak (Roman Catholic cemetery) in Komari, Municipality Kreševo.

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 para. 4 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 Land Register entry),
• Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, details of war damage, details of restoration and 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 property are as follows:

1. Details of the property

Location

The necropolises of stećak tombstones at Crkvenjak and Klupe in Komari, Municipality Kreševo, are on the Kiseljak to Kreševo road, 3 km before entering Kreševo, on the northern edge of the Kreševo plain.

A narrow asphalt road (150-200 m) leads to the site, which is at an altitude of 565 m.

The Crkvenjak necropolis of stećak tombstones

Within the necropolis of stećak tombstones is a modern Roman Catholic cemetery covering an area of 2 ara and 550 m2, on a site that dictated the position of new graves, which lie north-south.  A brook flows below the north wall of the cemetery, while to the south the cemetery is bounded by the local village road.

The Klupe necropolis of stećak tombstones

This lies to the immediate north of Crkvenjak. The necropolis is located on a slight elevation covering an area of 320 m². The necroppolis contains 25 chest-shaped stećak tombstones, lying west-east.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no.6, Land Register entry no. 520, c.p. no. 1627, Land Register entry no. 291, c.p. no. 1629, Land Register entry no. 352, cadastral municipality Alagići, Municipality Kreševo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Historical information

There is no direct information concerning the Kreševo area in ancient times. However, typonyms such as Placa, Tmor, Kotor and Gradina suggest that the Kreševo region has been inhabited since ancient times (V. Dumbović 1975. p. 98 ). 

During Illyrian times this area belonged to the Desidiati tribe (B. Marijanović 1984 p. 56), and it is likely that the area was already being mined at that time.

Reference works state that in mediaeval times Kreševo contained a royal court, a silver mine, and a Franciscan cemetery. There are signs that Kreševo was also an administrative centre in those days, since it was the county town of a župa (county), as suggested by the fact that when the Ottomans conquered Bosnia they founded nahijas wherever there had been a county town (V. Dumbović 1977. p. 101 – 104).

However, Kreševo's natural isolation, together with its wealth of ores and minerals, dictated its development throughout its history, including the late mediaeval period, when Kreševo had not only an economic role but also a strategic one in the economic and political triangle of Visoko, Fojnica and Kreševo. At first, Fojnica and Kreševo were in the large mediaeval county of Lepenica, which covered the entire catchment area of the Fojnica river (N. Klaić, 1994, 112-115).

Later, the county of Lepenica and the whole of central Bosnia became a direct holding of the Kotromanić dynasty. In the late 14th century the old county broke up into smaller districts centred on fortified towns. The small county of Kreševo came into being in this way. At the beginning of Ottoman rule, it was known as the Kreševo nahija, and belonged to the Crown lands (P. Anđelić, 1963a, p. 187).

The earliest reports of the exploitation of mines in historical sources date from the reign of King Tvrtko I, in the latter half of the 14th century – Fojnica in 1365, and Kreševo rather later, in 1381.  These were probably newly-opened minds. According to a document from 1403, the Curia regis Bossine was in Deževice, and in the next few years a customs house was set up there; a knez (prince, headman) is also known to have been the headman of the town (D. Kovačević-Kojić, 1978, 33, 34, 39). The earliest reference to the nearby silver mine in Dusina dates from 1413.

Kreševo is referred to as a place in a document from the Dubrovnik chancellery of 28 May 1415, where Dobrašin Veseoković and another two people from Dubrovnik were to deliver 30 consignments of fabric and sundries from Dubrovnik to Kreševo or Podvisoki (P. Anđelić, 1984, 145).

Marko Vego notes that there is reference in a document from 1420 to sotto Crisgnevo (M. Vego, 1957, p. 64), which indicates that the fort – the royal court above the civilian settlement – had already been built by that date.

Until the 1430s, Dubrovnik merchants lived mainly in Visoko, visiting the mines in Fojnica and Visoko only on business. It was probably due to the ever-present danger of Ottoman incursions that trade in Visoko declined, and Dubrovnik merchants moved in greater numbers to Fojnica, with fewer moving to Kreševo, which was the third-largest Dubrovnik trade colony after Visoko and Fojnica (P. Živković, 1981, 132).

