Kale-Krševica is an archaeological site in Serbia, dating back mainly to the late classical and early

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

periods. It holds the remains of the northernmost Ancient Macedonian city so far discovered.

Location and size

The site is located in the hills of

Krševica Krševica ( sr, Кршевица) is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac of the Pčinja District, Serbia. According to the 2002 there were 486 people (1991: 549 inhabitants). The archaeological site of Kale-Krševica is located in the villa ...

overlooking

Bujanovac Bujanovac ( sr-cyr, Бујановац, ; sq, Bujanoc) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. Situated in the South Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. It is also ...

and Vranje, to the south of

Ristovac Ristovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Ристовац) is a small town in the Municipality of Vranje located in the Pčinja District of south-east Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian lang ...

in southern Serbia. The town had an exceptionally strategic position on a plateau that descends from the

Rujan mountain Rujan ( sr-Cyrl, Рујан) or Rujen (), is a mountain in southern Serbia, near the town of Bujanovac. Its highest peak ''Kalje'' has an elevation of above sea level. On the mountain, there is Kale-Krševica Kale-Krševica is an archaeologic ...

towards the South Morava and Vranje valley.http://av.zrc-sazu.si/pdf/58/AV_58_Popovic.pdf At the slopes of the plateau is a village where houses often have stone blocks from the ancient settlement. Its acropolis and suburbium, which encompass 4 hectares, extended to the valley of Krševička river.

Description and history

Of the over 4 hectares covered by the site, some 1,000 squares had been excavated by 2004. The former fortified town has a history going back to the 13th century BC ( Bronze Age) as a settlement with elements of an

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

, but the main preserved characteristics are of a Greek-Mediterranean-style urban town from the 5th or 4th century BC, with stone walls and a

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

. Finds of coins of Philip II, Alexander III, Cassander,

Demetrios Poliorketes Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynast ...

and

Pelagia Pelagia ( grc-gre, Πελαγία), distinguished as Pelagia of Antioch, Pelagia the Penitent, and Pelagia the Harlot, was a Christian saint and hermit in the 4th or 5th century. Her feast day was celebrated on 8 October, originally in common wi ...

correspond in general to the chronological span of the archaeological material discovered so far in the course of excavations, which allows to considered the site as the northernmost Ancient Macedonian city. The town had at least 3,000 inhabitants in the 4th and 3rd century BC. The Paeonian tribe of Agrianes dwelled in this region, and the Scordisci are believed to have razed the town to the ground in 279 BC.

Identification

Dr. Petar Popović from the Institute of Archaeology in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

says that the site could be the ancient city of Damastion.

Findings

The first findings were recorded in 1966. Identical finds of pottery were made in Cernica, Gadimlje, and in the Skopje basin.

Early Iron Age city

The findings include the foundations of the 13th century BC city, and

Brnjica culture The Brnjica culture ( sr, Брњица, full name: ''Donja Brnjica-Gornja Stražava cultural group'', al, Bërnica e Poshtme kulturë) is an archaeological culture in present-day Kosovo and Serbia dating from 1400 BC. Description The cultural g ...

pottery of the early Iron Age (1200 BC).

Ancient Macedonian city

The 4th-century BC findings comprise Greek vessels of the types known as '' hydriai'', painted '' kantharoi'' and ''

skyphoi A ''skyphos'' ( grc, σκύφος; plural ''skyphoi'') is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. The handles may be horizontal ear-shaped thumbholds that project from the rim (in both Corinthian and Athenian shapes), or they ma ...

'', as well as 25 very rare golden coins from the time of Philip II (r. 359–336 BC) and Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 BC), valued at €50,000 each. A large textile industry could be documented, based on over a thousand

loom weight The warp-weighted loom is a simple and ancient form of loom in which the warp yarns hang freely from a bar supported by upright poles which can be placed at a convenient slant against a wall. Bundles of warp threads are tied to hanging weight ...

spindle whorl A spindle whorl is a disc or spherical object fitted onto the spindle to increase and maintain the speed of the spin. Historically, whorls have been made of materials like amber, antler, bone, ceramic, coral, glass, stone, metal (iron, lead, lead ...

s and spools from the fourth and early third centuries BC found at the site.

Excavation history

In 2001 the research around the site took a new turn with cooperation between the Belgrade Archaeological Institute, the National Museum of Serbia, Vranje National Museum, and the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

of the University of Belgrade.

References

External links

Izvršen nadzor nad zaštitom kulturnog nasleđa na arheološkom nalazištu Kale, u selu Krševica

Deset godina arheoloških istraživanja u Krševici kod Bujanovca, "Filip Makedonski, Aleksandar Veliki ili Damastion"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kale-Krsevica Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Serbia Archaeological sites in Serbia Pčinja District Former populated places in the Balkans Macedonian colonies