Bosnian and Herzegovinian archaeologist Branka Raunig had dedicated almost forty years of her scientific and research career to studying the Iapodes and their culture in the territory of present–day Bosnia and Herzegovina. We can...
moreBosnian and Herzegovinian archaeologist Branka Raunig had dedicated almost forty years of her scientific and research career to studying the Iapodes and their culture in the territory of present–day
Bosnia and Herzegovina. We can rightfully claim that she is one of
the few scholars in Bosnia and Herzegovina who had dedicated her
research to ancient archaeology. Moreover, she contributed to the
study of the ancient history of north–west Bosnia, since in her work
on material culture she pointed out the historical evidence about the
Iapodes that had been left by Greco–Roman authors (Strabo, Pliny
the Elder, Appian, Cassius Dio, Claudius Ptolemy, Stephanus of Byzantium and others). We can rightfully say that in Bosnia and Herzegovina she belongs to the circle of few female scholars who focused
on prehistoric archaeology in their research. What is more, there are
only a few women in Bosnian and Herzegovinian archaeological discourse dealing with the oldest periods of prehistory and antiquity.
In this context, apart from Raunig, we should also mention Milica
Kosorić, Vukoslava Atanacković–Salčić and Irma Čremošnik.
Although it has been ten years since her death, Raunig remains the
leader of the study of the heritage of Bosnian Pounje in ancient and
early Antiquity period. The paper dedicated to Branka Raunig will
consist of two, closely related, units. The first unit will be based on biographical data about this esteemed scholar, whereas the second unit
will be dedicated to her scientific and research work. Therefore, we
should mention that Raunig was born in 1935 in Sarajevo, and died
in 2008 in Bihać where she spent the majority of her professional career as the manager of the Department for Archaeology and History
of the Museum of Pounje in Bihać (present–day Museum of Una–
Sana Canton). She was the director of the said Museum for eleven
years (1971–1982). We should also note that she got her BA, MA and
PhD diplomas from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of
Belgrade where her mentors were renowned professors of prehistory
Milutin Garšanin and Dragoslav Srejović. Although she worked in
a small, regional museum, her work was highly recognized among
scholars, as evidenced by the fact that Raunig published her papers in
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all major archaeological journals across the former Yugoslavia (Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja, Sarajevo; Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus
Bosnisch–herzegovinische Landesmuseums Sarajevo; Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja, ANUBiH, Sarajevo; Zbornik krajiških
Muzeja, Banja Luka; Radovi Muzeja grada Zenice; Lika – izdanje Hrvatskog arheološkog društva, Split; Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja, Zagreb; Opuscula archaeologica, Zagreb; Arheološki vestnik, Ljubljana;
Arheološki pregled, Ljubljana; Starinar, Belgrade; Arheološki pregled,
Belgrade and others). She also authored one monography titled “Art
and Religion of Prehistoric Iapodes” published by the Centre for Balkan Studies of the Academy of Art and Science of BiH. This is undoubtedly the most important work of this scholar as it collects all of
the important results of decades of her research.
In 1962, Raunig published her first paper in prehistoric archaeology
titled “Arms from Kostel near Bihać” in Zbornik Krajiških muzeja
(Collection of museums from Krajina). She published the first two
papers on the topic of afterlife of the Iapodes in 1968 in the most important scholarly journal in archaeology in Bosnia and Herzegovina
– the Herald of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The papers, “The Iapodian necropolis on Crkvina in Golubić” and
“The fragment of Iapodian urn from Golubić near Bihać”, represent
the initial research phase of the spiritual culture of the Iapodes during the archaeological career of Branka Raunig. These papers were
written as a traditional representation of the results of field and systematic research without a deeper methodological analysis and criticism which this archaeologist will have mastered in the later phases
of her research and make her work recognizable. During the 1970s,
Raunig published seven scholarly and research papers whose framework of topic was within he bounds of prehistoric necropolises and
settlements, sepulchral and sacral monuments. We should single out
two papers of the same title published in 1972 and 1975 – “Iapodian stone sepulchral and sacral monuments”. In these papers from
this phase of scholarly and research career, Raunig pointed out the
distinctiveness of the Iapodes within the assumed Illyrian ethnical
corpus. During the period of 1980–1990, Raunig published four papers: “Prehistoric necropolis on Gradina in the Ripač village”, “The
iron–age tomb from Ostrožac near Cazin”, “A few smaller unpublished bronze–age findings from the Western Bosnia”, and “Necropolis Dolovi in Golubić near Bihać from the Late Antiquity”. When it
comes to the last paper, we could even say that it is an exception
in her career because it is dedicated to an archeological research of
a site from the period of Late Antiquity, which was not typical for
DR. SC. BRANKA RAUNIG – NAUČNICA KOJA JE DALA NEMJERLJIV DOPRINOS
ISTRAŽIVANJU ILIRSKIH JAPODA NA TLU DANAŠNJE BIH
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her scholarly work. During the war–time period (1992–1995), she
published a series of papers in prominent archaeological journals in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. During the post–war period, she published her most important work, the monograph “Art
and Religion of Prehistoric Iapodes”. Her final paper, “Crnopolje in
Ljusina – Bihać Region (Una valley)”, was posthumously published
in the Herald of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina
in 2010.
Her papers were quoted in all relevant publications about the study
of the Illyrian Iapodes. Moreover, her papers are often included in
the lists of recommended or mandatory literature in the syllabuses of
regional universities studying prehistoric archaeology. Though her
research, Raunig has introduced us to the magical world of the Illyrian Iapodes, one of the largest Illyrian communities that ruled the
valley of the Una river more than two millennia ago. In her papers,
she accentuated the daily lives of the Iapodes by following their deities, art, culture and other segments of cultural and historical development. She consistently followed the scientific methodology and
thus deserved an honorary place among the women who deserve
the respect of the scientific community of Bosnia and Herzegovina