Brac Island Project Fund

The Brač Island Project (BIP) is an interdisciplinary archaeological project in collaboration with the University of Split that focuses on the island of Brač in southern Croatia (Dalmatia). 

Dalmatia has been underrepresented in work by Classical scholars on the ancient Mediterranean, despite evidence suggesting that this region was a locus of intense trade between Greece and Italy at least as early as the 8th century BCE. The Brač   Island Project seeks to understand cultural interactions in the central Adriatic from the Iron Age through its establishment as a Roman province (9th c. BCE-2nd c. CE) which result from these intense periods of contact. Yet, it also takes a diachronic and holistic approach to the island and includes the Bronze Age to the present, with a  particular interest in conservation. The 2022 season showed that archaeological remains across the island are under threat from touristic development, therefore we are rushing to document sites as part of an island-wide conservation effort. 

This project has an important role as the Classics department’s active archaeological field school for graduate students. Participants learn techniques in archaeological survey throughout the island and excavation of our main site, the Iron Age hillfort site of Gradina Rat. The work at Gradina Rat is unique because no contemporary hillforts have been excavated in the region and it is the primary source of evidence for BIP’s work on cultural interactions between local peoples and Greek and Italic traders and settlers, as well as for earlier occupation on the island.

This project’s innovative research program is only the second American-led team to work in coastal Croatia and is opening new doors for future archaeological and historical studies in the central Adriatic. 

Your donation will directly support our students during their participation in this field school. 

Learn more about the Brac Island Project, Croatia at the official website.