Status of monument -> National monument
Published in the “Official Gazette of BiH” no. 86/08.
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 27 May to 2 June 2008 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I.
The historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones at Mramorje, Gornji Studenci, Municipality Ljubuški, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of a necropolis with 74 stećak tombstones (44 slabs, 26 chest-shaped and 4 gabled).
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 199 (old survey), Land Register no. 407, corresponding to c.p. no. 2189 (new survey), title deed no. 360/1, cadastral municipality Studenci, Municipality Ljubuški, 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, 6/04 and 51/07) 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 erecting signboards with basic details of the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III.
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument on the site defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works, including those 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;
- burials shall be permitted in existing tombs on the protected site;
- the construction of new tombs or the enlargement of existing ones is prohibited;
- the concrete fence around the complex shall be removed.
The Government of the Federation shall be responsible in particular for ensuring that the following measures are carried out:
- drawing up a programme to determine the current condition of the necropolis;
- conducting a geodetic survey of the current condition;
- drawing up a a project for the repair, restoration and conservation of the necropolis;
- drawing up and implementing a programme for the presentation of the National Monument
The project for the repair, restoration and conservation of the necropolis shall cover:
- archaeological investigations
- the removal of lichens and moss from the stećak tombstones and making good any damage
- tidying the necropolis and removing self-sown vegetation.
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 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
On the date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02, Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial no. 360.
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: 05.1-02-67/08-6
28 May 2008
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Amra Hadžimuhamedović
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.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments adoptd a decision to add the Necropolis with stećak tombstones at Marmorje, Gornji Studenci, Municipality Ljubuški, to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina under serial no. 360.
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 the current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and Land Register entry);
- 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 Mramorje necropolis with stećak tombstones is at an altitude of 63 m above sea level, latitude 43° 10.803”, longitude 17°36.223”, beside a modern Roman Catholic cemetery (Studeničko groblje, Vego, 1954, 7), in the village of Gornji Studenci, 5 km as the crow flies to the south-east of Ljubuški.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 199 (old survey), Land Register no. 407, corresponding to c.p. no. 2189 (new survey), title deed no. 360/1, cadastral municipality Studenci, Municipality Ljubuški, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
In the 10th century the settlements around present-day Ljubuški belonged to Paganija (the Neretva Krajina or frontier region, Vego, 1954, 4). At that time Zahumlje (Hum) covered the area between Dubrovnik and the Neretva river; somewhat later, its territory extended to the right bank of the Neretva and even as far as the river Cetina.
In the latter half of the 12th century the emperor Manuel Comnenus ruled what is now Herzegovina, and bestowed Zahumlje to prince (knez) Miroslav Nemanjić, who ruled it until 1199, when the Ljubuški valley belonged to Zahumlje. Following the death of prince Miroslav of Hum his sons Petar and Andrija divided their father's lands into two; prince Andrija took Popovo and the regions from the Neretva to Nevesinje, and prince Petar the regions from the Neretva to the Cetina. Andrija took power in Zahumlje and developed trading and cultural links with the towns of Dalmatia (Vego, 1954, 4).
After 1250, Andrija's sons Bogdan and Radoslav became vassals of Hungary (Vego, 1954, 4).
In the early 14th century, western Zahumlje was ruled by prince Konstantin, governor of Brotnje on behalf of the Nemanjić's. For a short time Zahumlje, or parts of it and in particular the Ljubuški valley (early 14th century), was ruled by the Šubić's.
In the early 1320s a struggle for the throne of Serbia was being waged, and in Croatia and Bosnia there were clashes between Hungarian magnates and the Šubić's. When ban (governor) Mladen II Šubić was toppled, in 1322, Bosnia's ban Stjepan II Kotromanić absorbed Hum into Bosnia, so extending his rule over the area between the Cetina and the Neretva coastal regions and right up to the ramparts of the town of Dubrovnik (Vego, 1954, 4).
In 1357 the western part of Hum belonged to the Hungarian crown as the dowry for Jelisavet Kotromanić, wife of King Ludwig(1). The western part of Herzegovina too was under Hungarian rule until 1382.
In 1389 Bosnia's King Stjepan Dabiša and his wife Jelena gifted the village of Veljake near Ljubuški to their daughter Stana, who was married to prince Jurja Radivojević, a man who had been loyal to Bosnia's King Ostoja in his clashes with the Hungarians and Dubrovnik and with local opponents (Vego, 1954, 5).
