Zaranač Ploča Archaeological Zone, Zagvozd

South-east of the hamlet of Stapići, in the municipality of Zagvozd in the Split-Dalmatia hinterland, lies the archaeological zone of Zaranač ploča. It is of interest because it is a multi-layered site on which life from prehistory to the late Middle Ages can be traced through three phases.

The first phase consists of six prehistoric tumuli. The largest, about 25 metres in diameter, lies south of the dirt road and has two larger graves on its surface, and south of it is a second tumulus about 15 metres in diameter. About a hundred metres south-east is a partly devastated tumulus of about 17 metres, on whose western edge are a large decorated stećak slab and one undecorated one, dated to the 15th century. North of it are three more tumuli beside the dirt road. Around the tumuli and on the hillside late medieval graves can be seen, which make up the third phase.

The zone is a protected cultural property, entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-6788, and covers the period from about 2000 BC to 1650.

Photo: KO Imotski, CC BY-SA 3.0 hr, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: DGU (centre of the settlement).