Kale-Krševica is an archaeological site in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, dating back mainly to the late classical and early

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

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 () 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 village, the remnations o ...

overlooking

Bujanovac Bujanovac ( sr-cyr, Бујановац, ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, town and Municipalities and cities of Serbia, municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of ...

and

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 55,214 while the city administrative area has 74,381 inhabitan ...

, to the south of Ristovac in southern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. The town had an exceptionally strategic position on a plateau that descends from the Rujan mountain towards the

South Morava The South Morava (; Macedonian and Serbian: Јужна Морава, ''Južna Morava'', ) is a river in eastern Kosovo and in southern Serbia, which represents the shorter headwater of Great Morava. Today, it is long, including its source ri ...

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 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 ...

) 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 (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

. Finds of coins of Philip II, Alexander III,

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

, Demetrios Poliorketes and

Pelagia Pelagia (), 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 with Saints Pelagia the ...

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 In antiquity, Paeonia or Paionia () was the land and kingdom of the Paeonians (or Paionians; ). The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, are obscure, but it is known that it roughly corresponds to m ...

tribe of

Agrianes The Agrianes (Ancient Greek: Ἀγριᾶνες, ''Agrianes'' or Ἀγρίαι, ''Agriai'') or Agrianians, were a tribe whose country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day central Western Bulgaria as well as southeasternmost Serbia, at t ...

dwelled in this region, and the

Scordisci The Scordisci (; ) were an Iron Age cultural group who emerged after the Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe, and who were centered in the territory of present-day Serbia, at the confluence of the Savus (Sava), Dravus (Drava), Margus (Morav ...

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 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 ...

says that the site could be the ancient city of

Damastion Damastion was an ancient city located somewhere in the west-central Balkans, known for its silver coins dating back to the 4th century BC. It is attested only in Strabo who says that the city had silver-mines and locates it in Illyria. The ancient a ...

Findings

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

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

basin.

Early Iron Age city

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

Brnjica culture The Brnjica culture (, ), alternatively Donja Brnjica-Gornja Stražava cultural group, is a Late Bronze Age archaeological culture in present-day Kosovo and Serbia dating between the 14th and 10th/9th centuries BCE. Description The Brnjica cultu ...

pottery of the early

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 ...

(1200 BC).

Ancient Macedonian city

The 4th-century BC findings comprise Greek vessels of the types known as '' hydriai'', painted '' kantharoi'' and '' skyphoi'', as well as 25 very rare golden coins from the time of Philip II (r. 359–336 BC) and

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

(r. 336–323 BC), valued at €50,000 each. A large textile industry could be documented, based on over a thousand loom weights,

spindle whorl A spindle whorl is a weighted object fitted to a spindle to help maintain the spindle's speed of rotation while spinning yarn. History A spindle whorl may be a disk or spherical object. It is typically positioned on the bottom of the spindle. T ...

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 The National Museum of Serbia () is the largest and oldest museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the central zone of Belgrade on a square plot between the Republic Square (Belgrade), Republic Square, formerly Theatre Square, and three stree ...

, 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 North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

of the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

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