Stećak forms
Stećak forms, that is, shapes and dimensions of the megalithic tombstone known as stećak, is what make stećaks extremely attractive. Stećaks are mostly of large dimension and in rare cases smaller ones were cut.
The very basic division of stećak is between lying or horizontal and standing or vertical ones, which was introduced by Dimitrije Sergejevski in 1952. The first group includes stećci in the form of a slab, a chest, a chest with a pedestal, a gable and a gable with a pedestal, while the second group includes stećci with two forms - columns and crosses. In addition to these basic forms, which have several subtypes and variants, there are also amorphous stećci, which are simplest ones and usually without any elaborate finishing decorations or inscriptions.
In the 13th century, the population of medieval Bosnia and Hum lived in difficult and unsettled political and economic conditions, mostly in a situation where they fiercely defended themselves against Hungarian pretensions, which had reflected in the standard of living, culture, including in the cutting and carving the stećaks. This can to some extent explain the certain poverty of the shape, decorations and inscriptions of the stećak of the 13th century compared to the situation in the 14th and 15th centuries or later.Background
Stećci are found in territories ruled by the Bosnian medieval state throughout the Middle Ages, which today corresponds with a territory that cover most of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a borderlands of Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro.
In terms of aesthetics and size, elaborate artistic processing and ornamentation, and a sheer variety of present forms, one of the most representative and the best-preserved collection of stećaks is Radimlja necropolis, west of Stolac, while the Zgošća Stećak, from the vicinity of Kakanj, is one of the most representative individual examples of stećak found.Lying horizontal stećaks
Slabs
The oldest examples of horizontal thick slab stećaks found in the surroundings of Trebinje date from the 12th and 13th centuries. It is assumed that the oldest stećci in the form of slabs were created following the earlier custom of carving and placing slabs in and around churches in Bosnia and other countries. Slabs are the simplest and most widespread form of stećak. It represents a common form that was carved and installed in territories ruled by the Bosnian medieval state, territories that include today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. It is in the form of a four-sided lying prism, up to 30 cm high, from 150 to 200 cm long and from 70 to 100 cm wide. There are very large slabs, which sometimes reach a length of more than 300 cm and a width of more than 200 cm, as well as very small slabs, which belong to buried children. A slab with one incised or plastic line in the middle along its length represents the tombstones for two buried persons. Sometimes they are together with a cross and form one tombstone. In the 13th century, the population of medieval Bosnia and Hum lived in difficult and unsettled political and economic conditions, while they fiercely defended themselves from Hungarian pretensions to their country. These circumstances had to be reflected in the culture, including sepulchral culture of producing more elaborate stećaks. This can to some extent explain the certain poverty of the shape, carving and decorations, including inscriptions of the stećak compared to the later situation in the 14th and 15th centuries. Although there is no more reliable evidence for this conclusion, it can be said that the appearance of a larger number of simple slabs, rather than more elaborate chests and gables, as stećaks in the 13th century, is one of the symptoms of the mentioned circumstances. In the entire territory of distribution, they take about 24% of the total number of stećaks in general.Chest
Stećaks in the form of chests are to some extent a higher stage of development and transformation of stećaks in the form of slabs. At the same time, they are a sign and result of settled and more stable social relations, and political and economic situations. This is why they appeared in greater numbers in the 14th century. Gradually, they become bigger, with slab ''pedestals, elaborately decorated and with epitaphs. Chest-shaped stećaks are of different sizes. They are most often 150 to 200 cm long, 70 to 100 cm wide, and 40 to 80 cm high, but there are also very large and very small ones. The stećak from Vlađevina near Rogatica weighs 25 tons, while the stećak of Pavle Radinović from Pavlovac near Lukavica has a volume of 11.40 m3 and weighs staggering 31 tons and 920 kg. Two huge stećaks are also located in Lužine near Fojnica, which is recently moved to the park next to the Reumal hotel Some with great height, over 200 cm, are called tall chests. Sometimes the chest has some sort of step on one of its sides. There are also double chests, that is, stećaks for two buried persons. They can be recognized by the longitudinal ribbon in the middle of the monument, by the middle of the rectangular upper base, or by the fact that one half of the stećak is higher and the other. Including examples with pedestals, chests'' make about 64% of the total number of all stećaks.Chest with slab pedestal
