Draga Garašanin ( 1921–1997) was a Serbian archaeologist who studied the

Copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

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 ...

of eastern Europe. She became one of the leading prehistorians of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, later Serbia, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and with her husband produced the first map of archaeological sites in Serbia.

Early life

Draga Arandelović was born on 6 April 1921 in Paris and obtained her education in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, which was interrupted by World War II. In 1946 she completed her studies on philology and classic archaeology. She married , also an archaeologist and academic and the couple subsequently had three daughters, Julija, Sofija and Olivera. Though they studied with Miloje Vasić, the Garašanins did not agree with his theories and decided to further their studies with at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

where they entered in 1950. Arandelović-Garašanin graduated with her doctorate in 1953, presenting her thesis ''Starčevačka kultura''. The work examined the Starčevo culture and became an important text for the study of this prehistoric ethnic group.

Career

Arandelović-Garašanin worked as a volunteer of the Museum of Prince Paul, which would become the National Museum, beginning in 1942, classifying material from several pre-war excavations. She then briefly worked at the Museum of the City of Belgrade as the

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

before returning to oversee the National Museum in 1950. In 1951, she and her husband published a gazetteer mapping the archaeological sites in Serbia, ''Arheološka nalazišta u Srbiji'', which was the first effort of its kind in the country. Her publication ''Katalog metala'' (1954) became a staple, which catalogued metals used in

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

jewelry in the region. Arandelović-Garašanin led excavations on numerous important prehistoric sites in Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, which included Anzabegovo, Bela Crkva, Kriva Reka, Radanja near Štip, Supska and Žarkovo. She spent two decades studying Dacian necropoli south of the Danube. In addition to her fieldwork, Arandelović-Garašanin arranged the collections and identification of the finds at the National Museum, as well as organizing exhibitions featuring the

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 ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

of the Central Balkans, including the Dacian and Illyrian people from the area. Her exhibits on the

in Serbia toured from the National Museum to Denmark, England and Romania. From 1950 through the 1960s, Arandelović-Garašanin and her husband examined new theories on the chronological prehistory of Serbia, based on the methodology of Gero von Merhart and , of the German school of thought, The couple became the leading prehistorians after World War II in Serbia with their collaborations on the Starčevo culture and Vinča cultures becoming foundational works. Arandelović-Garašanin retired from the museum in 1979. She died on 12 October 1997 in Belgrade,

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garasanin, Draga 1921 births 1997 deaths Serbian women archaeologists Serbian archaeologists University of Ljubljana alumni Yugoslav archaeologists 20th-century archaeologists Yugoslav expatriates in France