Experimental archaeology of Stjepan Vuković

To mark the end of the calendar year, on the occasion of the Day of the City of Krapina, but also the 50th anniversary of the death of Stjepan Vuković, on Friday, December 13, at 12 noon, a thematic exhibition entitled Experimental Archaeology of Stjepan Vuković will open in the exhibition space of the old museum (Kneipp building) of the Krapina Neanderthal Museum.

The authors of the exhibition are Ivor Karavanić, full professor at the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, and Eduard Vasiljević, senior curator and head of the Krapina Neanderthal Museum.

The exhibition is based on the Collection of Experimental Archaeology, which is the heritage of the Krapina Neanderthal Museum. In addition, the museum owns a large number of letters, correspondence, photographs and manuscripts of Stjepan Vuković, which have excellently supplemented and explained his life path and thoughts on the use of experiments in archaeology. He was an extremely systematic, curious and, above all, persistent person, who discovered geological and archaeological sites of Hrvatsko Zagorje with great passion. He spent more than four decades exploring the Vindija cave, which represents his most important discovery. He has spent the same amount of time experimenting to solve certain archaeological problems and refute or confirm established opinions and theses. The exhibition features hand-made objects in stone and wood, as well as documentation created during his experimentation. The exhibition deals with Stjepan Vuković's museum work as well, with a chronological review of previous exhibitions presenting his work.

The exhibition is intended for a wider audience, i.e. all age groups, and will remain open until April 15, 2025.