international team of archaeologists ROOTS Cluster of Excellence A Late Neolithic settlement was discovered near the Tamis River in the northernmost tip of Serbia.
The newly discovered settlement is located near the modern village of Jarkovac in Serbia's Vojvodina region.
“This discovery is of great importance because very few large Late Neolithic settlements are known in the Banat region of Serbia,” said Professor Martin Farholt from Kiel University.
“With the help of geophysical methods, we were able to fully map its extent in March this year. It has an area of 11 to 13 hectares and is surrounded by four to six ditches. ”
“A settlement of this size is spectacular,” said Finn Wilkes, a PhD student at Keele University.
“The geophysical data also gives us a clear idea of the structure of the 7,000-year-old site.”
“In parallel to the geophysical survey, we systematically investigated the surface of the surrounding area for artifacts.”
“This surface material indicates that this settlement is the residence of the Vinča culture, which dates from between 5400 and 4400 BC.”
“But there is also a strong influence from the local Banat culture.”
“This is noteworthy as only a few settlements with Banat culture materials are known in present-day Serbia.”
The Jarkovac ruins in Serbia have a surface area of up to 13 hectares and are surrounded by four to six ditches. The deep black corner anomaly indicates that a large number of houses have been burnt. Image credits: Cluster ROOTS / Vojvodina Novi Sad Museum / Zrenjanin National Museum / Pancevo National Museum.
ROOTS archaeologists also investigated several Late Neolithic circular sites in Hungary.
“These so-called rondels are thought to originate from the Lengel culture (5000/4900-4500/4400 BC),” the researchers said.
“We also used both geophysical techniques and a systematic walking survey of the surrounding area.”
Thanks to the combination of both methods, we were able to distinguish more clearly between the eras represented by individual sites than before. ”
“This allowed us to re-evaluate some of the already known archaeological sites in Hungary,” said archaeologist Dr Kata Furholt from Kiel University.
“For example, a site previously classified as a Late Neolithic ring ditch turned out to be a much younger structure.”
“Highlights of our fieldwork in Hungary included the reassessment of settlements dating back to the Late Neolithic period, which included the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Vcedr culture (3000/2900–2500/2400 BC). ), and complete documentation of a Late Neolithic circular ditch in the village of Vokani is also included. ”
“Southeast Europe is a very important region for answering questions about how knowledge and technology spread during early human history and how this was related to social inequality.” said Professor Ferholt.
“This is where new techniques and knowledge, such as metalworking, first appeared in Europe.”
“With newly discovered and reclassified sites, we are collecting important data to better understand social inequalities and knowledge transfer.”
Source: www.sci.news
