Dalmatians

ETHNONYM: Dalmatinci

Orientation

Identification. Dalmatia is a region within the Republic of Croatia, formerly part of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Although its population is predominantly Croatian, Dalmatia is included on the basis of its strong historical ties to other parts of Europe by way of the Mediterranean Sea. The term "Dalmatian" is derived from the name of the Illyrian tribe Delmatea, which inhabited the region in the first century b.c.

Location. Dalmatia lies on the rugged eastern coast of the Adriatic and is the southwesternmost region of Croatia. It Stretches about 400 kilometers from the Bay of Kvarner to the Bay of Boka Kotorska in Montenegro, is up to 70 kilometers wide, and includes an archipelago of about 600 islands along the coast. Geographically the area can be divided into the Islands, the coastal belt, and the hinterland. The entire area of Dalmatia covers 12,043 square kilometers. On its eastern-most borders, running from north to south, are the irregular mountains of the Dinaric range, whose highest peak is Dinara (1,913 meters). Dalmatia is known for its karst topography, composed mainly of limestone, which easily erodes and dissolves in rainwater. Flowing along underground cracks, the water continues to widen and deepen these crevices until they become underground caves. When such a cave becomes large enough and the roof extends close to the surface, it then collapses, producing a depression or a sinkhole called a dolina. Larger depressions are called polje. These depressions often contain alluvial soil and usually constitute the only cultivable land in this region. The landscape can be pictured as vast areas of glistening and eroded limestone punctuated by many patches of green oasis. The Dalmatian climate is Mediterranean. The summers are very dry with scorching temperatures; however, in winter there is ample rainfall.

Demography. In 1981 the population of Dalmatia was estimated at 888,926 (78.3 percent Croatians, 11.5 percent Serbians, 6.2 percent ethnically unspecified Yugoslavs, and 4 percent others). The population density averages 64 persons per square kilometer. Differences in the population density between the islands, the coast, and the hinterland are remarkable. For example, the population density of the island of Lastovo is 18 persons per square kilometer, whereas the coastal urban center of Split has a population density of 275 persons per square kilometer. The uneven population density is related to areas of low fertility and high out-migration. Rough and unfertile terrain makes it hard to eke out a living, and this hardship is further accentuated by underdevelopment of industry. These factors force many people to look for wage labor elsewhere.

Linguistic Affiliation. Dalmatians speak regional dialects of the Croatian language (Ikavica, Jekavica, Čakavica). On some islands and parts of the coast mixtures of Croatian and Italian are found (e.g., Talijanština, or Croatian-Italian Creole) , attesting to the long influence of Venetian rule.

