View source for Stećak

{{Short description|Monumental medieval tombstones in the Balkans}}
{{Infobox historic site
| image = Bosniangraves bosniska gravar februari 2007 stecak stecci3.jpg
| caption = Although ''gable-shaped with a slab pedestal'' is not the most represented [[form of stećak]] (9%), they are usually the most elaborately and richly decorated ones.
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_offname = Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
| designation1_date = 2016 <small>(40th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
| designation1_type = Cultural
| designation1_criteria = iii, vi
| designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1504 1504]
| designation1_free1name = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Europe|Europe and North America]]
}}
[[File:Radimlja pobliz Stolce, nejvetsi nekropole stecku v BaH1.jpg|thumb|289x289px|Stećci at [[Radimlja]] necropolis]]'''Stećak''' (plural '''stećci'''; [[Serbian Cyrillic|Cyrillic]] стећак, стећци) is the name for monumental [[medieval]] [[tombstone]]s, that lie scattered across [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], and the border parts of [[Croatia]], [[Montenegro]] and [[Serbia]]. An estimated 60,000 are found within the borders of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rest of 10,000 are found in what are today Croatia (4,400), Montenegro (3,500), and Serbia (2,100), at more than 3,300 odd sites with over 90% in poor condition.<ref name="Unesco">{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/venice/about-this-office/singleview/news/joint_nomination_for_inclusion_of_stecci_medieval_tombstones_in_the_world_heritage_list#.Vv3BqvmLTIU |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414002411/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/venice/about-this-office/single-view/news/joint_nomination_for_inclusion_of_stecci_medieval_tombstones_in_the_world_heritage_list |title=Joint Nomination for Inclusion of Stećci – Medieval Tombstones in the World Heritage List |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |date=14 April 2014 |archive-date=14 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="DW">{{cite news |last=Musli |first=Emir |title=Čiji su naši stećci? |url=http://www.dw.com/bs/%C4%8Diji-su-na%C5%A1i-ste%C4%87ci/a-18078579 |date=23 November 2014 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=bs |access-date=1 April 2016}}</ref> They are cut in a variety of recognizable [[stećak forms]], with certain percentage being richly decorated and some individual stećci also containing inscriptions in form of [[Epitaph|epitaphs]].

Appearing in the mid 12th century, with the first phase in the 13th century, the custom of cutting and using stećci tombstones reached its peak in the 14th and 15th century, before being discontinued in the very early 16th century during the [[Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina]].<ref name="Unesco"/> They were a common tradition amongst [[Bosnian Church|Bosnian]], [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] Church followers alike,<ref name="WM">{{cite web |last=Walasek |first=Helen |title=Marian Wenzel 18 December 1932 – 6 January 2002 |url=http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=874&reportid=153 |publisher=Bosnian Institute |year=2002 |access-date=3 November 2009 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051846/http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=874&reportid=153 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and were used by both [[South Slavs|Slavic]] and the [[Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina|Vlach]] populations.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=52, 72, 176, 307}}{{sfn|Trako|2011|pp=71–72, 73–74}}

On the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all found individual and stećci grouped in necropolises are considered immovable heritage and most are already inscribed on one of the lists of the [[Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Commission to preserve National Monuments]], whether on the [[National monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina|List of National Monuments]], Tentative List, or into List of Petitions. Stećci are also inscribed into [[World Heritage List]] by [[UNESCO]] since 2016, with a selection of some 4,000 individual monoliths, grouped in necropolises at 28 locations, of which 20 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two in Croatia, three in Montenegro, and three in Serbia.<ref name="Unesco2016">{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6802 |title=Examination of nominations of cultural properties to the World Heritage List |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |date=2016 |access-date=20 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Todorovic-Heritage-Studies">{{cite journal |last1=Todorovic |first1=Milos |title=Heritage in and as diplomacy: a practice based study |journal=International Journal of Heritage Studies |date=2022 |volume=28 |issue=7 |page=857 |doi=10.1080/13527258.2022.2091637 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13527258.2022.2091637 |access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref> One of the best preserved collections of these tombstones is [[Radimlja]], west of [[Stolac]] in Bosnia and Herzegovina,<ref name="DW"/> while the [[Zgošća Stećak]] is one of the most representative individual examples of ''stećak'' found, in terms of its size, artistic processing and ornamentation.<ref name="Olovčić-Jahrbuch">{{cite journal |author1=Almir Olovčić |author2=Aida Jotanović |author3=Almira Kevilj-Olovčić |author4=Amra Veispahić |title=ED-XRF analysis of silver and gold jewelry found in Medieval necropolis Crkvina, Donja Zgošća (Kakanj municipality), BiH |journal=Godišnjak / Jahrbuch {{!}} Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja |date=26 April 2022 |issue=50 |pages=149-158 |url=https://godisnjak.anubih.ba/index.php/godisnjak/issue/view/12 |access-date=11 December 2023}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word itself is a [[Contraction (grammar)|contracted form]] of the older word *''stojećak'', which is derived from the [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] verb ''stajati'' (engl. ''stand'').{{sfn|Kužić|1999|p=176}} It literally means the "tall, standing thing".{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=114}} In Herzegovina they are also called as ''mašeti'' / ''mašete'' (Italian ''massetto'' meaning "big rock", or Turkish ''meşhet''/''mešhed'' meaning "tombstone of a fallen hero"{{refn|group="nb"|Turkish word ''meşhed'' means a monument erected to Islamic dead martyr ''şehid''. The issue with the derivation is that stećci are attributed to, for Islam, [[infidel]] Christians and Bogomils, term ''mašet'' can also be derived from Turkish ''maşatlik'' meaning "non-Muslim cemetery", term ''mašet'' is of male while ''mašeta'' is of female gender, which is specific for Muslims.{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=72}}}}), in Central and Western Bosnia as ''mramori'' / ''mramorje'' / ''mramorovi'' (marble), while in Serbia and Montenegro as ''usađenik'' (implantation). On the stećci inscriptions they are called as ''bilig'' (mark), ''kamen bilig'' (stone mark), ''kâm'' / ''kami'' / ''kamen'' (stone), ''hram'' (shrine), ''zlamen'' (sign), ''kuća'' (house), ''raka'' (pit), ''greb/grob'' (grave).{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=72}}{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=114}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=59–60}}<ref name="UnescoBiH">{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5607 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820104920/https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5607/ |title=Stećaks – Mediaeval Tombstones (Bosnia and Herzegovina) |date=18 April 2011 |archive-date=20 August 2016 |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=1 April 2016}}</ref> In the 1495 lectionary they are recorded as ''kamy'' (stone).{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=272}}{{sfn|Bulog|2007|p=390}}

Although the name ''stećak'' is meant to represent high monolithic standing stones (i.e. ''sanduk'' and ''sljemenjak'' form), in the 20th century the word ''stećak'' was accepted in science as a general term, including for plate tombstones (i.e. ''ploče'').{{sfn|Kužić|1999|p=176}}{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=322}} The original reference to the word ''stećak'' itself is uncertain and seems to be a modern invention as it can only be traced from the note by [[Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski]] from 1851,{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=269}} dictionary by [[Vuk Karadžić]] from 1852 (in the first edition from 1812 the term did not exist), although he contradicted himself as the commoners from [[Zagvozd]] called them ''starovirsko'' ("of the old faith"),{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=268}} dictionary by [[Bogoslav Šulek]] from 1860 and so on,{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=270}} while academic dictionaries mention it only from 1956/58.{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=267}} It is believed that the term was usually used in [[East Herzegovina]] and in the area of [[Raška (region)|Stari Vlah]] in Serbia.{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=268}} Until the very early 20th century there was wandering in terminology, and some scholars proposed general terms like ''nadgrobni biljezi'' (gravestone markers) and ''mramorje'' (marble) to be more appropriate.{{sfn|Kužić|1999|p=176}}

The term ''stećak'' is uncommon in regional dialects and without [[Etiology|etiological]] value,{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=114}} and [[Semantics|semantically]] incorrect and contradicting as it derives from the verb "to stand", while the chest-type to which it refers predominantly is laid down, while another sub-type of pillars and crosses is the one predominantly upright; this upright or standing sub-type does not amount to even 5% of the overall number of stećci; in the original stećci inscriptions they are most often called as ''kami'' (meaning "stone" regardless of the form), thus some scholars proposed the term ''kamik'' (pl. ''kamici'') for all forms of headstones, while ''stećak'' would mean only the upright sub-type.{{sfn|Kužić|2001|pp=271–273}} The term ''kamik'' is more close to the original meaning and sometimes used instead of ''stećak'' in professional literature.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=60}}

