Tuzla is a city whose name and history are closely tied to salt, a natural wealth that remained beneath Tuzla after the withdrawal of the Pannonian Sea into the Black Sea 10 million years ago, in the form of saline water and rock salt. The remains of the saline water were used to construct the Pannonian salt lakes complex in Tuzla.
Within the complex of the Pannonian Lakes, in 2006, the first Archaeological Park of a Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Southeast Europe was built and opened. The Archaeological Park represents a reconstruction of a part of the Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement discovered in Tuzla. The park is an open-air museum that aims to present to visitors a portion of the archaeological and historical past of the city of Tuzla, as well as the way of life, both material and spiritual, especially the first salt production in the Neolithic era.
The Archaeological Park includes a semi-circular foundation curved around a hilly elevation, a leveled part of the hill arranged as a central plateau on which totem poles, a replica clay oven, a weaving hut, etc., are placed, 5 dwellings of characteristic shapes and dimensions, two smaller foundations connected by central foundations with wooden bridges to four more dwellings.
The first discovery of objects from the Neolithic era in Tuzla dates back to 1903. During work on regulating Appel Plac, now Trg slobode (Freedom Square), some archaeological material was excavated, providing the first indications of the existence of a Neolithic settlement in the Tuzla area. The archaeological material consisted of three perforated and polished hammers, a ceramic foot made of clay with traces of fine sand, and a large ball used as a grain crusher. After the expert analysis of these items, it was concluded that there was a Neolithic settlement in the present-day Tuzla area whose inhabitants, in addition to traditional livelihoods, also utilized sources of saline water.
Despite its interest and importance, this discovery was not sufficient to provide detailed information about the type, size, wealth, and true age of the settlement. It wasn't until 1955, in Rudarska Street, today's Džafer Mahala, that enough archaeological material was excavated, unequivocally confirming that there was a large and prosperous Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement in Tuzla, one of the oldest in Europe – with only one other Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement discovered in Switzerland.
Supporting the assumption that Neolithic inhabitants exploited saline sources are the discovered fragments of coarse pottery that, according to the opinions of contemporary top archaeologists, were used for isolating saline water. Two vessels have been reconstructed, one dating back to 3,500 years before the Common Era and the other to 5,000 years before the Common Era. Thus, from the Neolithic era to the present day, people in the Tuzla area have been producing salt.
The Neolithic vessels for isolating saline water serve as evidence that the pile-dwelling settlement in Tuzla was the first known Neolithic settlement whose inhabitants exploited this precious mineral. The oldest European cultures that used salt are dated to the Copper Age, meaning that the Neolithic discovery in Tuzla shifts the boundary of knowledge and use of salt in human diet from the Eneolithic to the Neolithic.
All findings provide evidence of the high culture of the inhabitants of this region during the flourishing of ancient cultures in Vinča and Butmir.
Since 2006 this Archaeology Park has become one of the tourist products of Tuzla, at first mainly relying on the visitors who come to visit the Pannonian Lakes, but now majority of visitors are pre-school children and students, as the visit to the Archaeology park is not only entertaining but also educational.
In 2012 an addition was made to the Archaeology park with opening of the Geological Exhibition 'Pannonica' which represents a significant element for the development of cultural tourism in the city of Tuzla, as it speaks to the continuity of life in this area and complements the offerings of the Pannonian Lakes complex.
