Stašo Forenbaher

Radiocarbon dates and absolute chronology of the central European Early Bronze Age

It is more than forty years now since the first radiocarbon dates began reconcilliation of conventional and absolute chronologies for later prehistory. This pioneering radiocarbon chronology for the Bronze Age sequence in Central Europe brings that process nearer to a close, by filling the last major gap in the radiocarbon chronology of the European continent.

Dating the East Adriatic Neolithic

New radiocarbon determinations from Mesolithic, Neolithic, and/or Copper Age contexts at ten sites are presented, bringing the number of absolute dates available for the East Adriatic to more than twice that of a decade ago. The dates show that, from 6000 BC onward, pottery styles (Impressed Ware, Danilo variants, Hvar, Nakovana, and Cetina) emerged, spread, and disappeared at different times, places, and rates within the region. The implications for models of the spread of farming and other features of Neolithic life are discussed. The continued usefulness of the threefold division of the regional Neolithic into ‘Early’, ‘Middle’, and ‘Late’ phases is found to be dubious.

Neolithic and bronze-age herders of Pupicina Cave, Croatia

Abstract Pupićina Cave (Croatia) preserves an important archaeological sequence spanning 12,000 years. Here we present and discuss the results of extensive excavations in post-Mesolithic deposits.Pupićina Cave,located in NE Istria in a region rich in caves and in prehistoric settlement, has well-dated evidence from the Middle Neolithic, Late Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods. Visitors to the cave in the Middle Neolithic ca. 5500–5000 in calibrated years B.C (cal B.C.) left typical Danilo/Vlaška pottery and kept herds of sheep and goats during the spring. Mortality profiles suggest that herds were managed for milk production. During the Late Neolithic (ca. 4550–4150 cal B.C.) Hvar pottery appears along with lithic artifacts from great distances (e.g.,Lipari). Herds of sheep and goats were managed for meat as were cattle and pigs. There was a major hiatus in occupation between the Late Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1775–1400 cal B.C.) deposits are found only in one large pit. Pottery is dominated by drinking vessels, and faunal use is the same as in the Late Neolithic. The cave was used primarily as an animal pen during the Iron Age (1st millennium B.C.).

Pioneers in the hills: early Mesolithic foragers at Šebrn Abri (Istria, Croatia)

AbstractIn this paper, we examine the strategies used by early Mesolithic people as they moved into the karstic uplands of north-eastern Istria, Croatia. These strategies are inferred from detailed analyses of the lithic and faunal assemblages from Sebrn, a small upland rock-shelter occupied for a relatively short period of time in the early Holocene. We conclude that Sebrns lithic assemblages are in technology and typology relatively homogeneous and can be treated as a single unit (related to the Sauveterrian and Epigravettian, sensu lato). The faunal remains, in contrast, reveal a dynamic situation of temporal changes in the scope and focus of activities on site. Drawing on several lines of evidence from the lithic and faunal assemblages, we suggest that the initial use of the site was intermittent and people who pursued a generalized subsistence strategy visited it. With the passage of time and as people learned about upland environments, they turned to a specialized procurement of red deer. Sebrn bec...

Plant Use at Grapčeva Cave and in the Eastern Adriatic Neolithic

Abstract Plant macroremains were recovered during the renewed excavation at Grapčeva Špilja, a cave on the island of Hvar in Croatia. This is the first archaeoboatnical investigation on an eastern Adriatic island to use flotation samples. Samples were taken from layers dating from the Early Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 6000–1500 B.C.). Sixteen radiocarbon dates obtained from wood charcoal date the samples precisely. Detailed archaeobotanical analyses of plant macroremains reveal plant use during the occupation of the cave, with the highest density of plant remains in the Neolithic. Oak acorns were the most abundant plant remains. Finds of two types of juniper berry cones, various parts of gymnosperm cones, and cypress seeds and leaves indicate that the Mediterranean evergreen woodland was exploited. Remains of cultivated plants are rare. A small number of cereal grains, including emmer, einkorn, and possibly bread wheat were recovered from the Neolithic layers, as well as a few wheat grains from later horizons. Remains of typical wild Mediterranean fruits included almond nutshell fragments, a grape pip, and a fig seed. These finds indicate that the occupants of Grapčeva utilized processed crops but also gathered plants from the wild for food, fuel, and perhaps ritual. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was performed in order to assess charred versus mineralized preservation. Macroplant remains from Grapčeva were compared to the few available plant analyses from the eastern Adriatic. This comparison provides evidence that caves had different functions both from each other and from open-air sites. The plant remains are discussed in the context of the spread of farming on both sides of the Adriatic.

Adriatic sailors and stone knappers: Palagruža in the 3rd millennium BC

Small islands offer archaeologists interesting and manageable subjects for survey and excavation. The recent work on Adriatic islands reported here examines occupation during the 3rd millennium BC, showing how sailors exploited islands for trade, control and raw materials.

The Late Copper Age Architecture at Vučedol, Croatia

AbstractSociocultural and economic transformations in SE Central Europe during the Late Copper Age decisively affected the course of the European Bronze Age. Few settlement sites, which could provide an insight into these changes, have survived the millennia of intensive agriculture well. Even fewer have been systematically and extensively excavated.The excavations at Vucedol, Croatia,brought to light extensive and diverse remains of a Late Copper Age settlement dating from the late 4th and early 3rd millennia B.C. This report focuses upon the architectural remains belonging to the latest phase of this stratified site,which is characterized by the classic “Vucedol” incrusted ware. More than 15 household clusters, including several well-preserved ones, have been exposed within the residential area of the site.The recent evidence, in conjunction with data from earlier excavations at the same site, provides comprehensive information about the layout, size, and character of the settlement. Complex spatial org...

Adriatic Neolithic Mortuary Ritual at Grapčeva Cave, Croatia

Abstract Excavations at Grapčeva Cave in Croatia, a major eastern Adriatic Neolithic site, yielded evidence of ritual activities during the 5th millennium CAL B.C. Structured deposits in the main interior chamber consisted of large burned features containing extremely high frequencies of animal remains and artifacts, including richly decorated Late Neolithic “Hvar-style” pottery, as well as scattered human remains. We argue that Grapčeva was a mortuary ritual site, where feasts, offerings to supernatural powers, and secondary burials took place. At Grapcčeva memories were produced and maintained at a time when group histories and genealogies were gaining importance among the newly settled Neolithic food producers of the Adriatic.

Bronze-casting and organization of production at Kalnik-Igrišče (Croatia)

Recent excavations at the Late Bronze Age settlement site of Kalnik-Igrisce, northwestern Croatia, have brought to light evidence of small-scale bronze-casting. From that evidence, and the pattern of similar evidence from other sites in the southwestern part of the Middle Danubian Basin, conclusions can be drawn about circulation of metal and its control by an elite.