The stećci area or cemetery folk names show respect and admiration for their dimensions, age or representations: Divsko groblje (Giants’ cemetery), Mašete (big stones), Mramori/Mramorje (marble blocks), Grčko groblje (Orthodox cemetery), Tursko groblje (Muslim cemetery), Kaursko groblje ([[Giaour]]’s cemetery).{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=59}}<ref name="Unesco2016"/>

==Characteristics==
{{Main|Stećak forms}}

===Definition===
They are characteristic of the territory of present-day [[Herzegovina]], central [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]] and [[Podrinje]] in Bosnia and Herzegovina, [[Dalmatia]] in [[Croatia]], and minor parts of [[Montenegro]], [[Kosovo]], Western [[Serbia]], Northwestern Bosnia, and Croatia ([[Lika]] and [[Slavonia]]{{sfn|Horvat|1963|p=26}}).{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=321}}{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=246}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=241}}

Stećci are described as horizontal and vertical tombstones, made of stone, with a flat or gable-top surface, with or without a pedestal.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|pp=6, 61}}{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=321}} The common classification was established by Dmitrij Sergejevski in 1952, who divided them into recumbent stećci and standing stećci.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=62}} The systematization of stećci is not currently complete. According to [[Šefik Bešlagić]], there are seven main shapes: slab, chest, chest with pedestal, ridge/gable, ridge/gable with pedestal, pillar, and cross;{{sfn|Kužić|2001|pp=271–273}} while according to [[Dubravko Lovrenović]], there are nine types in [[Radimlja]]: slab, slab with pedestal, chest, chest with pedestal, tall chest, tall chest with pedestal, sarcophagus (i.e. ridge/gable), sarcophagus with pedestal, cruciform.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=62}}

For instance, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to UNESCO, "about 40,000 chests, 13,000 slabs, 5,500 gabled tombstones, 2,500 pillars/obelisks, 300 cruciform tombstones and about 300 tombstones of indeterminate shape have been identified. Of these, more than 5,000 bear carved decorations".<ref name="UnescoBiH"/>

The chronology established by [[Marian Wenzel]] assumes they developed from the plate [[headstone]]s, the oldest one dating back to 1220 (the first were probably erected sometime in the mid-12th century<ref name="Unesco"/>), the monumental ones emerged somewhere around 1360, those with visual representations around 1435–1477, and that total production ended circa 1505.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=6}}{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=322}} However, some consider that it lasted until the late 16th century, with rare examples that continued until the 18th century.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=244}} Stećci in the form of a chest (''sanduk'') and ridge/saddle-roofed (''sljemenjak'') do not seem to have appeared before the middle or the end of the 14th century (1353-1477{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=176}}), while the remaining two basic forms – the upright pillar (''stup'') and cross (''krstača'' / ''križina''), no earlier than mid-15th century. In the case of the latter, upright or standing forms could be influenced by but also influence the ''nišan'' – the upright monolithic stones on top of Muslim (Turkish) graves–during [[stećak to nišan transition]] period, which had already emerged by the end of the 14th century in conquered parts of Macedonia and Serbia.{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=321}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=69–71}} This form is predominantly found in Serbia and Eastern Bosnia.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=244}}

The initial stage of their development, which included simple recumbent plates or slabs isn't specific to the region, but it is of broad West Mediterranean origin, and as such the term ''stećak'' (implying the chest and ridge form) is misleading for all tombstone forms. The slabs were typical for a kind of burial in the West Mediterranean world of the 14th and 15th centuries, which had a special method of production and ornamentation in the Balkans, customized according to the stonemasonry skills and microenvironment.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=326}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=71, 176, 368–369}} They were initially made by the feudal nobility who wanted to affirm individual prestige and power, sometimes also decorated with their coat of arms,{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=71, 176, 368–369}} while later this tradition was embraced and adopted by other social classes like the [[Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina|Vlachs]] who experienced socioeconomic growth and almost exclusively built them from the mid-15th century on.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=72, 176, 225}}{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=118}}

===Decorations===
{{quote box|width=18%|align=right|quote="I have for long lain here, and for much longer shall I lie"; "I was born into a great joy and I died into a great sorrow"; "I was nothing then, I am nothing now"; "You will be like I, and I can not be like you"; "May he who topples this stone be cursed" |source=— Some translated examples of inscriptions.{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=121}}{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=249}}}}A fraction of stećci (384{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=73}}) bear inscriptions, mostly in [[Cyrillic]], some in [[Glagolitic alphabet|Glagolitic]] and [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] script. The observed [[Shtokavian]] dialect of [[Dialects of Serbo-Croatian|Serbo-Croatian]] has some archaic phrases, mainly characterized by [[Serbo-Croatian#Division by jat reflex|Ikavian]] while toward the end by Ikavian-Ijekavian [[yat]] reflex.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=248}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=180}} The inscriptions can be roughly divided into those of: religious phrase, description of heroic death, information of the deceased, information of the deceased's relatives and circumstances of death, information with only a personal name (sometimes with smith-pupil name), and a moral (or religious) lesson.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=128–201, 371}} The last are mostly brazen reminders of wisdom and mortality, relay a dread of death, more anxiety than peace.{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=121}}

The most remarkable feature is their decorative motifs roughly divided into six groups which complement each other: social symbols, religious symbols, images of posthumous [[Kolo (dance)|kolo]], figural images, clear ornaments, and unclassified motifs (mostly symbolic, geometrical, or damaged).{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=369}} Many of them remain enigmatic to this day; [[spiral]]s, arcades, [[Rosette (design)|rosettes]], [[Vine|vine leaves and grapes]], [[lilium]], stars (often six-pointed) and [[Crescent|crescent Moon]]s are among the images that appear. Figural images include processions of [[deer]], [[horse]], dancing the kolo, [[hunting]], chivalric tournaments, and, most famously, the image of a [[man]] with his right hand raised, perhaps in a gesture of [[fealty]].{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=322}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2014|pp=73–122}}

A series of visual representations on the tombstones can not be simplistically interpreted as real scenes from the life, and symbolic explanations are still considered by scholarship.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=251}} The shield on the tombstones, usually with the crossbar, crescent and star, cannot be a coat of arms, neither can the stylized lilium be used in the heraldic sense. On one stećak a tied lion is displayed and above him a winged dragon. In 1979, historian Hadžijahić noted that the horsemen are not riding with [[rein]]s, yet (if they are not hunting) their hands are free and pointed to the sky, implying possible cult significance.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=328}} In 1985, Maja Miletić noted the symbolic and religious character of the stećak scenes.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=329}} All the "life scenes" are considered to be part of a ceremonial.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=334}} Several scholars concluded that the motifs, as well the tradition of a posthumous cult, show mixing of Romanized [[Illyrians]] and [[Early Slavs]] traditions with Christianity.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|pp=329–335}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=61, 71, 78, 92–93, 120–121, 146, 208, 269, 283, 347}} [[Alojz Benac]] noted that the displays of a sole horse with a snake, as well a sole deer with a bird, symbolize the soul of the deceased going to the otherworld, which representations resemble those found on [[Iapodian]] artefacts.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|pp=332–333}} The Illyrian god ''[[Paleo-Balkan mythology#Illyrian|Medaurus]]'' is described as riding on horseback and carrying a lance.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=333}}

[[File:Radimlje, bogumil nekropolisz sírkő 7.JPG|thumb|200px|The sacral motif of deer is considered to be of [[Paleo-Balkan mythology|Paleo-Balkan]] and pre-Christian origin.]]

