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 4 to 6 June 2012 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The archaeological site of Mekota, Gornji Rakani, Municipality Novi Grad, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of a prehistoric necropolis and movable archaeological material from the site kept in the Gallery in Novi Grad.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 90 and. 157, title deed no. 76/2, c.p.nos 161 and 162, title deed no. 106/2, c.p. no. 82, title deed no. 79/2, and c.p. nos. 88, 89, 156 and 158, title deed no. 195/1, cadastral municipality Gornji Rakani, Municipality Novi Grad, Republika Srpska, 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 Republika Srpska no. 9/02, 70/06 and 64/08) shall apply to the National Monument.

II

The Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible for providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the investigation, 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 basic details of the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.

III

To ensure the on-going protection of the property on the site specified in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:

-       all works are prohibited other than investigative and conservation-restoration works, and works designed for the presentation of the monument, with the approval of the ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska;

-       the zone is a potential archaeologist site and investigative works must therefore be carried out only in the presence of an archaeologist;

-       earthworks, building works and alterations to the morphology of the site are prohibited, as is the erection of infrastructure and industrial facilities and plant;

-       digging on the site is prohibited;

-       the unauthorized collection of movable archaeological finds is prohibited;

-       measures for the technical protection of the archaeological site may be carried out only after archaeological excavations have been conducted;

-       the dumping of waste is prohibited;

The Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible in particular for ensuring that the following measures are carried out: archaeological investigations, the production of an inventory and the publication of the findings on the movable archaeological artefacts currently kept in the Gallery in Novi Grad, and the production of a project for the presentation of the finds in the Town Hall in Novi Grad or other premises meeting the required conditions.

IV

All movable artefacts found during the course of the archaeological survey shall be deposited in the Town Hall in Novi Grad or the nearest museum able to provide the necessary personnel, material and technical conditions or in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, catalogued, and suitably presented.     

All movable and immovable archaeological material found during the course of the archaeological investigations shall be professionally catalogued.

Upon completion of the archaeological works the archaeologist leading the investigations shall submit a report to the Commission and to the institution that conducted the investigations.

The archaeologist leading the investigations must have access to all the movable and immovable archaeological material found during the course of the investigations and until his/her report is completed, for a period not exceeding three years.

All immovable finds shall be conserved in situ as the archaeological investigations proceed, and the movable archaeological material shall be conserved and placed for safe keeping in a suitable storage facility.

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

V

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

By way of exception to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Clause, the temporary removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable artefacts for the purposes of display or conservation shall be permitted if the leader of the investigations determines that a given artefact must be catalogued abroad, and provides evidence to that effect to the Commission, which may permit the temporary removal of the artefact from the country subject to detailed conditions for its export, treatment while out of the country and return to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

VI

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

VII

Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of Republika Srpska, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation thereof.

VIII

The Government of Republika Srpska, the ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska, the ministry responsible for culture, and the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska, 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 – VII of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.

IX

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.kons.gov.ba)

X

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.

XI

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of BiH.

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

No: 05.1-2.3-73/12-14

4 June 2012                                                                             

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.

On 20 June 2003 the Novi Grad Cultural and Education Centre, Karađorđeva 71, submitted a petition/proposal to designate the archaeological site of Mekota 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 para. 4 of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.

Statement of Significance

Mekota, where the prehistoric necropolis is located, is 12 km upstream from Novi Grad, on the right bank of the River Una, next to the main Novi Grad to Bihać road. A prehistoric settlement has also been recorded to the north-east of the necropolis, on the river bank. A total of 769 graves were found on the site where archaeological excavations have been conducted, an area of 1,611 m². The necropolis may be dated roughly to the late 9th to late 7th century BCE. Most of the finds in the graves consist of biconical goblets laid by the skeleton, in or beside urns, singly or in a group. The rest of the finds consist mainly of spectacle fibulae and pendants, wire spirals and twisted torques.

A detailed interpretation of the artefacts would constitute a significant contribution to the study of the development of burial practices during the late Bronze and Iron Ages in north-west Bosnia.

II – PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE

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 of the property and the current owner and occupant (copy of cadastral plan and Land Register entry),

-       details of 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.

