Making Spaces into Places: The North Aegean, the Balkans and Western Anatolia in the Neolithic

by: Tasic, N.N. Urem-Kotsou, D. Buric, M.

Description
During three millennia of the Neolithic in southeastern Europe important changes in the social organisation, everyday practices and beliefs formed a diverse and rich cultural landscape expressed in settlement patterns, architecture and numerous aspects of material culture. A growing body of data uncovered over the last few decades shows striking variety in settlement organisation, from single-layered, short-lived sites to long-lived tell settlements located in different geographical settings. In addition, small sites (e.g. 0.5 ha) and extended settlements also appear in most sub-regions. This volume brings together new data on the Neolithic of southeastern Europe, emphasising the organisation and use of space within the regions of Northern Greece, the Balkan hinterland and north-western Turkey. To this end, individual chapters focus either on the intra-site organisation of recently excavated settlements or provide an up-to-date synthesis on the regional level, combining old and new data.

AUTHOR
Nenad N. Tasić is a professor of archaeology at Belgrade University, Serbia. His work and previous publications are dedicated to establishing chronologies, tracing origins, and study of the art of the Neolithic period of the Balkans. He has been the chief researcher at the site of Vinča since 1998.

Dushka Urem-Kotsou is an associate professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. Her expertise ranges from pottery to environmental and food archaeology, architecture and settlements in prehistory of the Aegean and Southeastern Europe. She is currently the director of a research project on the Neolithic settlements in Aegean Thrace.

Marcel Burić is an associate professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. His specific professional interests are social and technological developments in the Late Neolithic of Southeast Europe. He is the director of research of the Neolithic settlement at Bapska (Croatia).

Contributors: Dragana Antonović, Krum Bacvarov, Olga Bajčev, Tamara Blagojević, Vera Bogosavljević Petrović, Ksenija Borojević, Areti Chondroyianni-Metoki, Vesna Dimitrijević, Dragana Filipović, Gazmend Elezi, John Gorczyk, Jelena Jovanović, Nemci Karul, Dimitris Kloukinas, Kostas Kotsakis, Stavros Kotsos, Marianna Lymperaki, Marić Miroslav, Goce Naumov, Djurdja Obradović, Eylem Özdoğan, Kristina Penezic, Slaviša Perić, Marko Porčić, Agathe Reingruber, Sofija Stefanović, Ivana Stojanović, Heiner Schwarzberg, Teresa Silva, Georgia Stratouli, Nenad N. Tasić, Boban Tripković, Dushka Urem-Kotsou, Jasna Vuković

REVIEW
?Making Spaces into Places is a strong statement on the quality and directions of Balkan prehistory today.? Professor Nikos Efstratiou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

?The papers cover an important region, which was in touch with central Anatolia and Mesopotamia and forwarded the Neolithic way of life to other parts of Europe (central Europe and further west). The proceedings will be of great interest to all researchers who are dealing with Neolithisation and the Neolithic in general.? Dr Peter Tóth, Masaryk University

Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Nenad N. Tasić, Dushka Urem-Kotsou & Marcel Burić
1. Narratives of Space and Contemporary Archaeological Theory ........................................................................... 7
Kostas Kotsakis
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Cultural history and processualism............................................................................................................................... 7
Postprocessualism......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Phenomenology and meta-postprocessualism.............................................................................................................. 9
Theory in practice....................................................................................................................................................... 11
Epilogue...................................................................................................................................................................... 11
2. Timelines in the Neolithic of Southwestern Anatolia, the Circum-Aegean, the Balkans and
the Middle Danube Area .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Agathe Reingruber
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 17
General remarks regarding the quality of the dates.................................................................................................... 18
Timeline 1: 6600–6400 calBC.................................................................................................................................... 18
Case A: Mediterranean and southwestern Anatolia ............................................................................................... 18
Case B: The circum-Aegean.................................................................................................................................. 20
Case C: The northeastern Aegan and the Marmara region .................................................................................... 22
Timeline 2: 6200–6000 calBC.................................................................................................................................... 23
Case A: The northwestern and the northeastern Aegean ....................................................................................... 23
Case B: The central and eastern Balkans............................................................................................................... 24
Timeline 3: 5500–5300 calBC.................................................................................................................................... 25
Case A: The middle and lower Danube river......................................................................................................... 25
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................ 27
3. By the Rivers They Settled: Settlement Patterns and the Neolithic Landscape in Albania .............................. 33
Gazmend Elezi
4. Transformations of Settlement Space at Neolithic Avgi, NW Greece .................................................................. 43
Georgia Stratouli & Dimitris Kloukinas
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 43
The Neolithic settlement of Avgi................................................................................................................................ 44
Settlement space through time: A short overview ...................................................................................................... 44
Avgi I (ca. 5700–5200/5100 calBC)...................................................................................................................... 44
Avgi II (ca. 5200/5100–4900 calBC)..................................................................................................................... 47
Avgi III (ca. 4900–4500/4300 calBC) ................................................................................................................... 47
Approaching spatial transformation ........................................................................................................................... 49
Discussion................................................................................................................................................................... 51
5. Outside the Residential Place at the Neolithic Settlement of Toumba Kremastis Koiladas,
Northern Greece ....................................................................................................................................................... 53
Areti Chondroyianni-Metoki
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 53
The site ....................................................................................................................................................................... 53
The finds..................................................................................................................................................................... 54
The pits .................................................................................................................................................................. 54
The ditches............................................................................................................................................................. 56
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Making Spaces into Places
Burials......................................................................................................................................................................... 56
Cremations............................................................................................................................................................. 56
Inhumations ........................................................................................................................................................... 57
Scattered human bones.......................................................................................................................................... 57
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................ 57
6. Identifying Ritual at Late Neolithic Toumba Kremastis Koiladas: Ceramic Assemblages of
Representative Contexts........................................................................................................................................... 73
Teresa Silva, Marianna Lymperaki, Areti Chondroyianni-Metoki & Dushka Urem-Kotsou
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 73
Ritual .......................................................................................................................................................................... 74
The settlement of Toumba Kremastis Koiladas.......................................................................................................... 75
Selected contexts........................................................................................................................................................ 75
Cremation 7 ........................................................................................................................................................... 76
Pit 4........................................................................................................................................................................ 76
Pit 314.................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Pits 175, 176, and 177............................................................................................................................................ 82
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................ 84
7. Settling Neolithic Central Macedonia, Northern Greece...................................................................................... 87
Dushka Urem-Kotsou & Stavros Kotsos
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 87
Settlements and landscape.......................................................................................................................................... 88
Settlement types.......................................................................................................................................................... 89
The architecture .......................................................................................................................................................... 89
Burials......................................................................................................................................................................... 91
Neolithic food and spatial organisation of the settlements......................................................................................... 93
Networking in central Macedonia .............................................................................................................................. 94
Concluding remarks.................................................................................................................................................... 95
8. Settlements and Landscape in the Neolithic of the Southern and Central Balkans......................................... 105
Stavros Kotsos
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 105
Geographical distribution of settlements in the Axios and Morava regions............................................................. 105
Settlement location and the wider landscape............................................................................................................ 106
Settlements and their local environmental setting.................................................................................................... 107
Intra-site organisation and architecture of Early and Middle Neolithic settlements................................................ 108
Intra-site organisation and architecture of Late Neolithic settlements..................................................................... 109
Discussion................................................................................................................................................................. 110
Concluding remarks.................................................................................................................................................. 112
9. Pelagonian Tells and Pile Dwellings of Lake Ohrid ............................................................................................ 123
Goce Naumov
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 123
Tells of Pelagonia ..................................................................................................................................................... 123
Pile dwellings of Lake Ohrid.................................................................................................................................... 125
Continuity and networks: In conclusion................................................................................................................... 127
10. The Neolithic and Post-Neolithic Settlement Mounds of Western Serbia......................................................... 141
Boban Tripković
The Mačva district of Western Serbia: An overview of geography and prehistory.................................................. 141
