Scholarly record

THE MONUMENTS OF THE MEGALITHIC CULTURE ON THE ISLAND OF RAB, CROATIA

V. Seglins, Ag. Kukela, B. Lazdina

Abstract

For centuries, the monuments of megalithic prehistoric cultures have been rediscovered and identified in many parts of the Mediterranean basin. These monuments point to the spread and development of early agriculture and denote the diversification of the monuments created by these ancient cultures, their adaptation to availability of the local building materials, and the diversity of traditions. In this context, such megalithic monuments have not been studied mainly because they have been identified only in certain regions. The Adriatic coast is no exception for more than a half of the known monuments of this region is concentrated mainly on the Croatian coast. However, the number of the megalithic structures discovered is not large, only some dolmens, portal tombs and tumulus, ancient hillforts and residues from the city walls were identified. In other Adriatic coastal regions and islands the number of megalithic monuments identified is even smaller, which indirectly indicates the difficulty of recognizing such structures in nature. The aim of the study was to document and describe the megalithic monuments located in this area of the Adriatic coast, on the Island of Rab, where their presence was previously unknown. Present paper is also focusing on identifying certain characteristics that would allow similar monuments to be discovered in larger areas in the future thus supplementing the missing knowledge, as well as evaluate the most promising sites for their detailed archaeological research in the future. The obtained results confirm that the Adriatic coast of Croatia is rich in these ancient cultural monuments and in the future, it would be useful to carry out systematic inventory studies here.

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