time. This metallurgical complex was then destroyed in a fire in the late 4th century. Archaeological excavations began in 1971, and with few interruptions, lasted until 1987.

In 1983, Kraku Lu Jordan was added to the Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance

Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)

Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance are the archaeological sites in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....

 list, protected by Republic of Serbia.

Location and Layout

Kraku Lu Jordan is located on the southern slope of a hill, where on the slope a metallurgical plant is set with an internal arrangement for its purpose of processing ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

, copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 and iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

. It was a fortified establishment that to the east side had a wall that is 2 m of width, in contrast to the northern side, which is extremely rugged and inaccessible, where the wall are slightly narrower. The gate was located in the lower part. On the northwestern side remains of a tower has been discovered which had the function of one of the metallurgical facilities. Slope on which the building is located was divided in several longitudinal walls horizons. The work of Bartel, Kondić, and Werner revealed a number of areas with metallurgical furnaces, facilities for the preparation of ember as well as other areas of personal life needs of metallurgists and miners. The site contains six main features: the northern wall, the western furnace room, the southern ‘utility’ room, the sourthern furnace room, the southern stairway, and the southern ‘office’ room.

Remains

Of material culture, tools, mining lamps, large vessels for burning ore, watermill wheels and more have been found. In the years 1973-76, ceramics found consisted of 37 Early Bronze Age sherds and 6,215 Roman Era sherds. Of the Roman era pottery, 95% was local, one piece was truly Roman, and 5% probably came from neighboring Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....

. Most of the ceramics are simply decorated and some were coated in yellow-white powder which indicates they contained chemicals for metallurgy

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

. 200 metal artifacts were found, most iron and utilitarian in nature. Other objects include glass, lithics, and animals bones. Bartel, Kondić, and Werner concluded that the complex was relatively independent of Roman influence and more related to the activities of indigenous people in the area, because of the style and volume of material culture

Material culture

In the social sciences, material culture is a term that refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations. Studying a culture's relationship to materiality is a lens through which social and cultural attitudes can be discussed...

.

See also

• Tourism in Serbia
  Tourism in Serbia
  Serbia stretches across two geographic and cultural regions of Europe: Central Europe and Southeast Europe. This boundary splits Serbia roughly in a ratio of 1:2 alongside the Danube and Sava rivers. The northern parts of the country are Central-European lowlands while the southern and central...
  
  
• Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance
  Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)
  Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance are the archaeological sites in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....
  
  

External links

• Kraku Lu Jordan