Vela Spila

Vela Spila

Vela Spila Cave
Vela Spila Cave in Croatia
Location	island of Korčula
Region	Croatia
Coordinates	42°58′12″N 16°42′53″E / 42.97000°N 16.71472°E / 42.97000; 16.71472Coordinates: 42°58′12″N 16°42′53″E / 42.97000°N 16.71472°E / 42.97000; 16.71472
History
Periods	Mesolithic, Neolithic
Associated with	Neanderthals, Paleo-humans
Site notes
Excavation dates	1951; 1974-1995; 1996-2006;
Archaeologists	Marinko Gjivoje

The Vela Spila cave, Cree: Vela Spila, Big Cave is situated above the town of Vela Luka on the island of Korčula, in Croatia on Pinski Rat hill at an elevation of approximately 130 m (430 ft). The cave consists of an elliptically shaped cavern that measures 40 m (130 ft) in length, 17 m (56 ft) in height, and is approximately 40 m (130 ft) wide. There are, similar to the Brillenhöhle in Germany, two openings in the roof of the cave which were caused by collapse at an as yet undetermined time.

Nikola Ostoic was the first person to describe the cave in modern literature. In 1856, he wrote "Compendio Storico Dell Isola Di Curzola". A local historian, museum commissioner, and collector of antiquities, he visited the cave in 1835. The cave has been mentioned in the Korčula Statute back in the 15th century.

Scientific research of the cave started in the late 1940s. Marinko Gjivoje took up work at the site in 1949. In 1951, Marinko Gjivoje, Boris Ilakovac and Vinko Foretic started test excavations and the results were allowed the proposal to proceed. Based on these findings, Grga Novak decided to further excavate in order to confirm the caves links with the island of Hvar. The explorations were carried out in September 1951. He published his preliminary results in the Annals of the Yugoslav Academy.

Since 1974, fieldwork were undertaken almost annually, initially led by Grga Novak and since 1978 by Bozidar Cecuk. Franko Oreb is a permanent member of the excavation crew and Dinko Radic joined the excavation in 1986.

There is an unbroken sequence of sediments from the late Mesolithic to the Neolithic. Radiocarbon dated finds suggest seasonal human presence for hunting and the collection of marine resources from 20,000 years BC. Three child burials were discovered between 1986 and 1998 in the younger Mesolithic layers. Further findings are dated between 13,500 and 12,600 BC.

Eneolithic layers account for non-permanent human occupation of the cave, attributed to the Hvar Culture. This period is immediately being followed by a compact layer of the Bronze Age.