The bones that were found in the attic, in the depot of the Nikšić museum, in the castle of King Nikola, come from archaeological research.
This was told to "Vijesta" by the director of the JU "Museums and Galleries" Nikšić. Vesna Todorovic, who informed the public about the unexpected discovery at the first special session of the Nikšić Municipal Assembly, responding to councilor questions.
"During the transfer of the theater to the depot, when the conservation and restoration of the Castle museum began, in 2019, we found human bones in the depot, in the attic. There are three or four human skeletons about which there was no information. There was probably some research, about which we have no information, and someone treated the human bones irresponsibly and carelessly. It is also one of the indicators of how irresponsibly people treated cultural property, and in this case also human bones. We then moved those bones to the depot, and thought they deserved to be buried. That's why I addressed a letter to the President of the Municipality and requested that a place be designated where the bones could be buried. In the meantime, the local administration informed the police, and the bones are currently in the police," Todorović pointed out.
"I inform you that this prosecutor's office, after evaluating the contents of the case files of the Police Administration - RCB 'Zapad' - Security Department Nikšić, from September 24, 2024, formed on the occasion of the discovery of human bones in your institution, found that there are no grounds for criminal prosecution against any person, for any criminal offense for which he is prosecuted ex officio", the state prosecutor's letter states Present Protic, which was sent to the director of JU "Museums and Galleries".
The audit, which was carried out in 2022, and the curators submitted a report in early 2023, confirmed the audit report from 2019 and showed that the institution has enviable museum material, but also that a good part of it is missing. Museum collections, as Todorović told "Vijesta" in May, number 10.522 museum objects entered in the books, and about 1.300 are missing. The numismatic collection suffered the most, which numbered more than 930 museum objects, while the current audit found that there are about 195 of them.
"Her current numerical condition is the result of three burglaries that took place in 1988, 2005 and 2007. In that number of stolen objects, there is also a box with gold coins belonging to the king Nikola made during the proclamation of Montenegro as a Kingdom. Every theft was reported to the police, and the perpetrators were never found. The Berat Tsar's decree from 1638 is also missing. It was speculated that it might not be the original but a copy, although the price for the forgery would have been paid that long ago in 1952 when it was purchased from Petra Niković for 15.000 dinars was huge," said Todorović.
A part of the art collection that "Monteks" entrusted to the city for safekeeping was alienated, where 75 of the 34 works are missing, and from the collection Elijah Šobajić out of 1.160 works and personal items, 235 are missing. Today, the natural history collection in the Museum almost does not exist.
"The fact is that the objects did not receive the treatment that cultural heritage deserves and that the entire society was quite uninterested in the museum activity and the work of this institution," said Todorović.
Councilwoman Ksenija Milovic, who raised the question about the missing museum exhibits, said that this kind of treatment of culture often calls into question the possibility of dealing with it and suggested that the councilors come to an agreement and file criminal charges for everything that happened in museums and galleries. President of the Municipal Assembly, Nemanja Vukovic, he pointed out that he will take this responsibility upon himself and that he will invite the councilors to sign the criminal complaint so that they can submit it together.
Every theft was reported to the police, and the perpetrators were never found. Also missing is Berat - an imperial decree from 1638. It was speculated that it might not be the original but a copy, although the price that the forgery was paid for back in 1952 when it was bought from Petar Niković for 15.000 dinars would have been enormous," Todorović said.
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