Osor, Insularity and Its Surroundings: The Creation of a Regional Identity Caught Between the Global Economy and Local Subsistence

When observed from a broader perspective, in the 1st millennium BC, the regions of the Adriatic underwent structuring processes that affected many domains. On a political level, this was marked by the emergence of municipal and even state-like institutions; on a social level, it involved both the affirmation of elites and the development of specialized classes of craftspeople and traders. Lastly, in terms of settlements, it entailed the more intensive hierarchization of agglomerations in the region and the creation of special forms of public infrastructure within settlements. In this paper, we discuss the settlement of Osor, which transformed during this period from a prehistoric settlement into a major proto-urban center of the northern Adriatic. Its location within the landscape and long-distance trade networks, reinforcing its insularity, shaped an economy and identity that was unique due to its cosmopolitan character and distinctive form – even in comparison to geographically close centers such as the Histrian Nesactium.