Excavations at Opovo, 1985-1987: Socioeconomic Change in the Balkan Neolithic

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This is the second preliminary report of excavations and analyses of Opovo-Ugar Bajbuk, a Neolithic settlement of the Vinta-Plocnik culture located in the lowerTamis' river valley, NE Yugoslavia. The Opovo Archaeological Project began in the summer of 1983; this report covers the 1985-1987 field seasons. Work at Opovo has continued to reveal more about the unusual reliance placed by the site's inhabitants on wild food resources, the apparent lack of long-term settlement occupation, and the social organization ofproduction and consumption. An unexpected find of the 1987 season was afragment of linen, the earliest direct evidence for textile production in European prehistory. Detailed examination of methods of house construction and house destruction--part of an effort to investigate the role of households at the site-led to the discovery of the first two-story dwelling ever encountered at a Vinia site. The site of Opovo-Ugar Bajbuk is providing new light on previously unknown dimensions of variation within the Vinia culture. This content downloaded from 202.28.191.34 on Thu, 31 Dec 2015 13:09:05 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions continuity at Opovo. The discussion focuses on the construction and destruction of Opovo's houses and on the production and spatial patterning of food remains, pottery, stone tools, and other artifacts found at the site. All of this information contributes to our attempt to compare the dynamics of late Neolithic socioeconomic change north and south of the Danube. Almost from the outset, it was clear that there were important differences (as well as similarities) between Opovo, north of the Danube, and other late Neolithic settlements south of the Danube. As was reported earlier (Tringham, Brukner, and Voytek 1985), the formal characteristics and the technology used in the production of This content downloaded from 202.28.191.34 on Thu, 31 Dec 2015 13:09:05 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Diet and subsistence at the late Neolithic tell sites of Sopot, Slavča and Ravnjaš, eastern Croatia

“…The high oil content in flax seeds can make them more susceptible to burning and less likely to be preserved compared to other seeds (Wilson 1984) and so their presence even in small numbers could suggest flax cultivation for oil and/or fibre. This is further supported by the recovery of flax textile fragments from the contemporary late Neolithic site at Opovo in Serbia (4700-4500 cal BC) (Borojevi≤ 2006;Tringham et al 1992).…”

Containers and grains: food storage and symbolism in the Central Balkans (Vinča period)

“…The pithoi, with the exception of house 13, are located in the older part of the building, reflecting the control of storage by older members of the household. On the other hand, dissatisfaction and social tensions can be observed based on the location and So far Opovo is the only examined Vin≠a culture settlement where all three building horizons provide no clear evidence supporting the change from public to private storage (Tringham, Brukner and Voytek 1985;Tringham et al 1992). The reasons for this may lie in the economy of the settlement, which was based on wild rather than domesticated resources, while long-term storage of cereals was of less importance.…”

“…The reasons for this may lie in the economy of the settlement, which was based on wild rather than domesticated resources, while long-term storage of cereals was of less importance. Opovo is located in a marshy environment which is not conducive to intensive agriculture; only small quantities of cereals were discovered even in structures resembling storage pits, while the houses contained insignificant evidence of cereal processing (Borojevi≤ 1998;Tringham et al 1992). Therefore, the lack of long term change in the character of grain storage can be interpreted as a result of the settlement's non-reliance on agriculture for survival; we can also accept that social status was achieved through the distribution of meat rather than the accumulation of grain (Russell 1993).…”

“…In some, a hunting based economy was predominant, as was noted in Opovo (Tringham, Brukner and Voytek 1985;Tringham et al 1992;Russell 1993) and Petnica (Orton 2008). Other settlements show a strong dependence on domesticated plants and animals, as discovered in Divostin (McPherron and Srejovi≤ 1988).…”

An archaeological experiment and new knowledge about the chipped stone industry from the Vinča culture

“…The main weakness of those investigations was publishing results without illustrated examples, sometimes only with schematized representations. It is the case with assemblages from Divostin (Tringham et al 1988: 210-221), Vinča-Belo Brdo (Voytek 1984:54-58), Selevac (Voytek 1990: 473-481), Gomolava (Kaczanowska & Kozłowski 1986: 115-119) and Opovo (Tringham et al 1985;Tringham et al 1992). It was not possible to compare the results of investigations of the assemblage from Vinča-Belo Brdo from the last series of excavations (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) with the already existing data.…”