Through the Spiral of Time

The prehistoric archaeological exhibition “Through the Time Spiral” displays the settlement of the southern Primorska region through archaeological eras from the Palaeolithic to the end of the Iron Age, when the territory of Istria was occupied by the Romans after the fall of Nesactium.

It opens with the geological foundation and the first recorded settlement of the Middle Palaeolithic, when the territory was settled by Neanderthals. Climatic changes that begin in the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic: 8,000 to 5,000 B.C.) gradually enable the growth of agriculture with the beginning of the New Stone Age (Neolithic: 5,000 to 3,000 B.C.), when the first ceramics and permanent settlements appear.

The use of the first metal, copper (Bronze Age: 3,000 to 2,000 B.C.), is reflected throughout the continental Vučedol culture. A bigger mark has been left on the territory by the Bronze Age (2,000 to 1,000 B.C.) and the Iron Age (1,000 to 2nd century B.C.), which were marked by fortified high-altitude settlements, a branched-out social structure and trade network, and influences of the Mediterranean.

Skeletal burial from the Bronze Age and urn burial from the Iron Age are also displayed. The focal point of the collection is the transregional ritual depot site from the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (12th to 8th century B.C.) – the Mušja jama cave near Divača.