As part of the institutional research project “ART – WITNESS TO TIME: Preservation of Skills and Revitalization of Traditional Sculptural and Conservation-Restoration Techniques of Material Processing through a Contemporary Curriculum – UMAS-USV, IP-UNIST-59”, the “Marks in Stone” activity is systematically carried out at the Department of Conservation-Restoration.
The activity focuses on the research and documentation of ancient mason’s marks on the walls of Diocletian’s Palace in Split, as well as on the development of a digital repository. Mason’s marks represent an important historical aspect of the Palace; however, to date, they have been documented only fragmentarily and have not been systematically analyzed or contextualized. The planned digital repository will serve as a research database intended for archaeologists, art historians, conservation-restoration specialists, and other professionals engaged in the research, protection, and interpretation of Diocletian’s Palace.
During the 2025/2026 academic year, several sub-activities were carried out. In March 2026, the activity coordinator, Associate Professor Vinka Marinković, PhD, Associate Professor of Art, delivered a lecture entitled “Mason’s Marks on the Walls of Diocletian’s Palace in Split” for senior students of the Department of Conservation-Restoration. The students were introduced to the origins, types, and contexts of mason’s marks, as well as their significance for the research and documentation of built heritage. Particular attention was devoted to the methodology of documenting, digitizing, protecting, and preserving the marks.
During the remainder of the semester, field-based instruction was conducted, during which students were introduced to accessible, visible, and previously documented mason’s marks. The western entrance and the substructures of Diocletian’s Palace were surveyed, providing students with an opportunity to directly examine the types, locations, and contexts of the marks.
As part of their professional student placement and the course “Conservation-Restoration II – Stone”, students Damjan Babić and Jakov Tokić carried out a multi-day practical component of the activity in the substructures of Diocletian’s Palace, in Room 11B. Working from a scaffold, the walls were surveyed, newly identified mason’s marks were recorded, and the marks were documented photographically and graphically at a 1:1 scale. Their work represents the first concrete steps toward establishing a digital database, which will be expanded throughout the continuation of the activity with new examples and associated data.
For the implementation of the activity, a Cooperation Agreement was concluded with the Croatian Conservation Institute, establishing a framework for further professional and research collaboration. In addition, the conclusion of a cooperation agreement with the Museum of the City of Split is currently being prepared, which will further expand opportunities for the research and professional documentation and interpretation of mason’s marks in the substructures of Diocletian’s Palace.
The “Marks in Stone” activity brings together research work and practical student education, while laying the foundations for the development of a digital repository of mason’s marks as a research and teaching database. Through the systematic recording, documentation, and contextualization of mason’s marks, the activity contributes to a better understanding of this aspect of the Palace, while creating a basis for further scholarly research and the long-term protection and preservation of these historical traces.