The necropolis on the site in horto Metrodori in light of more recent excavations – an old report in a new form

Sa？etak A short report presenting a summary of the archaeological excavations undertaken in 1970 in Solin, at the site, which was, due to a previously discovered inscription, colloquially called in horto Metrodori, was published in Arheolo？ki pregled Jugoslavije for 1970 (vol. 12, pp. 113-118). This site lies close to the western walls and the city gate of Salona (Porta occidentalis), following the ancient road leading to Tragurium. More about this topic was reported in a text written for the state exam in 1972. Its actual publication, in spite of the fact that the report is incomplete – lacking the results of the analysis of small finds and the respective documentation – was initiated by the fact that a more detailed report on those excavations has never been published. Therefore the reflections and conclusions contained in reports and remarks that followed were most frequently based upon the results of the more extensive excavations which took place later. No conclusions, resulting from the previously undertaken excavations were quoted. It seems however that between them there are no essential differences and that they more of less follow the same track. The excavations discussed here took place in 1970 and were realized in the collaboration between the Split Archaeological Museum and the Rutgers University from New Brunswick (New Jersey, USA). They differed from the later rescue excavations as their aim was to define the function and character of the so-called ？Long Wall？ (the ？Cyclopic Wall？, murazzo) and the rectangular constructions (？towers？) attached to the ？Long Wall？. Another of the goals was to establish the width of the necropolis stretching from the ？Long Wall？ northwards. It was possible to follow the line of the Western Necropolis from the western walls, i. e. the western gate, westward, although there are indications pointing to earlier graves in those parts of the city, which was subsequently developed and later fortified with ramparts. The peculiarities of the murazzo consist mainly of large ashlars cut out of the local stone (？modrac？), with its wider foundation built out of smaller ashlars bound with mortar. It seems that the remains of the ？Long Wall？ and the necropolis could be followed as far as the Sta？un (Sta？uline) site, close to Ka？tel Su？urac. The long ashlars of megalithic dimensions were the reason that some experts considered the murazzo to have belonged to the local Greek (Issaean, Issa) fortifications, supposedly located at the same site. In this sense one of the aims of the excavations was to try to establish the