Archaeological excavation under the Pile bridge was carried out in 2014 and 2015. The bridged ditch was filled up once it lost its defensive role. Numerous findings unearthed from the layered filling testify that this space was being filled up for centuries. Thus among the finds are the discarded everyday items of the city dwellers, which may have been thrown into the ditch after the Great Earthquake of 1667. The material disposed on this site might also have been transported from the large industrial zone located in the Pile suburb during the Renaissance. The material resulting from the broadening of the ditch was also deposited on this location as there was no other site for this purpose at the time. The research shows that the area under the bridge and adjoining it has been recurrently filled up and that the eighteenth or nineteenth century saw the first pathway/park levelling the pylon cornice. Diverse archaeological material (ceramicware and glassware, ceramic pipes, optical glass, metal and artillery findings), which in terms of provenance falls from Western Europe to China, may be dated between the fifteenth and early twentieth century, indicating the wide scope of Dubrovnik’s commercial contacts. The bridge pylons, completely covered with material before excavation, are now visible and feature pilasters in the middle, the function of which was static. The research has not reached the end of the cultural layer, yet the excavations of the sand layer have resulted in a smaller number of finds. After the reconstruction of the bridge its former glory has been restored.
Source: Topić N., Milošević B. (2018). Archaeological Excavation under the Pile Bridge in Dubrovnik. Anali Zavoda za povijesne znanosti Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti u Dubrovniku. №.56/1: 1-42
Source web-site: https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=294071
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