Krajina Post-Medieval Frontier Project

The Krajina Post-Medieval Frontier Project

Outline Project Design

Richard Carlton and Alan Rushworth Department of Archaeology, University of Newcastle

1. INTRODUCTION

This project is intended to investigate the distinctive society which emerged during the late medieval-early modern period in the zone of confrontation between the three great, imperial powers in the western Balkans - Austria, Venice and the Ottoman empire.

The Vojna Krajina, or 'Military Frontier', was a defined zone of the Habsburg empire stretching from Dalmatia to Transylvania, where militia settlers were fostered to provide a defensive buffer against the threat of Ottoman Turkish invasion and raiding. These militia settlers were counterbalanced on the Ottoman side by more loosely structured groups, Hajduks, Vojnuks, Martelosi, etc. The fluctuating and somewhat fluid nature of this frontier is reflected by the inclusion of large areas of former frontier territory within present Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Several discrete sub-regions, or administrative districts, can be identified within those modern states, from the present Serbian border in the north-east to the Dalmatian coastal hinterland in the south. The frontier system was finally, formally disbanded in the later-nineteenth century, leaving a militarised, marginalised society whose traditions and complex sense of identity contributed significantly to recent conflicts.

Significance of the Research This will form one of several detailed case studies within a wider programme of comparative research into European and Mediterranean frontier societies - 'Frontier Peoples'. Such societies may be defined more precisely than simply 'communities living along a border'. Rather they may be preliminarily characterised by a series of commonly occuring socio- political, cultural and economic traits. These include co-option of much of the population into systems of militia defence in response to prolonged interneccine conflict and chronic insecurity; a resultant relative freedom from state or aristocratic authority, with, instead, constantly shifting patterns of localised leadership embedded within a social structure based on notional kinship; a martial identity and ideology celebrated and reinforced by epic ballad poetry; a widespread reliance on pastoralism as a subsistence strategy.

In the period broadly contemporary with the Habsburg/Ottoman Krajina alone, several frontier communities can be identified which may share some or all of the above characteristics, including: · The 'Reivers' of the Anglo-Scottish borders · The clans of the Tudor Anglo-Irish frontier · Cossacks in the Ukraine

But this type of society is not restricted to the late medieval or early modern era. Similar communities can also be recognised across the late antique and medieval worlds, for example:

1 · Tribal societies in late-Roman north Africa integrated into imperial frontier control, notably in the Tripolitanian pre-desert · Carolingian Catalunya and later communities of the Hispano-Arab frontier · The Akritai of the Byzantine-Arab frontier in the Anatolian Taurus Mountains (eighth to tenth centuries AD)

Thus, far from being isolated cases, frontier communities have made a powerful contribution to the formation of the modern European identity. The comparative methodology employed in the Frontier Peoples research programme will enable these societies to be set against each other, highlighting not only their similarities but also their differences. The analysis of such potential similarities and differences can make a decisive contribution to understanding past frontier communities, their origin and development, providing support for some possible solutions to the questions highlighted below, whilst, equally importantly, excluding other explanations (cf. Wickham 1994, 210-2 for discussion of the value of the comparative method).

Current Status of Research The signal importance of the Krajina former Military Frontier region has not gone unnoticed, attracting a great deal of scholarly endeavour particularly, though not exclusively, within the region itself. As a result there are a number of excellent, synthetic overviews of the institutional development and organisation of the frontier (e.g. Rothenburg 1960; 1966), and numerous historical studies of particular aspects of the system. Nevertheless, even a work as many-layered and rich in insights as Bracewell's study of the frontier Uskok community of Senj, on the north Dalmatian coast, is essentially a historical work and makes no attempt to link the documentary data to surviving material evidence and monumental remains (Bracewell 1992). Similarly, Kruhek (1995) provides a comprehensive historical account of the castles and fortifications of the Krajina during the sixteenth century, with full referencing to the documentary sources and many contemporary sketches, plans and maps. However, he includes no modern plans nor makes any attempt to study the built-fabric of these monuments to show how they evolved as structures in response to the turbulent events of that period. Clearly there is scope for an archaeological contribution to research on this theme.

The non-elite population - its settlement and subsistence strategies, material culture and ideology – generally has received little attention, yet it is the transformation of just such populations that marks out a frontier society. Furthermore, The archaeological identification of change and stability in such populations can only be achieved through the close study of their material remains in dateable, stratified deposits. The lack of attention paid to this field of study and the bias towards 'elite' monuments and social structures has resulted in a dearth of evidence most clearly reflected by the absense of a pottery type series, potentially the most important source of dating evidence for the post-medieval and modern periods.

2. AIMS

The wider aims of the project are to understand the development and nature of borderland society in the region, and to explore the broad characteristics of such societies through comparison with other frontier zones. The following specific research issues and questions will be addressed: · Archaeological characterisation. How, if at all, can this frontier society be identified through characteristics of settlement and land-use?

