Daorson

Daorson was the capital of the Illyrian tribe of the Daorsi [1]. The Daorsi lived in the valley of the Neretva River between 300 BC and 50 BC [1]. The ruins of Daorson are located at Ošanjići, near Stolac [1]. Daorson was built around a central fort or acropolis, surrounded by cyclopean walls made of huge stone blocks [1]. The defensive wall extending from southwest to northeast was 65 metres long, 4.2 metres wide [1]. The most valuable of the finds is a bronze helmet decorated with a series of mythological figures [1]. The date of the ransacking of the town of Daorson that finally put an end to human settlement there can be determined with fair accuracy as the mid or second half of the 1st century BCE from the details of the wars waged by the Roman Praetor Vatinius against the Delmati [1].