Abstract
ABSTRACTLong-standing archaeological narratives suggest that the 3rd millennium cal BC is a key period in Mediterranean and European prehistory, characterized by the development of extensive interaction networks. In the Balkans for instance, the identification of such interactions relies solely upon typological arguments associated with conflicting local terminologies. Through a combination of 25 new radiocarbon (14C) dates and re-examination of the existing documentation, this paper defines the absolute chronology for groups which were previously only broadly framed into the 3rd millennium BC central Balkans (modern-day Serbia and North Macedonia). These absolute dates allow us to establish with greater clarity the chronological relations between different cultural groups that represent the main cultural units of the central Balkans sequence for the 3rd millennium cal BC: Coţofeni-Kostolac, Bubanj-Hum II, Belotić-Bela Crkva, Armenochori, and Bubanj Hum III. When comparing together the chronologies for material culture, funerary treatment of the body, and funerary architecture, there are no easily discernible patterns. We observe instead a complex mix of traits criss-crossing over a wide area encompassing the Pannonian basin, the central Balkans and the Greek peninsula.
Highlights
The 3rd millennium cal BC—referred to as Late Eneolithic or Early Bronze Age in different local research traditions—is a key period in Mediterranean and European prehistory, during which major transformations took place as evidenced by the development of extensive interaction networks
Of the 25 dates presented in this paper, ten belong to the Late Eneolithic, according to Serbian chronology, or Early Bronze Age 1 following the chronology used in Greece and Bulgaria
From the mid-3rd millennium BC onwards the Balkans were connected with the Central Mediterranean through supra-regional networks such as the Bell Beaker phenomenon
Summary
The 3rd millennium cal BC—referred to as Late Eneolithic or Early Bronze Age in different local research traditions—is a key period in Mediterranean and European prehistory, during which major transformations took place as evidenced by the development of extensive interaction networks. In the Balkans, this process is materialized by a complex archaeological record where various traits and practices are distributed over extended areas linking together different cultural spheres with, on the one hand, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, and, on the other hand, the Carpathian Basin and Central Europe. Two-handled beakers —vessels with a variety of morphologies with two high-swung vertical handles—appear in an area extending from Transdanubia to continental Greece during a period spanning the mid-3rd to early 2nd millennium BC (Garašanin 1983: 720–722; Stojic 1996: 248; Roman 2006: 459; Bulatovicand Stankovski 2012: 323–326; Gori 2018: 399–404). Great emphasis has always been given to Mediterranean patterns of sea-borne connectivity (e.g. van Dommelen and Knapp 2010; Broodbank 2013), new data and analyses are increasingly demonstrating that overland connections were closely intertwined to maritime routes, but that they played a primary role in the development of 3rd millennium cal BC societies (e.g. Maran 1998; Gori 2020)
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