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The Western Necropolis of Ancient Osor
Andrej Janeš, Kristina Turkalj, and Marin Matković
2025
Invited Lecture
November
Abstract On the northeastern coast of the island of Lošinj, along the Ka-
vanela isthmus that separates it from the Cres island, a necropolis where
the inhabitants of prehistoric and Roman Osor were buried has been known
since the 19th century. Due to the reconstruction of the main road, rescue
archaeological excavations were conducted in 2019 and 2021, revealing that 4–5
the necropolis extends nearly 400 metres southwards. In 2022, the Croatian
Conservation Institute carried out excavations over an area of almost 4,000 Koper,
2
m ,uncoveringmorethan 200graves;188cremation and14 inhumation buri-
als. In most cremation graves, the remains of the deceased were placed in •
simple pits dug into the bedrock. Additionally, tombs and urn burials were
identified. The inhumation burials consisted of simple grave pits. The graves Spotlight
were concentrated in several groups within the northern, central, and south-
ern parts of the necropolis. One Late Prehistoric grave was discovered, while
most prehistoric finds originated outside the grave contexts. Based on the
distribution of these finds, it may be assumed that the prehistoric necropolis Scientific
was located in the northern part of the site, closer to Kavanela. The Roman
necropolis extends southwards, and according to ceramic, glass, and numis-
matic finds, the burials in the investigated part of the necropolis date from the
the last decades of the 1st century BCE to the mid-2nd century.
in
Osor
Keywords Osor, Antiquity, necropolis, ceramic finds, glass finds
© 2025 Author(s) 43