Of all the animals, the deer is the most represented, and mostly is found on stećci in Herzegovina.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=332}} According to [[Dragoslav Srejović]], the spread of Christianity did not cause the disappearance of the old cult and belief in sacred deer.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=331}} Wenzel considered that it led the deceased to the [[underworld]].{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=251}} Historian [[Šefik Bešlagić]] synthesized the representations of deer: sometimes accompanied by a bird (often on the back or horns), cross or lilium, frequently are shown series of deer or doe, as well with a bow and arrow, dog and hunter(s) with a spear or sword (often on a horse). It is displayed in hunting scenes, as well as some kolo processions led by a man who is riding a deer.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|pp=328–329}} There scenes where deer calmly approach the hunter, or deer with enormous size and sparse horns.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=329}} Most of the depictions of "deer hunting" are facing [[west]], which had the symbolic meaning for death and the otherworld. In numerous hunting scenes, in only one deer is wounded (the stećak has some anomalies), indicating an unrealistic meaning. In [[Roman art|Roman]] and [[Parthian art|Parthian]]-[[Sasanian art|Sasanian]] art, hunted animals are mortally wounded, and the deer is only one of many, while on stećci it is the only hunted animal.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=336}}

[[File:Stećci, Risovac, Bosnia and Herzegoivna II.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Two stećci with motifs of [[Kolo (dance)|kolo]]]]

The motifs of a ''kolo'' (in total 132{{sfn|Lovrenović|2014|p=91}}) procession, along with deer, and its specific direction of dancing, although not always easily identifiable, show it is a mortal dance compared to a cheerful one. In Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina so-called ''Ljeljenovo kolo'',{{refn|group="nb"|See [[spring procession of Ljelje/Kraljice]] in Croatia with swords and flowers, similarly danced by [[Vlachs in medieval Serbia|Vlachs]] east of [[Beograd]] at the day of [[Pentecost]].{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=334}} The etymological and cultural relation of ''jelen'' (deer), ''Ljelja'' and ''Ljeljo'' which are children of [[Perun]], as well flower ''ljiljan'' (lilium) also called as ''perunika'' is still to be confirmed.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=335}} [[Ivo Pilar]] noted that the use of name ''Ljeljen'' for hills in toponymy of Herzegovina and Eastern Bosnia is common.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|pp=331–332}}}} with ''ljeljen'' local name for ''jelen'' (deer) implying ''jelenovo kolo'', is danced by making the gate of the raised hand and the ringleader of these gates tries to pull all kolo dancers through them until the kolo is entangled, after that, playing in the opposite direction, until the kolo is unravelled. Its origin is in a mortuary ritual guiding the soul to another world and the meaning of the renewal of life.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=334}}

{{multiple image
| width             = 120
| footer            = The [[Star and crescent|crescent moon and star(s)]] are a very common motif on  stećak tombstones.
| image1            = Stećak u Baljvinama.jpg
| image2            = Krupac – Stećci (03).jpg
}}

The vast regional, but scarce (usually only one) in-graveyard distribution mostly in the center or some notable position of cross-type stećci (''križine''), and their almost exclusive ornament of the crescent Moon and stars, could indicate a cemetery label for specific (pagan) religious affiliation. The symbolism of the Moon and stars (Sun), which are often found on them, could be traced to a combination of pagan and Christian beliefs, {{sfn|Lovrenović|2014|pp=80–81}} six-pointed star represent [[Venus]] (in Slavic mythology called Danica) and the Moon could represent "astral marriage",{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=250}} or even [[Mithraism]] which had and old [[Mazdak]]ism belief that the dead body goes to the Moon and the soul goes to the Sun,{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=42}} while some considered a connection between astral symbols with the position of celestial bodies at the time of death.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2014|p=81}}

===Carving===
They were carved by a ''kovač'' / ''klesar'' (smith, mason; in Latin ''faber'', "master"{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=369}}), while the inscriptions, probably as a template, were compiled by ''dijak'' / ''pisar'' (pupil, scribe). Currently 33 personal names of masons are known, among whom the most notable is Grubač due to his skills and being both a mason and scribe. He made four stećci in Boljuni and four stećci in Opličići near [[Stolac]].{{sfn|Lovrenović|2014|p=86}} The most notable scribe was Semorad who also worked around Stolac. It is believed that the masons studied the craft in Dalmatia and Ragusa, and those from the hinterland learned from them.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=247}}

Stećci were mostly carved out of huge blocks, mostly of [[limestone]]. The location in the vicinity of a quarry was most significant for the cemetery. Some stećci weighed more than 29 [[tonnes]], and it is supposed they were transported by horse or ox carriage and the heaviest with a combination of sledges and flat billets. They were placed directly above the pit, often in cardinal direction west–east, therefore so were the deceased. Seemingly it was related to the [[Sun path]] and was of importance that the dead watch the rising Sun.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=245}}

Stećci in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be roughly divided into two stonemasonry schools: Herzegovian (sarcophagi with arcades, figurative scenes, a wealth of motifs) and East Bosnian (sarcophagi in the form of chalets, floral motives).{{sfn|Mužić|2009|pp=327, 336}} The former had schools on the territory of Herzegovina, with the center being around [[Stolac]], in the area of [[Trebinje]] and [[Bileća]], [[Gacko]] and [[Nevesinje]]. The fourth workshop was in the area of [[Konjic]], while the fifth around [[Široki Brijeg|Lištica]]. The stonemasons center in Western Bosnia was between [[Kupres]] and [[Duvno]], in Central Bosnia around [[Travnik]], while in Eastern Bosnia there were four workshops, one between [[Kladanj]], [[Olovo]] and [[Ilijaš]], the second around [[Zvornik]], the third in [[Ludmer]], and the fourth around [[Rogatica]].{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=372}}

[[File:Stećak ploča.JPG|thumb|200px|A slab stećak at Cista Velika]]
In Croatia there were supposedly two workshops, one in Cista Velika, and the other in Čepikuće.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=247}} A local characteristic of stećci in the territory around [[Cetina]] river in [[Croatia]] is their rare ornateness, of which only 8-10% have simple decoration.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=40}}{{sfn|Milošević|2013|p=91}} Those from upper Cetina are smaller and by type and style relate to those from Knin and [[Livno]], while those from mid Cetina are more monumental.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=61}} Specific plate stećci were found in the village Bitelić which are decorated with an identical geometric ornament, not found in [[Dalmatia]] nor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however by the nature of the ornament and surface treatment is considered a possible connection with several monuments near the Church of St. Peter in [[Nikšić]], [[Montenegro]].{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=40}}{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=323}}

In Montenegro they could have existed around [[Nikšić]] and in [[Glisnica, Montenegro|Glisnica]] and [[Vaškovo]] in [[Pljevlja Municipality]]. According to Bešlagić, in Serbia there were seemingly no specific centers, while masons were arriving from Bosnia and Herzegovina.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=247}}

==Origin==
There are different and still inconclusive theories on their cultural-artistic, religious and ethnic affiliation.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=7}}{{sfn|Trako|2011|pp=71–72, 73–74}} According to a common thesis, especially represented by Bešlagić, stećci are an original Bosnian-Herzegovinian cultural-artistic medieval phenomenon.{{sfn|Zorić|1984|p=208}} Some scholars like [[Milovan Gavazzi]] (1978) examined a much broader context, and considered their connection to [[megalith]]ic tradition of the region and Eurasia from the prehistoric and contemporary periods.{{sfn|Zorić|1984|pp=207–211}} Some scholars considered that the ''chest'' form could have been inspired by [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] and [[Gothic architecture|Gothic houses]] from coastal cities, while the ''ridge'' form by medieval Christian [[sarcophagus]] or local Bosnian wooden houses.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=244}} According to Lovrenović's synthesis it is part of a wider West Mediterranean origin and affiliation.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=42–43}} It is established that they are mainly related to mountainous places which became deserted over a period of time because of migrations caused by new social events and the [[Ottoman occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Ottoman occupation]].{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=42–43}}

