Balkan prehistory

Neanderthals were the only human group in Europe throughout the Late Pleistocene until the arrival of modern humans, and while their presence has been confirmed in the surrounding regions, no Neanderthal fossils are known to date from the Central Balkans. Systematic excavations of Pešturina Cave (Serbia) resulted in the discovery of a permanent right M1 (Pes-3). The specimen was recovered from stratigraphic Layer 4b with an estimated age of 102.4 ± 3.2 ka, associated with Mousterian artifacts. The exceptional state of preservation and minimal wear of the molar enabled a detailed description and comparative analysis of the inner and outer dental structure, including non-metric dental traits and morphometric features of the crown, roots, and dental tissues. The results of this study strongly support the identification of Pes-3 as Neanderthal. Non-metric traits of the occlusal surface of the crown, enamel-dentine junction, and roots are consistent with Neanderthal morphology. The crown shows morphometric features typical for Neanderthal M1, such as a buccolingually skewed crown shape, internally compressed cusps, and a relatively large hypocone. The specimen also shows Neanderthal-like dental tissue proportions, characterized by relatively thin enamel and large coronal dentine and coronal pulp volumes. The discovery of the Pes-3 molar therefore confirms the presence of Neanderthals in the territory of Serbia and the Central Balkans at the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5c.

This paper discusses the degree of social complexity in southeastern Europe in the fifth millennium BC and presents previously unreported evidence from the tell societies of the Lower Danube. Based on the analysis of stone, flint, and copper axes of various types from Pietrele in southern Romania, I argue that social distinction, as deduced from the Varna cemetery, also can be identified in contemporary neighboring regions with poorer burial rituals. In these societies, some members distinguished themselves by their access and accumulation of prestigious items, with a special emphasis on axes, adzes, and shaft-hole axes. This socioeconomic constellation was ideal for the adoption of metallurgy, which was considerably developed for the production of prestigious axe heads. These, in turn, stimulated innovation in other crafts and materials. Distribution patterns, source-critical consideration, and new excavation results indicate that the social order visible in the cemetery of Varna was not limited to the western Black Sea coast but was shared by neighboring communities, where the social reality was masked in seemingly egalitarian funeral rites. Through this discussion, I also bring in recent evidence for early metallurgy in southwestern Asia.

We present the scientific analyses conducted on the ongoing excavation of the late Criș settlement at Tăşnad-‘Sere’, Satu Mare county. The excavation aims to understand the relationship between the occupation layer and sub-surface features. We seek to achieve constant feedback between the scientific analysis and the excavation, adapting our excavation methods as needed. The ultimate aim is to develop methods that can also be applied to more conventional excavations. Soil analysis (XRF) revealed a good correspondence between sulphur, inorganic phosphorus, potassium and calcium and the archaeological features. Lipolythic microorganisms and thermophilic bacteria were identified both around and within a pit. Petrographic thin section analysis showed that a very similar fabric with fine organic inclusions was used in all areas analysed.

The project would borrow lenses from multiple fields: Anthropology, Archaeology, Biology, Climatology, Ethnology, Genetics,  Geography,  History,  Linguistics, Psychology, Sociology; and take different perspectives from inter-disciplinary approaches: Biogeography, Cultural  Geography, Archaeolinguistics, Archaeomythology or Cognitive Archaeology. To address the broad timeframe, from the advent of agriculture in SEE up to now, and the large chunk of the European continent in focus, the concept of survival value could be used to sieve through the vast amount of data available. In this context, survival values refer to a subset of life strategies that are employed by a community to cope with crises, brought by natural disasters or by major threats from other human groups. For specific cultural elements to qualify as survival values, they require to be part of the answer to this question: how does a community prepare for future crises and how does it cope in times of crisis to successfully preserve its physical and cultural integrity? As components of the cultural adaptations to the environment, strong survival values allow for genetic continuity of a group in a particular area and period. In stable environments, these cultural elements are conserved while the majority of cultural aspects evolve. Based on this hypothesis, shared survival values could be used to link human groups living in the same area millennia apart or between contemporaneous groups living in similar nearby environments. An example of how orally transmitted survival values have made the difference between the survival rate of a variety of communities faced with the same threat is provided below in the 'Survival values at work' section.

The ‘Archaeology of Social Dynamics‘ unit, hosted in the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC-IMF, Barcelona), in collaboration with the Maritime Museum of Barcelona, is organizing the 1st Conference on the EARLY NEOLITHIC of EUROPE (Barcelona, 6-8 November, 2019).
www.ene2019.org

Registration is open. Call for abstracts is also open until May 15, 2019. We positively welcome multidisciplinary approaches, regional syntheses and/or contextualized case studies.

This conference aims to be a meeting of researchers studying the Early Neolithic in Europe and surroundings areas, in relation with the Neolithisation process in the continent. This process followed different rhythms and presented singularities in each geographic area, and was therefore a very complex phenomenon. In order to address this scientific challenge, the conference is organised in nine thematic sessions:

- Neolithic spread and supraregional interactions,
  chaired by Catherine Perlès (Université Paris Nanterre);
- Chronology and modelling,
  chaired by Stephen Shennan (University College London);
- Human–environment interaction,
  chaired by Jean-François Berger (Université Lumière Lyon);
- Population characteristics and dynamics,
  chaired by Mattias Jakobsson (Uppsala Universitet);
- Territory and settlement,
  chaired by Daniela Hofmann (University of Hamburg);
- Subsistence,
  chaired by Amy Bogaard (University of Oxford);
- Technological processes,
  chaired by Annelou van Gijn (Universiteit Leiden);
- Funerary practices,
  chaired by Christian Jeunesse (Université de Strasbourg);
- Symbolism,
  chaired by Goce Naumov (University Goce Delcev).

Research on the beginnings of metallurgy in the Balkans, conducted over the recent years, has shown that the first metallurgy in Europe appeared in the Balkans. The question is where the ore for melting was obtained, even though some copper finds from the period of the earliest metallurgy give hints on the possible origins of the ore. It is well known that the earliest copper mines in the Balkans were contemporaneous with the oldest copper finds, which indicate the existence of developed mining techniques. It is also a question of how far into the past do the beginnings of mining in this territory go, and whether it can be assumed that the high level of technological knowledge, within the frame of Neolithic cultures in the Balkans, played a crucial part in the appearance of metallurgy and mining.

Osseous raw materials were very important throughout prehistory, since the Lower Palaeolithic. Although their role changed with the introduction of the new raw materials, especially with the development of the metallurgy, they were in the later prehistoric periods still used for production of a variety of artefacts – everyday tools, weapons, as well as decorative and non-utilitarian items. Unfortunately, the osseous industry in the Eneolithic period is not very well studied; in particular for the area of the South Carpathian basin and the Balkans analysed assemblages are only few, and the synthetic studies are almost non-existing. Additional problem concerns the available material; often the assemblages are incomplete, originating from excavations carried out in the 19th and in the first half 20th century, when the faunal material was not carefully recovered, but only selected items, and the information about the context is incomplete. In this paper will be offered an overview of the available data on the bone industries in the Eneolithic period from diverse cultures that inhabited the area of the South-East Europe, more specifically, of the south Carpathian basin and the Balkans.

SOME ASPECTS OF MEDIEVAL SCUTARI’S ECONOMY

In this article is intended to provide some information about the
economy of Shkodra in the Middle Ages, especially in the period of the 15th century. The article presents a general overview of some important branches of the economy in this city. There is much information on money, different types of coins used in the city over the years; data on production and trade and most important crafts and laws governing these crafts, according to medieval statutes of Shkodra.