History and Cultural Relations

Dalmatia's position on the fringe of the Balkan peninsula has given it a tempestuous history and has made it the scene of many migrations, wars, and conquests. For millennia, Dalmatia has provided a link between the cultures of the East and the West. The first traces of humankind in Dalmatia date back 5,000-6,000 years, when archaeological evidence indicates that the people living here had links with other Mediterranean areas. The first historically recorded inhabitants of Dalmatia were the Illyrians, an Indo-European people who ruled the northwestern part of the Balkan peninsula. Many traces of their stone-piled grave sites (gomila ) and fortified towns, surrounded by connecting circles of dry-stone walls, still stand today on the summits of the steep hills on both sides of the mountain chains that stretch down the coast. The Illyrians were not strong enough to stand up against the culturally more advanced, better organized, and materially stronger states of Greece and Rome, whose rulers became very interested in their opposite shores along the Adriatic. The Greeks spread up the coast from the fourth century b.c. and founded their colonies on both the mainland and islands: Issa (Vis), Pharos (Hvar), Corcyra Melaina (Korčula), Epidaurum (Cavtat), ladera (Zadar), Tragurion (Trogir), and Salonia (Solin). During this time, the first vineyards were planted, olive groves cultivated, and southern fruit and vegetables grown. However, the Illyrian tribes did not relinquish their autonomy easily and continued to oppose Greek rule until the Roman Conquest in the first century a.d. With the coming of the Romans, the whole coastal region began to develop rapidly. The conquerors organized administration, justice, and trade on the Roman model and built new towns in accordance with Roman city planning. With the building of new towns the Roman Empire began expanding into the hinterland toward the Dinaric range, as well as into the southern edges of the Pannonian Plain. Then, hard pressed by the barbarians, the Roman frontier fortifications on the Danube cracked, marking the disintegration of an empire already decaying from within. The Avars with their Slav allies pressed down into the Balkans, destroying what Rome had built over the centuries. But the Avar Kingdom soon disintegrated and the Avars disappeared from the Balkans, leaving their dead empire to the Slavs, who became Christianized and formed Several small medieval states on the eastern shores of the Adriatic: Duklja, Zahumlje, and Croatia. Croatians settled the greatest part of the coast, where they remain to this day. The Franciscan, Dominican, and Benedictine Orders had a great effect on cultural development, to which schools, various libraries, and archives still bear witness. City administrators began to appoint public notaries and draft city statutes in the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. During the Renaissance, Dalmatia was a treasury of architecture, art, and literature. Venetian rule over Dalmatia (1420-1797) was established when the Croatian King Ladislav of Naples ceded part of the country to the Venetian republic. Warfare against the Turks also marked this period. (Ragusa [Dubrovnik], however, maintained its independent city-republic for centuries by skillful maneuvering and trade Between the East and the West, until it was subjugated by Napoleon in 1808.) After the defeat of Kosovo (1389) and the fall of Constantinople (1453), Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania gradually fell under Muslim Turkish domination. Dalmatia seemed likely to be the next victim. To avert this fate, a Croatian knight, Peter Kruzić, formed a corps of guerrillas called uskoci (fugitives) at his stronghold of Klis (near Split) and was able to keep the Turks at bay for a time. However, from 1515 to 1540 Dalmatia was left to its own resources and almost the whole area—except the coastal cities and the islands—fell to the Turks. During later wars, Dalmatia's frontier with Turkey was continually changing, until 1718 when Dalmatia again came under Venice's dominion. Venice, however, was taken by the French and given to Austria. In 1805 Austria had to cede Dalmatia to Napoleon. In 1815, after the fall of Napoleon, Dalmatia was assigned to Austria again, following the Congress of Vienna. It remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. After World War I Dalmatia, as well as the rest of Croatia, along with Slovenia and Serbia made up the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. However, Zadar and four islands were given to Italy. At the end of World War II, in 1945, this remainder of Dalmatia also became part of Yugoslavia.

Settlements

Coastal and island villages are nucleated (zbijeni ). While those on the coast are adjacent to the sea, island villages are on both the interior and coastal areas. In the hinterland, they are more dispersed (razbijeni ) and often located on the very fringe of fertile alluvial depressions.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Only about 20 percent of Dalmatia is utilized agriculturally, and most of this is on a subsistence level. In the hinterland, the arable regions consist mainly of karst depressions (polje). However, the potential of much of this land is lost to drought and poor drainage. Crops that have a summer growing season (e.g., corn, wheat, millet, tobacco, and grapes) are planted on these small scattered plots of land. Throughout the coastal belt and the islands, patches of fertile land on the hilly slopes are terraced with rock walls to form level plots (podove or pristave ). The coastal and island soil is not suitable for cultivation of cereal grains, but it favors olives, figs, cherries, and above all grapes. Fishing is developed along the Dalmatian coast and the Islands, especially in areas with good connections to the hinterland (e.g., Split, Šibenik, Zadar). Fishing is largely a subsistence activity since only about 15 percent of all fishermen are considered commercial. The most important type of fishing is seasonal (periodički ribolov ), occurring at certain times of the year and in specific locations. Dalmatian men are historically famous for their seafaring capabilities and many today are employed by domestic and foreign vessels as navigators and ship captains. Animal husbandry is also limited to the subsistence level because there is very little grazing land available. Tourism is the newest and the most lucrative Commercial activity. The picturesque coastline, the romantic Islands, and the ancient cities, along with a mild Mediterranean climate, make Dalmatia one of the most frequented summer tourist areas in Europe.

