First absolute chronologies of neolithic and bronze age settlements at Lake Ohrid based on dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating

Albert Hafner,Valentina Todoroska,Lea Emmenegger,Willy Tinner,Sönke Szidat,John Francuz,Andrej Maczkowski,Ariane Ballmer,Erika Gobet,Kostas Kotsakis,André F Lotter,Amy Bogaard,Mike Charles,Johannes Reich,Bojan Taneski,Josianne Fandré,Matthias Bolliger,Corinne Silvia Stäheli ,Г И Наумов ,César Morales‐Molino ,Michael Hostettler ,Ferrán Antolín

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103107

Abstract

Specialized and systematic underwater fieldwork at the prehistoric site of Ploča Mičov Grad at Gradište (North Macedonia) on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid was undertaken in 2018 and 2019. It has substantiated the archeological site’s outstanding preservation condition, and furthermore proven the numerous construction timbers’ suitability for dendrochronological analysis. Dendrochronological analysis on archaeological timbers was applied, combined with radiocarbon dating. Bayesian radiocarbon modeling allowed to ‘wiggle match’ the dendrochronological mean curves, i.e. allowed the precise chronological anchoring of ‘floating’ tree-ring sequences. Furthermore, radiocarbon dates of plant remains from the site’s main archaeological layer are statistically evaluated.Based on the new findings, the strikingly high density of wooden piles at the site can be attributed to several construction phases of Neolithic (middle of 5th millennium BC) and Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC: 1800, 1400 and 1300 BCE) settlements. Intense settlement activity is furthermore evidenced by a cultural layer of mainly organic material under the lakebed up to 1.7 m in thickness, which accumulated during the Neolithic occupation of the bay in the middle of the 5th millennium BC. The presented research enables precise absolute dating of a series of settlement phases at Ploča Mičov Grad from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, and hence provides important reference points for an absolute chronological framework for the prehistory of the southwestern Balkans. The investigations underline the potential of future research on waterlogged prehistoric settlements in the region.

Highlights

Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement remains in lakes and bogs represent one of the most significant sources of information on Europe’s prehistory
Artifacts and structural components made of wood, bark and plant fiber remain intact for thousands of years due to the absence of oxygen and decomposing agents
We focus on the absolute dating of the Neolithic and Bronze Age lakeside settlements from this site

Summary

Introduction

Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement remains in lakes and bogs represent one of the most significant sources of information on Europe’s prehistory. Prehistoric wetland settlements are known from Europe and worldwide (Menotti and O’Sullivan, 2013). The best documented cluster of waterlogged prehistoric sites is located around the Alps, where nearly 1000 sites are known. Other European regions with archeological wetland sites are known, but in most cases, they offer only a small number of sites. In northwestern Europe, sites in lakes and bogs are known from the British Isles (Knight et al, 2019), the Northern European Plain (Kossian, 2007; Kampffmeyer, 1983) and from the Baltic and adjacent regions (Charniauski, 2007; Virtanen, 2006; Kriiska, 2003; Butrimas, 1998; Rimantiene , 1998; Girininkas, 1980). Prehistoric lake settlements on the Iberian and Apennine peninsulas (Radi and Petrinelli Pannocchia, 2018; Antolín et al, 2014; Fugazzola Delpino et al, 1993) and in the southwestern Balkans are the southernmost examples of this phenomenon

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Conclusion