The Lovas Archaeological Project initially started in 2011 under the directorship of Sanjin Mihelić, who was a curator of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb at the time. The main idea behind the project was to explore the archaeological landscape(s) of the Lovas Municipality through field survey and test trenches, in order to learn about the settlement patterns in the area. At the same time, the project tried to establish a closer collaboration with the local community and promote the cultural heritage of the region. Unfortunately, the project did not receive funding in the following six years and the research was put on hold. However, in the meantime, the connections with the local community were maintained and the project easily continued in 2017 from where it was paused six years earlier.

 

Since 2017, the project has been directed by Filip Franković, a research associate of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, and managed by Sanjin Mihelić, the current director of the Museum. In the following two seasons, the archaeological research further focused on field survey and archaeological excavations as the main means of collecting data about the distribution of archaeological sites in the area. The project is organized in a way that it instantly produces results available for publication and presentation, in that way raising awareness about the cultural heritage of Lovas. All research results are available to the public.

 

The three research seasons at Lovas identified 21 various locations showing traces of human activity in different periods of the past and it is estimated that the number of archaeological sites in the area of the Lovas Municipality only might rise to over 30 in the following years. This indicates complex settlement patterns in all prehistoric and historical periods. The earliest traces of human inhabitance date to the Neolithic period (Sopot Culture). The area was continuously inhabited throughout the Copper (Baden, Kostolac and Vučedol Culture), Bronze (Vatin and Belegiš Culture) and Iron Age. Traces of Roman presence in Lovas have also been confirmed by the discovery of pottery finds and coins dating to different periods of imperial rule. The inhabitance in later periods is also confirmed by surface finds of Medieval, Turkish and Modern Age pottery. However, the research shows that the area was most densely inhabited in the Middle Bronze and Late Iron Age.

 

In 2011 and 2017, four test trenches were opened, namely at Kalvarija, Staro groblje ("Old Cemetery"), Orlinac and Kovači. So far, the two biggest and most important sites discovered in the area are the sites Kovači, located west of the village of Lovas, and Čopinac, located near the Opatovac dam on the northwestern border of the Lovas Municipality. Both sites show inhabitance in the Copper, Bronze and Late Iron Age. The Middle Bronze Age settlement on the site of Kovači is dated to the same period as the Lovas Hoard, which was discovered south of the main settlement at Kovači, in the position Čajer, as we now know. Future excavations will focus on both sites, continuing the research at Kovači and opening the first trenches at Čopinac.