Newly Discovered Relief Slab from Zavala (Ravno Municipality): Iconographic-Stylistic Analysis and a Contribution to the Contextualization of Stone Fragments

Abstract

This paper presents a newly discovered, previously unpublished, figural relief slab from the site of Crkvina in Zavala, Ravno municipality. It was discovered in 2020 within the perimeters of a triconchal pre-Romanesque structure, which lay beneath the later Small Church (Mala crkva) and was uncovered during the final phase of archaeological research. It is characterized by a figural composition featuring a depiction of a large bird with a nimbus and a richly decorated upper band. The slab has been analysed from an iconographic and stylistic perspective, and compared with previously discovered figural slabs from the same site, as well as with other comparative material. The proposed iconological interpretation of the relief is directed toward the symbolism of the Garden of Eden and eschatological meanings, particularly the hope of resurrection. Attention has also been devoted to the question of the function of the lower triconchal (trefoil) structure. Taking into account the archaeological evidence, burial context and iconographic repertoire, it is now argued that this pre-Romanesque structure may have served as a memoria, in contrast to the previous interpretation of it having functioned solely as a church. Examining the new slab from different perspectives contributes to a better understanding and contextualization of the stone sculpture from Zavala; this in turn opens a route to new interpretations of the complex sacred topography of this site and, more broadly, the role of Zavala in the stylistic and iconographic developments of the Early Middle Ages.