Larger groups of Dubrovnik merchants feature in Kreševo only from 1434 on. This Dubrovnik colony developed further after 1450, when it numbered 61 people from Dubrovnik. This immediately tells us that it was not a major Dubrovnik colony, since its members mostly came from Fojnica to this mine only temporarily (D. Kovačević-Kojić, 1961, pp. 74-75).

During the reigns of King Tvrtko II and Stjepan Tomaš, from the 1430s to the 1460s, the region played an important part in supplying Dubrovnik's merchants in particular, but also the Bosnian kings, with silver. The area was the most important centre of mining production in the royal holdings, particularly Fojnica (P. Živković, 1981, 132).

During the upheavals in Bosnia in 1433 and 1434, the town was temporarily seized by Sandalj Hranić. Two documents date from that time. The first are letters of 12 and 16 December 1433 written to him by Dubrovnik to appeal for protection for Dubrovnik's traders in Kreševo. The following year, on 12 August 1434, Juraj Vojsalić, who was fighting for King Tvrtko II, issued a charter sotto Cressevo, indicating that the fort and the civilian settlement were again under the king's authority. That same year, on 12 April 1434, Pope Eugene issued a bull on the appointment of a Franciscan, Stjepan, as bishop of Visoko, with instructions that the appointment was to be announced to the Archbishop of Dubrovnik, King Stjepan of Bosnia, and the clergy and inhabitants of Deževice, Kreševo, Fojnica, Jajce and Srebrenica (P. Anđelić, 1984, 154).

In 1441 King Tvrtko II introduced various economic measures designed to prevent too much silver leaving Bosnia. Since silver had become too expensive for Dubrovnik, it made various representations in an attempt to prevent the king from introducing these measures, and banned its subjects from exporting metals from the Bosnian kingdom as a whole, and particularly from the four royal mines: Deževica, Fojnica, Kreševo and Dusina (P. Živković, 1981, 193)(1).

The earliest written source on the presence of Saxons in Bosnia dates from 1365, when the mines of Bosnia had already been in operation for several decades. Although there are few written records on the presence of the Saxons, those that do feature concern the brothers Hans and Nikal Sasinović, who traded in Bosnian mining products exported to foreign markets and are also the only Saxons in Bosnia whose names are known.

There are also two general items of information in writing about Saxons in Bosnia:

a)       Curia Teutonicorum is referred to in a dispute between Nikal Sasinović and Hranko Dobretić in Fojnica

b)      A notary's record debita Theotonicorum.

Toponomastic material and written sources reveal that there were Saxons in Srebrenica, Fojnica and Ostružnica, but there is no record of their presence in Olovo, Kreševo, Dusina, Deževica or Busovača (D. Kovačević-Kojić, 1961, pp. 149-151).

The Saxons brought with them newer and more advanced techniques (the use of wagons, for example), thus improving mining technology, and also brought German terminology, which continued in use in Kreševo until after World War II (V. Dumbović, 1977, p-. 103).

On 3 September 1444 King Stjepan Tomaš issued a charter to Dubrovnik, dated from the famous town of Kreševo, confirming their concessions (M. Vego, 1957, p. 64).

During the 1450s, azuritre from Bosnia was sold in large quantities in Dubrovnik. Hrabak, attempting to identify where the azurite came from, suggests that it was from the mines of central Bosnia, particularly Kreševo (B. Hrabak,1954, pp. 40-41).

In the 15th century there was a customs house in Kreševo, maintained by people from Dubrovnik exporting iron, silver, mercury and, perhaps, lapis lazuli from Kreševo. There are also documentary references to two knez (princes, headmen) in the town of Kreševo. The name of one of them from Dubrovnik, Radoja Kristić Kocoja, is known from 1445; the other, not mentioned by name, is referred to in 1451 (D.Kovačević-Kojić, 333-345).

The last document referring to mediaeval Kreševo is dated 29 May 1463, when the Grand Council of the Republic of Dubrovnik approved the purchase of 200 lbs of gunpowder by the uncle of the King of Bosnia, Radić (Radovoje) Kristić, who was then in Kreševo (Ć. Truhelka, 1910, pp. 3, 14).

In Ottoman times the Kreševo fort lost all strategic importance, and was abandoned, but life continued in the town. The Ottomans retained the customs house, leasing it to Dubrovnik, and the extraction of precious metals continued.

