Central Balkans

The Central Balkans, in present-day Serbia, was a potentially dynamic zone during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic (MP-UP), as it is situated between hypothesized dispersal routes of modern humans and refuges of late Neanderthals. However, the population history of the region remains poorly understood because there are little chronometric data from Late Pleistocene sites in Serbia. Here, we review the existing paleoanthropological record for the MP-UP in the Central Balkans and surrounding areas. Then, we add to it by reporting radiocarbon dates from two Serbian cave sites, Pešturina and Hadži Prodanova, which contain Middle Paleolithic and Gravettian assemblages. The results provide reliable human occurrence-dates older than 39 ka calibrated radiocarbon years before present (cal BP) and between 34 and 28 ka cal BP. As shallow palimpsest deposits with low artifact yields, the sites are not ideal contexts for establishing chrono-cultural stratigraphy. However, it is proposed that the occupants before 39 ka cal BP were Neanderthals producing MP artifacts, while those after 34 ka cal BP were modern humans with Gravettian traditions.

The modelling and visualisation of networks is based on the material in: M. Mullett, Theophylact of Ochrid. Reading the Letters of a Byzantine Archbishop. Birmingham 1997.

The first graph is a visualisation of the connections between letters in localities between which these letters were exchanged (" 2mode network").

The second graph is a visualisation of the weighted network of localities on the basis of Theophylact´s correspondence; two localities are connected if letters of Theophylact were exchanged between them. Links are scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

The third graph visualises these connections between localities on a map. Links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them. The size of nodes is scaled according to their number of connections within the network ("degree").

The fourth graph is a "zoom" into these geographical visualisation of the network for the Western Balkans; links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

For the localisation of sites within the historical region of Macedonia cf. also the upcoming volumes on Macedonia (Southern Part) by Peter Soustal and on Macedonia (Northern Part) by Mihailo Popovic within the series "Tabula Imperii Byzantini" (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/byzanzforschung/communities-landscapes/historische-geographie/)

For any further questions, please contact Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at.

Central Balkans, 14 miles east of Belgrade in former Yugoslavia. Area was north to Banat, west to northeast to Bosnia and east to western Bulgaria and southwestern Romania. The Vinca Culture was noted for schematized snake goddesses with long cylindrical necks, bird goddess masks, and bull centaurs (human head on a bull’s body). Also, of great significance is the Old European Vinca – Tisza script–linguistic symbol system that indicates a “script of its own kind.” (COG: 319.) For some linguists and archaeologists, this discovery challenges the theory of the Sumerian invention of script some 2000 years later.

Апстракт: Детаљна анализа остатака цркве који се називају Манастириште Свете Петке Русалне код Сврљига показује да се ради о цркви са основом у облику триконхоса уписаног у правоугаоник и са три међусобно независне, апсидално завршене просторије на источном крају. Истовремно, дошло се до информација о начину грађења, пропорцијским односима и вероватном првобитном изгледу, као и о могућим наменама појединих простора цркве. Расположиви историјски подаци не допуштају прецизно датовање објекта, али се чини да је његов настанак највероватније везан за средњи век. Циљ овог рада је да се скрене пажња на ову цркву занимљиве основе, да се подаци о њој сакупљени на терену учине доступним стручној јавности и да се подвуче неопходност даљег и потпунијег истраживања, које би укључило и систематско археолошко ископавање.
Кључне речи: Сврљиг, црква, архитектура, триконхос уписан у правоугаоник, олтарски простор, пастофорије, нартекс, пропорцијски односи, средњи век

The site called Manastirište Svete Petke Rusalne ("the former Monastery of St. Petka Rusalna) is located between the villages of Ribare and Djurinac, southeast of the present-day town of Svrljig. Remains of the church are visible on the site, showing that the church was of considerable dimensions, and of an interesting and atypical plan. It features a triconchal interior space inscribed in a mass of walls that are perpendicular to the outside, a unique solution in church architecture in Serbia for the time being. There are three rooms in the eastern part of the structure, each with its own apse, which is semi-circular on the outside and inside alike. These rooms are not interconnected, but each opens only to the nave. In addition, the two lateral rooms are placed obliquely with respect to the axis of the central one, certainly the sanctuary, probably thereby adjusting to the curves of the lateral conchs on which they rely. In the western part of the church, which probably served as a narthex, lateral spaces of unequal sizes and unknown purposes were noted, with semi-circular finishes on the east side.

