Containers and grains: food storage and symbolism in the Central Balkans (Vinča period)

Tripković, Boban

doi:10.4312/dp.38.13

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The predecessor of the Vinča culture across the northern part of its distribution was the Starčevo culture, though, as mentioned above, many past researchers have sought to derive it from much further south. The Vinča culture or network broadly belongs to the latter part of the sixth millennium cal BC and the first half of the fifth millennium cal BC (Borić 2009 ; Orton 2012 ; Porčić 2011 ; Tripković 2011 ). The formally modelled sequence at the tell site of Vinča-Belo Brdo begins in the generation after 5300 cal BC (Tasić et al in press; cf.…”

Section: Cultural Sequences: An Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik Worlds: The Diversity of Practices and Identities in the 54th–53rd Centuries cal BC in Southwest Hungary and Beyond

et al. 2016

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Perhaps nowhere in European prehistory does the idea of clearly-defined cultural boundaries remain more current than in the initial Neolithic, where the southeast–northwest trend of the spread of farming crosses what is perceived as a sharp divide between the Balkans and central Europe. This corresponds to a distinction between the Vinča culture package, named for a classic site in Serbia, with its characteristic pottery assemblage and absence of longhouses, and the Linearbandkeramik (LBK), with equally diagnostic but different pottery, and its apparently culturally-diagnostic longhouses, extending in a more northerly belt through central Europe westward to the Dutch coast. In this paper we question the concept of such a clear division through a presentation of new data from the site of Szederkény-Kukorica-dűlő. A large settlement in southeast Transdanubia, Hungary, excavated in advance of road construction, Szederkény is notable for its combination of pottery styles, variously including Vinča A, Ražište and LBK, and longhouses of a kind otherwise familiar from the LBK world. Formal modelling of its date establishes that the site probably began in the later 54th century cal BC, lasting until the first decades of the 52nd century cal BC. Occupation, featuring longhouses, pits and graves, probably began at the same time in the eastern and western parts of the settlement, starting a decade or two later in the central part; the western part was probably the last to be abandoned. Vinča pottery is predominantly associated with the eastern and central parts of the site, and Ražište pottery with the west. Formal modelling of the early history of longhouses in the LBK world suggests their emergence in the Formative LBK of Transdanubia c. 5500 cal BC followed by rapid dispersal in the middle of the 54th century cal BC, associated with the ‘earliest’ (älteste) LBK. The adoption of longhouses at Szederkény thus appears to come a few generations after the start of this ‘diaspora’. Rather than explaining the mixture of things, practices and perhaps people at Szederkény with reference to problematic notions such as hybridity, we propose instead a more fluid and varied vocabulary, encompassing combination and amalgamation, relationships and performance in the flow of social life, and networks; this makes greater allowance for diversity and interleaving in a context of rapid change.

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Section: Cultural Sequences: An Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik Worlds: The Diversity of Practices and Identities in the 54th–53rd Centuries cal BC in Southwest Hungary and Beyond

et al. 2016

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“…Different types of built-in clay containers or bins were also recognised as having been used for storage, though it was acknowledged that they were not necessarily, or not only, used for storing plants; some of the bins discovered contained pots, loom weights, stone tools and even possible symbolic deposits such as a bull skull with horns (Todorović 1981;Bogdanović 1988). The size and number of storage pots and bins, as well as the locations in which they were encountered, indoor/outdoor, central/side room etc., were taken as potentially reflecting the economic, social and symbolic importance of storage (Tripković 2011;Spasić and Živanović 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The archaeological accounts report only a few cases in which any direct evidence of storing plants in pits/bins/pots was available, in the form of large concentrations of cereal grain (overview in Tripković 2011). In other instances, the plant evidence may have been absent or minor, but it is also highly possible that it was not collected or (properly) recorded (Filipović and Obradović 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant storage in Neolithic southeast Europe: synthesis of the archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence from Serbia

