Abstract:

The archaeological excavations of the medieval church with a cemetery in Crkvari, near Orahovica have been resumed. The area along the southern (probe S1) and the southeastern wall (probe S2 ) of the apse of the present church building, late-Gothic church with baroque elements, with additional eastern trench across the edge and the slope of the central elevation (probe S2a) (Fig. 1) has been researched. The remains of wooden palisades at the edge of the central elevation and the wall that used to surround the late medieval and the modern cemetery were discovered (Fig. 3). Particularly significant is the discovery of a substrate of the foundations of a semi-circular apse which is, so far, the oldest found Romanesque church on this location, around which the burials have been found featuring silver ring with an S loop (Fig. 2). During the research, 111 graves were excavated - from the period of the early Middle Ages to the Modern Ages - which makes a total of 479 explored graves on this particular site. In the Modern Age layer of the burials, the burial of a deceased woman from G 376 stands out. She was buried face down in the grave next to the apse, with her head facing the east and her legs facing the west. In the neck region of the deceased, a massive iron (belt) buckle was found and the iron knife by her right shoulder (Fig. 4–5). In the oldest horizon of graves a few silver rings with closed ends were found, as well as one ring with an S loop. Discovery of the substrate of the foundations, probably of the Romanesque apse, and the position of graves around it, tells us about the burial horizon, when the old tradition of burials in cemeteries formed in rows, changed to the tradition of burials alongside the church. Some of the oldest graves probably belong to the horizon of the cemetery with burial in rows but before detailed analysis of the site we cannot engage in their discernment.

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