A stecak necropolis, believed to have completely disappeared more than a hundred years ago, was discovered in Kresevo, the old royal town in central Bosnia, and experts say a lost treasure has been found.
There is only one mention of the necropolis discovered at the Polje site, and it was presumed to have disappeared during the 19th century when it was allegedly filled with stones from river beds and covered with a layer of humus due to levelling and turning into plough land.
”In this way, this necropolis was actually dug and was considered destroyed and no longer existing,” said Adnan Kaljanac, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo.
Stecak is the name of monumental medieval tombstones that lie scattered across Bosnia and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. Some 60,000 are found within the borders of modern Bosnia and the rest of 10,000 are found in what are today Croatia (4,400), Montenegro (3,500), and Serbia (2,100), at more than 3,300 sites.
On the first day of the archaeological dig, six stecak tombstones and one tomb were found, and a total of 30 tombstones were discovered during the excavation. However, it is believed that this is not the final number and that the necropolis is much larger.
” Among the monuments found are stecak tombstones of various sizes, and mostly coffins. We also discovered several graves that don't have stecak tombstones, which means that someone probably destroyed or removed them, or installed them in their houses or something. It is evident that some of the stećak tombstones were used as construction material even before the necropolis was buried since traces of breaking and carving can be seen,” Kaljanac pointed out.
The forgotten necropolis was found at the site where the police station was planned to be built, and the Ministry of Interior (MUP) of the Central Bosnia Canton (SBZ) claims that construction work has been delayed due to archaeological research.