2 · Pastoralism – What was the balance between agriculture and pastoralism, between sedentism and seasonal transhumance in local subsistence strategies and how, if at all, did these balances change in response to the development of the Frontier? Specifically, can an increased reliance on pastoralism be identified as a response to the frontier, and did widespread pastoralism in turn foster or embed low level conflict through the adoption of stock-raiding as an economic/military strategy? · Military vs. civilian. What was the nature of the relationship between the military establishment and the wider 'civilian' society? To what extent were the local populations on either side of the frontier co-opted into systems of militia defence? Can groups of military settlers, introduced into the region by the respective imperial states, be identified archaeologically - do they exhibit traits of material culture or settlement pattern distinctive from that of the surviving indigenous population? · Fortifications - What kind of response to prolonged Habsburg-Ottoman conflict does the pattern of fortification along the frontier reveal? For instance, to what extent were earlier fortifications – the castles of the Hungarian-Croatian kingdom for example - adapted or replaced? What role was played by smaller installations like towers? Was the impulse to fortify felt throughout the frontier population, with the construction of defensible farmhouses and/or protected villages for example, or was it just restricted to official garrisoned sites? · Material culture. What was the impact of the frontier on the material culture of the region - did it result in the material impoverishment of local societies, or a move towards greater portability of possessions? · Settlement and population - the examination of the nature of surviving remains within the region. What impact did the frontier have upon pre-existing settlement patterns; i.e. can trends of nucleation, dispersal or depopulation be identified? What impact did the dissolution of the Frontier have upon the settlement pattern; did identifiable material or organisational traits survive into recent times? · Leadership, authority and liberty - How was leadership exercised in such societies? - through official military hierarchies or by more localised figures ('big men') competing for client support through the acquisition of martial status and dispensation of booty? How successfully did the frontier communities within the Habsburg sphere resist the attempts of the Croatian nobility to impose feudal control over them? Is there clear evidence in the archaeological record for status differentiation in the Krajina during this period, or is a relatively flat social structure suggested in all parts of the region?

3. OBJECTIVES

Study Area The area selected for extensive study is defined by the valleys of the rivers Una and Korana- Kupa, from their confluence with the Sava to the crest of the Velebit Mountains overlooking the Adriatic Sea. This area straddles the modern Croatian-Bosnian border and the former Habsburg-Ottoman frontier.

Within this extensive area of varied topography it will be possible to select for study both topographical and political 'transects', from the wide river valleys of Danubian tributaries up to the alpine meadowlands of the Velebit, and from Austrian to Ottoman sides of the frontier. This will enable assessments to be made of the impact of topographical/ecological factors on the one hand and differing political, military or institutional frameworks/influences on the other.

3 Within this broader study zone, the initial focus of fieldwork study will be upon north- western Bosnia around Kladuša and Bihać (sometimes termed the ‘Bihać pocket’), formerly the Čazinska Krajina.

4. METHODS

In order to characterise the changing landscape of the historic and modern frontier a range of methods will be employed, with fieldwork activities concentrated in the first phase upon a survey of Pecigrad castle, between Kladusa and Cazin. From this landmark, a survey of the wider region will also be conducted to assess the nature and survival of associated settlement types, other monuments and signs of human activity. Oral history and documentary research will provide access to additional sources of evidence through which it will be possible to move from a highly visible landmark to explore invisible and subliminal aspects of the human historic landscape.

Structural survey Survey will be employed to produce ground and elevation plans of a range of standing monuments, including castles and other fortifications, vernacular buildings, village sites and cemeteries, some of which have suffered during the most recent phase of local and regional conflicts (Ihsanoglu 1993, Chapman 1994). Techniques employed will include topographic survey, rectified photogrammetry and conventional photography. These will be used to catalogue surviving vernacular building types and produce schematic plans of the morphological development of settlements, recording any regional variation in village layout, for example.

In addition to ‘military’ and ‘civilian’ settlement sites, a further source of visibly surviving evidence is provided by cemeteries in the Muslim districts which feature decorated funeral monuments (turbe or stecci) elaborately adorned with relief carvings - many depicting weaponry - clearly rich in symbolic and ideological meaning.

Archival Research Documentary research in Ottoman, Habsburg and regional archives will form an integrated component of the project, particularly directed towards informing the analysis of late- medieval and early-modern settlement patterns, population data, subsistence strategies - including seasonal transhumance - and the local impact of warfare. Such studies have become a major component of multi-period research projects throughout the region (e.g. Bracewell 1996; Kiel 1999). The results of such studies in the present case will be fed back into the survey and excavation strategies to enable the targeting of critical site loci.