Industrial Arts. The shipbuilding industry is the most developed commercial activity in Dalmatia, and a major shipbuilding yard is located in Split. Dalmatia has abundant reserves of limestone, and more than one-third of Yugoslavia's cement output comes from Split. Rich deposits of bauxite are exploited by the aluminum foundry near Šibenik. The rivers, except for a few kilometers of the Krka and Neretva, are unsuitable for navigation, but their precipitous falls make them natural sources of hydroelectric power.

Trade. Throughout the hinterland are well-established weekly markets (pazari ) dating back to the Greek occupation. Here peasants sell their homegrown produce, crafts, and livestock.

Division of Labor. People living in Dalmatia, like other Regions of Croatia and the Balkan peninsula, have traditionally maintained a strict division of labor. Women were in charge of the domestic sphere, whereas men were in charge of the public sphere. However, with the high rate of out-migration of able-bodied men (up to 20 percent in the underdeveloped regions of the hinterland), women are being employed as semiskilled and skilled factory workers (especially in the textile industry) and are in charge of the entire agricultural cycle as well as domestic work.

Land Tenure. Because of the scarcity of fertile land, landownership is held in high esteem. In the present context, despite the high rates of out-migration, property values have been escalating because of the influx of foreign currency. The most common family form that has existed in Dalmatia as in the rest of the Balkans has been the zadruga. The zadruga is a corporate family unit under which all holdings (e.g., property, livestock, land) are held communally. Although the traditional zadruga institutionally dissolved around World War I, a very strong patrilineal and patrilocal agnatic group with traditional structural principles of household composition has persisted over time.

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. There is regional differentiation in kinship because Dalmatia has been a meeting ground between the tribal Balkan kin-group types and the Western form of nuclear family organization. Because of this intermediacy, residential kin groups in the hinterland villages are still three-generational while the urban families are often nuclear. Descent is traced bilaterally, but patrilaterality is stressed in some regions. Fictive kinship through godparenthood (kumstvo ) is significant in some regions.

Kinship Terminology. Kinship terms follow the Indo-European pattern with some stress on patrilineality.

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Although traditionally marriages were arranged, today there is greater individual freedom of choice. Marriages are monogamous, and village exogamy is prevalent in the hinterland. In the past, "bride stealing" (otmica ) was practiced in some parts of the hinterland. One form of bride stealing—with the consent of the bride, sometimes to avoid dowry—still occurs in some areas and is known as umicanje (umakniti se, meaning "to remove"). Village exogamy is predominant in the hinterland. On the islands, village endogamy is common. Residence is patrilocal, matrilocal, or neolocal. The last form is necessarily prevalent when a couple moves from the village into the city; nevertheless, couples are strongly tied to their natal households not only economically but also psychologically. Traditionally, divorce was rare, but it is becoming more frequent in the urban centers.

Domestic Unit. The people who cook and eat meals around the same hearth and under the same roof (in the same house or kuća ) are considered a family (obitelj, porodica ). The household is frequently made up of grandparents, parents, and children. Sometimes this may also include patrilateral uncles or brothers, along with their wives and children.

Inheritance. Traditionally land was owned and inherited patrilineally. All sons inherited an equal share of the land, while daughters would marry out without a dowry in land. In some cases, however, a piece of land might be given to the daughter as part of her dowry if there were no inheriting sons. In modern times, however, daughters have a legal right to Inherit an equal share as do their brothers, but in most cases they forgo their share in respect of custom.

Socialization. Most children are raised in three-generational households. Child care is divided between mothers and grandparents, who carry most of the burden because of the increased number of women in the work force. Socialization creates a sense of intergenerational dependency. Parents live for their children, and children believe that they should care for their aged parents.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. Dalmatia traditionally was organized on the basis of residence. The Dinaric or hinterland dwellers who were not in immediate contact with the Adriatic Sea were referred to as Vlachs (Vlaji). Traditionally they were tribal and were considered backward and hot-tempered by their coastal counterparts, known as Boduli. Further regional distinction is supported by various dialects, traditional Costumes, rituals, and differentiation between village dwellers (seljaci ) and city dwellers (gradjani ). Strong patron-client Relationships still persist throughout Dalmatia.