Historical documents refer in 1444 to the outskirts of Ljubuški fort and a local church within the walls, without stating to whom the church was dedicated. Also in 1444, Gojislav Orlović, known as Petanović, bequested part of his money to the church in Ljubuški (22 February 1444), and Radojko Dobrovoević gave six perpers to the church in Ljubuški for a memorial at the mass of St George (Kovačević-Kojić 1978, 115; Tošić, 1987, 31, n. 177, 249, nap. 125).
The Ottomans conquered Ljubuški for the first time in 1463, holding it for a mere month (June to July), after which they were forced to retreat because their army ran short of supplies, and prince Vlatko soon regained control of the town.
The Ottomans finally conquered Ljubuški between 1468 and 1477, and by 1477 it had already become a frontier fortification with a substantial garrison. A certain member of the garrison held the villages that had previously been held by the Drina kadi, including the village of Ljubuški, no doubt the settlement outside the walls that dated from mediaeval times.
In 1477 the town of Ljubuški is referred to in a defter (tax census) of the Herzegovina sandžak, according to which Ljubuški belonged to the Drina kadiluk in 1475-1477 (Tošić, 1987, 178; Šabanović, 1982, 46, 160).
In 1503 Ljubuški is referred to in an agreement between Turkey and Hungary as one of the border forts that remained under Ottoman rule (Pašalić, 1982, 93).
In 1633 Ljubuški is referred to as an independent kadiluk. Previously the Ljubuški area had belonged to the Gabela kadiluk. After 1717, when the Ottomans lost part of the Imotski kadiluk, what remained of it became the Imotska Bekija kadiluk, with its seat in Ljubuški.
In the 18th century, the nahija of Ljubuški existed in the eponymous kadiluk, and a captaincy of the same name was also established.
2. Description of the property
There are seven necropolises in the Ljubuški area with a total of 214 stećak tombstones, 88 of them slabs, 78 chest-shaped, one chest-shaped with plinth, nine sarcophagi and 48 slabs and chest-shaped tombstones that are not described separately. Of the 176 tombstones that are described, half are slabs, half chest-shaped, with relatively few sarcophagi, but their decorations are of higher artistic quality than the others. Of the 176 tombstones, 81 are decorated, 33 of them with the symbol of the cross, which is particularly well represented in Gornji Studenci. The decorative motifs in the necropolises with stećak tombstones of the Ljubuški area are: a shield and sword, an ”oyster shell,“ a human figure with anthropomorphic decoration, rope twist and twisted bands, a crescent moon, rosettes, trefoil tendrils, a kolo (round dance), spirals, hunting scenes, the symbol of a falcon, and jousting scenes. One exceptionally fine example is a chest-shaped tombstone from Gornji Studenci (no. 28), 90 cm in height, the top surface of which is cut into three steps, 4 and 5 cm in height, with a complex cross on the top step. The fine workmanship of the stećak tombstones in this necropolis indicates that they belonged to the wealthier class; some were erected by families, in groups or by kinship (Vego, 1954, 41, 42).
There were several stonemason's yards working in this area, representing various influences. The stonemason's school that was responsible for the tombstines in the necropolis in Gornji Studency wasnot the same as those that worked on the necropolises of Gračine in Bijača Zvirići and Pržine. It can be confidently stated that there are similarities between the tombstones and methods of decoration in eastern and western Herzegovina. Most of the tombstones date from the 14th and 15th centuries, but some could be of much earlier date, perhaps even the 12th century (Vego, 1954, 45).
Description of the stećak tombstones
There were 44 slabs, 25 chest-shaped tombstones, 4 gabled tombstones and one chest-shaped tombstone with plinth in Gornji Studenci (Vego, 1954, 12).
