By the Decision on Preventive Archaeological Research and Protection of Archaeological Sites on the Route of the Corridor Vc Highway (“Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH”, 18/10) and in accordance with Article 54 of the Act on the Protection and Use of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of BiH (“Official Gazette of the SR BiH”, 20/85), the Directorate for Highways of the Federation of BiH is obliged to engage the Institute for Monuments’ Protection, a federal administrative organisation within the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports, which is the competent professional institution for executing the preventive archaeological research and protection of archaeological sites on the route of corridor Vc.

JP Autoceste FBiH is obliged to submit an extract from the technical documentation on the basis of which the Institute makes an expert opinion for the planned route, section or sub-section, in which the so-far known localities, recorded and protected localities, as well as national monuments on the route in question are listed.

According to the aforementioned Decision, the Institute for Monuments’ Protection within the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports is obliged to:

• organise and coordinate the performance of preventive archaeological research,
• organise and coordinate activities aimed at the permanent protection of endangered registered and newly discovered archaeological sites and cultural monuments,
• issue consents and approvals and provide professional supervision over the execution of archaeological researches.

After the activities carried out on preventive and, if necessary, protective archaeology, the Elaborate on the Conducted Archaeological Research is submitted to JP Autoceste FBiH, which continues with further activities on the project realisation. During the execution of works on sensitive parts of the route, archaeological monitoring of the execution of the works on the Corridor Vc route is also required.

Preventive archaeological research on the Vc corridor began in 2011 after the Contract FEDA-150-E66-10 had been concluded on 17 December 2010 between the Directorate for Highways of the FBiH and the Institute for Monuments’ Protection. The OdRaz Foundation provided support in the implementation of preventive archaeological research on the Vc corridor until 2016.

After the expiration of the Agreement with the OdRaz Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports, which includes the Institute for Monuments’ Protection, concluded with JP Autoceste FBiH the Framework Agreement on Preventive Archaeological Research and Protection of Archaeological Sites and Cultural Monuments on the Highway Corridor Vc no. 06-14-3-1554/17 on 28 March 2017. At the request of JP Autoceste FBiH, a new Framework Agreement on Preventive Archaeological Research and Protection of Archaeological Sites on the Route of the Highway Corridor Vc, Highways That Are Not Located on the Route of Corridor Vc and Expressways (No. 01-14-10-5006/20 dated 24 September 2020) was concluded, which expanded the scope of work outside the Corridor Vc for routes under the jurisdiction of JP Autoceste FBiH.

According to the Framework Agreement, JP Autoceste FBiH submits the planned sections and the order of the research. Deadlines are not established and are defined according to the necessary dynamics of works on the corridor route itself.

The subject section of the Corridor Vc route was determined in 2018 after the selection of the optimal highway route in the area of ​​Mostar South – Buna, for which four multi-criteria analyses were conducted with several proposed routes. On the basis of the Decision of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Determination of Public Interest for the Section Mostar South-Buna, Subsection Mostar South – Tunel Kvanj, which was published in the Official Gazette of FBiH in 2018, JP Autoceste FBiH started the expropriation process for the adopted route, and thus operational and technical activities related to the route in question began.

The Institute for Monuments Protection is involved in the activities after the submission of extracts from the technical documentation, and with its expert opinion from June 2020, it gives the necessary requirements, recommendations and guidelines for the performance on the mentioned section. In October 2022, preventive archaeological research began, which included an inspection (reconnaissance) of the terrain, archaeological prospecting and preliminary works that preceded protective archaeological research with test probes and geophysical methods. The submitted Elaborate on Preventive Archaeological Research, in its conclusions, ordered protective research for tumuli threatened by construction, as well as the relocation of three Medieval tomb-stones that were found to be already in the secondary location with a visible damage. In November 2024, protective archaeological research was started on the subsection Mostar South – Tunnel Kvanj, Section Mostar South – Buna on Corridor Vc. On that occasion, research was carried out on 20 tumuli, 10 directly threatened by the route and 10 that were potentially threatened by construction works. The elaboration also covered the relocation of the Medieval tomb-stone in question to a tertiary location. In consultation with the local community and the Institute, the location was chosen at c. no. 1606/1 KO Malo Polje, on a plot that was not privately owned, 760 meters Southeast of the secondary position, above the road, on the territory of the same local community and were insured against physical devastation in the long term. Considering that the information about the secondary location was obtained by word of mouth, soundings of the site were carried out after the relocation and it was confirmed that there was archaeologically sterile material under the Medieval tomb-stone.

The deployment was carried out under the supervision of experts, and the damage mentioned occurred during the deployment to the secondary position and was recorded in the Elaborate on Preventive Investigative Works from 2022.

Confirmations of the previous allegations can also be found on the platform https://stecakmap.info/ created by the “Mak Dizdar” Foundation, which since March 2019 has been implementing the “Carved in Stone” project, whose goal is the protection, preservation and promotion of Medieval tomb-stones in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

*     https://stecakmap.info/nekropola/orah-i/

As seen from the above, even the sensational Association that published semi-information with tendentious content was able to obtain some information on its own.

As for the further treatment of dislocated Medieval tomb-stones, this will be the subject of subsequent actions when neccessary funds are secured. Given that the necropolis was long ago permanently lost, the priority of these activities was to preserve and secure the remaining Medieval tomb-stones from destruction. The next phase should be the arrangement of the locality, presentation and promotion as befits a valuable asset of cultural and historical heritage.