Stechak

A stechak is a monolithic stone grave monument that is found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. These stones were created as a sort of headstone for graves by Catholics and Krstyans (members of a local Christian religious sect in Bosnia) in the middle ages. The earliest stechaks are believed to be from the 13th century. Today, an estimated 66,000 stechaks can be found on Croatia.

Stechaks can be very massive and extremely heavy - some weighing up to 30 tons.

It is believed that the stechaks marked the graves of the departed, but were not the same as the stone coffin that the Romans built, as they differ in size, shape, and decoration. Stechaks can be found in the shapes of a sarcophagus, the slab, obelisk, and cross. They also commonly have a type of decoration on the marker.

References

[http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/art.html] - Croatian history website
[http://europeanhistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=europeanhistory&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hr%2Fdarko%2Fetf%2Fet02.html] - About.com article
[http://www.mdc.hr/gliptoteka/collection_of_stechaks.aspx] - Croatian Academy of Sciences and the Arts