===Religion===
Since the middle of the 19th century, specifically the 1875 thesis by [[Arthur Evans]],{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=75}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=33, 367}} many scholars including [[Alexander Soloviev (historian)|Alexander Soloviev]], Kosta Hörmann and [[Ćiro Truhelka]] have initially argued that they were related to the origin of the [[Bosnian Church]] i.e. [[Bogomilism|Bogomils]] or other [[Dualistic cosmology|dualist]] groups.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=7}}{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=322}} Others have asserted that the church was actually founded by [[Franciscan|Franciscan friars]] from the [[Catholic Church]].{{sfn|Fine|2007|p=}} However, Benac noted that the stećci were not built in the  [[First Bulgarian Empire]] and that in Central Bosnia, where the centers of the [[Bosnian Kingdom|Kingdom of Bosnia]] and the [[Bosnian Church]] were, were built in smaller numbers, as well as a higher number of stećci in poor condition, but also of older date.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=327}} The exclusive relation between stećci and Bogomils was propagated from the late 19th century due to political and ideological reasons, like by [[Béni Kállay]] and Austro-Hungarian authorities who promoted post-Ottoman and pan-Bosnian identity since the 1878 [[Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Austro-Hungarian occupation]],{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=242}}<ref name="Textbook">{{cite book |author1=Ronelle Alexander |author2=Ellen Elias-Bursac |title=Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook: With Exercises and Basic Grammar |date=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BziI02At36UC |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |page=270 |isbn=978-0299236540}}</ref> rather than scientific reasons.{{sfn|Kužić|2001|p=273}} It was already questioned in 1899 by Kosta Hörmann, the first director of [[National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina]]. For almost a century it was a predominant theory in international historiography.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=35, 367}}

Since the mid-20th century many scholars like [[Marian Wenzel]],{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=368}} once the world's leading authority on the art and artifacts of medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2002/mar/05/arts.guardianobituaries |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Marian Wenzel | date=March 5, 2002 |access-date=May 24, 2010 |first=Anthea |last=Brook}}</ref> concluded that the stećci tombstones were a common tradition amongst Catholic, Orthodox and Bosnian Church followers alike.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=38–43}}<ref name="WM"/> Wenzel's conclusion supported other historians' claims that they reflect a regional cultural phenomenon rather than belonging to a particular religious faith.<ref name="Textbook"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Fine |first=John V. A. |author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr. |title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest |year=1991 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0472081497 |page=486}}</ref> Sometimes the inscriptions/motifs do reveal the confessional affiliation of the necropolis/deceased to one of the three Church organizations in medieval Bosnia and Zachlumia.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=253}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=373}} This interconfessionality of stećci is one of their most remarkable features, and indicates a  high degree of [[Christianization]] of the medieval Bosnian community.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=373}} However, it is believed that there is not enough basis to be perceived as exclusively Christian.{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=80}}

[[Christian Gottlob Wilke]] sought origins of the symbolic motifs in old Mediterranean spiritual and religious concepts. Đuro Basler saw some parallels in the artistic expression of late [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] art, while symbolic motifs are divided into three components; pre-Christian, Christian and [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] (i.e. Bogomil).{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=7}} Bešlagić asserted that those who have raised and decorated them were not completely Christianized because they practiced the old custom of putting accessories with the dead, and many artefacts made of metals, textiles, ceramics and skin, coins, earrings of silver, gilded silver and solid gold have been found in graves beneath stećci.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=338}} The customs like placing a coin in the mouth ([[Charon's obol]]),{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=245}} and placing a drinking vessel near graves and heads, are from ancient times.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=338}} Tomb pits were mostly used for one burial, but sometimes were also used for two or more burials. Based on one stećak inscription in Montenegro, Bešlagić argued that there was a pre-Christian custom of re-burial, in which the bones were washed and returned to the pit.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|pp=245–246}}

===Ethnic origin===
The ethnic identity of stećci has not yet been fully clarified. Until now the most dominant, but still not widely accepted,{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=327}} theory relates them with the [[Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina|Vlach]] community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=322}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=225}}{{sfn|Kurtović|2013|p=2}} Criticism of the theory argues that the monuments in original form weren't specific to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and were initially made by the feudal nobility and only in later stages embraced by the [[Vlach|Vlachs]]. The Vlach population was so small, were profane and isolated, that the Vlachs in the Late Middle Ages were mostly a social-professional rather than an ethnic class, and that the mythological symbols are related to Old Slavic rather than "Vlach" pagan beliefs.{{sfn|Bešlagić|1982|p=525}}{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=252}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=225}}

Bešlagić and others related them to the formation of the Bosnian Kingdom and especially [[Bogomils]]; however, the drawback of this theory is the fact that the Bosnian Kingdom's existence was presumably too short for a change in folk tradition, the Bosnian Church existed later and ended sooner than stećci, the Bosnian Church's area of influence can not be explained in coastal and Serbian lands, other Bogomils did not build them, many necropolises are located around contemporary church ruins as well as some stećci were secondarily embedded around churches and mosques,{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=48}} and that the Bogomils did not respect the symbol of the [[Christian cross|cross]], yet on the stećci it is very common.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=252}} Gradually it was "dismantled and discarded".{{sfn|Malcolm|1995|p=30–31}}

Some other scholars proposed unconvincing theories; [[Ivo Pilar]] (1918) ideologically argued the Croatian origin of medieval Bosnia,{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=37–38}} later [[Dominik Mandić]] considered them to be part of the ritual of the burial by the pagan Croats from the [[Red Croatia]], Ante Škobalj similarly argued the Croatian theory.{{sfn|Purgarić-Kužić|1995|p=252}} Non-monumentals around Cetina were identified as being Croats while monumental ones as being settled Vlachs.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=52}} Vaso Glušac ideologically argued Serbian-Orthodox origin of both the Bosnian Church and stećci,{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=37}} while Vladislav Skarić considered they have represented the Old Slavic "eternal home", and that they initially were built from wood.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=7}} [[Vladimir Ćorović]] pointed out that the "Old Slavs had not used monoliths or larger blocks of stone to make their dwellings, let alone for their graves, even less so for their writings or decorations".{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=332}}

====Vlachs====
{{see also|Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Bosnia Bogomil Tombstone 1901.jpg|thumb|250px|A broken stećak depicted by [[Hugo Charlemont]], 1901. This appears to be the same stećak which is now exhibited at the [[National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (see image above)]]
The "autochthonous" Vlach theory was proposed by Bogumil Hrabak (1956) and Marian Wenzel (1962). However, the theory is much older and was first proposed by [[Arthur Evans]] in his work ''Antiquarian Researches in Illyricum'' (1883).{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=322}} While doing research with [[Felix von Luschan]] on stećak graves around [[Konavle]] he estimated that a large number of skulls weren't of Slavic origin yet similar to older "Illyrian" peoples, as well noted that [[Dubrovnik]] memorials recorded those parts to be inhabited by the Vlachs until the 15th century.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=322}} A study of inscriptions on the tombstones showed that individuals from Vlach tribes (like Vlahovići, Pliščići, Predojevići, Bobani, and Drobnjaci) were also buried beneath stećak graves.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kurtović |first1=Esad |date=2020 |title=Vlachs and Stećak Tombstones |url=https://ff.unsa.ba/subds/ejournals/index.php/radovihhua/article/view/159 |journal=Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=59–71 |doi=10.46352/23036974.2020.2.59 |access-date=5 December 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Hrabak was the first scholar to connect the historical documents and their relation to the persons mentioned on rare inscriptions on  stećci. In 1953 he concluded that the smith-stonemason Grubač from Boljun necropolis near [[Stolac]] built a stećak of Bogovac not later than 1477, and that most of the monuments of Herzegovinian Vlachs, and not only Herzegovinian and not only Vlachs,{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=118}} could be dated to the second half of the 15th century.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=322}} Wenzel in one of her studies researched sixteen stećci with similar dating and historically known persons. She noted the possibility that initially the stone monuments as such could have been introduced by the feudal nobility in the mid-14th century, whose tradition was embraced by the Vlach tribes who introduced figural decoration.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=322}}{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=118}} Wenzel related the end of stećak production to the Ottoman invasion and new social circumstances, with the transition of Vlachs and near Slavs to Islam resulting with the loss of tribal organization and characteristics of specific ethnic identity.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=8}}{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=322}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=231}}

[[Sima Ćirković]] (1964) and [[Marko Vego]] (1973) argued that the emergence of stećci among Vlachs coincides with their social-economical rise, which had been confirmed in the region of [[Zachlumia]] where the most well known necropolis of [[Radimlja]] related to the Vlach family Miloradović-Stjepanović from genus Hrabreni is located. Financial possibilities of ordering such expensive ways of burials among Vlachs are supported and confirmed in historical documents, with an example of a Vlach from Cetina, Ostoja Bogović, who in 1377 paid the cost of a burial of a Vlach Priboja Papalić for 40 [[Lira|libra]]. At the time a burial in [[Split, Croatia|Split]] costed 4-8 libra, while for a sum of 40 libra a family grave in the church of Franciscan order in [[Šibenik]] could be bought.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=45}}{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=323}}

