Prehistoric amber and glass from Prozor in Lika and Novo Mesto in Dolenjska
Organized by: Archaeological Museum - Zagreb
Co-organizers: Museum of Dolenjska, Novo Mesto, Slovenia; Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb
Authors: Lidija Bakarić, Borut Križ, Marin Šoufek
Design: Mario Beusan
Exhibition is opened from January 31st till April 30th 2006
Glass was a replacement for precious stones in prehistoric cultures, a particularly valuable product that maintained a high market price. In Lika and Dolenjska they were used in large quantities in production of jewellery. The aim of the exhibition "Amber and Glass" is to show the similarities and differences of two different geographical regions during the period of the last millennium BC.
The most important and most densely settled period
represented by the territory and material covered by the exhibition
is the early Iron Age. The broader region of Lika was settled in
this period by a people known as the Iapodes, while a powerful
group whose name unfortunately remains unknown lived in Dolenjska
(Lower Carniola). These two groups had a common border only in a
small section along the Kupa River, while the natural features of
their regions differed. Lika has a predominantly rocky terrain with
several springs and rivers in the Lika and Gacka valleys, while
Dolenjska and Bela Krajina (White Carniola), which belonged
culturally to the Dolenjska group, were blessed with territory
better suited to agriculture along the Krka, Sava, and Kupa/Kolpa
Rivers. The two groups exhibit similarities in settlement type,
while both similarities and differences existed in the burial
ritual.