Early Neolithic population dynamics in the Eastern Balkans and the Great Hungarian Plain

Abstract

IntroductionIt is commonly accepted that the Neolithic was introduced to Europe from the Near East, and new genetic and bioarchaeological evidence undoubtedly show that these processes included movements of people (Davison et al. 2007; Haak et al. 2010; Brami, Heyd 2011; Fort 2012; Pinhasi et al. 2012; Bori≤, Price 2013; Gurova, Bonsall 2014; Özdogan 2014; Mathieson et al. 2015; Szécsényi-Nagy et al. 2015; Hofmanová et al. 2016). The directions and rates of spread of the Neolithic in different regions of Europe have been important issues in numerous studies, many of which offered possible models of pop- Early Neolithic population dynamics in the Eastern Balkans and the Great Hungarian Plain 19 ulation expansion. Different models have been suggested for the process, the most frequently considered being: the wave-of-advance model, leap-frog colonisation, and diffusion of cultural novelties (cultural transmission) (Ammerman, Cavalli-Sforza 1971, 1973 Tringham 2000; Whittle et al. 2002; Bar-Yosef 2004; Pinhasi et al. 2005; Davison et al. 2007; Bocquet-Appel et al. 2009; Bori≤, Price 2013). In recent years, the process of neolithisation has been studied as a more complex combination of demic and cultural diffusion (Wirtz, Lemmen 2003; Fort 2012; 2015). ABSTRACT -In this study, we reconstruct population dynamics in the Early Neolithic of the Eastern Balkans and the Great Hungarian Plain using frequency of radiocarbon dates as a population proxy. The method of summed calibrated radiocarbon probability distributions is applied to a set of dates recently published in Bulgaria and Hungary. The aim is to test the hypothesis of the Neolithic demographic transition (NDT) in these regions and to compare the patterns between these two and neighbouring regions. The results show that episodes of population growth occurred in both regions, which is in partial agreement with the predictions of the NDT theory. Population growth is detected, but it is followed by a bust, rather than stabilisation as predicted for the second phase of the NDT. IZVLE∞EK -V ≠lanku posku∏amo rekonstruirati populacijske dinamike v ≠asu zgodnjega neolitika na obmo≠ju vzhodnega Balkana in Velike mad∫arske ni∫ine, in sicer z uporabo pogostnosti radiokarbonskih datumov kot kazalcev poselitve. Metodo vsote verjetnostne razporeditve kalibriranih radiokarbonskih datumov smo uporabili pri analizi datumov, ki so bili nedavno objavljeni v BolgariThe Neolithic way of life brought changes in subsistence and mobility patterns, and a major shift in population structure and dynamics known as the Neolithic Demographic Transition (NDT). According to Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel (2002; 2008; 2011a; 2011b; 2013; Bocquet-Appel, Bar-Yosef 2008a), the NDT was a two-stage process -the first stage being characterised by exponential population growth caused by increased fertility, followed by a second stage marked by increased mortality and decelerating growth. It is assumed that the increase in fertility was caused by changes in lifestyle which accompanied the Neolithic -die...

The Neolithic Demographic Transition in the Central Balkans: population dynamics reconstruction based on new radiocarbon evidence

“…A recurring pattern of the Neolithic population booms followed by busts was found in many regions of Western and Central Europe [5,6]. The TWF interpretation is logically possible for the episode of population decrease between approximately 6000 BC and approximately 5800 BC-in this interval the SCPD curve in Central Balkans goes down, while in the Great Hungarian Plain, it goes up [10], which is consistent with the TWF model. Therefore, the Central Balkan evidence is consistent with this model, at least for the first episode of population boom-and-bust.…”

“…Until recently [9][10][11], there was practically no information about the population dynamics of the Neolithic populations closer to the origins of the Neolithic expansion in Europethe Central Balkans. The Early Neolithic communities from the Aegean reached the Central Balkans by approximately 6250 BC according to the new radiocarbon dates published in this study (see also [12]).…”

Between fishing and farming: palaeogenomic analyses reveal cross-cultural interactions triggered by the arrival of the Neolithic in the Danube Gorges

“…Several elements of the Neolithic culture, such as domesticated animals, crop consumption and a typical Neolithic symbolic repertoire, appear at Lepenski Vir only after the Transformation phase when trapezoidal houses were also abandoned and the flexed position became the new dominant mortuary canon (Porčić, Blagojević and Stefanović, 2016;Blagojević et al, 2017;Jovanović et al, 2019;. This cultural change coincides with a significant population increase at Early Neolithic sites in the Central Balkans and is associated with a general population increase and a higher percentage of individuals with non-local isotope signals, suggesting a second wave of Neolithic immigrantion (Borić and Price, 2013;Porčić, Blagojević and Stefanović, 2016;Blagojević et al, 2017;de Becdelièvre et al, 2021). In line with this view, the three first-generation immigrants at Lepenski Vir (LEPE39, LEPE48 and LEPE52) were all found to be unrelated and most likely date to different generations (Table 1).…”

Living off the land: Terrestrial-based diet and dairying in the farming communities of the Neolithic Balkans

“…From here, this new socio-economic system spread westward over land and sea, reaching Cyprus and Central Anatolia, and by 6500 calBC, the coastal areas of Western Turkey, Thessaly and Macedonia. Between c. 6500 and 6000 calBC, it spread throughout the Balkan Peninsula and the southern parts of the Pannonian Plain [ 5 – 9 ]. Farming was introduced to the Balkans as a complete economic concept and the entire peninsula was occupied by farmers within five or six centuries, through a complex process of migration and interaction [ 10 , 11 ].…”