Pursuant to Article V para. 2 of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 37 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, before rendering a final decision designating a property as a national monument, the Commission is required to provide the owner of the proposed monument, the person submitting the petition, the institutions responsible for heritage, professional and academic institutions, experts and scholars, as well as other interested parties, to express their views. Accordingly, the Commission sent:

-       letter ref. 05.1-35.19/12-9 of 2 February 2012 to the Novi Grad department responsible for town planning, geodetics and proprietary rights requesting documentation and views on the designation of the archaeological site of Mekota, Novi Grad Municipality, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina

-       letter ref. 05.1-35.2-5/12-32 of 22 February 2012 to the Novi Grad Cultural and Education Centre requesting information on the movable archaeological artefacts from the site

-       letter ref. 05.1-35.1-11/12-65 of 15 May 2012 to the Department of Geodetics and Proprietary Rights Banja Luka, Novi Grad branch, requesting identification of the old and new surveys and copies of the cadastral plan for the wider area.

In response, the Commission has received the following documentation:

-       letter ref. 21.33/952.1-1-169/12 of 9 February 2012 from the Department of Geodetics and Proprietary Rights Banja Luka, Novi Grad branch, supplying the Commission with a copy of the cadastral plan, proof of title and Land Register entry

-       letter ref. 03/16-052/2/12 of 24 February 2012 from Novi Grad Municipality, Dept. of Administration, Sector for Social Affairs, supplying the Commission with a copy of the cadastral plan, proof of title and Decision no. 02/8-473-7/81 of 27 April 1981 ruling that the archaeological investigations at Mekota in Gornji are of public importance and that the real property on the cadastral plots of the said site may be expropriated

-       letter ref. 03/16-052/2/12 of 24 February 2012 from Novi Grad Municipality, Dept. of Administration, Sector for Social Affairs, notifying the Commission that a public notice addressed to the owners was posted on the notice board of Novi Grad Municipality on 7 February and sent to the local radio station for publication, and supplying the Commission with copies of the archaeological survey no. 23, press cuttings relating to the archaeological investigations at Mekota

-       letter ref. 01-43/12 of 8 March 2012 from the Novi Grad Cultural and Education Centre supplying the Commission with copies of documents dating from the time of the archaeological investigations (“Report on Archaeological Excavation of the Mekota Necropolis. near Bosanski Novi in 1986”)

-       The views of the owner had not been received by the time this decision was adopted.

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

Mekota is 12 km upstream from Novi Grad, on the right bank of the River Una, next to the main Novi Grad to Bihać road and the railway line, at an altitude of 138 m, 44°55.627' N and 16°17.2370'E.

The partly wooded site lies at the base of a gentle slope rising from the Una valley, just 120 m from the right bank of the Una. A prehistoric settlement has also been recorded to the north-east of the necropolis, on the river bank; this has not been investigated, so its relationship to the necropolis cannot be determined with certainty.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 90 and. 157, title deed no. 76/2, c.p.nos 161 and 162, title deed no. 106/2, c.p. no. 82, title deed no. 79/2, and c.p. nos. 88, 89, 156 and 158, title deed no. 195/1, cadastral municipality Gornji Rakani, Municipality Novi Grad, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Historical background

According to Stane Gabrovec and Borivoj Čović, “the Iron Age in former Yugoslavia corresponds roughly to the last millennium BCE, from the end of the Bronze Age to the Roman occupation. A more accurate periodization has been defined for Central Europe, with the sites of Hallstatt in Austria and La Tène in Switzerland(1). P. Reinecke used these as markers for the early and late Iron Age (Hallstatt A-D and La Tène A-D). In 1987, Alojz Benac proposed a separate chronological system for the former Yugoslav region, based on the context of various cultural groups within regional “entities” known and identifiable not only from their distinctive material culture but also from the different pace of their development. The names of the groups were based on representative graves or grave goods; in some cases, numbers rather than names were used.

The Donja Dolina-Sanski Most group(2), an arbitrary construct(3), occupied the area of the Bosnian Sava basin between the confluence of the Una and Vrbas with the Sava, and the hilly areas somewhat further south, particularly in the Sana river basin. These regions offered quite favourable living conditions – fertile soil suitable for cultivation and areas well suited to herding, hunting and fishing.

