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PROTECTIVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS ON THE NOVI SAD – SUBOTICA HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY ROUTE

The archaeological team of the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments carried out protective archaeological excavations at 8 archaeological sites in the municipality of Vrbas, threatened by the construction of the Novi Sad - Subotica high-speed railway, in the period from December 2022 to September 2023. The total length of all sites was about 5 km along the railway route, and the total area on which archaeological excavations were carried out was about 96,000 m2. Settlements from the Neolithic period (about 5,000 BC) to the Turkish era (17th century AD) were investigated, as well as three necropolises from the late antique period (3rd-5th century AD). The settlements and necropolises are positioned next to rivers (Jegrichka, Crna bara), smaller canalized watercourses (Ugarska bara) or next to former swamps. The most favorable conditions for life in the past were provided by the edge of the Telečka plateau, on the banks of the Crna Bare, on the outskirts of the Vrbas, where settlements from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Late Antique period and the Middle Ages alternated on the same site, which yielded an abundance of archaeological material. A particularly significant and almost unique find is a complex of facilities for the primary processing of iron mud ore, from the 2nd-3rd century AD, which was discovered near the village of Zmajevo, on the banks of the Jegrička River. The investigated late antique necropolises have provided new data on the spread of the custom of burial under mounds, surrounded by circular ditches, in the area of ​​central Bačka.