Archaeological sites
Oblun
Oblun is a fortress in Montenegro located on the eastern shore of Mali Blato on Lake Skadar. The fortress has a dominant position, allowing it to control a large part of the Skadar Lake basin and the Ćemovsko polje.
Oblun is mentioned in the "Chronicle of Pope Dukljanin" when talking about the events in Zeta, in the middle of the 12th century „"intravit in castellum, qui Obolon dicitur"“. Namely, King George, fleeing through the mountains, finally fortified himself in a castle called Obolon, where the Byzantines besieged it, and then captured it after taking the fortress. The fortress lies on the remains of the acropolis of an Illyrian-Greek city. The preserved remains of the fortress can be assumed to date from the ancient, late Roman or Byzantine period, based on its fairly regular rectangular shape, although the configuration of the terrain is not such that this shape could be expected. The length of the only entire preserved side to the northeast is about 70 m.
The northwestern and southeastern walls are partially preserved, and there are no traces of the southwestern wall, it probably never existed, but was replaced by vertical rocks. Almost in the center of the fortification, on a special naturally elevated rocky plateau, there are the remains of a single-nave church. It is also interesting to note that no remains of towers have been found.
Kittens – Mataguži
📍 Location: Mataguži village, Zeta
🏺 Period: Illyro-Hellenistic period (approximately 3rd–1st centuries BC)
🧱 Site type: fortified settlement / fortification
Findings and characteristics:
Remains of the tower, rampart and entrance gates of the fortified settlement
-Traces of a hillfort settlement (typical of Illyrian tribes)
Ceramics, metal objects and money
It is believed that this was a larger Illyrian settlement which controlled the Zetska Plain and the routes to Lake Skadar.
The images show stone walls and the foundations of structures belonging to an Illyro-Hellenistic fortification. Archaeological investigations have uncovered a tower, ramparts and the fortress's entrance gates.
The settlement was probably part of a larger complex, Stari Mataguži, which was an important centre in the Zetska Plain during the 4th–1st centuries BC.
Velje Ledine – Gostilj
📍 Location: Gostilj, Zeta
🏺 Period: 3rd–1st centuries BC.
⚱️ Type: necropolis (cemetery)
Features:
-Graves from the late Illyrian and early ancient period
Findings of jewellery, ceramics and weapons
The site indicates an organised settlement nearby that used this necropolis.
– Illyrian belt plate (metal ornament) – one of the most famous finds from the necropolis.
-Jewellery and brooches that belonged to the inhabitants of that area.
Metal ornaments and equipment from graves.
A stone architectural fragment (capital) found near the site.
These objects were found in the graves of the Hellenistic necropolis of Velja Ledina, which dates to approximately the 3rd–2nd centuries BC and is associated with the Illyrian tribes around Lake Skadar.
The Zeta region is rich in archaeological remains because it was inhabited from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Tumulī (prehistoric mounds) have been found in the vicinity of Mataguža and Vukovci.
Ancient structures such as villae rusticae (Roman estates) and the remains of Illyro-Hellenistic hillfort settlements.