About the Čurug undertaking

The archeological site “Stari Vinogradi” in Čurug (Bačka region in Vojvodina province of Serbia) is already well known in archeological circles. It was not researched within a regular scientific project, but rather the archeologists were striving to rescue archeological heritage before the machines of a brickyard. The excavations would not have taken place at all without the team that was so persistently and tirelessly lead by Stanko Trifunović. A large number of students helped with their volunteer work for the endangered parts of the site to be explored and thus salvaged. That was a great experience for them, so that Čurug became an archeological school of sorts.

There are many similar sites in the flatlands of Pannonia, and many brickyards destroying the testimonies of centuries past. But this is the only one that has been systematically explored, and on which excavation results have already been published in scientific and professional magazines. This CD ROM and digital library also portray the correct position of explorers towards the general public. Thus also should be seen the understanding of the competent authorities, from Čurug and Žabalj to Novi Sad. Monographs with a complete processing of the material are yet to be prepared.

Discovered in Čurug were not images of palaces, tombs of dignitaries, fortresses or significant towns, such as archeologists frequently choose for their explorations in the hope of rich findings, but the testimony of the everyday life of ordinary people. Here, on the old shore of the Tisa river, peasants, cattle farmers, a craftsman and warrior here and there, lived and worked with their families, the prehistoric era to the New Age.

Valuable new information was obtained and rich collections of objects collected for some epochs. Archeological wholes from the days of the Skordisci are extremely rich in broken pottery, from the time of the end of the La Tène era (Younger Bronze Age). The monitoring of pottery crafted without the use of a wheel, such as that found in enclosed wholes from the 1st to the 6th century, can be of lasting significance. Namely, the gradual and swift changes in its appearance, such as is also noted in the appearance of the habitats and the manner of preparing food (stove – fireplace) point on one hand to the duration of the native population, and on the other hand to the settling of bearers of a similar but somewhat different culture from the regions to the north and the west of Pannonia. This is the very era of the forming of the ethnic image of contemporary Europe. The settlement finds from Čurug point towards the possibility of the final proving of the continuity of Slavs in the regions surrounding the Danube. Such archeological finds have long been expected.

The archeological explorations are not yet complete. When the need for protective excavations ends, this archeological site will be desirable for further explorations due to the large area already discovered. Therefore the excavations of new generations of archeologists and new findings are before us.

Dr. Đorđe Janković

In Belgrade, February 2006.

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