Neolithisation of the Balkans: One hundred years of research

Documenta Praehistorica, 2024

Since 2020 a wealth of new data has been generated on the beginning of the Neolithic in the central Balkans. The picture that has emerged is broadly consistent with the Wave of Advance model, with the first farmers arriving in the region around 6250 BC and expanding gradually towards the north. In this paper, an updated review of the evidence and interpretations is presented, and potentially problematic or ambiguous aspects of the current interpretations of the Neolithic expansion in the Balkans are identified. Alternative hypotheses and means of their testing are also discussed.

The beginning of the Neolithic in the Central Balkans: Knowns and Unknowns coffee & tea break 10.30-11.

Studia Praehistorica, 2023

The paper analyzed 364 sites from the fifth millennium BC in northwestern Serbia in order to observe the process of population fission from the large Late Neolithic settlements and the formation of smaller settlements tightly integrated with one another in the Early Eneolithic. Special attention was paid to the chronology, size, pedology, and topography of the settlements. Lowland-valley microregions were densely populated, while hilly and highland areas were sparsely populated. Larger sites are concentrated in the microregions of Mačva, Posavina, Pocerina and Tamnava, while the smaller ones are distributed across all microregions. The largest and most numerous settlements were oriented towards very fertile soil types and microregions, such as Mačva, while settlements on soils unsuitable for cultivation prevail in the microregions of Rađevina and Azbukovica, which are characterized by hills and mountains, as well as in the most populated microregion of Mačva. Hard-to-reach settlements of dominant elevations (hillfort-Gradina type) in the hilly and mountainous areas and slightly elevated settlements enclosed by ditches in the plain areas (Obrovac type), i.e., the formation of small and very small settlements was viewed from the perspective of the transformation of the Neolithic and the establishment of a new, Eneolithic way of life. The analysis showed the necessity of modern archaeological prospection for a precise positioning of all sites in order to increase the quality of pedological and topographical data, as well as for geomagnetic research and targeted projects in order to evaluate the site areas, human activities in the settlements and to control the chronology by dating as many excavated sites with secure contexts as possible.

Studia Praehistorica, 2023

The paper analyzed 364 sites from the fifth millennium BC in northwestern Serbia in order to observe the process of population fission from the large Late Neolithic settlements and the formation of smaller settlements tightly integrated with one another in the Early Eneolithic. Special attention was paid to the chronology, size, pedology, and topography of the settlements. Lowland-valley microregions were densely populated, while hilly and highland areas were sparsely populated. Larger sites are concentrated in the microregions of Mačva, Posavina, Pocerina and Tamnava, while the smaller ones are distributed across all microregions. The largest and most numerous settlements were oriented towards very fertile soil types and microregions, such as Mačva, while settlements on soils unsuitable for cultivation prevail in the microregions of Rađevina and Azbukovica, which are characterized by hills and mountains, as well as in the most populated microregion of Mačva. Hard-to-reach settlements of dominant elevations (hillfort-Gradina type) in the hilly and mountainous areas and slightly elevated settlements enclosed by ditches in the plain areas (Obrovac type), i.e., the formation of small and very small settlements was viewed from the perspective of the transformation of the Neolithic and the establishment of a new, Eneolithic way of life. The analysis showed the necessity of modern archaeological prospection for a precise positioning of all sites in order to increase the quality of pedological and topographical data, as well as for geomagnetic research and targeted projects in order to evaluate the site areas, human activities in the settlements and to control the chronology by dating as many excavated sites with secure contexts as possible.

Glasnik Srpskog arheološkog društva / Journal of the Serbian Archaeological Society, 2024

SIXTY YEARS OF THE “LJUBLJANA SCHOOL” OF NEOLITHIC STUDIES: 26th Neolithic Seminar – Eurasian Neolithics: How Cultures and Societies Evolve and Why It Matters (9th–11th November 2023) and the 50th Volume of Documenta Praehistorica, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