The cultural groups of the early Iron Age in the south-east Alpine regions did not persist into the later Iron Age, but were succeeded by a variety of different cultures. This is equally true of the Donja Dolina-Sanski Most group. However, all these groups, throughout the region, have in common that they took shape at an early stage, in the heyday of the Pannonian urnfield culture(4) with cinerary burials(5).

The widespread urnfield culture included the northern regions of Bosnia, whence it spread further south. The expansion and development of the group can be traced over a period of more than five centuries, its origins undoubtedly to be found in the middle Bronze Age. In northern Bosnia, it can be traced from the final decades of the 13th century to the end of the 12th (first phase). The second great phase of development lasted roughly from the final decades of the 11th to the end of the 9th century. The changes brought about by evolution and population movements were also reflected in north-western Bosnia in the appearance of the incineration of the dead and in certain pottery and metal forms in the context of the Iapodes group(6).

In the Iron Age, there were three basic kinds of settlement in the area of the Donja Dolina-Sanski Most group: hill forts (the most common), open lowland settlements (of which there were twelve), and one pile dwelling settlement(7). The oldest of the hill forts may even pre-date the Iron Age, originating in the Bronze Age or even the Eneolithic, but as a rule they came into being in the middle Bronze Age, with a few originating in the late Bronze Age. Indeed, these may date from the Iron Age, corresponding to the origins of the cultural groups of that period to which they belong(8). Hill forts differed in size but always reflected the terrain, and were usually hilltop or inland promontory forts(9).

Cultural and political influences can certainly be seen in burial methods. “Princely” graves are found in the early stages of almost every group, indicated by the grave goods (sword, spear, axe, horse harness). This is the chief innovation compared with the graves of the urnfield culture and the late Bronze Age. These graves are usually found in tumuli, which are for the most part family burial sites. The structure of the grave sites thus reflects a strongly clan-based or tribal social structure, headed by a chieftain(10).

The marked development of crafts and trade undoubtedly had a major impact on the development of Iron Age society from a clan-based structure to a proto-urban society. It is easy to distinguish more powerful colonies from weaker ones, in that the former were surrounded by smaller strongholds of a different type, obviously associated with the parent settlement. Some of these larger settlements (Nesactium, Metulum, Delminium) could have become “capital” towns. Further important evidence of this kind of development can be observed in the spiritual or cultic-religious domain. Cultic deposits of the Škocjan type constitute the early beginnings of a shared cultic site, a precursor to a sanctuary, linking a larger supra-tribal community. The earliest known sanctuary, which is in Pod near Bugojno, was discovered by B. Čović, who led systematic archaeological investigations.

The religion of Iron Age communities(11) seems to have manifested itself in the artefacts and symbols in which inherited cults and religious beliefs can be recognized, and in graves, as monuments of the cult of the dead, which played an important part in the community. There were marked differences from group to group in the two areas, but there were also not inconsiderable shared features or developmental trends. The earlier religious strata, particularly the solar cult and the cult of water divinities, as well as those associated with cave-type cult sites, belong to this category.

Z. Marić has dealt in detail with the genesis of the Iron Age population in north-western Bosnia and its culture(12). Some of his basic postulates are as follows:

-       the urnfield culture was brought to northern Bosnia in the final decades of the second millennium BCE (Ha A). The culture was fully consolidated in the area in the early centuries of the first millennium (Ha B)

-       with the exception of the Iapodes in the Una basin, the Iron Age inhabitants of north-western Bosnia were the direct descendants of those who brought the urnfield culture from western Pannonia to the area

-       these descendants were probably known as the Pannoni

-       the inhabitants of Donja Dolina and their kin in northern Bosnia should also therefore be regarded as Pannonians

-       in Roman times the area in which Donja Dolina is located belonged to the Pannonian Oseriates

-       in pre-Roman times Maezaian territory around the River Sana was markedly Pannonian in character, with many features of the urnfield culture and its offshoots(13).

