Preliminary analysis of activity results for the research and educational project Discovering the Old Dubrovnik Cathedrals (2018–2020)

Istraživačko-edukacijski projekt Otkrivanje starih dubrovačkih katedrala pokrenut je 2015. godine, a njegove su aktivnosti, prije svega, usmjerene na stručnu i znanstvenu obradu pokretnih spomenika i arheoloških nalaza koji potječu s lokaliteta podzemlja barokne katedrale Gospe Velike i susjedne Bunićeve poljane u Dubrovniku. Sva građa rezultat je arheoloških istraživanja lokaliteta poduzetih nakon potresa 1979. godine, a koja je u dugome razdoblju od dvadeset i sedam godina ostala u velikoj mjeri neobrađena i neobjavljena. U prvoj etapi projekta (2015. – 2017.), prvenstveno zbog brojnosti građe i lošega stanja u kojem je zatečena, aktivnosti su najprije bile usmjerene na njezino spašavanje i sortiranje, a tek zatim i na stručnu obradu. Pri tom se pristupilo primarno obradi kamenih ulomaka i ulomaka stakla, dok je ostala građa (ulomci zidnih slika i metala) objedinjena i dokumentirana, ili tek popisana i adekvatno pohranjena (ulomci keramike). U drugoj etapi projekta (2018. – 2020.) pristupilo se detaljnijoj obradi keramike i zidnoga oslika. Preliminarna analiza pokazala je nove vrijedne rezultate koji, s jedne strane, pokazuju potpuno novu kronologiju nastanjivanja dijela povijesne jezgre Grada koji se razvija uz današnju luku, a s druge cjelovitiju sliku faza opremanja, a time i izgradnje složenoga kompleksa „starih dubrovačkih katedrala“ istraženoga u podzemlju barokne prvostolnice i Bunićeve poljane. Uz rezultate obrade keramike i ulomaka zidnih slika, donose se i preliminarni rezultati obrade kamene plastike, s osobitim naglaskom na najranijem, kasnoantičkom (ranokršćanskom) sloju.The research and educational project Discovering the Old Dubrovnik Cathedrals was launched in 2015. Its activities were primarily focused on the expert and scientific study of movable monuments and archaeological finds originating from the site under the Baroque Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and in the nearby square of Bunićeva Poljana in Dubrovnik. All the materials were the results of the archaeological excavations of the site undertaken after the earthquake of 1979; in the long subsequent period of twenty-seven years, they had been largely unstudied and unpublished. In the first phase of the project (2015–2017), primarily because of the quantity of materials and the poor condition in which they were found, the activities focused on their rescue and sorting before engaging in any expert studies. The primary activity was the study of stone monuments and fragments of glass, while other materials (fragments of wall paintings and metal) were unified and documented, or just catalogued and properly stored (pottery fragments). In the second phase of the project (2018–2020), pottery and ceramics and fragments of wall paintings were studied in more detail. The preliminary analysis resulted in valuable new insights: on one hand, it provided a whole new chronology of habitation for the part of the historic center of Dubrovnik that developed along today’s port; on the other, it painted a more comprehensive picture of the furnishing and building phases of „the old Dubrovnik cathedrals“, the elaborate complex explored under the Baroque cathedral and in the square of Bunićeva Poljana. Along with the results of studying pottery and fragments of wall paintings, there are also the preliminary results of of the analysis of stone monuments, with a special emphasis on the earliest layer from late antiquity (early Christianity)