Stećak forms

Stećaks in the form of chests are to some extent a higher stage of development and transformation of stećaks in the form of slabs. At the same time, they are a sign and result of settled and more stable social relations, and political and economic situations. This is why they appeared in greater numbers in the 14th century. Gradually, they become bigger, with slab pedestals, elaborately decorated and with epitaphs. Chest-shaped stećaks are of different sizes. They are most often 150 to 200 cm long, 70 to 100 cm wide, and 40 to 80 cm high, but there are also very large and very small ones. The stećak from Vlađevina near Rogatica weighs 25 tons, while the stećak of Pavle Radinović from Pavlovac near Lukavica has a volume of 11.40 m3 and weighs staggering 31 tons and 920 kg. Two huge stećaks are also located in Lužine near Fojnica, which is recently moved to the park next to the Reumal hotel^[4] Some with great height, over 200 cm, are called tall chests. Sometimes the chest has some sort of step on one of its sides. There are also double chests, that is, stećaks for two buried persons. They can be recognized by the longitudinal ribbon in the middle of the monument, by the middle of the rectangular upper base, or by the fact that one half of the stećak is higher and the other. Including examples with pedestals, chests make about 64% of the total number of all stećaks.^[5]

Chest with slab pedestal

Chests with slab pedestal are actually made in two forms. One form is chest with a pedestal slab, which is cut together with a chest of the one and the same stone – also called homogeneous, and the other form is chest on a pedestal slab, which is cut separately of a separate piece of stone, so it can be said that this variety consists of two parts. There are also chests with two and even three stands, which look very imposing. Just like an ordinary chest, there is also a variant of a double stećaks, when, for example, it has a middle one on the upper rectangular base, or when it is carved so that one half is higher and the other lower. No combinations with crosses have been found, and there are also no amorphous variants. Also, this shape, like an ordinary chest, has its own different sizes. Along with ordinary chests, this form is by far the most numerous, especially in the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as previously emphasized, they make up about 64% of the total number of stećaks in general.^[5]

Gable-shaped (sarcophagus)

Gable-shaped or sarcophagus stećak is a chest where the upper side is no longer horizontal but resembles a

Most of these stećaks have their own pedestals, which are sometimes carved from the same piece of stone – also called homogeneous, while sometimes they are made from a different piece of stone and represent another, separate, part of the stećak. Due to the fact that gables are often large and heavy, these stećaks have a more stable position on the ground. Sometimes they have two or three stands.[4] And this form has several subvarieties. Thus, its top surface can be two, three, as well as four in length. Those top surfaces are sometimes slightly protruding or slightly hollowed out. Also, there are so-called double gables with (slab) pedestals, as well as those that are combined with chests. Not a single example of combining gables with a cross was found, and there are no amorphous gables with pedestals either. In medieval times they were highly valued and required the hiring of skilled stonemasons. It comes in various sizes. One of the largest is Pavle's stećak, located in Pavlovac near Lukavica, just outside of Sarajevo, which weighs nearly 32 tons. This form occupies about 9% of the total number of stećaks.

Standing upright stećaks

Column

Standing stećaks are mostly cut in the form of columns. This form is very similar to the oldest Muslim nišans without turbans, on which appearance stećaks in the form of columns had a certain influence.^[6] Columns are nothing more than upright slabs or upright chests. In order for them to stand firmly, they had to be partially buried or dug in, or in local tongue "usaditi" ("planted"transl. "planted" – transl. "rooted"), into the ground which is why they are most often called "usađenik". Thus, some columns end with a flat top surface, some as a roof with two or three sides. There are columns that end in a protruding, rounded, barrel-shaped way, as well as those that are arched in that part, lying down. Quite a number of upright slabs are carved so that they gradually widen from the bottom upwards. And such surfaces have very different finishes. Quite rare examples of columns that look like upright gables have also been found. Amorphous or loosely carved upright stećaks similar to columns have been recorded. The number of columns is about 4% of the total stećak. The fact that the columns are mostly studded in Serbia and eastern Bosnia, and that there are few of them in central Bosnia, and that in western Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia they are a very rare or almost completely exceptional phenomenon, clearly shows where this influence, due to the Turkish-Ottoman presence, first reflected. Stećci columns are considered to be a phenomenon of the second half of the 15th and the entire 16th century.

Cross-shaped

This form of stećak is generally not represented, and it amounts to about 0.5% of the total number of stećaks. There are relatively many in Herzegovina, and the least in Montenegro and Serbia. It was noticed that the cross are most often located on the periphery of the necropolis. They are considered to originate from the end of the stećak period, mostly from the 16th century, as a counterpart to the appearance of Muslim nišans. It is a typical Christian tombstone. They are also of different sizes. Sometimes they are very tall, sometimes they reach a height of over 3 m. They are carved so that their upper three arms are of equal dimensions. The lower vertical arm is always longer than the transverse arms. In many cases, the transverse arms gradually widen towards the ends, and there are also those whose transverse arms are pointed or rounded. Great attention was paid to the creation of the upper upright arm, so that it sometimes ends with a flat surface, sometimes like a pyramid, or is barrel-vaulted, many times it is made round, in the form of a human head, and there are other variants. In the vicinity of Travnik and Zenica, quite a number of stećaks have been recorded, in which the transverse arms are small and barely indicated, and the upper upright is relatively large and round. There are also those whose transverse arms are slightly bent, so they resemble the shoulders of a man. Also, here we have some subtypes of this monument, and thus a certain number of crosses were found, which together with the associated slab or chest make up one monument.

Amorphous

In some necropolises, along with stećci of basic lying and standing forms, there are also stećaks that are not carved at all or are only superficially cut. Many examples of these unprocessed tombstones resemble stećaks in the form of slabs or chests, and their dimensions are close to those forms. There is a considerable number of amorphous stećaks that most resemble columns, as the basic forms of standing stećak.

Territorial distribution of forms

In the middle of the 20th century, records were made of territorial distribution and forms.^[7]

Decorations

• Some basic decorative reliefs found on stećaks.
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Ornaments include curved lines with trefoil, plastic zigzag, radial circle, rosette, depiction of plastic circles, cluster, rod shaped as letter T, spiral curves. The depiction of arrow and bow on voivode (ducal) stećci was related to military function.^[8]

Figural depictions can be divided to those of male figures with raised right hand, or stećci that symbolize Vitus and scenes of hunting, posthumous kolo and chivalric tournaments, with basic artistic and religious interweaving of pagan and Christian ideas.^[9]

The inscriptions mention deceased person(s), their family and other inhabitants related to person(s), are sometimes present.^[9]

References

Bibliography

• Bešlagić, Šefik (2004). "Leksikon stećaka". scribd.com. Svjetlost, Sarajevo. Retrieved 9 Feb 2017.