Medieval Monolithic Tombstones/Stećci at the Grebine Site Next to Čeveljuša (Plina) Near Ploče

hrcak.srce.hr

2017

Sažetak: U prilogu se opisuju stećci izvađeni iz temelja i donjih dijelova zidova džamije u mjestu Pridvorica na području Borča kod Gacka. Među izvađenim stećcima, uredno posloženim na obližnju lokaciju, nalazi se 11 primjeraka sa zastupljenim različitim reljefnim motivima: rozetama, pletenim užadima, vodenicama, ljudskim figurama, orantom, polumjesecom, štapom, mačevima i štitom, frizom sa povijenom lozicom sa trolistovima. Sačuvana su dva natpisa, jedan kompletan, drugi znatno oštećen. Ključne riječi: stećci, reljefni motivi, natpisi, Radoje kovač, Rapalo kaluđer, džamija, Pridvorica, Borač. Abstract: This paper describes the stećci (mediaeval tombstones) removed from the foundations and lower reaches of the walls of the mosque at Pridvorica in Borač near Gacko. The stećci that were removed and neatly laid out at a nearby site include eleven with various motifs in relief: rosettes, rope-twist, hollows, human figures, an orant, a crescent moon, a staff, a sword and shield, a frieze of scrolling vines with trefoils. Two epitaphs have survived, one complete, the other badly damaged. Key words: stećci, relief motifs, epitaphs, Radoje the stone-cutter, Rapalo the monk, mosque, Pridvorica, Borač.

Godišnjak, 2023

Stećci, monolithic tombstones, are the bearers of the unique sepulchral culture of the Bosnian and Hum Middle Ages. Considering the fact they are located in natural surroundings, and regarding their total number, artistic and design characteristics, stećci represent the cultural phenomenon of medieval Europe. Due to the previous reflections on the stećak as a phenomenon of the Bosnian Middle Ages, the following issues were not debated: Where did the stećak tombstones "disappear"? Did stećci just stop being made or did they continued to "live" in certain modified forms of the tombstones? There are also later tombstones, both Muslim and Christian, which, through the evolution of form, depict specific situations of coexistence of members of different religions.

The complexity and multiple strata of St John’s burial ground in Livno have been identified from movable artefacts and architectural remains from various periods, from the late Bronze and early Iron Ages through the Roman period and late Antiquity to the early and late mediaeval periods. Along with the remains of an early Christian basilica and late mediaeval monastery dedicated to St John the Baptist, movable artefacts suggest that there was a Roman necropolis here, where cremation was the most common form of burial. The most numerous finds from the Roman period are broken pieces of funerary monuments, most of them from the stone ossuaries in which the bones of the deceased were laid. Two types of ossuary are represented – those carved from a single block of stone, and those composed of interlocking stone slabs. To date the closest analogy is an unpublished slab ossuary from Štitić in Suhača, where it is believed there was also a Roman necropolis. Though they are recognizably of Eastern or Mediterranean origin, their distinctive features reveal that they are of more local provenance, made in stonemasons’ workshops in the Livno polje. Their various decorative features and symbols, concentrated on the front and sides of the ossuary, reflect the cult to which the deceased or the community belonged, and include an original religious component.