The small settlement mounds of Western Serbia: Previous research ....................................................................... 142
The current project.................................................................................................................................................... 143
Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................................. 145
11. Vinča-Belo Brdo Settlement Size........................................................................................................................... 149
Kristina Penezić
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 149
vii
Contents
Vinča-Belo brdo settlement size............................................................................................................................... 150
In place of a conclusion............................................................................................................................................ 154
12. Use of Space in a Late Neolithic/Early Eneolithic Building at the Site of Vinča-Belo Brdo in the
Central Balkans...................................................................................................................................................... 157
Ksenija Borojević* (corresponding author), Dragana Antonović, Jasna Vuković, Vesna Dimitrijević, Dragana
Filipović, Miroslav Marić, Kristina Penezić, Boban Tripković, Vera Bogosavljević Petrović & Nenad Tasić
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 158
Late Neolithic buildings at Vinča-Belo brdo............................................................................................................ 158
Building 01/06 .......................................................................................................................................................... 159
Contents of Room 1 (north room) ....................................................................................................................... 159
Contents of Room 2 (central room)..................................................................................................................... 160
Contents of Room 3 (south room) ....................................................................................................................... 162
Absolute dating of Building 01/06 ........................................................................................................................... 164
The use of space in Building 01/06 .......................................................................................................................... 165
Room 1................................................................................................................................................................. 165
Room 2................................................................................................................................................................. 165
Room 3................................................................................................................................................................. 166
Rooms 2 and 3 ..................................................................................................................................................... 166
Houses of the late Vinča culture ............................................................................................................................... 167
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................ 168
13. The Neolithic Settlement at Drenovac, Serbia: Settlement History and Spatial Organisation....................... 181
Slaviša Perić, Olga Bajčev, Ivana Stojanović & Đurđa Obradović
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 181
The site ..................................................................................................................................................................... 181
Form of the site and formation processes................................................................................................................. 183
Site size..................................................................................................................................................................... 183
Early Neolithic settlement ........................................................................................................................................ 183
Late Neolithic settlement.......................................................................................................................................... 184
Early Vinča phase ..................................................................................................................................................... 184
Late Vinča phase....................................................................................................................................................... 184
Settlement size and layout ................................................................................................................................... 184
Internal organisation of the settlement................................................................................................................. 185
Late Vinča houses................................................................................................................................................ 185
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................ 186
14. Neolithic Settlements in the Central Balkans between 6200 and 5300 calBC: Issues of Duration and
Continuity of Occupation....................................................................................................................................... 191
Sofija Stefanović, Marko Porčić, Tamara Blagojević & Jelena Jovanović
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 191
Jaričiste ..................................................................................................................................................................... 192
Topole-Bač................................................................................................................................................................ 193
Dynamics of the Early Neolithic settlements in the central Balkans ....................................................................... 195
Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................................. 196
15. Off-settlement Ritual Practices in the Neolithic: Pit-Digging and Structured Deposition at Sarnevo in
Bulgarian Thrace.................................................................................................................................................... 201
Krum Bacvarov & John Gorczyk
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 201
The archaeological site of Sarnevo in Upper Thrace................................................................................................ 201
Relative and absolute chronology............................................................................................................................. 202
Feature types............................................................................................................................................................. 202
Deposits.................................................................................................................................................................... 203
Composition of deposits...................................................................................................................................... 203
Deliberate fragmentation, selectivity and diversity in the combination of items................................................ 203
Clay plastering/sealing......................................................................................................................................... 204
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Making Spaces into Places
Firing/burning...................................................................................................................................................... 204
Sealing with burnt house debris........................................................................................................................... 204
Structured deposition at Sarnevo.............................................................................................................................. 204
Conclusion: The Late Neolithic ?ritual package?...................................................................................................... 205
16. Contextualising the Neolithic House: A View from Aşağı Pınar in Eastern Thrace..........................................211
Eylem Özdoğan & Heiner Schwarzberg
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 211
Aşağı Pınar ............................................................................................................................................................... 212
Architectural features of the site............................................................................................................................... 213
Discussion................................................................................................................................................................. 215
Houses.................................................................................................................................................................. 215
Settlement layout ................................................................................................................................................. 216
17. Living in an Enclosed Settlement: Settlement Pattern and Social Organisation at Aktopraklık ................... 225
Necmi Karul
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 225
The site ..................................................................................................................................................................... 225
Central houses and inner court ............................................................................................................................ 227
Graveyard ............................................................................................................................................................ 227
Discussion................................................................................................................................................................. 227
Houses and ditch.................................................................................................................................................. 227
Houses and open spaces....................................................................................................................................... 227
The consistency of the settlement and the houses............................................................................................... 228

Making Spaces into Places: The North Aegean, the Balkans and Western Anatolia in the Neolithic

by: Tasic, N.N. Urem-Kotsou, D. Buric, M.

• ISBN-13: 9781407353807 / 978-1-4073-5380-7
• ISBN-03: 1407353802 / 1-4073-5380-2
• Bar Publishing, Oxford, 2020