By the Numbers

It is hard to determine the exact number of remaining tombstones stećak today. As the last official register from 1970's indicates, there were over 70.000 tombstones. However, the recent filed research suggests that there are over 100.000 of the tombstone stećci. Unfortunately, a large number was ruined in the past and it is therefore reasonable to assume that overall number of tombstone stećci was even larger.


Considering the fact that this is primarily a Bosnian phenomenon, it is clear that the largest number of the tombstones spreads across Bosnia and Herzegovina. A minor number of tombstone stećci can be found on the outskirts of today's neighbor countries Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia.




Prominent Scholars


Since the beginning of the systematic study of the stećak tombstones, that is, since the incorporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy until today, numerous scholars have contributed to the study of the stećak tombstones.


Most deserving person for the Study of tombstones stećci and their inventory is Šefik Bešlagić. His highly significant books and works have disclosed the results of fieldwork on the study of stećak tombstones. In addition to Bešlagić, we should also mention Ćiro Truhelka, Vid Vuletić Vukasović, world famous Arthur Evans, Vejsil Čurčić, Alojz Benc, Marko Vega, Dimitri Sergeyevsky, Dubravko Lovrenović and many others.



A Huge Number of Stećak Tombstones


The abundance of the stećak tombstones is particularly striking. Nowhere else in Europe are there so many preserved medieval tombstones. There used to be around 100,000 of them, which is an impressively large figure.


Of the municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the richest in tombstones stećci are Konjic and Nevesinje. Both have over 3,000 monuments. Other municipalities with a large number of monuments include Rogatica, Livno, Trebinje, Stolac, Gacko, Sokolac, Kalinovik and Bileća.


In Croatia, most tombstones stećci are located in Sinj area, in Montenegro near Nikšić, and in Serbia around Prijepolje.