The Prehistoric Department of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar is responsible for abundant material from a broad span of time ranging from the middle Paleolithic (ca. 100,000 BC) to the end of the Iron Age (the beginning of the new era) collected in the area of northern Dalmatia during the past 175 years. The storage rooms and permanent displays contain a fundus of tens of thousands of objects, from chance surface finds, to artifacts discovered in the strata of systematically excavated archaeological sites. The tasks of the department include collecting, analyzing, preserving, and presenting archaeological material from all prehistoric periods. The intensity of these activities has depended on the various circumstances through which prehistoric archaeology has passed in the course of its development. The earliest museum acquisitions resulted from the enthusiasm of a few interested amateur antiquarians and the rare expert, and only a small quantity of chance finds then arrived in the museum. With time, investigative activities intensified, which particularly refers to the period after the Second World War, when the first significant field investigations of prehistoric sites was carried out (Nin, Smilcic, Zadar, Bribir, Radovin, etc.), as well as professional field survey. The collection of the Prehistoric Department has been enriched greatly from that point onwards to the present day. 
The unceasing field activities encompass an entire series of interventions in the framework of various building projects in the region of northern Dalmatia, as well as performing systematic excavation through programs financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.

 

 

Head of the Prehistoric Department :  Natalija Condic, curator ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )"

 

Research projects of the Prehistoric Department of the Archaeological Museum:  

Cvijina Hillfort at Kruševo near Obrovac
The Archaeological Museum in Zadar has been carrying out excavations at Cvijina Hillfort from 1999 thanks to financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. The excavations are led by Natalija Condic, B.A., curator of the Prehistoric Department of the museum. The site of Cvijina hillfort has all the characteristics of a Liburnian hilltop fortification, and because of its position and the importance it held in the Iron Age, live continued at this site throughout the Roman period.

Literature:

ABRAMIC, M. - COLNAGO, A., HE 4, Kruševo.
ABRAMIC, M. - COLNAGO, A., Untersuchungen in Norddalmatien,  JÖAI  12, 1909, 13-112.
BATOVIC, Š., Razvoj istraživanja prapovijesti u Dalmaciji, RFFZ 2, 1963.
COLNAGO, A., Untersuchungen in Norddalmatien, JÖAI 18, 1915, 175-188.
COLNAGO, A. - KEIL, J., Archäologische Untersuchungen in Norddalmatien,  JÖAI  8, 1905, 32-50.
CACE, S., Broj liburnskih opcina i vjerodostojnost Plinija (Nat. hist. 3, 130; 139-141), RFFZ 32(19), 1993, 1-36.
GLAVINIC, M. - KUBITSCHEK, W., Ein Denarfund in Dalmatien, JÖAI 1, 1898, 83-84.
ŠEPAROVIC, T., Revizija skupnog nalaza rimskog novca iz Kruševa kod Obrovca, VAPD 72, 2005, 71.
CONDIC, N.  - NEDVED, B., Cvijina gradina, Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak 2(2005), 299-300.
CONDIC, N., Cvijina gradina,  Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak 3(2006).
CONDIC, N., Cvijina gradina u Kruševu kod Obrovca, Obavijesti, Hrvatsko arheološko društvo, 1/2007.

Velika pecina (literally “Large Cave”) in Kličevica canyon (Raštevic near Benkovac)
The Archaeological Museum in Zadar in cooperation with the Department of Archaeology of the University of Zagreb is carrying out excavations at the site of Velika pecina in the Kličevica canyon (Raštevic). The excavations are co-led by Dr. Ivor Karavanic of the University of Zagreb and Natalija Condic, curator of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar. The site of Velika pecina on the western side of the Kličevica canyon had previously been known as an archaeological site on the basis of surface flint artifacts from the period of the middle Paleolithic (Mousterian Culture).

BOŽICEVIC, S., Speleološke pojave benkovačkog kraja i njihovo značenje, Benkovački kraj kroz vjekove, Zbornik 1, Benkovac 1987, 29-35.
SAVIC, M., Perspektive muzejske službe u Benkovcu (elaborat), Benkovac 1984.
KARAVANIC, I. - CONDIC, N., Probno sondiranje Velike pecine u Kličevici kod Benkovca, Obavijesti, Hrvatsko arheološko društvo, 38, 2(2006), 45-50.