Stećak no. 1: slab-shaped tombstone, amorphous, undressed stone, undecorated, measuring 150 x 50 x 40 cm;
Stećak no. 2: slab-shaped tombstone, undressed stone, undecorated, measuring 100 x 60 x 22 cm;
Stećak no. 3: slab-shaped tombstone, undressed stone, amorphous, measuring 137 x 55 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 4: chest-shaped tombstone, top of excellent workmanship; with two crosses, one long, one shorter, in bas-relief 1.5 cm high. The full sculpted cross is 63 cm long, with the cross-arms 40 cm wide; the other sculpted cross, which is incomplete, is 32 cm long and 42 cm wide. Well preserved and of good workmanship, measuring 145 x 80 x 50 cm;
Stećak no. 5: slab-shaped tombstone, of indifferent workmanship, with two crosses on the top, one 37 cm long and 34 cm wide, and the other, smaller one 33 cm long and 31 cm wide. The tombstone measures 160 x 70 x26 cm;
Stećak no. 6: slab-shaped tombstone, poorly dressed, undecorated, measuring 120 x 70 x 26 cm;
Stećak no. 7: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 120 x 70 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 8: slab-shaped tombstone, poorly dressed, undecorated, measuring 145 x 80 x 35 cm;
Stećak no. 9: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 100 x 70 x 20 cm;
Stećak no. 10: chest-shaped tombstone, with a frame for a panel on the top, in which is a sculpted cross 1.5 cm deep; the cross arm is 30 cm long and the upright 27 cm long. The south side bears a sculpted heart-shaped shield (44 x 40 cm) with a sword 87 cm in length. The tombstone measures 145 x70 x 68cm;
Stećak no. 11: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 90 x 70 x 25 cm;
Stećak no. 12: tombstone in the shape of an oval chest, with two crosses on the top, the larger anthropomorphic with beside it an ”oyster-shell“ with deeper carving, the smaller an ordinary cross; bas-relief 3-3.5 cm. The upright of the larger cross is 61 cm long and the cross arm 41 cm long. One side of the tombstone bears two crosses and a damaged crescent moon. The tombstone measures 140 x 68 x 46 cm;
Stećak no. 13: tombstone in the shape of an oval chest; formulaic relief of a woman (?) with a round head, no indications of the nose or mouth, but showing the body and breasts. Below the head is a rectangular concave area in a separate frame within which is a simple incised crosslet with a rather large oyster-shell motif. At the ends of the top part, below the arms, is another oyster-shell on either side. The figure is of primitive workmanship, though the fingers are clearly shown. The tombstone measures 157 x 69 x 42 cm;
Stećak no. 14: chest-shaped tombstone, of irregular shape, with a rectangular „oyster-shell“ concavity (39 x 36 cm x 2 cm deep) on the uneven top. The tombstone measures 163 x 86 x 47 cm;
Stećak no. 15: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 90 x 68 x 34 cm;
Stećak no. 16: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 120 x 60 x 25 cm;
Stećak no. 17: gabled tombstone, overturned, with a sculpted crosslet on the top below which is a deep circular „oyster-shell,“ and a cross on the west side. The tombstone measures 150 x 68 x 123 cm;
Stećak no. 18: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 100 x 38 x 16 cm;
Stećak no. 19: chest-shaped tombstone, undecorated, with a damaged crosslet on the top. The tombstone measures 190 x 70 x 79 cm;
Stećak no. 20: chest-shaped tombstone, of good workmanship and well preserved, with a shield and sword, rosette, and crescent moon on the top and a crosslet on one end;
Stećak no. 21: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated. M. Vego states (Vego, 1954, 9) that he excavated down to a depth of 130 cm beneath the slab, which revealed that the gavewas lined with stone slabs around the sides and base. Five skulls were found in it, but nothing else. The tombstone measures 150 x 80 x 25 cm;
Stećak no. 22: slab-shaped tombstone, with on the top a shallow incised band-like frame with another band incised in the middle. The ends each have a sculpted rosette, unequal in size with diameters of 16-20 cm and unequal in number of lobes. The tombstone measures 187 x 160 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 23: chest-shaped tombstone, with a 55 cm long shield in the middle of the top, on one side of which is a sculpted crescent moon and on the other a sculpted dagger-like sword, 48 cm long. The tombstone measures 189 x 109 x 56 cm;
Stećak no. 24: slab-shaped tombstone, cracked apart into two pieces, undecorated, measuring 170 x 70 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 25: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 143 x 70 x 35 cm;
Stećak no. 26: chest-shaped tombstone with convex base. The top bears an indistinguishable sculpted decoration, partly anthropomorphic (possibly a chalice). The tombstone measures 140x70x66 cm;
Stećak no. 27: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated;
Stećak no. 28: chest-shaped tombstone, with a double-stepped top, the top step with a sculpted complex cross with three cross-arms (2.5 cm high). The top step is 4 cm high and the bottom step 5 cm; the overall height of the chest is 90 cm. This tombstone is simple in form and execution, in contrast to the other tombstones in the Ljubuški area. One edge has a concave „oyster-shell“ about 9.5 cm deep. The tombstone measures 150 x 75 x 90 cm;
Stećak no. 29: slab-shaped tombstone, crudely worked, choked with soil, measuring 170 x 100 x 26 cm;
