Herding, Settlement, and Chronology in the Balkan Neolithic

Abstract

The Neolithic in the central Balkans saw dramatic changes in settlement forms, architecture, and material culture, with substantial, often long-lived settlements that can reasonably be called villages emerging in the later part of the period. This paper examines the role of herding practices in the development of these large, more-or-less settled communities. Radiocarbon results (including twenty-seven new AMS dates from Gomolava, Opovo, and Petnica) are used to place the available zooarchaeological data into a chronological framework, allowing comparison of inter- and intra-site changes across the region. The data point to the development of large-scale cattle herding in the later Neolithic, the implications of which for mobility and community cohesion are discussed. This trend is seen clearly over time at certain sites but, like the settlement evidence, is neither universal nor synchronous across the region, emphasizing that change occurred, and should be understood, on the level of individual communities.

Assemblages from Marginal Spaces

“…Overall, however, the assemblage from Mala Pećina is dominated by domestic mammals, sheep/goat and cattle in particular, both of which show clear evidence of butchery. This is consistent with what would be expected for the Neolithic diet in this region (Orton 2012). Trench 1 is the only trench within the assemblage to contain foetal bones.…”

“…Kosti vrapčarki ukazuju na probavne procese i vrlo vjerojatno su odbačene od strane većih životinja, dok kosti glodavaca izgledaju svježe i pronađene su u jazbini u Sondi 3. Ukupno gledajući, među koštanim materijalom iz Male pećine najzastupljenije su domaće životinje, posebno ovce/ koze i govedo, koji pokazuju jasne znakove mesarenja, što potvrđuju dosadašnji podaci o neolitičkoj prehrani na ovome području (Orton 2012). Samo su u Sondi 1 pronađene fetalne kosti.…”

The end of the affair: formal chronological modelling for the top of the Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo

“…These developments occurred over a timescale of several centuries, but were not to last for ever; they were succeeded by a much more dispersed and often less archaeologically visible pattern of settlement. Not least among the many questions that the Vinča phenomenon raises are the timing and circumstances of its demise in the middle of the fifth millennium cal BC (Parzinger 1993; Schier 1996; Link 2006; Borić 2009; Orton 2012).

Figure 1. Map showing the distribution of Vinča culture (in red) with the location of Vinča-Belo Brdo.

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Agricultural change in Copper Age Croatia (ca. 4500–2500 cal B.C)?

“…Today, the increase in cattle and the exploitation of secondary products is clearly seen during the Neolithic, where mixed husbandry regimes were practiced (Copley et al 2003;Craig et al 2003Craig et al , 2005Evershed et al 2008;Greenfield and Arnold 2015;Orton 2012;Spangenberg et al 2006). Instead, the early Copper Age faunal remains, although particularly limited, have begun to reveal variations in the proportion of domestic species at sites.…”