Vela Luka

This cave is situated on the hillock Pinski rat, located 130 m above Kale cove. This is the most recessed part of Vela Luka bay. A source of drinkable water was once located below the cave, on the lower slope leading to the bay. The first excavation was conducted by Marinko Gjivoje 1951. More serious work started in 1952 under the academician Grga Novak, and since 197, the cave has been systematically researched by a group of archaeologists led by Božidar Cecuk. So far, only around 200 m˛ of soil has been excavated and examined. However, results confirm that this is one of the richest and the most significant Mediterranean cave archaeological sites. Finds reflect occupations from the end of the Palaeolithic through the middle of the Bronze Age. Because of the diverse and significant amount of archaeological materials, Vela spila is exceptional when compared to similar sites cave sites throughout the Mediterranean. Furthermore, 20,000 years of continuous settlement make this cave ideal for studying intercultural relations and connections. Research and protection of this important site will continue into the future.

The oldest findings
Until now, the cave has been excavated to a depth of 7,45 m. The bottom of the cave has not yet been reached. Eventually, it will be interesting to find out when people began to use to cave. The oldest layers are dated at the end of the Pleistocene (i.e., between approximately 20,000 and 10,000 B.C). Those layers belong to the end of the Old Stone Age, and are associated with the Epigravettien culture. At that time, the Adriatic was about 100 m lower than its present level. Korcula was a actually a series of east-west trending hills by the old mouth of the Neretva river. Vela Luka bay was a valley, with a stream springing up at Vrulja and meandering down the present-day middle of the bay. In the wider geographic area, there were large grassy plains inhabited by numerous wild animal herds. The most common prey of the Vela spila inhabitants at that time were deer, wild ox and wild ass. Boar, rabbits, and various birds were hunted sporadically. The basic characteristic of the material culture is evidenced by thousands of flint objects, mostly miniature stone tools. In Vela spila, bone tools do not appear frequently during this period.

Determining the age
Probably the most frequently asked questions to archaeologists are: "How do you know the age of an object?" and "How can the age of an object be determined with certainty?" The answers are simple, in most cases! Deeper deposits are usually older, while shallower deposits are generally younger. Of course, this is based on the assumption that the layers are not disturbed, and that regular sedimentation patterns have occurred. Vela spila is an ideal location to explore cultural changes over time, because as you can see in the exposed profile, the 7.5 m thick layers are very regular. There is a clear difference between "upper" and "lower" levels (i.e. the younger and older deposits). The actual age of and object can be determined in several ways, but for now the most sound method is radiocarbon analysis of organic remains. With this method, the age of a whole range of findings in the cave has been determined. Roughly, we can say that at 6 m of depth, the objects are ten thousand years old (B.C.), at 4 m depth, the age is around six thousand years B.C., and at 2 m depth, four thousands years B.C. The black colours in the profile indicate areas where fires were made. White locations in the profiles are ash, while the brown areas are a sign of intensive living and other occupation activities.

Burial
Other than being a place to live, Vela spila was also place to bury. Prehistoric people sometimes buried their deceased (or their parts) in the immediate vicinity of the living area, wanting to ensure the closeness with ancestors, but also possibly because of the belief that death was just a temporary state, after which a rebirth would follow. That is why, in tombs for example, there are often numerous presents buried along with the dead - presents that would be of use in the 'after life'. In 1986, a shallow grave with the remains of two deceased individuals (an adult women and an young man) were found in Vela spila. They were placed face to face, and were found in the layers attributed to the late Neolithic. The findings draw lots of attention of the people of Vela Luka, who gave hypocoristic names to the deceased: "the grandma" and "the grandpa". Between 1996 and 1998, tombs of three young children dating from 7000 B.C. were excavated in one of the deepest part of the cave. Their posture copies the foetus posture in the womb, and possibly implies a belief in rebirth.

The relation with the neighbouring region
Humans have always had a need to communicate with the neighbouring regions, to trade products, technologies and share knowledge. The ancient traffic route from the eastern Mediterranean, Sicily and southern part of the Apennine peninsula, through Gargano, Palagruža and Sušac, came up to Korcula (Vela spila). From there, it continued further through Pelješac, Ston, the Neretva valley, central Bosnia, up to river Sava and the Pannonian plain. When this route existed in earlier periods, the Adriatic did not have today's configuration yet, and the mouth of the Po River was westwards from the island of Jabuka. On this ancient route, Vela spila had key position. It is the point from which the trade of flint stone in the area extended from the Alps down to Greece, and obsidian from Sicily towards central Bosnia. A stone of volcanic origin (Italian), found in a child grave attributed to the middle of the seventh millennium B.C., is the earliest proof that the inhabitants of Vela spila could navigate open-seas to other areas for raw stone materials.

The Vela Luka culture
What distinguishes the middle part of the later Stone Age in Vela spila is the appearance and use of pottery vessels decorated with stable paint on a light background. Excellently preserved, with fresh colour and use of numerous skillfully made decorative spiral and linear patterns, the vessels are perhaps the most attractive Neolithic vessels. At the beginning of the middle Neolithic, many objects were decorated mostly with a fine black polish, but many were also made with a high-quality red or brown polish. The roughly elaborated surface vessels, with incised net or triangle motifs, are common as well. Those characteristics were unique to the region, and therefore, this culture was aptly named after Vela Luka, the town immediately under the Vela spila. The end of the Neolithic is marked with a large number of black glazed vases decorated with a red, unstable paint. This culture was first examined on the neighbouring island of Hvar, so thereafter, these finds have been called the Hvar Culture. This culture was exceptionally enduring, and in spite of the impact of people from the mainland, they managed to carry their cultural traditions until the beginning of the Bronze Age.