2. Description of the property

Archaeological investigations to date, both test digs and systematic excavations, together with chance finds by local people, suggest that the prehistoric necropolis covered an area of more than 20,000m²(14). The number of graves may be estimated as several thousand. The wealth of chance finds led to test digs being conducted in October and November 1980 with a view to determining the true nature and approximate limits of the site. Five trenches were opened, with a total area of 100 m², and 66 prehistoric graves were uncovered, with a quantity of pottery and bronze material, while the distribution of the trenches confirmed that this is a very large necropolis.

These results led to systematic excavations in May and June 1981. An area of 700 m² was excavated, consisting of 28 5 x 5 m trenches, and 386 new graves were uncovered, at depths ranging from the surface to 180 cm. As a rule, under the 20-25 cm layer of topsoil was a layer of soft clay down to a depth of 75 to 85 cm, beneath which was a solid layer of clay down to the sterile subsoil. The toponym Mekota derives from this layer of soft (mek, mekan) clay.

The graves contained bronze and pottery artefacts, leather decorations, glass paste beads and a number of iron and amber artefacts. The most numerous finds were biconical goblets and small spectacle fibulae and pendants, torques, bracelets, anklets and bronze wire rolled into spirals. In most cases the deceased had been cremated and their ashes laid in a shallow grave or placed in an urn. There were several instances of inhumation, though no skeletons were found as the nature of the soil had caused them to disintegrate. The inhumation graves were quite rich in bronze jewellery, and each contained at least one goblet by the head or elsewhere. The jewellery was found at the points where it would have been worn during the deceased’s lifetime(15).

The numerous finds from the 1981 archaeological excavation showed a certain likeness to the finds from the Sanski Most necropolis and Zecovi hill fort(16). It will be possible to analyze and define the site only on completion of the excavations. The graves in the northern sector of the necropolis may be dated to the late Bronze Age with scattered later Hallstatt and La Tène burials. The finds show that the site does not belong to the Iapodes, and further investigations could identify the boundary between Illyrian and Pannonian tribes in the lower Una valley and fill the gap between the Eneolithic and Hallstatt stages of development in north-western Bosnia(17).

The excavations continued in 1982 near test trench 1 opened in 1980. Five trenches were completed in this large area, and then extended to a wider excavation area around test trench 3 of 1980. A 10 x 10 m grid was laid down, with four trenches in each quadrant. Sixteen trenches were excavated at this level, making a total of 21 over an area of 525 m², in which 228 new graves were discovered.

Further archaeological investigations began in 1986, after a four-year gap. The idea was that the necropolis might have an earlier part, dating from the late Bronze Age, which is of considerable interest, particularly since no graves definitely belonging to an earlier period than Ha B2/B3 had previously been discovered in the Una valley region. Archaeological excavations were conducted under the auspices of this research programme in 1986 and 1987.

In 1986, 65 new graves were discovered in an area of 200 m² (eight 5 x 5 m trenches). The material excavated was similar to that previously discovered, with no significant differences. Pottery goblets and urns were found in the usual proportions. The only noticeable difference was that there were fewer bronze artefacts. This may have been because the trenches were in a small semicircular depression, which was less suitable for excavation, since the view of the settlement on the bank of the Una from the necropolis, and vice versa, was poor; the site would therefore have been avoided for burials and fewer of the deceased were buried there(18). Eighteen of the 65 graves had urns, while of the remaining 47, only three could definitely said to have been inhumations.

The urns could be roughly divided into small globular urns with a short but pronounced neck, sometimes slightly everted, and biconical urns with a small flat base and the upper half sometimes slightly everted. The urns had one or two strap handles, and were sometimes covered by a deeper conical or biconical bowl. The urns were found in the following combinations: alone (5 urns), an urn containing a goblet, an urn containing a goblet with a bowl as cover, an urn with a goblet and an iron bracelet beside it, and urns with two or three goblets beside them (one of each instance). The goblets were usually biconical, with only a few conical.

Besides the graves with urns, another 32 graves were found with one goblet, seven with two, one with three, and four in which the goblets were accompanied by metal grave goods. Two of the three inhumation graves had a goblet along with bronze grave goods.

