The transition to the Late Neolithic in the Upper Thracian Plain

Abstract

The transformations that took place in prehistoric societies in the northern part of the Balkans, on the territories of modern-day Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Northern Greece, around 5500 BC have long been discussed and are vastly accepted as representing the “division point” between the Early and Late Neolithic Periods. The most evident transformation concerns the disappearance of painted pottery, which occurred alongside the appearance and rapid spread of dark (black) burnished wares (though some regional specifics are visible).Extensive research over the last 15 years in the Upper Thracian Plain of Bulgaria provide new insight into the complex transformations that occurred there around 5500 BC. The number of Late Neolithic settlements known so far largely exceeds those of the Early Neolithic Period and new trends in settlement structure and social organization are also visible. While life on the place of the Early Neolithic settlements continued in a similar way, resulting in the formation of the so-called tell-sites, new types of sites also appeared and proliferated on the landscape. These new types of sites include large flat settlements with a dispersed plan, often consisting of (or including) dug-in features interpreted in some cases as pit-dwellings while in other cases as ritual pit complexes. The distribution of new settlements is also connected with a change in animal husbandry practices marked by the increasing importance of cattle over sheep and goat.In this paper, I examine the transformations that occurred during the mid-6th millennium BC in the Upper Thracian Plain, problematize their relationship with a demographic expansion and proposed migration event, and suggest some alternative hypotheses.