Political Organization. A region within the Republic of Croatia, which was formerly one of six Yugoslav republics, Dalmatia has twenty-three counties (općine ). These counties are further divided into "community organizations" (mjesne zajednice ), which are further divided into villages (sela ).

Social Control and Conflict. Social control as well as prestige and authority are determined on the basis of sex and age, maleness and seniority being the dominant principles. The virginity and sexual morality of women are stressed and reinforced through the assignment of honor and shame. Social control also is exerted through gossip. Historically, conflict is noted on several levels: interpersonal, interfamilial, intervillage, interregional, and interethnic.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs and Practices. Catholicism is the primary religion of Dalmatia, followed by Eastern Orthodoxy, and a small minority of Muslims who are mostly immigrants from other Balkan regions. Religious beliefs and practices are representations of syncretism between Christian and pagan forms. Religious beliefs and practices were not commonly expressed in this part of the world for many years because open expression of religious beliefs was not completely sanctioned in the Yugoslav communist context. However, in 1992 the newly independent Croatian government restored freedom of religious expression. Dalmatians staunchly believe in various supernatural beings. These include witches, fairies, and most commonly vampires (vukodlak ). Women commonly tell fortunes by reading the patterns in the grounds remaining in the cups after drinking Turkish coffee.

Ceremonies. There are specific rituals exhibiting male chivalry that are exclusively found in Dalmatia. The most famous is a game called alka. Various rituals are related to the Christian church calendar. Both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians observe (služe ) a patron saint's day (sfava ) or a name day (imendan ).

Arts. In Dalmatia there are several musical instruments; however, the most famous is a one-stringed viol (gusle ), which accompanies epic or heroic singing done by men. Another is the mandolinlike lira, which is more prevalent on the islands. Both men and women, traditionally gender-segregated, sing ganga and ojkavica. Both of these pieces are composed by women or men in a decameter and are sung a cappella. Circle dances (kola ) are common throughout Dalmatia; however, their steps and costumes vary regionally. Various forms of carving on both wood and rock date back several centuries and can be found throughout the region. Dalmatia also has one of the richest representations of Different architectural types in the world.

Medicine. In the folk system, illness is commonly attributed to hot/cold imbalance, generally believed to be caused by cold drafts. For most ailments folk practitioners recommend that patients "sweat out the evil" (da iznoje zlo ) by covering themselves up with several heavy layers of blankets. Western medicine is widespread.

Death and Afterlife. Death is considered a transitory period between life on earth and the everlasting life in heaven. After death the soul can either go to hell, purgatory, or heaven, depending on one's earthly sins. After death, the body is kept overnight in the house and in an elaborate procession carried to the church the following day. A form of chanting (naricanje, nabrajanje ) commonly starts immediately after the person dies and lasts through the next day when the person is buried. After the church ceremony the body is buried in an elaborately built grave that generally stands above the ground. Widowed women wear black until their death. If they happen to remarry, which is very unlikely, they abandon this custom.

See alsoCroats

Bibliography

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Davis, James C. (1986). Rise from Want. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Fortis, Alberto (1774). Viaggio in Dalmazia. Venice. Croatian translation. 1984. Put po Dalmaciji. Zagreb: Globus.

Hammel, Eugene A. (1968). Alternative Social Structures and Ritual Relations in the Balkans. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Kadić, Ante (1976). "The Democratic Spirit of the Poljica Commune." In Communal Families in the Balkans: The Zadruga, edited by Robert F. Byrnes, 201-214. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.

Tomasevich, Jozo (1976). "The Tomasevich Extended Family on the Peninsula Pelješac." In Communal Families in the Balkans: The Zadruga, edited by Robert F. Byrnes, 187-200. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.

Simić, Andrei (1983). "Machismo and Cryptomatriarchy: Power, Affect, and Authority in the Contemporary Yugoslav Family." Ethos 11:66-86.

MARIA B. OLUJIĆ