In the 1987 archaeological investigations, trenches were opened at the highest point of the site, about 120 m from trench 1 of 1908. Three trenches with an area of 72 m², were opened side by side from north to south, following the slope of the hillside. Twenty-four graves were found, all but one containing pottery goblets and urns. The urns were found alone or in combination with damaged bronze grave goods, or with goblets beside (in one case) or inside the urn (in one case). Twelve graves contained only goblets, six of them in inhumation graves. More metal artefacts were discovered in this part of the necropolis. Most of the bronze jewellery consisted of anklets, bracelets, spectacle pendants and fibulae, double spectacle decorations and small scrolls of wire. The anklets and bracelets were semicircular in section, sometimes with open ends. The pottery goblets were biconical, with the base of omphalos type or flat. They were made of pure cleaned clay and fired to a colour ranging from red to dark brown. The urns were globular or biconical, with everted rim, and one or two strap handles narrowing towards the top on the shoulder. The decoration on the shoulder consisted of three parallel horizontal lines with swags or hatched dog’s tooth below. These motifs were executed as a false band decoration or cannelures. The base of the urns was invariably flat.

The wealth of finds in these 24 graves may be attributed to the attractive site where they were located, on the hillside where they could easily be seen from the settlement on the bank of the Una and vice versa.

A total of 67 trenches were opened over the five campaigns, an area of 1,611 m², and 769 graves were discovered. The necropolis may be roughly dated to the late 9th to late 7th century BCE. No graves were found that could be dated to any earlier phase of the late Bronze Age (Ha A-B1-2), and few could be dated to the late 9th and 8th centuries BCE (Ha B3)(19).

3. Legal status to date

At the request of the Bosanski Novi Museum, Bosanski Novi Municipal Council adopted a decision at its session held on 13 April 1981, ruling that the archaeological investigations at Mekota in Gornji were of public importance and that the real property on cadastral plots 156, 157, 158, 161, 162, 82, 88, 89 and 90 could be expropriated.

The Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 did not list Mekota as a protected cultural monument.

4. Research and conservation-restoration works

The archaeological site of Mekota is in the Archaeological Lexicon of BiH under the heading Mekota, Gornji Rakani, Bosanki Novi(20) (now Novi Grad), as a prehistoric necropolis of flat graves.

The necropolis was discovered in 1980 during a field survey, along with the settlement to the north-west of the necropolis. Test digs were conducted that year, which yielded an abundance of finds, leading to the conclusion that this was a major necropolis.

Major systematic archaeological investigations were conducted in 1981 and 1982, and continued in 1986. The investigations were led by archaeologist Enver Mulabdić, curator of the Bosanski Novi Museum, under the supervision of archaeologist Zdenko Žeravica of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Monuments in Sarajevo in association with archaeologist Milenko Radivojac.

The Novi Grad Cultural and Education Centre supplying the Commission with copies of documents dating from the time of the archaeological investigations (“Report on Archaeological Excavation of the Mekota Necropolis. near Bosanski Novi in 1986”). The local museum (the old Town Hall) in which the archaeological material was housed after excavation was damaged during the 1992-1995 war and the archaeological finds were transferred to the Gallery (Novi Grad) where they are still housed. Having long been left unsupervised, they should now be examined by an archaeologist to determine their condition and any defects.

5. Current condition of the property

            The findings of an on site inspection conducted on 25 May 2012 are as follows:

-       Mekota is very close to the main Novi Grad to Bihać road and the railway line

-       it lies at the base of a gentle slope rising from the Una valley, just 120 m from the right bank of the Una, and is partly wooded

-       the dense vegetation, consisting of both woody and low-growing plants, makes it impossible to see where the archaeological excavations were conducted

-       places where the site has been “freshly” dug to no great depth can be seen here and there(21)

-       few residents of Rakani know exactly where the site is located and where the archaeological excavations were conducted

6. Specific risks

-       unauthorized digging in search of archaeological artefacts

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

D.         Clarity (documentary, scientific and educational value)

D.i.       material evidence of a lesser known historical era

D.iv.     evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner

E.         Symbolic value

E.v.      significance for the identity of a group of people

G.         Authenticity

G.ii.      material and content

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-       Ownership documentation

-         Department of Geodetics and Proprietary Rights Banja Luka, Novi Grad branch, supplying the Commission with a copy of the cadastral plan, proof of title and Land Register entry

-       Photodocumentation

-         photographs taken on 25 May 2012

Bibliography

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

1980.    Redžić, Husref (ed.). Prostorni plan Bosne i Hercegovine, Faza “B” - Valorizacija, Prirodne i kulturno-historijske vrijednosti (Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina, phase B – valorization of natural, cultural and historical assets). Sarajevo: Institute for Architecture and Town and Country Planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo and the Planning Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, 1980.

