Just for a week, from the 5th to the 12th of June 2016, the project team members M. Jurković, G. P. Brogiolo and R. Starac conducted further archaeological research on the island of Rab.

The main goal of this short campaign was to carry on the excavations of a very complex site in the town centre, in the inner courtyard of a restaurant, which started a year before. For the moment we have stopped at the level of a medieval blacksmith’s workshop, which is pretty well preserved. An important question – about destroying that layer and continue digging or try to preserve it – was raised in talks with the representatives of the community. The mayor of Rab agreed to contribute to strap it, restore and finally enable the musealization of that rare find. That kind of cooperation with the local community is a very important part of the CROMART project.

As the better understanding of the urban development of Rab is one of the main goals of the CROMART project – as a case study, different other excavations in the old town were envisaged, after having already analysed the medieval urban grid. Thanks to the extreme kindness of the abbess of the Benedictine nunnery of St Andrew, we got the permission to excavate in the monastic garden. This garden, spread between the monastery, the bell tower of the cathedral and the square in front of the cathedral is possibly hiding medieval structures of the bishop’s palace, and, deeper, possibly the remains of either classical or late antique buildings, either the remains of public buildings or even the forum of the roman town. After a few trenches with negative results, the one in front of the cathedral bell tower gave the first answers to our quest. A few medieval walls possibly belonging to the bishop’s palace, and underneath a 1^st c. roman mosaic floor are a very promising start for further excavations to be continued in September. A group of students from Zagreb and Padova Universities, under the supervision of G. Bilogrivić, catalogued the findings (ceramics, metalwork and sculpture).

As the case study Rab comprises not only the town, but also the territory, one of the goals of the CROMART project is the tracking and mapping of the transformations of the historical landscape of the island. On this occasion, answering to the needs of the Church, we have been able to conduct archaeological excavations (under supervision of Ranko Starac, project team member) in front of the church of the Benedictine abbey of St Peter in Supetarska draga, one of the best preserved early Romanesque churches on the eastern Adriatic. The results of this first campaign suggest the existence of an early medieval burial ground, prior to the erection of the monastery. Systematic research will continue in September.