An important, indeed crucial role in the history of the Kreševo area was that played by the followers of St Francis of Assisi. There is all too little information about their activities in Kreševo and the origins of the monastery. According to V. Dumbović, the origins and construction of the monastery are associated with the development of mining in the region. Judging from a list of Franciscan monasteries in the Bosnian vicariate compiled by Bartolo of Pisa before 1378, there were seven custodiates, the third of which was the Bosnian custodiate with four monasteries: Curi bani (Sutjeska, St Nicholas (Visoko), Lašva and Plumbum (Olovo). As will be seen, there is no reference to a monastery in Kreševo. It was founded towards the end of the Bosnian kingdom, when there was already a Franciscan residence that was then promoted to a monastery.

By the end of the 17th century there were ten Franciscan monasteries in Bosnia, including the one in Kreševo. There is a legend to the effect that the last-but-one queen, Katarina, wife of King Stjepan Tomaš, built a church in Kreševo. This is supported by the fact that an earlier church was dedicated to St Catherine (V. Dumbović, 1977, p. 105).

Đuro Basler investigated the Kreševo area in 1953 and gave an overview of sites in the area.  He attributed Grad at Kotarac above Kreševo to prehistoric times, and found a number of objects dating from Roman times (a mounting block known as bin'jek-taš, a stone urn with a lid – housed in the Franciscan monastery).  He also provided the following information about the mediaeval necropolis at Klupe: “At the end of the Kreševo plain, on the edge of an elevation rising some 20 m above the rest of the plain, is a necropolis with about thirty mediaeval tombstones in a number of rows along the hillside.  All these monuments are chest-shaped. Of interest is one made of quartz, which is available in the immediate vicinity.  There are no decorations.

The locals say that odl mediaeval Kreševo was at Klupe, and that the present-day town came into being only in the Turkish period. They showed me the site where a church is said to have stood, but there are absolutely no signs of any building there now.“ (Ð. Basler,1954. p. 229 – 306)(2).

There are no fewer than ten necropolises of stećak tombstones in a radius of five kilometres from the town of Kreševo. Eight of these are small, with two or three tombstones.  It is only in the village of Komari, formerly known as pod Crkvenjak, that there are two necropolises each with 35 to 30 stećak tombstones, about 100 m apart.

2. Description of the property

The necropolises of stećak tombstones at Crkvenjak and Klupe in Komari together consist of 53 stećak tombstones(3).

Necropolis with stećak tombstones at Crkvenjak

The necropolis covers an area of 67 x 30 m.  It consists of 28 stećak tombstones in all: 3 slab-shaped, 21 chest-shaped(4), and four of which the shape cannot be ascertained because they are almost completely buried(5). The stećci are in rows running north-south, the tombstones themselves lying west-east with a slight deviation to the north-west/south-east, apart from stećak nos. 1 and 2, which are about 9 m from the entrance to the cemetery chapel and lie precisely south-west/north-east.

The tombstones are most densely concentrated around the middle of the plot(6). It seems that some tombstones have probably been dug out between stećak nos. 6 and 28. At the east and west ends of the necropolis are two places each with two stećci.

The stećci are of poor workmanship, and undecorated.               

Stećak no. 1 – chest, measuring 1.8 x 0.75 m, sunken,

Stećak no. 2 – chest, measuring 1.7 x 0.80 m, sunken,

Stećak no. 3 – chest, measuring  2 x 1.2 m, above ground 0.2m,  

Stećak no. 4 – chest, measuring 1.2 x 0.5 m, above ground 0.3 m,

Stećak no. 5 – chest, measuring 2 x 0.9 m, above ground 0.4 m,           

Stećak no. 6 – chest, measuring 1.4 x 0.8, sunken,

Stećak no. 7 – chest, measuring 1.4 x 0.7 (0.4) m above ground,

Stećak no. 8 – chest, measuring 1.8 x 0.75, almost completely buried, 

Stećak no. 9 – chest, measuring 1.5 x 0.65 m, buried,

Stećak no.10 – chest, measuring 1.7 x 0.9 m, sunken,

Stećak no.11 - chest, measuring 1.8 x 0.7 m, sunken,

Stećak no.12 - chest 1.8 x 0.75 m, sunken,

Stećak no.13 – chest, only a corner above ground, 0.6 m long, 0.5 m high, the rest buried,