1982.    Milinović, Ante. “Mekota, Gornji Rakani kod Bosanskog Novog - praistorijska nekropola kasno bronzano doba (period polja s urnama)” (Mekota, Gornji Rakani nr. Bosanski Novi – prehistoric necropolis, late Bronze Age (urnfield period), Arheološki pregled, vol. 23. Ljubljana: 1982.

1987.    Benac, Alojz (ed.). Prahistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja. Željezno doba (Prehistory of Yugoslav lands) V. Sarajevo: Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, Centar za balkanološka ispitivanja, 1987.

1987.    Čović, Borivoj. “Grupa Donja Dolina-Sanski Most” (the Donja Dolina-Sanski Most group) in Prahistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja. Željezno doba (Prehistory of Yugoslav lands) V. Sarajevo: Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, Centar za balkanološka ispitivanja, 1987.

1988.    Čović, Borivoj (ed.). Arheološki leksikon BIH (Archaeological lexicon of BiH), vol. 2. Sarajevo: 1988.

1988.    Čović, Borivoj (ed.). Arheološki leksikon BIH (Archaeological lexicon of BiH), vol. 1. Sarajevo: 1988.

2010.    Mulabdić, Enver. “Mekota u Gornjim Rakanima” (Mekota in Gornji Rakani), Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja BiH, Sarajevo, Arheologija. Sarajevo: 52/2010.

(1) Benac, Alojz, (ed.), Prahistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja. Željezno doba V, Sarajevo: Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, Centar za balkanološka ispitivanja, 1987, 901.

(2) Čović, Borivoj, “Grupa Donja Dolina-Sanski Most,” u Prahistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja. Željezno doba V, Sarajevo: Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, Centar za balkanološka ispitivanja, 1987, 232.

(3) Translator’s note: this rather baffling sentence begins, in literal translation: “The distribution of the Donja Dolina-Sanski Most group, which should be arbitrarily accepted, is considered as a group that existed in the Bosnian Sava basin....”

(4) So called after the funerary practice of cremation of the deceased and the burial of the ashes in an urn.

(5) Benac, Alojz, (ed..), op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 904.

(6) Čović, Borivoj (ed..), Arheološki leksikon BIH, Vol. 1, Sarajevo: 1988, 101, 102.

(7) Čović, Borivoj, op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 267.

(8) Benac, Alojz, (ed..), op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 912.

(9) Translator’s note: I assume that this is what is meant by the terms “so-called circular or marginal” in the original of this Decision

(10) Benac, Alojz, (ed.), op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 918.

(11) Benac, Alojz, (ed.), op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 921.

(12) Čović, Borivoj, op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 281.

(13) “In the past two decades no new works have taken place and no new archaeological finds have been published that might fundamentally alter the pattern of ethnogenetic relations in this country developed by Z. Marić. A number of questions, however, remain unanswered.” Čović, Borivoj, op.cit., Sarajevo: 1987, 281.

(14) Mulabdić, Enver, “Mekota u Gornjim Rakanima,” in Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja BiH, Arheologija, Sarajevo: 2010, 82.

(15) Mulabdić, Enver, op.cit., Sarajevo: 2010, 83.

(16) Milinović, Ante, “Mekota, Gornji Rakani kod Bosanskog Novog- praistorijska nekropola kasno bronzano doba (period polja s urnama),” in Arheološki pregled, Vol. 23., Ljubljana: 1982, 47.

(17) Milinović, Ante, “Mekota,” op.cit., Ljubljana: 1982, 47.

(18) Mulabdić, Enver, op.cit., Sarajevo: 2010, 84.

(19) Mulabdić, Enver, op.cit., Sarajevo: 2010, 86.

(20) Čović, Borivoj (ed.), Arheološki leksikon BIH, Vol. 2, 1988, 37.

(21) According to local residents, people without authorization are digging in search of artefacts.