Filipović

Obradović²,

Tripković

2017

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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This paper presents and evaluates the archaeobotanical and archaeological evidence of plant product storage from Early and Late Neolithic sites in Serbia, southeast Europe. The commonly stated and widely accepted archaeological evidence of storage in the region includes ceramic pots, clay bins and pits. However, as shown in our study, the archaeobotanical evidence does not always support the interpretation of these structures and objects as plant storage containers, as it is often of secondary origin and composed of discarded plant material such as by-products of plant use. On the other hand, the available botanical record points to some other possible ways of storing plant products, such as in perishable containers that do not normally survive archaeologically in this part of the world. Although limited, the combined evidence indicates variability in plant storage practices and solutions within the cultural phenomena associated with the Neolithic Starčevo and Vinča cultures of the region. For instance, plant storage in large clay pots was noted at some of the sites, and in clay bins at others. Also, different structures and features may have been used for storing crop products, whilst wild plants seem to have been kept in perishable and/or small ceramic containers. A further impression is that finds of the same plant (type) in different containers may reflect different stages in processing. KeywordsNeolithic • Serbia • Crop storage • Wild plant storage • Pots • Pits Communicated by F. Toulemonde.

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“…Međuovisnost pohrane i skladištenja i društvenih odnosa česta je tema arheoloških radova, a posebni je poticaj bio rad K. Flanneryja i njegove argumentacije o ulozi skladištenja i skladišnih prostora u dinamici društvene promjene (Flannery 1972). Ulogu skladišnih prostora i skladištenja prehrambenih namirnica na ovim prostorima i njihove pojave kao indikatora stupnja društvene kompleksnosti i moguće hijerarhije opširno je analizirao B. Tripković (Tripković 2011(Tripković , 2015.…”

Section: Tipovi I Razlozi Pohraneunclassified

Written in Stone, Cast in Bronze: Durability of Archaeological Interpretation of Prehistoric Hoards in the Valley of Sava

Klindžić

Kalafatić

Mihaljević³

2020

EAP / IEA

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The process of archaeological inference begins prior to the beginning of interpretation or even the actual discovery of a particular object. Certain objects, materials, or groups of finds raise more intense interest among researchers and general public alike. Object made of precious materials and minerals are particularly attractive, especially if they are recovered from even more attractive contexts such as richly furnished graves or groups of objects found together – hoards. Objects deposited in groups of identical or similar artefacts, particularly if laid into a recipient such as a vessel or a casket, have raised attention for centuries or even longer. Researchers and general audience are equally interested in hoards consisting of precious metals, jewellery, weapons, and principally of coins. In the context of archaeological research and interpretation, hoards consisting of ordinary everyday objects, such as raw and semi-processed materials and tools, also figure prominently. In their form and context, they are similar to hoards containing precious objects, and are therefore intriguing to researchers, since it is expected that some of enduring questions on behaviour of prehistoric people, especially in symbolic domain, will be solved by examining these finds. Ascribing symbolic meaning to hoards has been the constant practice of archaeologists from the times of formation of professional archaeology till today. This text is a review of interpretations of stone and bronze hoards, registered in the region of the valley of Sava, and dated into late Neolithic and Late Bronze Age. The exceptionality of the finds in the perception of archaeologists dictates the archaeological interpretation, not only of the particular find, but also of the whole context. Hoards and depositions, along with many other archaeological assemblages of finds, are mainly interpreted according to the dominant narrative and conceptual framework of prehistoric society as the one of primordial communities, whose every action is imbued by ritual and mystery, at the same time being exceptionally rational in their economic relations.

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Containers and grains: food storage and symbolism in the Central Balkans (Vinča period)

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik Worlds: The Diversity of Practices and Identities in the 54th–53rd Centuries cal BC in Southwest Hungary and Beyond

Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik Worlds: The Diversity of Practices and Identities in the 54th–53rd Centuries cal BC in Southwest Hungary and Beyond

Plant storage in Neolithic southeast Europe: synthesis of the archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence from Serbia

Written in Stone, Cast in Bronze: Durability of Archaeological Interpretation of Prehistoric Hoards in the Valley of Sava

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