Stećak no. 30: chest-shaped tombstone, with a double sculpted cross in the middle of the top, the cross arms 40-49 cm long and the upright 110 cm long, with a gap of 55 cm between the cross arms. The tombstone measures 130 x 68 x 76 cm;
Stećak no. 31: chest-shaped tombstone, cracked, undecorated, measuring 185 x 99 x 50 cm;
Stećak no. 32: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 115 x 83 x 35 cm;
Stećak no. 33: chest-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 145 x 80 x 53 cm;
Stećak no. 34: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 160 x 65 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 35: chest-shaped tombstone, several cracks on the top, with an anthropomorphic cross in the middle appearing sculpted. The tombstone measures 150 x 77 x 56 cm;
Stećak no. 36: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 90 x 78 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 37: slab-shaped tombstone, amorphous, undecorated, measuring 160 x 70 x 20 cm;
Stećak no. 38: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 150 x 110 x 30 cm;
Stećak no. 39: chest-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 150 x 70 x 60 cm;
Stećak no. 40: slab-shaped tombstone, not dressed, undecorated, measuring 125 x 80 x 25 cm;
Stećak no. 41: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 150 x 97 x 15 cm;
Stećak no. 42: chest-shaped tombstone. Around the top, which is cracked, is a rope twist surrounded by a shallow hollowed-out line. The front part of the top bears a shield and sword which is joined to the rope twist; a rope frame surrounds the ends of the shield. Both shield and sword are sculpted. The tombstone measures 185 x 96 x 55 cm;
Stećak no. 43: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 145 x 75 x 33 cm;
Stećak no. 44: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 165 x 79 x 40 cm;
Stećak no. 45: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 157 x 64 x 37 cm;
Stećak no. 46: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 157 x 64 x 37 cm;
Stećak no. 47: chest-shaped tombstone, part narrower, part wider. In the middle of the top is an anthropomorphic figure standing 2 cm proud; at the end of the top is an „oyster-shell“ with a concavity of 4 cm. The figure is 81 cm long, and the tombstone measures 160 x 47 x 41 cm;
Stećak no. 48: chest-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 140 x 60 x 42 cm;
Stećak no. 49: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 150 x 83 x 38 cm;
Stećak no. 50: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 157 x 75 x 35 cm;
Stećak no. 51: gabled tombstone, irregular in shape, undecorated, measuring 160 x 69 x 82 cm;
Stećak no. 52: gabled tombstone, irregular in shape, undecorated, overturned, measuring 165 x 80 x 120 cm;
Stećak no. 53: chest-shaped tombstone, unfinished, cracked, undecorated, measuring 150 x 60 x 74 cm;
Stećak no. 54: slab-shaped tombstone, crudely worked, choked with soil, undecorated, measuring 156 x 100 x 20 cm;
Stećak no. 55: chest-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 182 x 81 x 40 cm;
Stećak no. 56: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed, undecorated, measuring 170 x 76 x 40 cm;
Stećak no. 57, chest-shaped tombstone, with trefoil tendrils combined with a rope twist on one side and one end. The tombstone measures 145 x 77 x 46 cm;
Stećak no. 58: chest-shaped tombstone, of good workmanship, cracked in a number of places, with a crescent moon over a rosette on the top and another rosette over a rosette in the corners; the ends of the top are decorated with a rope-twist of zigzag lines. The tombstone measures 166 x 77 x 70 cm;
Stećak no. 59: slab-shaped tombstone, of good workmanship, undecorated, measuring 170 x 90 x 39 cm;
Stećak no. 60: chest-shaped tombstone, the top decorated with three rosettes between two of which is an incised crosslet and with a crescent moon over the third. The rosettes are composed of shallow incisions, whereas the crescent moon is sculpted. The tombstone measures 180 x 100 x 73 cm;
Stećak no. 61: slab-shaped tombstone, slightly dressed with a flat top, undecorated, measuring 164 x 80 x 25 cm;
Stećak no. 62: chest-shaped tombstone, wider than it is long, crudely worked, undecorated, measuring 160 x 184 x 65 cm;
Stećak no. 63: chest-shaped tombstone, crudely worked, undecorated, measuring 181 x 132 x 45 cm;
Stećak no. 64, slab-shaped tombstone, measuring 130x85x40 cm, with a large rosette, 21 cm in diameter, barely visible, at the north corner;
Stećak no. 65: gabled tombstone, undecorated, measuring 68 x 30 x 36 cm;
Stećak no. 66: slab-shaped tombstone, of irregular shape, undecorated, measuring 150 x 85 x 35 cm;
Stećak no. 67: slab-shaped tombstone, measuring 150 x 85 x 35 cm;
Stećak no. 68: slab-shaped tombstone, somewhat rounded at one end. There are two rosettes on the top, one of which has a crescent moon above. The tombstone measures 151 x 76 x 37 cm;
Stećak no. 69: chest-shaped tombstone, cracked, undecorated, measuring 190 x 100 x 62 cm;
Stećak no. 70: chest-shaped tombstone with plinth 18 cm in height, undecorated, measuring 155 x 76 x 41 cm;
Stećak no. 71: slab-shaped tombstone, rough-cut and unfinished, but with a female figure of crude workmanship. The tombstone measures 100 x 59 x 26 cm;
Stećak no. 72: chest-shaped tombstone, unfinished, undecorated, measuring 155 x 73 x 78 cm;
Stećak no. 73: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 116 x 42 x 22 cm;
Stećak no. 74: slab-shaped tombstone, undecorated, measuring 160 x 80 x 35 cm.