The analysis of the preserved forms, reconstructed spaces and proportions, as well as the possible purpose of some parts of the building revealed that the remains belonged to a church whose morphological and geographic closest relatives are found in present-day Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria. First of all, these are two churches with almost identical foundations and both preserved only in the remains, a church in the village of Krupište (near Štip) and a church in the village of Kulata (near Petrich). The first is dated to the period from the 7th to the 9th century, while the second is ascribed to the period from the 10th to the 12th century. Both churches are most commonly associated with the Cappadocian and Armenian churches of this type and, in particular, with two churches in southern Greece, St. Nicholas in Aulis (mid-11th century) and St. Demetrius in Varassova (10th or 11th century). A number of churches of the same or similar plan can be found in Armenian architecture of the same or later time, and it is possible that the church presented here was built for the needs of an unknown Armenian enclave or as a result of the patronage of some Armenian notable, although there is no historical data to suggest links with this geographically remote area. In addition to these, the comparative analysis also takes into account churches that, strictly speaking, do not belong to the type under consideration, but share with them the concept and organization of interior space, especially the presence of chapels integrated into the mass of the church, characteristic of the Middle Byzantine period. On the basis of all this, as well as considering the historical circumstances in the region of Svrljig, it is proposed to date the Ribare church in the 10th or 11th century, with the possibility that the building was erected precisely as part of the Byzantine ecclesiastical and architectural restoration in the central Balkans after the reintegration of these geographical areas to the Byzantine Empire in 1018.

Inverted-rim bowls show a noticeable continuity through the Vinča D phase and represent one of the most distinctive features of Late Neo- lithic ceramic assemblages in the Central Balkans. Two additional char- acteristics are their abundance and high fragmentation rates. Namely, inverted-rim bowls have the highest frequencies among morphological vessel classes in Late Neolithic assemblages, although complete examples are somewhat rare. Due to their abundance, they have been the subject of investigation and discussion by many scholars to date (Jovanović 2015; Spasić et al. 2018; Vuković 2011b; Vuković and Miloglav 2018), who, from different theoretical and methodological perspectives, have studied their charac- teristics, providing valuable insights into the understanding of the biog- raphy of these artifacts and enabling comparative research in the region. It is generally understood that inverted-rim bowls at Late Neolithic sites predominantly reflect domestic activities, since they were regularly found in the household (complete vessels), near the oven, i.e. in the context re- lated to food preparation, and that they were, therefore, probably used by household members as individual eating bowls. Nevertheless, it is impor- tant to stress that several examples found at the necropolis of Gomolava (Jovanović 2015) indicate that this type of bowl played a significant role in the funerary context as well. Using the corpus of inverted-rim bowls from the sites of Belovode and Pločnik, this paper aims to contribute to the present understanding of their function and socio-economic importance within Late Neolithic communities in the territory of the Central Balkans.

This paper describes the dental cementum method and analysis of deer (Cervus elaphus and
Capreolus capreolus) teeth from Middle and Late Neolithic Vinča culture (5400/5300-4600 BC) sites in
the central Balkans: Petnica, Stragari, and Opovo in Serbia, and Sânandrei in Romania. The goal of this
paper is to determine if red and roe deer were hunted seasonally (i.e. to supplement the food supply in
winter, or to stop crop raiding in summer) or year-round as a staple. Analysis of dental cementum annuli
found at the enamel cementum junction of red and roe deer teeth reveal some slight regional
environmental differences, such as lowlands and hill country and that red and roe deer were largely
hunted year-round during the entire Neolithic. These results provide insight into the provisioning and
hunting behavior of Neolithic peoples during a time when farming was already a major source of food and
livelihood within the central Balkans.

This paper presents unpublished finds from the Glasinac area, which became part of the museum’s collections in the last couple of years. Most of them are chance finds of pottery and ornaments or finds from small-scale excavations undertaken recently. The large quantity of stratified pottery from the hillfort of Gradac in Sokolac provides a chronological frame for the activities at the site and exhibits a good correlation with the finds from the previously excavated nearby tumulus. Systematic research of the medieval site of Crkvina at Glasinac plain also revealed the existence of an older hillfort settlement dating to the Late Bronze Age. This recent discovery increases the number of the known hillforts in the Glasinac area from 54 to 55. In the vicinity of this site, we discovered a tumulus necropolis, probably connected to the Crkvina hillfort. One of these tumuli was excavated during 2014 campaign and is described in this contribution.