ProgrammeSéance spécialisée de la Société préhistorique française, 2021

Actualités de la recherche en Préhistoire dans les Balkans Environnements, chronologies et dynamiques culturelles du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire au début du Néolithique (ca. 23 000 à 6000 ans cal. BC) Recent research in the Prehistory of the Balkans Environments, Chronologies and Cultural Dynamics from the Late Glacial Maximum to the beginning of the Neolithic (ca. 23,000 to 6000 cal BC) Séance spécialisée de la Société préhistorique française 4-5 octobre 2021, Nanterre Université

N. Miladinović-Radmilović and S. Vitezović (eds.) Bioarchaeology in the Balkans: Balance and Perspectives, 2013

The paper summarises archaeobotanical research in Serbia, more specifically, the analysis of plant remains from Neolithic sites and deposits (c. 6200-4500 cal BC). It offers an overview of the type of material analysed (macro- and micro-remains) and the relevant literature, and describes the charred plant assemblages in terms of the recovery method, the archaeological context, and the identified crop and wild taxa. Certain past and present methodological issues and problems regarding archaeobotanical analysis in Serbia are recognised, and the ‘usefulness’ of the obtained results for archaeological interpretations and reconstructions discussed.""

In P. Biagi and M. Spataro (eds) A Short Walk through the Balkans: The First Farmers of the Carpathian Basin and its Adjacent Regions. Quaderno 12, Atti della Societ per la Preistoria e Protostoria della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia. Trieste. pp. 25-38, 2007

The Neolithisation of the Balkans: a review of the archaeobotanical evidence. Minimal emphasis has hitherto been placed on the potential for analysing archaeobotanical datasets to explore the origin and spread of Neolithic farming; in this paper we present the results of such analyses which are based on the amalgamated records from c. 250 southwest Asian and European aceramic and Early Neolithic sites. We demonstrate the similarity of crop diversity on sites at the origins and at the focus of the earliest dispersal events and also the notable disparity in diversity between Early Neolithic sites in the different regions of the Balkans, once farming spread further westwards towards central Europe. We account for these variations in the 'crop package' in terms of both the routes of contact via which farming reached southeast Europe and also climatic factors that predetermined which species were better suited to cultivation according to the different regions.

Habitus? The Social Dimension of Technology and Transformation (eds. S. Kadrow and J. Müller), 2019

The long period from ~6500 cal BCE to ~4200 cal BCE in the Balkans is associated with changes in different aspects of culture and society, which include changes in technology. As a matter of fact, the entire period is divided into two major units ˗ the Neolithic and Eneolithic ˗ based on the single technological criterion, which is the invention and development of copper metallurgy. As technology can be both cause and/or consequence of sociocultural change, in this paper I review and discuss the appearance and development of technology during the Neolithic and Eneolithic in the Balkans with the aim to address the following questions. What were the major technological changes during this long period? Can we identify their direct or indirect causes in other aspects of culture and society and, most importantly, what were the social implications and consequences of different technological developments?

The area of Šumadija and Morava river valley system, already recognized as a Neolithic “highway” from the south to the north and west of Europe, was the geographical focus of this study. Throughout the analysis of palaeoclimate, plants and animals, and archaeological material record (especially the stone tools technology) in the context of Early Neolithic sites in Central Serbia, an attempt was made to find hidden elements and traces of the existence of preceding, Mesolithic human groups. New studies of Early Neolithic vegetation at a dozen sites could imply an ecological variability between eastern parts of present-day Serbia, mostly heavily forested, and more open space (with marginal forests and undergrowth) in west-central Serbia, with the plant economy still showing a strong dependence on natural resources. Something similar can be proposed for the animal husbandry system, where the ratio of wild to domestic NISP (Number of Identified Specimens) varies considerably. Among the domestic animals, the overwhelming dominance of cattle and sheep and goat could designate a high mobility and short life-spans of settlements. Analysis of stone technology shows an emphasis on traditional raw materials (quartz and quartzite) with an impact of new (laminar, etc.) techniques and new materials (such as Balkan flint), produced using old techniques, as well. Ground stone and polished stone tools appear in rudimentary forms (made on pebbles), and the bone and antler industry partly shows dichotomy between a striking continuity with older, Mesolithic traditions, and a novel chaîne opératoire. All this leads us to promote the micro-regional field studies of the Mesolithic in central Serbia, where one of such potential zones could be the West Morava and Lower Ibar confluence.