Prehistoric settlement of Okolište

More than six and a half thousand years before the Bosnian kings would be crowned in nearby Mile, one of the most organized prehistoric communities in all of Europe lived on this very stretch of land by the Bosna River. The prehistoric settlement of Okolište, located just a few kilometers from the center of Visoko, is the largest Neolithic site of the Butmir culture in the Visoko basin — a complex of more than 7 hectares with remains of over 50 houses with rectangular foundations, five defensive ditches, ovens, hearths, and workshops for making stone tools.

Systematic research by the Sarajevo National Museum and the German Archaeological Institute from 2002 to 2008 uncovered a community that grew wheat and barley, raised livestock, and hunted — and was already living in an organized and purposeful way between 4700 and 4500 BC. Declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006, the Okolište site is today one of the most important Neolithic sites in Europe — a quiet witness that the Visoko Valley has always been a special place.