Sitting near Gradishte on the coast of Lake Ohrid, Plocha-Micov Grad, a prehistoric pile-dwelling site, has been researched from 2017 till 2019. This international and multidisciplinary research was performed as cooperation among the Center for Prehistoric Research, the University of Bern and the Institute for protection of cultural monuments and Museum in Ohrid. For the first time dendrochronological dating was performed at an archaeological site in Macedonia, analyzing the settlement’s piles, which were also GIS-mapped in order to determine their exact location. That way, the age of each individual facility can be determined and its shape can be precisely outlined. The project also encompasses archaeobotanical, geoarchaeological, paleoecological and radiocarbon analyses of organic and mineral remains with the aim of getting insight into the climate, vegetation and the period when the site was functional. In the same time, all finds were examined in order to define social, economic and symbolical processes of the communities that founded and used this prehistoric pile-dwelling settlement.

Owing to the multidisciplinary approach, the research of Plocha-Micov Grad has yielded important information regarding chronology, cultural character, economy, climate and environment related to this site. Based on the results of dendrochronological and radiocarbon analyses the site was active during the Chalcolithic, i.e. in the second half of the 5th millennium, as well as at the beginning and the second half of the 2nd millennium, i.e. in the Bronze Age. That is confirmed with numerous Chalcolithic and Bronze Age ceramic vessels, weights, altars, flint knives, axes and grinders, found in various contexts. Pile-dwelling settlements were built as separate facilities, usually of oak, juniper, walnut and coniferous trees. Besides the type of trees, dendrochronological and archaeobotanical analyses also revealed the consumption of grains (einkorn wheat and two-grained wheat), lentils, peas, poppy, acorns, hazelnuts, Cornelian cherries, blackberries, strawberries and figs. Analyses of organic remains and material culture are ongoing, while the results already obtained have been published in several articles which can be freely downloaded from the following links:

Istražuvanje na lokalitetot Ploča-Mićov Grad kaj Gradište (Ohridsko Ezero) vo 2019 godina / Research in 2019 at the site of Ploča-Mićov Grad near Gradište (Lake Ohrid)

Istražuvanje vo 2018 godina na lokalitetot Ploča - Mičov Grad vo Ohridskoto Ezero / Research in 2018 at Ploča - Mičov Grad site on the Lake Ohrid

A new Approach for Structure from Motion Underwater Pile-Field Documentation