Making Spaces into Places: The North Aegean, the Balkans and Western Anatolia in the Neolithic 9781407353807

Table of 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
vi
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
viii
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