Stone panopticum: rethinking on the monumental stone sculpture of the Iron Age Histri

Stone as a durable and symbolic material played a central role in the visual culture and social practices of Histrian communities during the last millennium BCE. This paper examines the fragmented stone sculpture from Nesactium (Croatia), focussing on its meaning, function and cultural context. Using the concepts of material agency and object biography, it shows how these monuments, in addition to their monumentality, structured space and belonging, shaped collective memory and social identities as well as ideological forms of expression and representation. Nesactium sculpture thus emerges as a visually articulated social practice with a multi-layered and multifunctional role within the community. Their production testifies to a high level of artisanship and strong links to the Italo-Adriatic cultural sphere.