Chests with slab pedestal are actually made in two forms. One form is chest with a pedestal ''slab, which is cut together with a chest of the one and the same stone – also called homogeneous, and the other form is chest on a pedestal slab, which is cut separately of a separate piece of stone, so it can be said that this variety consists of two parts. There are also chests with two and even three stands, which look very imposing. Just like an ordinary chest, there is also a variant of a double stećaks, when, for example, it has a middle one on the upper rectangular base, or when it is carved so that one half is higher and the other lower. No combinations with crosses have been found, and there are also no amorphous variants. Also, this shape, like an ordinary chest, has its own different sizes. Along with ordinary chests'', this form is by far the most numerous, especially in the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as previously emphasized, they make up about 64% of the total number of stećaks in general.Gable-shaped (sarcophagus)
Gable-shaped or sarcophagus stećak is a chest where the upper side is no longer horizontal but resembles a gabled house-roof. The name sarcophagus is also because at first glance it is similar to the Roman sarcophagus. Sometimes the top surfaces of the gables are slightly protruding, and sometimes slightly hollowed out. The top is sometimes high and steep, and sometimes low. There are several varieties of gable stećaks with four different varieties of top surfaces. In a significant number of examples, the top surface somewhat exceeds the vertical surfaces of the monument, so that viewer experience a top with eaves and gutters. The size of the gables is very different, especially their height. In Herzegovina they are very high, while in central and northeastern Bosnia, in Podrinje, for its low ridges. As with chests, many gables are beveled towards the bottom. Also, with this form of stećak, there are doubles. Several examples of doubles were also found consisting of two equal joined – homogeneous – gables. Gable-shaped stećak can be said to be more carefully and more elaborately carved than the others. It makes about 9% of the total number of stećaks in general.Gable-shaped with slab pedestal
Most of these stećaks have their own pedestals, which are sometimes carved from the same piece of stone – also called homogeneous, while sometimes they are made from a different piece of stone and represent another, separate, part of the stećak. Due to the fact that gables are often large and heavy, these stećaks have a more stable position on the ground. Sometimes they have two or three stands. And this form has several subvarieties. Thus, its top surface can be two, three, as well as four in length. Those top surfaces are sometimes slightly protruding or slightly hollowed out. Also, there are so-called double gables with pedestals, as well as those that are combined with chests. Not a single example of combining gables with a cross was found, and there are no amorphous ''gables with pedestals'' either. In medieval times they were highly valued and required the hiring of skilled stonemasons. It comes in various sizes. One of the largest is Pavle's stećak, located in Pavlovac near Lukavica, just outside of Sarajevo, which weighs nearly 32 tons. This form occupies about 9% of the total number of stećaks.Standing upright stećaks
Column
Standing stećaks are mostly cut in the form of columns. This form is very similar to the oldest Muslim nišans without turbans, on which appearance stećaks in the form of columns had a certain influence during stećak to nišan transition period. Columns are nothing more than upright slabs or upright chests. In order for them to stand firmly, they had to be partially buried or dug in, or in local tongue "usaditi", into the ground which is why they are most often called "usađenik". Thus, some columns end with a flat top surface, some as a roof with two or three sides. There are columns that end in a protruding, rounded, barrel-shaped way, as well as those that are arched in that part, lying down. Quite a number of upright slabs are carved so that they gradually widen from the bottom upwards. And such surfaces have very different finishes. Quite rare examples of columns that look like upright gables have also been found. Amorphous or loosely carved upright stećaks similar to columns have been recorded. The number of columns is about 4% of the total stećak. The fact that the columns are mostly studded in Serbia and eastern Bosnia, and that there are few of them in central Bosnia, and that in western Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia they are a very rare or almost completely exceptional phenomenon, clearly shows where this influence, due to the Turkish-Ottoman presence, first reflected. Stećci columns are considered to be a phenomenon of the second half of the 15th and the entire 16th century.