engleski

Sites Twice Removed – a Case Study From Dalmatia

Field survey has become a standard nondestructive method in archaeological research. The purpose of this type of research is not just to discover or merely record new sites. It is a field method by which data is collected for a vast variety of analytical procedures. Field survey is commonly carried out in cultivated areas, which allows for good visibility of archaeological sites. What if a field survey is carried out in an area which is no longer cultivated? Is it even possible to discern archaeological sites in such conditions? The specific Mediterranean land use and land division both enable and constrain visibility of archeological sites in areas which are no longer under cultivation. The kind of visibility we faced is not the kind one would expect in a ‘‘conventional” field survey. This specific land use and land division includes field clearance and depositing various materials on plot boundaries. Field clearance and the deposition of the material result in the construction of dry stone boundary walls and clearance cairns. Archaeological finds are treated in the same manner as the rest of the material being deposited on boundary walls and clearance cairns and as such they are part and parcel of these structures. These specific agricultural practices, on the one hand, facilitate visibility and detection of archaeological sites in areas which are no longer cultivated. At the same time the very same agricultural practices produce a tertiary archeological context which generates specific issues in data analysis and data interpretation. The specific nature of the site formation and archeological record required a formulation of analytical procedures aimed at “translating” traditional agricultural practices into archeological sites with their designated attributes such as size, type etc.

Field survey ; deposites on clearance features ; Nin ; Privlaka

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