Stećak no.14 - chest, measuring 1.7 x 0.7m, sunken,

Stećak no.15 - slab, measuring 1.86 x 0.95 m, sunken into the ground,

Stećak no.16 - chest, measuring 1.4 x 0.8 m, barely above ground,

Stećak no.17 - chest, measuring 1.5 x 0.8 m, about 0.4 above ground,

Stećak no.18 - chest, measuring 2 x 1 m, about 0.45 m above ground,

Stećak no.19 - slab 0.9 x 0.8 m, broken,

Stećak no.20 - chest 1.8 x 0.9 m, sunken,

Stećak no.21 - chest 1.5 x 0.60 m, sunken,

Stećci nos.22, 23, 24 - barely visible above ground, impossible to ascertain shape or size,

Stećak no.25 -  chest, measuring 1.9 x 1 m, about 0.4 m above ground,

Stećak no.26 - chest 1.4 x 0.8, about 0.25 m visible above the soil and moss,

Stećak no.27 - slab 2 x 1.2 m, sunken,

Stećak no.28 - chest 1.7 x 1.2 m, about 0.4 m above ground.

Necropolis with stećak tombstones at Klupe

The necropolis consists of 25 stećak tombstones, mainly chest-shaped. Most are in such poor condition that it is impossible to tell whether they were slabs or chest-shaped. The tombstones are in rows running north to south, and lie west/east. They are of poor workmanship, without decorations,.

Stećak no.1 - chest, broken, made of fine-grained breccia,

Stećak no.2 - chest, broken, moved to this spot when the new chapel in Komari was built, also of fine-grained breccia,

Stećak no.3 - chest, fine-grained breccia,  left-hand corner covered with moss,

Stećak no.4 - chest, tufa, slanted slightly,

Stećak no.5 - chest, top part sunken, but the shape can be clearly seen,

Stećak no.6 - chest, fine-grained breccia, good workmanship,

Stećak no.7 - chest, tufa, top part sunken,

Stećak no.8 - chest, tufa, damaged on left-hand front corner,

Stećak no. 9 - chest, fine-grained breccia, top part covered with moss,

Stećak no.10 - chest, tufa, part missing at the left-hand corner,

Stećak no.11 - chest, fine-grained breccia, appearance well preserved other than top front corner,

Stećak no.12 - chest, fine-grained breccia, a layer flaked away from the front,

Stećak no.13 - chest, coarse-grained breccia, in very poor condition,

Stećak no.14 - chest, fine-grained breccia, poorly preserved,

Stećak no.15 - chest, coarse-grained breccia, characteristic appearance,

Stećak no.16 - in poor condition, amorphous, worn, hard to determine if it was chest-shaped,

Stećak no.17 - chest, fine-grained breccia, with slight tilt, has a transverse hollow 15-20 cm across in the middle

Stećak no.18 - chest, damaged,

Stećak no.19 - chest, damaged

Stećak no.20 - chest, damaged

Stećak no.21 - chest, damaged

Stećak no.22 - chest, damaged and badly tilted,

Stećak no.23 - in poor condition, worn,

Stećak no.24 - chest, damaged,

Stećak no.25 - chest, damaged,

3. Legal status to date

The 1980 Regional Plan for BiH lists seven sites of necropolises with stećak tombstones (145 stećaks) in Kreševo Municipality, without specifically identifying them.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

Research, in the form of visiting and recording sites in the Kreševo area were conducted by Đuro Basler and by Šefik Bešlagić(7).

A briefer list of sites where there are stećak tombstones in Kreševo Municipality, with rough numbers of tombstones, was also made by Augustin Kristić, who published his findings in 1955(8) as a further contribution to the cultural value of the history of the Kreševo area.

No conservation or restoration works have been carried out on the site.

5. Current condition of the property

During an on-site inspection conducted on 12 November 2007 the following was ascertained:

Crkvenjak necropolis with stećak tombstones:

• The majority of the stećak tombstones are damaged as a result of centuries of weathering
• Most of the stećak tombstones are affected by plant organisms, mainly lichens and moss, which are damaging the structure of the stone
• Most of the stećak tombstones have sunk almost completely into the ground, and some can barely be seen, being covered with earth and grass
• According to local inhabitants, burials have been conducted in the Crkvenjak cemetery since time immemorial, and this burial ground is regarded as one of the oldest in Kreševo, as suggested by two roughly-hewn crosses
• There was a small chapel in the upper part of the burial ground, which was demolished in 2007; that same year a chapel slightly larger than the old one was built in the lower part of the burial ground
• Following an on site inspection on 8 January 2008 it was found that there is a total of 356 graves in the Crkvenjak cemetery, reckoning common (family) graves as one.

