Vol.11, No.2 | [Article] Recent Research on Bronze Age Hillforts near Rovinj, Istria

Istria in the Caput Adriae is for the Bronze Age research of the Mediterranean area a still rather unexplored area. Although the location of several hundred settlement sites known as gradina has been registered, only a small number of them has been examined in more depth through archaeological excavations. The present article introduces the latest, albeit preliminary results of a research project that aims to get a more balanced picture of the Bronze Age settlement system in the region around the modern town of Rovinj. In course of the project three settlements which are located next to the sea and in closer vicinity to the only extensively researched site of the peninsula have been surveyed and examined. The results seem to suggest that all settlements were occupied synchronously and protected by a fortification. The latter fact questions the prevalent notion of a strictly hierarchical settlement system in the region.


Keyword : Bronze Age, Istria, hillforts, Monkodonja, fortification