Benac concluded that the distribution of stećci in the lands at the right Cetina riverbank, in the parts of Dalmatian [[Zagora (Croatia)|Zagora]], while they are absent in the lands left of the river (with graveyards along Early Middle Age churches), show these tombstones in those parts belonged to the Vlach communities.{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=321}} The triangle between [[Šibenik]], [[Trogir]] and [[Knin]], as well as the surroundings of [[Vrlika]] and [[Trilj]], which were the main centers of Vlachs, have the most number of stećci in Dalmatia.{{sfn|Milošević|2013|p=90}} In 1982, Benac noted that the highest concentration of them is in South Herzegovina (territory of [[Trebinje]], [[Bileća]], [[Ljubinj]] and [[Stolac]]), where there had been a high concentration of Vlachs. Some of the stećci inscriptions (by anthroponyms) clearly relate them to some Vlach chieftains; Tarah Boljunović from Boljun-Stolac, Vukosav Vlaćević from [[Vlahovići, Ljubinje|Vlahovići]]-Lubinje, Hrabreni and Miloradović in Radimlja-Stolac,{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=323}} as well as other distinctive members from Vlach groups like Bobani, Pliščići, Predojevići, [[Drobnjaci]]{{sfn|Kurtović|2015|p=316}} and to such chieftains belong finest monuments.{{sfn|Kurtović|2013|p=12}}

The occurrence of stećci in the Cetina county is related to the [[Nelipić noble family]] efforts to return economic and political power, who had [[Knin]] confiscated in 1345 by king [[Louis I of Hungary]] in exchange for [[Sinj]] and Cetina county. They thrived with the support from the Vlachs, who for their service were rewarded with benefits and common [[Vlach law]].{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=40}} After many conflicts and the death of the last noble Nelipić, then [[Ivan Frankopan]], Vlachs supported [[Stjepan Vukčić Kosača]].{{sfn|Milošević|1991|pp=52–53}} The ridge stećci of ''Dalmatian type'' can be found only in regions of Dalmatia and Southwestern Bosnia, parts ruled by the [[Kosača noble family]]. It was in his interest to settle militant and well-organized Vlachs in the riskiest parts of his realm, to defend from Talovac forces in Cetina and Venetian forces in [[Republic of Poljica|Poljica]] and the coast. Thus the Dalmatian type is found only to the west and south of the Kosača capital [[Imotski]], and later also the north after the [[Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Fall of Bosnia]].{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=54}} Archeologically, some Middle Age burials from Cetina county have local specifics by which Cetina county differs from other parts of Dalmatia. In the county, the burials were not done in the ground without additional stone architecture. Some scholars related this phenomenon to the specific ethnic identity; however, due to still groundbreaking research, for now, it is considered only a regional and narrow local occurrence.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=35}}

Anthropological research in 1982 on skeletons from 108 stećak graves (13th-14th century) from Raška Gora near [[Mostar]], as well some from [[Grborezi]] near [[Livno]], have shown homogeneity, with clean [[Dinaric race|Dinaric]] anthropological type, without other admixtures, presumably indicating an autochthonous Vlach population of non-Slavic origin.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=323}} The research of 11 skeletons from the necropolis at Pavlovac near [[Prača (Pale-Prača)|Prača]], often attributed to the [[Pavlović noble family]], also have shown clean Dinaric type, indicating Vlach origin, although historical sources do not call Pavlovići as Vlachs.{{sfn|Mužić|2009|p=326}} The anthropological research in 1991 on the 40 skeletons from 28 burials (dating back to 1440-1450s) beneath stećci at the Poljanice plateau near the village of [[Bisko]] showed that the vast majority of the population belonged to the presumably autochthonous Dinaric type and are of non-Slavic origin.{{sfn|Cebotarev|1996|p=322}} 21 skeletons belonged to children, while out of 19 adult skeletons, 13 belonged to males.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=35}} The [[quarry]] for stećci was found in the Northwestern part of the plateau, with one ridge being semi-finished work without any ornament.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=37}} Although autochthonous Vlach origin has been argued since Illyrian times it rather shows the continuation of the process of Dinarization and assimilation of Slavs, a characteristic which could be general and not ethnic.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=363}} The Dinaric ethnic type is also common in other parts of Europe especially [[Ukraine]] and was perceived by some as a Slavic type besides the fact that such [[racial anthropology]] terminology and methodology is of scientifically highly dubious accuracy and relevancy today.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Race|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]] |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CR%5CA%5CRace.htm |year=1993|author=Ihor Masnyk}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Górny |first=Maciej |date=2019 |chapter=Racial Anthropology on the Eastern Front, 1912 to the mid-1920s |title=National Races: Transnational Power Struggles in the Sciences and Politics of Human Diversity, 1840-1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxieDwAAQBAJ |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |pages=279, 283 |isbn=9781496215840}}</ref> Archaeological artifacts are even more inconclusive because they don't differenate them from graves without tombstones.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=363–364}} In 2019 and 2021 studies of late medieval stećak archaeological necropolises Kopošići near [[Ilijaš]] and [[Divičani]] near [[Jajce]], six samples belonged to the Y-DNA haplogroup [[Haplogroup I-M438#I2a-L621|I2a1b3]] and one to [[Haplogroup R1a|R1a]], showing continuity between medieval and modern Bosnian and Herzegovinian population.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kalajdžić | first1 = A | last2 = Džehverović | first2 = M | last3 = Bujak | first3 = E | last4 = Pilav | first4 = A | last5 = Čakar | first5 = J | display-authors = etal | year = 2019 | title = Prediction of Y haplogroup in analysis of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina | journal = Genetics & Applications | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | page = 50 | url = https://www.genapp.ba/index.php/genapp/issue/view/6 | access-date = 2022-08-02 | archive-date = 2022-10-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221006202245/https://www.genapp.ba/index.php/genapp/issue/view/6 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Džehverović | first1 = M | last6 = Čakar | first6 = J | last2 = Bujak | first2 = E | last3 = Pilav | first3 = A | last4 = Jusic | first4 = B | last5 = Pojskic | first5 = N | display-authors = etal | year = 2021 | url = https://genubih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Mirela-Dzehverovic-GA-1.pdf | title = DNA Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains From The Medieval Necropoles in Bosnia and Herzegovina | journal = Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | doi=10.1080/13102818.2020.1871545| s2cid = 232059571 }}</ref><ref name="Dzehverovic"/> Two of the decorated skeletal remains could indicate identity of the Bosnian noblemen Mirko Radojević and his son [[Batić Mirković]] who served the Bosnian King [[Tvrtko I]].<ref name="Dzehverovic">{{cite journal | last1 = Džehverović | first1 = M | last2 = Čakar | first2 = J | last3 = Bujak | first3 = E | last4 = Pilav | first4 = A | last5 = Ramic | first5 = J | last6 = Kalajdžić | first6 = A | last7 = Pojskic | first7 = N | display-authors = etal | year = 2021 | title = DNA analysis of skeletal remains of an important historical figure from the period of mediaeval Bosnia | journal = International Journal of Osteoarchaeology | volume = 31 | issue = 5 | pages = 857–865 | doi=10.1002/oa.3002| s2cid = 236265288 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
One of their enigmas is the fact they were not mentioned in local or foreign medieval documents. Franciscan chronicles which recorded many unusual things, like Turkish cemeteries, did not mention them.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=30–32}} Folk tradition preserved a mythical perception full of superstitions and fantasy tales. This implies the occurred discontinuity of historical memory among all three ethnic groups, caused by ethnic migrations and religious conversions during the Ottoman occupation.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=31}} It is considered that the first [[Travel literature|itinerary]] mention of stećci was by [[Benedikt Kuripešić]] from 1530.{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=75}} [[Evliya Çelebi]] in 1626 described them as tombstone monuments of some unknown heroes.{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=75}} The oldest local author to mention them is [[Andrija Kačić Miošić]] in the mid-18th century.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=30}} [[Alberto Fortis]] in his work ''Travels into Dalmatia'' (1774) recorded them in the [[Romanticist]] spirit of that time, describing the tombstones in Cetina as warrior graves of giants.{{sfn|Milošević|1991|p=39}}{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=75}} They also attracted attention by [[Aleksander Antoni Sapieha]], [[Ami Boué]], Otto Blau, [[John Gardner Wilkinson]] and Heinrich Sterneck.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=30}}
[[File:Steccak belgrade.jpg|thumb|250px|A stećak in front of the [[Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade|Ethnographic Museum]], [[Belgrade]]]]

