Croatia at the Crossroads: A consideration of archaeological and historical connectivity: Proceedings of conference held at Europe House, Smith ... accession of Croatia to the European Union

Description

Croatia has a unique geographical and historical position within Europe, bridging central and south-east Europe. From the Pannonian Plain to the southern Adriatic maritime landscape, interconnectedness flows through Croatia’s history. This dynamic past is increasingly being reflected upon by a new and exciting generation of Croatian scholars who are firmly embedded within a strong national tradition of archaeology but who also look outward to draw insights into the nature of material culture they encounter in Croatia and Croatian identity itself. Croatia at the Crossroads (24-25 June, Europe House, London) provided the opportunity to reflect upon such interconnectedness and Croatia’s historic place within Europe. This event typified the desire of Croatian archaeologists to engage with such matters on an international level and to situate their scholarship within broader regional dynamics. Following the foundation of the new Croatian state, the opportunities for new forms of engagement have grown. This has stimulated thinking regarding both approaches to archaeology and the potential cultural cross-fertilisation that has resulted in Croatia’s rich archaeological and historical record. This has led to in new, exciting understandings of archaeological material, and this was revealed in contributions to the Croatia at the Crossroads conference. The papers published here arise from the exceptionally interesting presentations and discussions held in London at the conference. Each of them takes Croatia’s particular interconnectedness in terms of social and cultural relationships with the wider region as the starting point for exploring issues across a broad chronological range, from human origins to modernity. Within this, contributors pick up on a variety of different fields of interconnectedness and forms of interaction including biological, cultural, religious, military, trade, craft and maritime relationships. In many ways, these papers represent opening conversations that explore ways of thinking about new and established data sets that are entering Croatian scholarship for the first time. They also act as a set of complementary discussions that transcend traditional period and national boundaries. We hope that by bringing them together the volume will provide an insight into current trends in Croatian archaeology and stimulate fruitful discussions regarding future directions. Table of Contents Interactions in the Old Stone Age: Possible Scenarios Using the Vindija Biological Evidence (Ivor Janković and Fred H. Smith) Contacts and Connections in Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic Croatia (Ivor Karavanić) Adriatic Connections: Exploring Relationships from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic (Dario Vujević) The Mesolithic in Croatia (Darko Komšo) The Development of Eneolithic Cultures Between the Sava and Drava Rivers (Jacqueline Balen) Croatia and the Crossroads of Early Greek Seafarers (Helena Tomas) Multiculturalists Before We Knew It: Keeping Pace with Bronze Age Trends (Sanjin Mihelić) Clay Birds as Religious Objects and Works of Craft in the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age of the Balkans and the Carpathian Basin (Darko Maričević) Indigenous Pottery in Dalmatia During the Last Millennium BC (Vedran Barbarić) The Princes of the Crossroads — The Early Iron Age in Northern Croatia (Hrvoje Potrebica) Salona and the Sea – Some Observations (Branko Kirigin) Interaction Between Incomers and Autochthons on Roman Funerary Stones from the Croatian Region of Pannonia (1st –4th Centuries) (Branka Migotti, PhD.) Immigrants from Other Areas of the Roman Empire Documented on Siscia Lead Tags (Ivan Radman-Livaja) New Knowledge on Certain Early Christian Dioceses in the Eastern Adriatic Region (Ante Škegro, Ph.D.) The K-type Sword from Koljane in Dalmatia as Possible Evidence for the Arrival of Croats at the End of the 8th Century (Ante Milošević) The Gnalić Shipwreck: Microcosm of the Late Renaissance World (Irena Radić Rossi, Mariangela Nicolardi and Katarina Batur) Weapons of the Military Frontier in Croatia from the End of the 17th to the End of the 19th Century – Combat Equipment and Emblems of Rank (Dora Bošković)