Grapčeva cave ( Croatian: ''Grapčeva spilja'') is a

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

archaeological site. Three distinct prehistorical cultures were discovered here: Nakovan,

Cetina The Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Nap ...

and

Hvar culture Hvar culture, also known as Hvar-Lisičići culture, was a Neolithic and Chalcolithic culture on the eastern Adriatic coast, named after the Adriatic island of Hvar. In 2023, a submerged stone road discovered off the coast of Korčula was iden ...

Stratigraphy

Oldest finds

The oldest traces of human habitation were found at a depth of 2.5 meters, and is represented with few fragmented finds of

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

, including two red painted fragments of

pottery.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

of charcoal found in the context of these fragments resulted in an age of ~6000 BC.

Hvar culture finds

Between 2.5 and 1.5 meters of depth, evidence of classic

can be found. The most common fine ware pottery was represented by half-round, black polished bowls, which were decorated with red paint on the rim and the body. Coarse ware pottery was likewise black polished, but decorated with incisions instead of red paint. In the upper part of the layer, white paint on black polished surface was found. Especially interesting was a find of a multi-colored painted fine ware bowl, with geometric motif, which is analogues to the middle

Vela Spila painted ceramics, suggesting contact between these two groups. Six

absolute dates Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology. Some scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies an unwarranted certainty of accuracy ...

were gotten for this layer, with the deeper part of the layer, with the red painted fine ware, being dated to ~5000 BC, while the white painted ceramics were dated to ~4500 BC. Finds between 1.5 and 1.4 meters of depth represent a set of mixed pottery. The previously mentioned white and red painted classic Hvar culture is represented, but mixed in with biconical bowls decorated with fluting of Nakovan culture. The layer can be dated between 4300–4200 BC.

Nakovan and Cetina culture finds

The fourth layer which can be differentiated is between 1.4 and 1.1 meters of depth, and contains pure Nakovan culture pottery. It is represented by bowls with rounded shoulders, cylindrical neck and fluted decorations, as well as by biconical bowls decorated with vertical fluting or incisions, and plastic ribs on the bottom part of the body. Absolute dating places this layer in the second part of 4th millennium BC. Fragmented finds of the Early Cetina culture was found between 1.1 and 0.9 meters of depth. It was represented mostly by small bowls with thin walls and ribbon-like decoration. It was dated to the first part of the 4th millennium BC.

Bronze Age finds

Early

finds were dated to ~2500 BC, and were represented by two types of bowls. The first type were conical, slightly curved bowls with flattened rims and ribbon-like handles. The second type were small bowls with cylindrical necks and ribbon-like handles that connected the neck and the shoulder. Both types were almost always undecorated. Middle Bronze Age finds were fragmented and undecorated, and weren't reconstructed after being found.

References