Field Survey Under present conditions extensive field survey in Bosnia and Croatia remains potentially hazardous due to the presence of uncleared mines. Moreover, as a result of current land-use patterns much of the area is covered in pasture or forest and therefore not conducive to the identification of sites through fieldwalking. Field survey will therefore take two distinct forms:

· Fieldwalking of a sample of ploughed fields in the study area.

4 · Wider reconnaissance survey to identify upstanding sites/visible ruins/earthworks.

Only after stringent safety checks with the central authorities, mines clearance agencies, mines awareness co-ordinators (notably the ICRC in Sarajevo) and local informants will any such work be undertaken.

Excavation At a later stage in the project the excavation of settlement sites identified by fieldwork and corroboratory documentation as sites of high archaeological potential will be carried out to fulfil specific objectives, namely:

· To determine the character of human activities taking place through time.

· To provide stratified, dateable deposits associated with ubiquitous artefactual remains, notably pottery, which may be used in the form of type series to date non-stratified deposits containing similar materials (see below).

Ceramic analysis Material recovered by field survey and excavation will used to establish a firm chronological type series, thereby providing a firm basis for dating by association other, non-stratified deposits or materials. Further, the analysis of archaeologically-derived ceramics together with the ethnographic study of recent and present pottery manufacture, trade and use in a region noted for the diversity of its recent pottery-making traditions (Carlton 1999, 99), will contribute to the elucidation of social and economic histories for the region. Since the use of ceramics commonly permeates all tiers of society, studies of archaeologically-derived pottery tend to be socially inclusive and representative of society as a whole. Variations in the types, supply and uses of pottery may suggest significant social distinctions potentially rooted, for example, in status or collective identity, as well as indicating directions of trade and the existence, if at all, of cross-border commerce.

Ethnographic Study The analysis of recent transhumance patterns (including Forenbaher 1996 and Nandris 1988) will be used to develop models applicable to the past and to suggest means by which material remains of such activities potentially may be identified. This broadly ethno-archaeological approach will also be used, where appropriate, to introduce a behavioural dimension into the study of other aspects of frontier social life, including land-use practices related to settlement and subsistence, as well as domestic manufacturing enterprises, notably including iron- working and lime burning.

Environmental studies Generally, to provide a background to the settled landscape, identifying patterns of environmental change resulting from the establishment of the frontier. Specifically:

· To identify locations or areas of relatively high or low land-use settlement potential · To identify, through erosion or vegetation, areas of localised over-exploitation or long- term activity – terracing and coppicing, for example.

5 · To provide pollen evidence for the nature of vegetation/land-use over time, in particular to determine whether woodland regeneration was a characteristic feature of the period under consideration, which might reflect rural population decline and a contraction in the area of agricultural land. · To provide a catalogue of mineralogical and biotic resources.

Bibliography

Bracewell, C W, 1992 The Uskoks of Senj: Piracy, Banditry and Holy War in the Sixteenth- Century Adriatic. Ithaca and London. Bracewell, C W, 1996 Economy and society in the Zadar lowlands under Venetian and Ottoman rule, 1409-1797; in Chapman J, Shiel R and S Batovic (eds.), The Changing Face of Dalmatia: archaeological and ecological studies in a Mediterranean landscape, 308-336. Leicester University Press for the Society of Antiquaries of London, London. Carlton R J, 1999 The Pirocanci Pottery-Making Tradition in Former Yugoslavia, The Studio Potter 27, 2, 98-99. Chapman J C, 1994 Destruction of a common heritage: the archaeology of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Antiquity 64, 120-26. Forenbaher, S, 1996 Velebit: 9,000 years of people, goats and sheep on an Adriatic coastal range; Das Altertum, 41, 211-226. Ihsanoglu, E, (ed.) 1993 Bosnia-Hercegovina: history, culture, heritage, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, Newsletter 31. Istanbul. Kiel M, 1999 Ottoman Imperial Registers for Central Greece and Northern Bulgaria, in Bintliff J and Sbonias K (eds.), Reconstructing Past Population Trends in Mediterranean Europe (3000 BC-AD 1800. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Kruhek, M. 1995 Krajiške Utvrde i Obrana Hrvatskog Krajevstva Tijekom 16. Stoljeca. Institut za Suvremenu Povijest, Zagreb. Nandris J, 1988 Ethnoarchaeology and Latinity in the Mountains of the Southern Velebit; in Recent Developments in Yugoslav Archaeology, BAR Int. Ser. 431, 125-49. Rothenburg, G.E. 1960 The Austrian Military Border in Croatia, 1522-1747. Urbana, Illinois. Rothenburg, G.E. 1966 The Military Border in Croatia 1740-1881: A Study of an Imperial Institution. Chicago. Wickham C, 1994 Chapter 7: Problems of comparing rural societies in Early Medieval Western Europe, in Land and Power: Studies in Italian and European Social History, 400-1200. British School at Rome, London, 201-26 = repr. with revisions from Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 6 ser., 2 (1992), 221-46.