Millstones from Kale in Krševica (Southeastern Serbia)

The site Kale is situated in the village Krševica about ten kilometers to the east of Bujanovac. The small-scale excavations in 1966 indicated that it is an outstanding site but large-scale excavations have been resumed only in 2001. Soon it became clear that substantial remains of the settlement covering around 4 hectares and dating from the end of Classical and the beginning of the Hellenistic period are lying on a dominant elevation above the Južna (South) Morava valley. Despite the fact that just small portion of the site has been investigated so far, it was possible, after the works carried out between 2001 and 2007, to gain general impression about the appearance of this relatively large and well organized settlement. Few building horizons with various structures creating the acropolis were encountered on the plateau. A complex with buildings and other structures that were protected by the rampart and broad trench with an earthen barrow existed on the central section of the plateau in the latest horizon. On the basis of many obtained data the largest part of the settlement was located on the smaller terraces on the northeastern slope descending towards the Krševica River valley. At the foothill was discovered rather large complex with ramparts made of massive ashlars, stone platforms, building and many other structures that was identified as ‘hydrotechnical complex’ because of its specific purpose. The reason is that there are water springs at many spots in the lower layers so the excavations were possible only with the pumps to drain the water . All this indicate that this important segment of the settlement was associated with the problem of supply and regulation of water.