June 2026 – MICOM

Working Meeting of Project Team Members

Jun 27, 2026Marina Vicelja Matijašić

On Thursday, 25 June 2026, a working meeting of the project team members of the MICOM project was held at the Department of Art History, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka. The aim of the meeting was to coordinate the implementation of analyses of sculpture samples from the islands of Krk, Cres, and Lošinj, to be carried out by Dr. Zrinko Baričević at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, as well as to discuss the publication of the results of analyses conducted so far. The meeting was attended by Dr. Zrinko Baričević, Dr. Nikolina Belošević, and Prof. Dr. Marina Vicelja Matijašić.

Research Activities of Dr. Zrinko Baričević

Jun 27, 2026Marina Vicelja Matijašić

As part of the project activities aimed at researching the materiality of early medieval stone fragments from the Kvarner islands, project collaborator Dr. Zrinko Baričević carried out a series of analyses on stone fragment samples from the island of Krk. The stone fragments were photographed using an Olympus SZX12 microscope at magnifications between 15x and 180x, depending on the size of the sample. A comparative qualitative visual analysis was conducted on them, focusing on the morphology of the stone’s microstructure, the size and orientation of the crystal lattice, the homogeneity and quality of the stone, and potential intrusions of heavy and colored metals. This analysis enables the comparison of selected fragments and their grouping with regard to historical-geological excavations. By further comparing them with existing databases from historical quarries, it becomes possible to determine the locality from which the stone used to create these works originated, and thereby situate their production within historical geopolitical and socioeconomic contexts.

Working meeting of the project team members

Jun 19, 2026Marina Vicelja Matijašić

On Wednesday, 17 June 2026, a working meeting of the members of the MICOM project team
was held at the Department of Art History, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University
of Rijeka. The aim of the meeting was to categorize the sculpture samples from the islands of
Krk, Cres, and Lošinj, and to select the samples that will be the first to be sent for
mineralogical–petrographic analyses, which will be carried out at the Faculty of Mining, Geology
and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, by Assoc. Prof. Dr Uroš Barudžija.
The meeting was attended by Dr Nikolina Belošević, Dr Katarina Šprem, and Prof. Dr Marina
Vicelja Matijašić.

Field survey on the islands of Cres and Lošinj

Jun 19, 2026Marina Vicelja Matijašić

As part of the MICOM project, another field survey of the Kvarner islands was carried out on 8.
May 2026, this time on the islands of Cres and Lošinj. Members of the project team — Dr
Nikolina Belošević, Assoc. Prof. Dr Danko Dujmović, and Dr Katarina Šprem — visited the Cres
Museum, the Archaeological Collection of the Lošinj Museum in Osor, and the Sacral Collection
of the Parish Church in Osor.
The fieldwork included the inspection, documentation, photographing, and sampling of
fragments of early medieval stone sculpture. Sampling was conducted by Dr Tea Zubin Ferri
(“Archeolab”, Pula), under the supervision of Tea Sušanj Protić from the Directorate for the
Protection of Cultural Heritage, Regional Conservation Office in Rijeka.