Klupe necropolis with stećak tombstones:

• The necropolis is overgrown with grass, low plant cover and bushes
• Two stećak tombstones (nos. 1 and 2) are broken, and no. 2 has been moved from its original position
• Two stećak tombstones (nos. 16 and 23) are amorphous, and most of the rest are damaged
• No ornamentation was visible on the stećak tombstones

6. Specific risks

• disintegration resulting from long-term lack of maintenance of the site
• adverse weather conditions
• overgrowth
• active burials.

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

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:

-          Copy of cadastral plan

-          Copy of land register entry

-          Photodocumentation, 11 photographs taken on site

Bibliography

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

1910.    Truhelka, Ćiro, Dubrovačke vijesti o godini 1463 (Dubrovnik news of the year 1463), Jnl of the National Museum of BiH, XXII, 1910, 1-24, GZM B i H, XXII, 1910., 1-24.

1954.    Basler, Đuro, Kreševo-Kiseljak-Fojnica. Jnl of the National Museum, Archaeology, n.s. IX, Sarajevo, 1954

1954.    Hrabak, Bogumil, Dubrovački ili bosanski azur (Dubrovnik or Bosnian Azurite), Jnl of the National Museum, History and Ethnography, n.s. IX, Sarajevo, 1954.

1955.    Kristić, Augustin, Povijesni spomenici Kreševa (Historic Monuments of Kreševo), offprint from Dobri pastir, yr. IV-V, Sarajevo, 1955

1957.    Vego, Marko, Naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države (Settlements of the mediaeval Bosnian state) Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1957.

1961.    Kovačević-Kojić, Desanka, Trgovina u srednjovjekovnoj Bosni. (Trade in Mediaeval Bosnia) Sarajevo, 1961.

1963a.  Anđelić, Pavao, Arheološka ispitivanja (Archaeological Investigations) In: Lepenica priroda, stanovništvo, privreda i zdravlje (Lepenica – Nature, Population, Economy and Health Care).

1965.    Wenzel, Marian, Ukrasni motivi na stećcima (Decorative motifs on stećak tombstones) Sarajevo, 1965.

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

1975.    Dumbović, Vladimir, Toponomastika Kreševa i okoline (Toponomastics of Kreševo and its Environs), Sarajevo 1975

1977.    Dumbović, Vladimir, Kreševo do pada Bosne pod Turke (Kreševo to the Fall of Bosnia to the Turks), offprint, Nova et Vetera, yr. XXVII, vol. 2, Sarajevo, 1977

1978.    Kovačević-Kojić, Desanka, Gradska naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države. (Urban Settlements of the Mediaeval Bosnian State) Sarajevo, 1978.

1981.    Živković, Pavao, Tvrtko II Tvrtković, Bosna u prvoj polovini XV stolejća (Tvrtko II Tvrtković, Bosnia in the First Half of the 15th Century, Institute for History in Sarajevo, Sarajevo, 1981

1982.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Stećci. Kultura i umjetnost (Stećak tombstones – culture and art), Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1982.

1984.    Anđelić, Pavao, Srednji vijek - doba stare bosanske države (Mediaeval Times - The Age of the Old Bosnian State) in Visoko i okolina kroz historiju I (Visoko and Environs Through History I), Visoko, 1984.

1984.    Marijanović, Brunislav, Mlađe kameno doba (The New Stone Age), In: Visoko i okolina kroz historiju I, (predhistorija, antika i srednji vijek) (Visoko and its Environs Through History I [Prehistory, Antiquity and Mediaeval Times],  Visoko, 1984

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

1994.    Klaić, Nada, Srednjovjekovna Bosna, politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe (1377.g.). (Mediaeval Bosnia, the political position of Bosnia's rulers up to the coronation of Tvrtko [1377]) Zagreb, 1994.

2007.    Lovrenović, Dubravko, Stećci – bosansko i humsko mramorje srednjeg vijeka (Stećak tombstones – Bosnia's and Hum's Mediaeval Marbles), Sarajevo, pp. 5-167. – forthcoming).

