Organized by the Museum of the City of Karlovac, the guest exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Zagreb "Archaeology and Speleology - from the Darkness of the Underground to the Light of Knowledge" was opened in the Dubovac Castle.
Archaeology, as a science that deals with the human past, and speleology, which studies various underground phenomena, at first glance appear to be different disciplines. Nevertheless, speleological objects are important for understanding the past because they have been a part of human life since ancient times, almost from the very beginning of our evolutionary path. For this reason, they are a source of many important data for scientists who study past events (archaeologists, paleoanthropologists, paleontologists, and geologists). Caves and pits, primarily due to their characteristics and relatively less susceptibility to various external factors, favor the preservation of archaeological layers and structures in them, so they have preserved numerous data and findings that are unfortunately lost in other types of sites. Many caves, and sometimes cave structures, testify to the fact that our predecessors had a special relationship with the underground.
The aim of the exhibition "Archaeology and Speleology - from the Darkness of the Underground to the Light of Knowledge" is to point out the wealth of materials originating from caves and pits, as well as the different ways of using speleological objects from prehistoric times to modern times. Also, the desire is to point out the importance of quality cooperation between archaeologists and speleologists, without which many important archaeological findings from speleological objects would remain unknown.
The authors of the exhibition are Ivor Janković, Dalibor Paar, and Ivan Drnić, and the visiting curator is Matea Galetić.
The exhibition can be viewed every day except Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from June 1, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibition will remain open until October 15, 2023.
