prijava
SARAJEVO, November 10 (FENA) - An archeological survey reviving a forgotten necropolis 'Metaljica' with stećak tombstone in Vilovac near Tarčin, unique in Europe, reveals more than 20 skeletons, while more than 500 are assumed to be on the necropolis. The survey is conducted by the Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Sarajevo and the Department of Archeology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo.
By: Kanita Aliagić
It is a graveyard of a large medieval community and it can be assumed, as the folk tradition says, that a sacral object, a medieval church, might be located there, but further analysis will confirm this.
Director of the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) Naris Pojskić, project leader, explained that the primary task of a multidisciplinary project is to isolate DNA from skeletal remains, observe varieties and compare them with the population living in the area today.
“The samples were taken with the first excavation. We will have first preliminary results in the spring. We have made so-called archaeological DNA database in which all skeletons will be genotyped and their variants will be part of that database. In the next phase we would like to see some target genes that may be medically important and to compare these genetic variants with a population that still lives in this area to see the differences but also the similarities,” said Pojskić.
Edin Bujak, head of the archaeological excavations from the Department of Archeology at the UNSA Faculty of Philosophy, explained that the excavation aims to find out how many 'stećak' tombstones are preserved, the scope of the necropolis and how to find the genetic material for analysis.
“We will finally get dates for all graves, that is, determine the exact year we did not know before,” Bujak said, adding that this analysis, unfortunately, cannot be done in BiH, but we will send samples to European laboratories in Poland, Germany or other countries, but for now it is too early to talk about this stage.
Bujak said that according to the skeleton position, it could be said that this is the standard skeleton position that dominated the area of medieval Europe and here is the same case.
“However, what is different and can not be found elsewhere in Europe are that these stećak tombstones weigh several tons. The one we moved weighs about five tons and it tells us about sacral culture of medieval Bosnia. Generally speaking, skeletons will also be analyzed by modern anthropological analyses, so we will find out what their life was like,” Bujak said.
He hopes that once the excavations are completed, the necropolis would be much better arranged and presented to the public, but also used for scientific, educational and tourism purposes.
The project is funded by the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, and the Municipality of Hadžići has provided administrative assistance, thereby facilitating the work of archaeologists.
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