(1) The development of mining in Bosnia is closely associated with the Saxon miners of Germany, whose presence is indicated by the places known as Saška Rupa near Dusina and Saška Reka near Srebrenica.  Vladislav Skarić studied the geographical names in and around Kreševo and noted in a paper (O Kreševu, Jnl of the National Museum XLVIII, 1936, pp. 73 and 74) two names deriving from the given names of Saxon miners. The name of the village of Vranci suggested to him the German name Franz, and that of Mt Hinač above Kreševo the name Heinrich.

(2) The stone tombstones typical of the old bosnian state are known as stećci (sing. stećak). (Š. Bešlagić 1982. p.32 ). According to D. Sergejevski, the word stećak was initially used by peasants in Herzegovina to denote tall upright stones, as distinct from lower slabs. The etymology justifies this narrower meaning.  However, the term stećak was long used as a general term for all tombstones, of various shapes, sizes and finish, the presence of which in Bosnia and Herzegovina within a relatively short time span constitutes a unique phenomenon. (M.Wenzel 1965, p. 12 – 13 ).

(3) The number of stećak tombstones in a given necropolis is an important indicator of social trends in mediaeval Bosnia in the 14th and 15th centuries. Since the majority contain fewer than ten tombstones, and that necropolises with 300 or more, belonging to large communities, are the exception, small burial grounds can usually be regarded as family burial grounds, indicating an advanced stage in the break-up of the old clan-based society and the emergence of small family communities organizing their own burial grounds to mark their “new” identity (D. Lovrenović, 2007, pp. 5-168).

(4) More advanced shapes of stećak tombstones are represented by “chests” and sarcophagi or gabled tombstones. Stećci in the shape of a chest first appeared in the mid 14th century, indicating the start of the mature stage of development in the art of the stećak. As well as betraying the influence of ancient cultures, this shape of stećak, raised to the level of “powerful monumentality,” was influenced by the sarcophagi of antiquity and the Romanesque art of the Dalmatian coastal region. A distinct variation on this form is marked by the presence of a plinth, culminating in the early 15th century in double chests on double plinths, paving the way for the tall chests, a transitional form to the sarcophagus. The most complex shape of stećak – the sarcophagus – appeared in the early decades of the 15th century, while later, in the mature stage of the mid 15th century, cruciform tombstones appear in various shapes – in basic outline or anthropomorphic – and the stela and cippus, clearly echoing the older forms of antiquity.  During the latter years of the manufacture of stećci, both nišan tombstones (from the early Ottoman period, at the turn of the 15th and 16th century) and crosses feature with decorative motifs typical of stećak tombstones. Forms of oriental origin - pillars, obelisks and nišans – mark the end of one chapter in the history of the stećak and the beginning of another (D. Lovrenović, 2007, pp. 5-168).

(5) There were presumably once more stećak tombstones in this necropolis.

(6) As well as the regional differences that manifest themselves in the use of forms, ornamental motifs and quality of workmanship, systematic studies begun in the late 19th century revealed that stećci are usually concentrated in groups – in individual family burial grounds with just a few tombstones, in the burial grounds of whole clans with an average of 30 to 50 tombstones, and finally in the large burial grounds of entire rural communities, sometimes with several hundred tombstones. Necropolises are reliable indicators of population density in the various regions of mediaeval  Bosnia, reflecting on the one hand wealth and power, and on the other piety and fame. These „cities of the dead“ are the counterparts, in the full sense of the word, of the cities of the living – the feudal towns of those days – so creating an image of the equilibrium of life in space (D. Lovrenović, 2007, pp. 87-88).

(7) Bešlagić wrote that “Crkvenjak is a village 4 km to the north-west of Kreševo as the crow flies; the site of Klupe is about 1 km to the west of the village. There is a necropolis there with 25 chest-shaped stećak tombstones. They are of average quality of stonemasonry, now badly damaged, sunken and overgrown with weeds. They lie west-east, in rows. They are undecorated.  There is a modern Roman Catholic cemetery in the immediate vicinity.“ (Š. Bešlagić 1971, p. 170).

(8) He notes that Kreševo plain – near Paška by Misilini and the friars' arable land – had the largest number of stećci, though their numbers had declined over the century, and that there was another largish group in and beside the Crkvenjak cemetery near the village of Polje (A. Kristić, 1955, pp. 8-10).