Stećci: Artifacts of two Cultures
Scattered Artifacts
The Mediterranean and the Central European regions which were devastated by the sinking and destruction are undoubtedly sources of great archaeological treasures. Some of the treasures are attributed to the Neolithic period and the Mediterranean impresso-ceramic culture. The ruins of ancient castles (Amantia, Meteon, Daorson, Asseria etc.) are ascribed to the Iron Age and the Hellenistic culture. The remnants from the buildings of the Atlantean kingdom, which were scattered across a huge area during the cataclysm, are proof of existence of this incomprehensible and unimaginable culture. The examples of ‘scattered’ artifacts are stone balls in Bosnia, a bronze sky disk in Nebra, a statue of Venus in Willendorf which is over 20,000 years old etc.
This group also includes the unique monumental stone blocks or the so-called Stećci, which are spread throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, southern Croatia, western Montenegro and southwestern Serbia. The most typical and impressive examples of scattered artifacts are stečak (stećci in plural form) — commonly known but still unexplained monolithic stones in Bosnia and its surrounding areas.
Stećci are formally regarded as tombstones which mark the medieval culture, yet they are very unusual and mysterious and not sufficiently explained and explored.
There are 69,356 Stećci recorded on 3,162 locations. Most of them, 59,593 or 86 per cent, are in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because their number is so high, they are associated with the Bosnian Church and the medieval state of Bosnia. But even though Stećci were mainly used for the graves of members of the Bosnian Church, it is strange that not even one »djed« — the highest priest in the hierarchy of this church — was found buried under one of the Stećci.
Among all recorded Stećci, relief motifs were found on fewer than 6,000 and the inscriptions on fewer than 400. Of all inscriptions and found written records, not even one mentions stone-cutting in quarries or their transportation — there is only one phrase about the transfer of one stećak, which says that »one hundred oxen were harnessed and one hundred rams were eaten«.
In the vicinity of Kakanj in Bosnia, there is a site with 14 Stećci in the form of sarcophagi, prisms and a few slabs. Some of those Stećci are in the ground and as many others these function as cenotaphs — symbolic tombstones without graves. Nobody is buried beneath them and there is no trace of burial. Under half a meter of soil, there are veins and layers of coal.
No Reliable Explanation
These contradictions have not been reliably explained yet, but our common sense tells us that Stećci are a lot older. Even their name is a giveaway — stećak means »standing«, »big« and also »resistant«. Significantly, necropolis with Stećci are found in a limited area in the form of a ‘’circular sector’’ with the radius of 350 kilometers and the surface of 50,000 square kilometers. This area consists of the Dubrovnik-Neretva county, southern Herzegovina where the concentration of Stećci is the highest, and northern Bosnia and Croatia along the Sava and Una rivers where the sites are few and far between.
In the first zone with the radius of 200 kilometers, where the necropolis are the most numerous and widespread, heavy sarcophagi and high, prism-shaped Stećci are predominant. This zone includes regions of southern Dalmatia, southern Herzegovina and western Montenegro.
In the second zone with the radius up to 300 kilometers, where there are still many necropolis which are unevenly distributed, Stećci in the shape of sarcophagi, prisms, slabs and columns are predominant. This zone consists of Dalmatian Zagora, western Herzegovina, central and eastern Bosnia, northern Montenegro and southwestern Serbia.
The third zone with the radius of up to 350 kilometers, where the necropolis are scarce, smaller sarcophagi, slabs and columns prevail. This zone consists of the Šibenik-Knin county in Croatia, northern Bosnia and western Serbia.
If Stećci and cenotaphes are taken out of the historical context as legacy of medieval culture, there are still 69.356 stone blocks left! Considering their space and time dimension properties they are a phenomena that shows the consequences of a Flood and directly on the location of the sunken island. Excluding the notion that Stećci and cenotaphs are a legacy of a medieval culture, there are still 69,356 stone blocks left! In regard to their location and age, they are a phenomenon which indicates the consequences of the ancient sinking and directly points to the location of the sunken island: Atlantis.