Since the second half of the 19th century, stećci are seen as a symbol of Bosnia and Herzegovina,<ref name="Textbook"/> being objects of South Slavic ideological ethno-national building myths and ownership,{{sfn|Buturovic|2016|p=115}} as well as different opinions on their archaeological, artistic and historical interpretation.<ref name="Unesco2016"/> The [[breakup of Yugoslavia]] and the [[Bosnian War]] (1992–1995) caused a resurgence of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian nationalism, in which all three ethnic groups tried to appropriate them as part of their own culture exclusively. Paradoxically, none of these groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ([[Bosniaks]], [[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Serbs]] and [[Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Croats]]), originally remember stećci in their collective consciousness, leaving them to deteriorate in nature or to human carelessness and destruction which at least halved the number of stećci.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=36}} This attitude alone implies how such appropriation is based on an ideological construct.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=28–38, 368}} According to [[Marian Wenzel]] one of the three pervasive ethno-national ideological constructs, specifically the thesis about the Bogomil origin of stećci, dates as far back as the last decade of the 19th century when it had been put forward by the [[Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Austria-Hungarian]] bureaucracy, namely by a member of the Hungarian parliament Janos von Asboth, in correlation to a similar thesis on the origin of Muslim inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina as descendants of the Bogomils.<ref name="osvrt-tri-knjige-wenzel-kojic-1980">{{cite journal |author1=Kojić Lj. |author2=Wenzel M. |title=Austro-Ugarska i nauka o bogumilskim stećcima: osvrt na tri inostrane knjige o stećcima |journal=Starinar |date=1980 |issue=XXXI |page=209 |publisher=Arheološki institut |location=Beograd}}</ref><ref name="bosnian-style-wenzel-1999">{{cite book |author=Marian Wenzel |author-link1=Marian Wenzel |title=Bosnian Style on tombstones and metal |date=1999 |publisher=Sarajevo-Publishing |location=Sarajevo |isbn=9958211068 |page=175 |edition=Biblioteka Kulturno nasljeđe BiH |chapter=False History of Bosnia}}</ref> Such distortion of history will later attract criticism by scholars like Wenzel, who stated that through this particular example Austria-Hungarian authority practically delivered stećci "as a gift to Muslims, emphasizing their inheritance rights to the land and implying that the later Christians, comparatively, were the 'newcomers'".<ref name="bosnian-style-wenzel-1999"/>{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=35}} During the war of the 1990s this theory would again have its resurgence in media and public discourse, seeking the historical-political legitimacy in which Islamization of the local Bosnian and Herzegovinan populace was not only caused by the Ottoman occupation but also by ingrained religious idiosyncrasy, epitomized in Bogomilsm, thus affirming the ethnic and confessional differences between the Bogomil, Catholic and Orthodox populations.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=43–46}} However, it did not make a significant influence on the scientific thinking nor the scholarship and comparative research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor elsewhere.{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|pp=46–48}}

Europe's first public presentation of stećci is attributed to the Polish-born Russian immigrant and Yugoslav diplomat, [[Alexander Soloviev (historian)|Alexander Soloviev]] (1890–1971). He wrote about them in the accompanying prospectus of the Paris exhibition "Medieval Art of the People of Yugoslavia" (1950).{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=75}} The first regional public presentation was held in 2008 at [[Klovićevi Dvori Gallery]], and represented an example of encouraging public dialogue between the four nations.{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=79}} Stećci have influenced different art forms and were an inspirational theme for sculptors, painters, poets, filmmakers, writers and photographers.<ref name="Unesco2016"/>

==Protection==
[[File:Grd3.jpg|thumb|250px|The inscription on the [[Grd of Trebinje Tablet|stećak of Grdeša]] from the 12th century, considered the oldest one found{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=62}}]]

=== Notable stećci ===
Stećci are commonly concentrated in groups: in cemeteries of individual families with few specimens, in cemeteries of whole families with approximately 30 up to 50 specimens, big necropolises of rural [[Opština|districts]] occasionally with several hundred specimens. Examples of family necropolises are those from the [[Sanković noble family]] in the village of Biskup near [[Konjic]], from the Miloradović-Stjepanović noble family (Hrabreni) in [[Radimlja]] near [[Stolac]], from the [[Pavlović noble family]] near [[Sarajevo]], and from an unknown family at Donja Zgošća near [[Kakanj]].{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=372}} Today many Stećci are also displayed in the yard of the [[National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] in Sarajevo. The medieval [[Mramorje (Perućac)|Mramorje]] necropolis in [[Serbia]] is part of the [[Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)|Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance]] and contains a large number of stećak tombs.<ref name="SANU" >{{CHS-SANU|Link=525|Name=Некропола стећака}}</ref> Some other notable or studied individual stećci:
* It is believed that the oldest known stećak is that of [[Grdeša]], a 12th-century [[župan]] of [[Trebinje]].{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=74}}{{sfn|Lovrenović|2013|p=63}}
* It is believed that the oldest known stećak with an inscription is that of Marija, the wife of the priest Dabiživ, with an inscribed number and presumed year — 1231, from Vidoštak near Stolac.{{sfn|Trako|2011|p=74}}
* Certain Vlatko Vuković's grave, often confused with the Grand Duke of Bosnia, lies marked near the village of Boljuni near [[Stolac]], Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the late 14th century. The inscription on the grave was written in [[Bosnian Cyrillic]] in [[Ikavian]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Šimić|first=Marinka|title=Jezik Boljunskih Natpisa|url=http://www.post.ba/download/boljuni.pdf|publisher=Staroslavenski institut}}</ref>
* The two ridge stećci which belonged to Jerko Kustražić and his wife Vladna from the mid 15th century, in [[Cista Provo|Cista]] near [[Imotski]], and [[Split, Croatia]]{{sfn|Milošević|1991|pp=54, 62}}
* The ridge stećak of Vlkoj Bogdanić (son of Radmil) who died in battle in the mid 15th century, made by the mason Jurina, in [[Lovreć]], Croatia{{sfn|Milošević|1991|pp=54, 62}}

===UNESCO locations===
{{location map+ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|relief =1 |float=right |width=320 |caption=Locations of the UNESCO World Heritage sites "Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards") |places=
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.092214 |long=17.924053 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.496667 |long=18.121667 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.313194 |long=18.196472 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.836944 |long=18.884458 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=44.050459 |long=17.675109 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.663222 |long=17.543056 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.557667 |long=18.438333 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=42.904583 |long=18.464444 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.129139 |long=17.593611 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=44.287778 |long=18.647778 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=44.118312 |long=18.532251 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.682599 |long=18.759450 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.027883 |long=17.874822 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.654709 |long=18.237364 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.957872 |long=18.842903 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.109961 |long=18.128956 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=44.327803 |long=18.844939 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.390275 |long=18.943053 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.420786 |long=18.402011 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.863308 |long=17.312658 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}

{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.515356 |long=16.927194 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=42.541783 |long=18.422381 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}

{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.094817 |long=19.149183 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.100127 |long=19.166691 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.341717 |long=18.850121 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}