The most common symbol in this necropolis is the cross, similar to those at Radimlja, in the Olovo area, and around Široki Brijeg.
The anthropomorphic figures (no.13,47 and 71) are of primitive workmanship.
Another motif on these tombstones is the shield and sword. Of interest is the heart-shaped shield (no. 10), which is rarely seen.
The crescent moon motif is usually combined with a shield or a cross, as in the Široki Brijeg, Ludmer and Radimlja areas, but also in combination with rosettes on tombstones in Široki Brijeg (Barevište, Donji Gradac and Ledinac).
3. Legal status to date
The Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 lists 18 sites of necropolises with stećak tombstones (491 tombstones in all) in the Ljubuški area as Category III monuments, without specifically identifying them.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
In the 1950s the board of the National Museum in Sarajevo embarked on systematic investigations of the necropolises with stećak tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
M. Vego provided a detailed description and plan of the Gornji Studenci necropolis near Ljubuški (Vego, 1954, 7-14).
Š. Bešlagić states that the necropolis at Mramorje has 74 stećak tombstones: 44 slab-shaped, 26 chest-shaped and four gabled (Š. Bešlagić, 1971, 313).
5. Current condition of the property
The findings of an on site inspection conducted on 13 March 2008 are as follows:
- the Catholic cemetery and stećci were recently (a few years ago) enclosed within a low concrete wall;
- one stećak has been cut off by the construction of a newer grave „abutting“ onto it;
- a group of six stećci has been incorporated into the Catholic cemetery;
- the entire area of the necropolis is overgrown with tall grasses, low-growing vegetation and shrubs, and it was impossible to determine the exact number of tombstones. Seventy-two (visible) stećci were recorded, as was a remark by a resident of the village of Gornji Studenci, Veran Perić, that some of the stećak tombstones had been covered with earth when new graves were being dug and the earth was thrown over them;
- it is possible that some of the stećak tombstones were left outside the wall, but it was impossible to check this because the area was choked with tall, thick vegetation and shrubs;
- some of the stećci have suffered damage from weathering;
- some of the stećci are sinking into the ground (almost completely);
- there are plant organisms, mainly lichens, moss and brambles, on most of the stećci, which are damaging the structure of the stone;
- some of the stećci are almost completely choked in grass;
- the ornaments on some of the stećci are barely visible.
6. Specific risks
- long-term lack of maintenance
- adverse weather conditions
- self-sown vegetation
- new 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
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.i. quality of workmanship
C.v. value of details
D. Clarity
D.i. evidence of historical change
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
E. Symbolic value
E.i. ontological value
E.ii. religious value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
H. Rarity and representativity
H.i. unique or rare example of a certain type or style
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:
1954. Vego, Marko, Srednjevjekovni nadgrobni spomenici BiH, Ljubuški, (Mediaeval Tombstones of BiH, Ljubuški) Sarajevo, 1954.
1978. Kovačević-Kojić, Desanka, Gradska naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države (Urban Settlements of the Mediaeval Bosnian State), Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1978.
1982. Šabanović, Hazim, Bosanski pašaluk, postanak i upravna podjela (The Bosnian Pashaluk: Origins and Administrative Divisions), Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1982.
1987. Tošić, Đuro, Trg Drijeva u srednjem vijeku (Drijeva Market in Mediaeval Times), Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1987.
(1) Ludvig I, King of Hungary
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