SITES IN PULA
Initial systematic archaeological investigation of the site from 1925 to 1928 uncovered sections of the encircling walls, entrance structures, and the remains of a Bronze Age necropolis with seventeen graves. These tombs were built of finely dressed stone slabs and roofed with stone cover slabs. The core burial cist was set within a rectangular stone platform measuring about three by two metres and having a height of about half a metre, filled out with pebbles, cobbles, and soil. Skeletal remains of one or more individuals were deposited in the cists in a crouched position aligned north to south. The structures have been interpreted as the tombs of extended families or clans, reflecting the complex social structure of Bronze Age communities.
One of the discovered tombs was dismantled in 1929 and reconstructed along the south wall of Pula's Archaeological Museum of Istria. It was later again reassembled for installation at its current site, immediately adjacent the entrance to the museum courtyard.
Comparable burial structures have been identified at other hillforts in Istria, including Monkodonja, and the unexplored parts of the Vintijan hillfort site near Pula may well yield finds of similar burial structures.