{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.957778 |long=19.430278 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.945833 |long=19.353611 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
{{location map~ |Bosnia and Herzegovina|lat=43.298889 |long=19.624444 |label= |position=bottom |mark= }}
}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! ID
! Name
! Location
! Coordinates
|-
| 1504-001
| [[Radimlja]]
| [[Stolac]] ([[Bosnia and Herzegovina]])
| {{coord|43|05|32|N|17|55|27|E|name=Radimlja}}
|-
| 1504-002
| [[Grčka Glavica necropolis|Grčka Glavica]]
| Biskup, [[Konjic]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|29|48|N|18|07|18|E|name=Biskup}}
|-
| 1504-003
| Kalufi
| [[Krekovi]], [[Nevesinje]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|18|48|N|18|11|47|E|name=Krekovi}}
|-
| 1504-004
| [[Borak necropolis|Borak]]
| Burati, [[Rogatica]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|50|13|N|18|53|04|E|name=Borak}}
|-
| 1504-005
| Maculje
| [[Novi Travnik]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|44|03|02|N|17|40|30|E|name=Maculje}}
|-
| 1504-006
| Dugo polje
| [[Blidinje]], [[Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina|Jablanica]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|39|48|N|17|32|35|E|name=Dugo polje}}
|-
| 1504-007
| Gvozno
| [[Kalinovik]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|33|28|N|18|26|18|E|name=Gvozno}}
|-
| 1504-008
| Grebnice in Radmilovića Dubrava,
| [[Baljci (Bileca)|Baljci]], [[Bileća]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|42|54|17|N|18|27|52|E|name=Grebnice}}
|-
| 1504-009
| [[Bijača]]
| [[Ljubuški]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|07|45|N|17|35|37|E|name=Bijača}}
|-
| 1504-010
| Olovci
| [[Kladanj]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|44|17|16|N|18|38|52|E|name=Olovci}}
|-
| 1504-011
| Mramor
| Musići, [[Olovo]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|45|06|26|N|18|31|15|E|name=Mramor}}
|-
| 1504-012
| Kučarin
| Hrančići, [[Goražde]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|40|57|N|18|45|34|E|name=Kučarin}}
|-
| 1504-013
| Boljuni
| [[Stolac]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|01|40|N|17|52|29|E|name=Boljuni}}
|-
| 1504-014
| Dolovi
| Umoljani, [[Trnovo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Trnovo]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|39|19|N|18|14|13|E|name=Umoljani}}
|-
| 1504-015
| Luburića polje
| [[Sokolac]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|57|28|N|18|50|34|E|name=Luburića polje}}
|-
| 1504-016
| Potkuk
| Bitunja, [[Berkovići]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|06|36|N|18|07|44|E|name=Potkuk}}
|-
| 1504-017
| Bečani
| [[Šekovići]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|44|19|40|N|18|50|42|E|name=Bečani}}
|-
| 1504-018
| Mramor
| Vrbica, [[Foča]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|23|25|N|18|56|35|E|name=Vrbica}}
|-
| 1504-019
| Čengića Bara
| [[Kalinovik]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|25|15|N|18|24|07|E|name=Čengića Bara}}
|-
| 1504-020
| Ravanjska vrata
| [[Kupres]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
| {{coord|43|51|48|N|17|18|46|E|name=Ravanjska vrata}}
|-
| 1504-021
| Velika i Mala Crljivica
| [[Cista Provo|Cista Velika]] ([[Croatia]])
| {{coord|43|30|55|N|16|55|38|E|name=Crljivica}}
|-
| 1504-022
| St. Barbara
| [[Dubravka, Croatia|Dubravka]], [[Konavle]] (Croatia)
| {{coord|42|32|30|N|18|25|21|E|name=Dubravka}}
|-
| 1504-023
| Grčko groblje
| [[Žabljak]] ([[Montenegro]])
| {{coord|43|05|41|N|19|08|57|E|name=Grčko groblje}}
|-
| 1504-024
| Bare Žugića
| [[Žabljak]] (Montenegro)
| {{coord|43|06|00|N|19|10|00|E|name=Bare Žugića}}
|-
| 1504-025
| Grčko groblje
| [[Plužine]] (Montenegro)
| {{coord|43|20|30|N|18|51|00|E|name=Grčko groblje}}
|-
| 1504-026
| [[Mramorje (Perućac)|Mramorje]]
| [[Perućac]], [[Bajina Bašta]] ([[Serbia]])
| {{coord|43|57|28|N|19|25|49|E|name=Perućac}}
|-
| 1504-027
| Mramorje
| Rastište, [[Bajina Bašta]] (Serbia)
| {{coord|43|56|45|N|19|21|13|E|name=Rastište}}
|-
| 1504-028
| Grčko groblje
| Hrta, [[Prijepolje]] (Serbia)
| {{coord|43|17|56|N|19|37|28|E|name=Hrta}}
|}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Radimlja, Nekropola2.JPG|[[Radimlja]] necropolis, Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Radimlje, bogumil nekropolisz sírkő 4.JPG|Radimlja, Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Umoljani stećci.jpg|[[Umoljani]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Stecci - na Blidinji je nekolik skupin techto nahrobku z 14..jpg| Dugo polje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:BiH 2012 - Nécropole Morine (8144142941).jpg|Morine, Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Некропола стећака Велике Гребенице 01.jpg|Velike Grebenice, Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Stecak Zmeljaski Muzej Sarajevo.jpg|[[Sarajevo]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Neum02465.JPG|[[Neum]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Medieval tombstones of Montenegro.png|[[Velimlje]], Montenegro
File:Stecak Baje Pivljanina u Vlasskeho kostela v Cetinji.jpg|[[Cetinje]], Montenegro
File:Stecak village Klenak Montenegro.png|[[Klenak, Montenegro|Klenak]], Montenegro
File:Mramorje 2012 5.JPG|[[Mramorje (Perućac)|Mramorje]], Serbia
File:Stećak lov.jpg|Somewhere in [[Dalmatia]], Croatia
File:Stećak 456.jpg|Somewhere in Dalmatia, Croatia
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="nb"}}

==See also==
* [[Bogomilism]]
* [[Bosnian Church]]
* [[Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
* [[Nada Miletić]]
* [[Khachkar]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

