FANTASTIC DISCOVERY NEAR NIŠ: Archaeologists unearth unusual early bronze age site!

An archaeological site of the rondel type, an unusual and uncommon system of concentric circular ditches and palisades from the Early Bronze Age, has been discovered at the previously partially investigated archaeological site of Orničje in the Malča area near Niš, “Blic” reports. The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Niš states that this type of archaeological site from that period has not yet been investigated in Serbia! The sensational archaeological site was found during exploratory archaeological investigations along the route of the Niš railway bypass.

“This type of archaeological site is characteristic of the Neolithic period in Central Europe (Germany, Austria, southern Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia), and later in Great Britain. It practically consists of earth architecture with a system of ditches and palisades – an earth and wooden fortification. From this form, later in Great Britain, in combination with monoliths, the form known from the famous archaeological site of Stonehenge developed. Its purpose varies, from settlement, through cult and astronomical, to economic and and strategic. This type of archaeological site from the Neolithic period, in Serbia, where the Vinča culture developed – has not been discovered so far. The rondel form in our country is known only at the Šančine site near Šabac, but this site is dated to the Early Eneolithic – Early Copper Age,” states archaeologist Mr. Aleksandar Aleksić in an authored text on the website of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.

The rondel at Orničje (Orničje bronze age rondel), however, according to current research – is not from the Neolithic or Early Eneolithic period, but from a significantly younger one – the Early Bronze Age. In Central Europe (Germany, Austria, southern Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia), this form of site experienced a kind of imitation precisely in the Early Bronze Age, in the form of mimicking Neolithic traditions. Mr. Aleksić states that a rondel from the Early Bronze Age has not been investigated in Serbia so far.

“The function of the rondel at Orničje is still unknown; archaeological investigations are ongoing, after which protective archaeological excavations will be carried out. Within the mentioned investigations by the Institute, a combination of geophysical testing methods was applied: georadar scanning from a drone, as well as geomagnetic scanning. Geomagnetic scans conducted by the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Petrovaradin yielded excellent results. Exploratory archaeological investigations confirmed the existence of the rondel – a system of sites with circular ditches,” explains Mr. Aleksić.

The archaeological site of Orničje is located on a high, non-flooded right bank of the Nišava, in the village of Malča near Niš, and the southern part of the site has been destroyed by erosion.

The discovery of the Orničje archaeological site occurred during the Institute’s protective archaeological investigations along the route of the MG10 Niš-Dimitrovgrad gas pipeline, when it was archaeologically investigated in its central part (Client: Ministry of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia). During 2023 and 2024, a horreum (from the Roman period, late 3rd and early 4th century) was discovered, investigated, and protected, and the prehistoric rondel is located only 30 meters to the south of it.

Due to this archaeological discovery, the gas pipeline route was moved to prevent the destruction of archaeological heritage.

The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Niš emphasizes that – in addition to every unauthorized excavation constituting a criminal offense in the sense of Article 353a and Article 212 paragraph 3, and that every such activity is reported to the competent police authorities – carrying out unauthorized excavations irrevocably destroys archaeological heritage and permanently erases material evidence of the continuity of life in these areas.

“Unauthorized archaeological excavations practically achieve what various conquerors in our history failed to do,” the Institute states.