LBK and Vinča in South-East Transdanubia: Comments on merging, interleaving and diversity

Abstract

The two fundamental cultural developments of the Danube region in the second half of the 6th millennium cal BC, namely the emergence of the Vinča culture and the formation and spread of the LBK in Central Europe, are among the most contentious issues of European Neolithic archaeology. Although the relationship between the two cultures has often been emphasised, its true nature is yet to be explored. One principal obstacle is the spatial gap: research has yet failed to establish a direct geographic link between Vinča and LBK settlement patterns along the Danube. From this point of view, the discovery of the intense presence of the early Vinča culture in southernmost Transdanubia was particularly significant. In this region, an active zone of contacts between Vinča and LBK type material cultures can be detected from the mid-54th century cal BC. The sites of Szederkény-Kukorica-dűlő, Versend-Gilencsa and Szemely-Irtás in the Southern Baranya Hills (South Hungary) were pivotal in gaining a better understanding of these phenomena. The investigated sites revealed typical longhouse architecture, an emblematic feature of the LBK universe, meanwhile the associated material culture belonged primarily to the Vinča and Ražište styles or revealed their combination with Starčevo and LBK types. The coalescence of different technological traditions and styles in individual objects, creating unique, ‘hybrid’ solutions, has also been observed. This paper presents various types of phenomena (settlement structure, technology and style, ritual objects, burials) demonstrating movements, mutual influences, the amalgamation of practices, and the diffusion of artefacts in the second half of 6th millennium cal BC.