Dobrinje: Archaeology and River Landscape

Dobrinje combines the landscape along the Dobrinjski Potok and the Bosna with archaeological traces from different periods.

Watercourses and settlement pattern

The Dobrinjski Potok flows through the center of Dobrinje; most of the settlement lies around its mouth. Its main source is Pijeska in Lukama, above the settlement and below Komini. This makes the source, the stream’s course through the settlement, and its mouth identifiable as distinct geographical reference points.

The stream from Crniš dries up in summer and flows through Dumače into the Bosna. Several smaller streams descend from the surrounding slopes and also dry up in summer. Between the mouth of the Dobrinjski Potok and Graba below Crniš, the Bosna forms a meander. Most of Dobrinje’s agricultural land lies on the plain. The streams, river bend, and flat agricultural land illustrate the different forms of this landscape.

Archaeological finds in Dobrinje

Finds from the Dobrinje archaeological site are dated approximately to the period from the end of the 11th to the end of the 9th century BC. Four animal figures made of clay were recovered there from a red, compacted cultural layer. The four figures are considered the only known examples to date of zoomorphic sculpture from the Late Bronze Age in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Stećci at the Dobrinjac site

A field survey recorded four stećci at the Dobrinjac site in 2016. The group comprises two saddle-roofed stones with bases, a chest-shaped stone, and a slab. The necropolis with the stećci lies on the local Dobrinje–Buzići road. One decorated stećak features rosettes on its end faces, double-spiral motifs and a twisted band on the roof surfaces and edges, as well as two half-apples, one of which is partially damaged. The place names help distinguish the sites: the stećci belong to the Dobrinjac site, while the clay figures belong to the Dobrinje archaeological site.

Sacred architecture and medieval site

The old mosque in Dobrinje is part of the Islamic sacred heritage of the Visoko area from the Ottoman period and was built in the typical Bosnian style.

Northeast of Dobrinje, on a small rise on the right side of the Bosna valley, downstream from Visoko, lies the medieval fortified site of Grad. Archaeological investigations there identified foundations of walls, buildings, and a tower. Most of Dobrinje lies around the mouth of the Dobrinjski Potok; Grad lies northeast of Dobrinje on the Bosna, downstream from Visoko. Finds from the Dobrinje archaeological site are dated approximately to the period from the end of the 11th to the end of the 9th century BC. Grad is medieval; the old mosque dates to the Ottoman period.

Discover more travel destinations: Uvorići, Doboj, Strica, Visoko, Olovo, Vranduk, Tešanj, Donji Lučani

For the overview of the wider region: Zenica-Doboj Canton.