Novi nalazi minijaturnih neolitičkih sjekira od jadieta u Dalmaciji
New Findings of Miniature Jadeite Neolithic Hatchets in Dalmatia

Summary/Abstract: In this article two miniature jadcite hatchets are dealt with, found at the newlydiscovered site of the Impresso culture ”Crno vrilo” near Zadar. On this occasion, the author considers the question of their genuine purpose, taking into consideration previously known findings of this kind on wider area of the eastern Adriatic coast. The author directs readers’ attention to the fact that among artifacts made of polished stone, commonly rare in the Neolithic in the Dalmatian area, miniature hatchets are the most numerous, that none of the found hatchets shows any damage caused by its use in the working process, and that functional reasons make it obvious that they cannot be artifacts functioning as proper hatchets. Considering that fact, and the fact that the hatchets were made of very valuable materials, the author suggests that these findings did not necessarily have a practical purpose, but, that they could have been used as amulets. In relation to this thesis, the author mentions other objects made of polished stone that didn’t have practical purpose, but they were not merely decorative either, according to the author, so he considers them as objects of apotropaic character too. The author finds support for his thesis in undoubtedly cultic context of the stone hatchets found in Obre I and Obre II and in the finding of a miniature hatchet from the Eneolithic tumulus Ulnovac near Šibenik, obviously meant to be worn as a pendant.

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