;Sources
{{refbegin}}

* {{cite journal |last=Horvat |first=Anđela |date=1963 |title=Prilog rasprostranjenju stećaka u Liki i Baniji |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/149263 |language=sh |journal=Prilozi Povijesti Umjetnosti U Dalmaciji |volume=15 |issue=1 |publisher=Književni krug Split i Konzervatorski odjel u Splitu |location=Split |pages=26–35}}
* {{cite book |first=Šefik |last=Bešlagić |author-link=Šefik Bešlagić |title=Stećci – kultura i umjetnost |date=1982 |location=Sarajevo |publisher=Veselin Maleša |language=sh}}
* {{cite journal |last=Zorić |first=Damir |date=1984 |title=Prinos problematici stećaka. U povodu knjige Šefik Bešlagić, Stećci – kultura i umjetnost, Sarajevo 1982. |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/57458 |language=sh |journal=Radovi |volume=17 |issue=1 |publisher=Institute of Croatian History |location=Zagreb |pages=207–211}}
* {{cite book |last=Milošević |first=Ante |date=1991 |title=Stećci i Vlasi: Stećci i vlaške migracije 14. i 15. stoljeća u Dalmaciji i jugozapadnoj Bosni |trans-title=Stećci and Vlachs: Stećci and Vlach migrations in the 14th and 15th century in Dalmatia and Southwestern Bosnia |url=https://www.academia.edu/18880512 |language=hr |location=[[Split, Croatia|Split]] |publisher=Regionalni zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture }}
* {{Cite book|title=Bosnia: A Short History|last=Malclom|first=Noel|author-link=Noel Malcolm|publisher=New York University Press|year=1994|isbn=0-8147-5520-8|location=Washington Square, New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bosniashorthisto00malc}}
* {{cite journal |last=Purgarić-Kužić |first=Branka |date=1995 |title=Dosadašnja istraživanja o stećcima |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/50241 |language=sh |journal=Radovi |volume=28 |issue=1 |publisher=Institute of Croatian History |location=Zagreb |pages=242–253}}
* {{cite journal |last=Cebotarev |first=Andrej |date=1996 |title=Review of Stećci and Vlachs: Stećci and Vlach migrations in the 14th and 15th century in Dalmatia and Southwestern Bosnia |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=157967 |language=hr |journal=Povijesni prilozi [Historical Contributions] |volume=14 |issue=14 |location=[[Zagreb]] |publisher=Croatian Institute of History}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kužić |first=Krešimir |date=1999 |title=A Contribution to the Knowledge of Medieval Agricultural Implements and Other Country Tools According to Their Images on Standing Tombstones of Dalmatian Hinterland |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=159862 |language=hr, en |journal=Ethnologica Dalmatica |volume=8 |issue=1 |publisher=Ethnographic Museum Split |pages=175–185}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kužić |first=Krešimir |date=2001 |title=Zašto bi trebalo terminom "kamik" zamijeniti termin "stećak"? |trans-title=Why we should change the term “stećak” (literally: standing tomb-stone) with the term “kamik” (literally: stone) |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/28813 |language=hr, en |journal=Historical Contributions |volume=20 |issue=20 |publisher=Croatian Institute of History |location=Zagreb |pages=259–272}}
* {{cite journal |last=Milošević |first=Ante |date=2004 |title=Stećci – chi li fece e quando? |trans-title=Stećci – who made them and when? |url=https://www.academia.edu/18745442 |language=it |journal=Hortus Artium Medievalium |volume=10 |pages=187–202 |location=Zagreb |publisher=International Research Center for Late Antiquity and Middle Ages|doi=10.1484/J.HAM.2.305307 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Bulog |first=Josip |date=2007 |title=Prilog poznavanju kamika Vrgorske krajine |trans-title=Contribution to the Understanding of kamici in the Vrgorac Area  |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=121231&lang=en |language=hr |journal=Povijesni prilozi [Historical Contributions] |volume=III |issue=34 |location=[[Zagreb]] |publisher=Croatian Institute of History |pages=389–420}}
* {{cite book |last=Fine |first=John V. A. |author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr. |title=The Bosnian Church: Its Place in State and Society from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Century: A New Interpretation |date=2007 |location=London |publisher=SAQI, The Bosnian Institute |isbn=978-0863565038}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mužić |first=Ivan |date=2009 |title=Vlasi i starobalkanska pretkršćanska simbolika jelena na stećcima |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=120876&lang=en |language=hr |journal=Starohrvatska Prosvjeta |volume=III |issue=36 |location=Split |publisher=Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments |pages=315–349}}
* {{cite journal |last=Trako |first=Redžo |date=2011 |title=Stećci: Božanska igra brojki i slova |trans-title=Stećci: Divine game of numbers and letters|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=100713 |language=hr |journal=Socijalna Ekologija |volume=20 |issue=1 |location=Zagreb |publisher=Croatian Sociological Society, Institute of Sociology at Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb |pages=71–84}}
* {{cite book |last=Lovrenović |first=Dubravko |author-link=Dubravko Lovrenović |date=2013 |title=Stećci: Bosansko i humsko mramorje srednjeg vijeka |trans-title=Stećci: Bosnian and Hum marbles from Middle Age |publisher=Ljevak |language=hr |isbn=978-9533035468}}
* {{cite journal |last=Milošević |first=Ante |date=2013 |title=O problematici stećaka iz dalmatinske perspektive |trans-title=About the issue of Stećci from the Dalmatian perspective |url=https://www.academia.edu/18350976 |language=hr |journal=Godišnjak |volume=42 |location=[[Sarajevo]] |publisher=[[Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] |pages=89–102 |doi=10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH-40.23 |issn=2232-7770|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last=Kurtović |first=Esad |title=Vlasi i stećci |trans-title=Vlachs and stećci |url=https://www.academia.edu/31355647 |year=2013 |journal=Radovi |issue=16 |publisher=Filozofski fakultet |location=Sarajevo |language=bs}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kurtović |first=Esad |title=Vlasi Drobnjaci i stećci (Crtica o Nikoli Raškoviću i njegovim nasljednicima) |trans-title=Drobnjaci Vlachs and stećci (A remark about Nikola Rašković and his heiress) |url=https://www.academia.edu/31310532 |year=2015 |journal=Godišnjak |issue=44 |publisher=[[Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina|ANUBiH]] |location=Sarajevo |language=bs |pages=303–316}}
* {{cite book |last=Buturovic |first=Amila |date=2016 |title=Carved in Stone, Etched in Memory: Death, Tombstones and Commemoration in Bosnian Islam since c. 1500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWCrCwAAQBAJ |publisher=Routledge |isbn= 978-1317169567}}

{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|title=Bosnia A Short History|last=Malcom|first=Noel|author-link=Noel Malcom|publisher=New York University Press|year=1994|isbn=0-8147-5520-8|location=Washington Square, New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bosniashorthisto00malc}}
* {{cite book |first=Šefik |last=Bešlagić |author-link=Šefik Bešlagić |title=Stećci i njihova umjetnost |date=1971 |location=Sarajevo |publisher=Zavod za izdavanje udžbenika |language=sh}}
* {{cite journal |first=Šefik |last=Bešlagić |author-link=Šefik Bešlagić |date=1980 |title=19th Century Documentation of Medieval Grave Monuments in the Makarska Coastal Area using the Examples of Mijat Sabljar and fra Lujo Marun |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=235254 |language=hr, en |location=[[Split, Croatia|Split]] |publisher=Literary Circle of Split |journal=Contributions to the History of Art in Dalmatia |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=638–647}}
* {{cite journal |last=Milošević |first=Ante |date=1982 |title=Kasnosrednjovjekovna nekropola sa stećcima pod Borinovcem u Trilju |trans-title=Late Medieval Necropolis with "Stećci" under Borinovac at Trilj |url=https://www.academia.edu/18442982 |language=hr |location=[[Split, Croatia|Split]] |publisher=Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika |journal=Starohrvatska Prosvjeta |volume=III |issue=12 |pages=185–199}}
* {{cite book |first=Šefik |last=Bešlagić |author-link=Šefik Bešlagić |title=Leksikon stećaka |date=2004 |location=Sarajevo |publisher=Svjetlost |language=bs |isbn=978-9958107511}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kurtović |first=Esad |title=Natpis na stećku kneza Pokrajca Oliverovića iz Vrhpolja – Pitanja datiranja |trans-title=Inscription on the Stećak of Prince Pokrajac Oliverovic from Vrhpolje – The issue of setting the date of origin |url=https://www.academia.edu/31319491 |year=2005 |journal=Baština |issue=1 |publisher=Komisija za očuvanje nacionalnih spomenika |location=Sarajevo |language=bs, en |pages=371–380}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tomasović |first=Marinko |date=2007 |title=19th Century Documentation of Medieval Grave Monuments in the Makarska Coastal Area using the Examples of Mijat Sabljar and fra Lujo Marun |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=121234 |language=hr, en |location=[[Split, Croatia|Split]] |publisher=Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments |journal=Starohrvatska Prosvjeta |volume=III |issue=34 |pages=421–436}}
* {{cite journal |last=Alduk |first=Ivan |date=2011 |title=Kovač iz Gorske Župe |trans-title=Kovač of Gorska Župa |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=149852 |language=hr, en |location=[[Split, Croatia|Split]] |publisher=Literary Circle of Split |journal=Contributions to the History of Art in Dalmatia |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=161–186}}
* {{cite journal |last=Alduk |first=Ivan |date=2012 |title=Nadgrobne ploče kod Sv. Jure na Kozjaku |trans-title=Tombstones Near the Church of St. George on Mount Kozjak |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=132572 |language=hr, en |location=[[Split, Croatia|Split]] |journal=Tusculum |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=115–122}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kurtović |first=Esad |title=Prilog kontekstualizaciji i dataciji stećaka u Starom Slanom kod Trebinja |trans-title=A Contribution to the Contextualization and Dating of Stećci in Staro Slano near Trebinje |url=https://www.academia.edu/31319023 |year=2012 |journal=Godišnjak |issue=41 |publisher=[[Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina|ANUBiH]] |location=Sarajevo |language=bs |pages=211–218|doi=10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH-40.12 |s2cid=131461305 }}

==External links==
{{commons|Stećci}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
* {{cite web|title=Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1504|author=[[UNESCO]]|year=2016}}
* {{cite web|title=Stećci|url=http://www.enciklopedija.hr/natuknica.aspx?id=57932|author=Croatian Encyclopaedia|year=2011}}

{{World Heritage Sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
{{Cultural–historical heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina|state=autocollapse}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Croatia}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Montenegro}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Serbia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stecak}}
[[Category:Bogomilism]]
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Medieval European sculptures]]
[[Category:Rock art in Europe]]
[[Category:Rock art in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Croatia]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Montenegro]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Serbia]]
[[Category:Religion in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina architecture]]
[[Category:Stećak| ]]