If we read the notes from his travels throughout Dalmatia, which this writer and natural historian published more than two centuries ago in the spirit of enlightenment, collected in the chapter entitled “On the island Hvar”, we will find very interesting and detailed notes for that time, not only about the landscape and nature, but also about the fossils that could be found in the rocks of this area.
“From Stari Grad, I rode my horse down to the small cove Žukova that gives sufficient safety for fishing boats. Here on the seashore, they extract long, white, marble slabs that the islanders in Dalmatia generally used for their houses. It is common that when breaking up these large slabs of rock, they discover the prints of marine plants and fish that are not known in our seas…
“… The fish skeletons in Žukova that have become part of the layers on which they lie, certainly do not belong to our seas, which were formed much later than they lived. I do not have them in hand to describe the most recognisable parts and to determine the genus to which they belong, and to which known fish they are related.
“A village far from the sea, called Vrbanj, has a second quarry with platy marbles that also contain fish; but to access them, one would have to wait for weeks and employ diggers at their own expense who do not care of these unusual things.”
These records reveal interesting facts about Fortis himself, but also about the level of overall knowledge at that time. Not only was he able to observe a series of interesting palaeontological facts in quite inaccessible areas, and despite the fact that modern geology was not established as a science until later, Fortis already in the late 18th century had correctly posed several geological postulates and observed numerous cause-and-effect phenomenon that would later be recognised as fundamental. However, it should also be stated that he used some terms that are not accurate today, such as “marble” in the above quote, where he was actually referring to limestone.
“From Stari Grad, I rode my horse down to the small cove Žukova that gives sufficient safety for fishing boats. Here on the seashore, they extract long, white, marble slabs that the islanders in Dalmatia generally used for their houses. It is common that when breaking up these large slabs of rock, they discover the prints of marine plants and fish that are not known in our seas…
“… The fish skeletons in Žukova that have become part of the layers on which they lie, certainly do not belong to our seas, which were formed much later than they lived. I do not have them in hand to describe the most recognisable parts and to determine the genus to which they belong, and to which known fish they are related.
“A village far from the sea, called Vrbanj, has a second quarry with platy marbles that also contain fish; but to access them, one would have to wait for weeks and employ diggers at their own expense who do not care of these unusual things.”
These records reveal interesting facts about Fortis himself, but also about the level of overall knowledge at that time. Not only was he able to observe a series of interesting palaeontological facts in quite inaccessible areas, and despite the fact that modern geology was not established as a science until later, Fortis already in the late 18th century had correctly posed several geological postulates and observed numerous cause-and-effect phenomenon that would later be recognised as fundamental. However, it should also be stated that he used some terms that are not accurate today, such as “marble” in the above quote, where he was actually referring to limestone.
Žukova Cove from Fortis’ records
The unique collection of fossil fish, most of which originated from the platy limestones on the island of Hvar, are housed at the Croatian Natural History Museum in Zagreb, while other specimens are kept within the collections of numerous museums of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, especially Vienna, but also in other European museums, such as London. However, there is a tiny but exceptionally valuable museum that also carefully keeps several fossil fish from this area: the Museum of the Dominican monastery in Stari Grad, on the island of Hvar.
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