Godine on the Discovery of Late Antique Presses in Poreč in 1997

During archaeological research conducted on Matija Gubec square in Poreč in 1997, many layers of ar­ chitectural remains dating to Antiquity, Late Anti­ quity and the Middle Ages were found, among them two nice, rather large stone anchors for olive presses with stone block counterweights. The presses were located in a room that corresponds to the northern researched section of the present­day square. Tech­ nologically, they are a variant of the presses with a beam, which has a support on one end, next to the base for the crushing basket, while on the other, about ten meters away, it has a mechanism to lower the beam and apply pressure to the mass being crushed. The walls of the room with presses are reinforced from the inside with counterforts which are best preserved on the eastern wall. The existence of counterforts, as well as the reconstructed length of the beam, lead to the conclusion that this was a strong, high­capacity mechanism and that it was used to produce olive oil, regardless of the fact that no remains of a millstone, otherwise customary in such cases, were found. The existence of presses in the city is brought into connec­ tion with the process of rural depopulation after the fourth century, when some rural economic functions appeared in the cities where they previously were not the norm. This is comparable to the situation in Pula (new discoveries in 1996), Nesactium (press in the Ro­ Za arheoloških istraživanja na trgu Matije Gupca u Poreču 1997. pronađeni su višeslojni ostaci antičke, kasnoantičke i srednjovjekovne arhitekture među ko­ jima se ističu dva lijepa povelika kamena podloška tijesaka s kamenim blokovima protuutega. Tijesci su bili smješteni u jednoj prostoriji koja se poklapa sa sjevernim istraženim dijelom današnjega trga. Teh­ nološki pripadaju inačici tijesaka s gredom na čije­ mu je jednome kraju, pored postolja recipijenta za tiještenje, uporište grede, a na drugome, udaljenome oko deset metara, mehanizam za spuštanje grede i pritiskanje mase koja se tiještila. Zidovi prostorije s tijescima ojačani su s unutrašnje strane kontraforima koji su najbolje sačuvani na istočnome zidu. Posto­ janje kontrafora, kao i rekonstruirana dužina grede, upućuju na zaključak da se radilo o jakim postroje­ njima velikoga kapaciteta i o proizvodnji maslinova ulja, bez obzira na to što nisu pronađeni ostaci mlina koji su u ovakvu slučaju uobičajeni. Postojanje tije­ saka u gradu dovodi se u vezu s početkom procesa napuštanja sela, poslije 4. stoljeća, kad se neke rural­ ne gospodarske funkcije pojavljuju u gradovima gdje prije nisu bile uobičajene. Usporedne su situacije u Puli (novi nalaz 1996), Nezakciju (tijesak u rimskim termama) te na Brijunima (tzv. Kastrum s trima ili četirima tijescima u kasnoantičkoj fazi naselja). Ključne riječi: kasna antika, Istra, gospodarstvo, ulje i vino, tijesci Robert MATIJAŠIĆ