Starting from the fact that the present knowledge of the late praehistory of the Central Balkans is based almost exclusively upon interpretations of funerary remains, the aim of this paper is to investigate the theoretical premises of the archaeological research into burials in this region. Problems and limitations of the traditional culture-historical approach to funerary practices are discussed, and the second part of the paper aims to demonstrate that the shift in theoretical perspective may result in fundamentally different insights into the explanatory potential of funerary rites in archaeology.
Keywords: funerary rite, dis/continuity of funerary practice, theory of
practice, late praehistory of the Central Balkans, Glasinac

Flaked stone artefacts found on the quarry Lojanik in west-central Serbia are good examples of how the function of non-diagnostic pieces could be determined through technological and use-wear analysis. In this study, we present the examples of surface clusters and artefacts from stratigraphic layers. Our attention is focused on the prevailing category of fragmented raw materials in the initial phase of knapping, preforms, debris, shattered pieces of anthropogenic origin and an immense number of artefacts and geofacts. The study of mines and quarries, as well as distribution of the raw materials that come from the central Balkans is an understudied phenomenon. Flaked stone artefacts found on the outcrops of the Lojanik hilltop is a good example of how we can apply technological, petrological and use-wear analysis on this type of site. Keeping in mind the loose context of the finds, as well as the lack of any datable material, this issue has to be approached with a lot of caution, sin...

From the earliest excavations on the territory of the central Balkans and up to today, Late Neolithic pottery
assemblages have remained one of the most important contributors to our knowledge of the past. To a certain extent, the burned
Late Neolithic horizons left a great number of the architectural details preserved in the archaeological record, along with various
artefacts, of which pottery makes up the largest part. However, due to the fact that the majority of pottery vessels and sherds
were subjected to temperatures that were higher than those they were initially fired in the manufacturing process, decoration
makes up a minority of the archaeological record of the central Balkans and, unfortunately, we usually deal with plain assemblages.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the discovery of one vessel that has a small preserved portion of applied painted decoration,
unearthed from a burned building structure in the latest horizon at the site of Plo~nik, introduced a whole new set of questions.
Importantly, this instance further emphasises that when deconstructing prehistoric paradigms, our interpretation sometimes
must go beyond observation.

Based on the choice of stone raw materials, the way they were made and
their even dimensions, microperforators from workshop 1 represent specialized
tools of Vinča inhabitants in the 46th century BC. Microlithic bases and penetrative
tips are the main characteristics of these artefacts. The use of microperforators is
connected to the increased manufacture of small dimensions openings on different
materials: malachite, bone, and leather specifically. A hiatus in their production on
the territory of Serbia, from the Epipaleolithic to the Late Neolithic and the Eneolithic,
could be interpreted in several ways. Is this a result of the limited excavation
scope of the Early Neolithic sites, or the insufficient insight into the archaeological
material stored in museum collections. It could as well be the consequence of
a rational orientation of one community towards other activities that did not align
with the use of this type of tool. Given the conducted experiments in the region, it
was possible to point out the type of activities and pose a series of questions regarding
the role of these tools in this paper.

We present the first, well-dated, high-resolution record of vegetation and landscape change from Serbia, which spans the past 500 years. Biological proxies (pollen, spores, and charcoal), geochemical analysis through X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and a detailed chronology based on AMS 14C dating from a western Serbian sinkhole core suggest complex woodland-grassland dynamics and strong erosional signals throughout the Little Ice Age (LIA). An open landscape with prominent steppe vegetation (e.g. Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae) and minor woodland exists during 1540-1720 CE (early LIA), while the late LIA (1720-1850 CE) in this record shows higher tree percentages possibly due to increased moisture availability. The post LIA Era (1850-2012 CE) brings a disturbed type of vegetation with the presence of weedy genera and an increase in regional woodland. Anthropogenic indicators for agricultural, pastoral and fire practices in the region together attest to the dominant role of humans in shaping this Balkan landscape throughout the interval. The changing nature of human interference, potentially as a response to underlying climatic transitions, is evident through large-scale soil depletion resulting from grazing and land clearance during the early LIA and stabilization of arable lands during the late and post-LIA eras.

The prevalent type of archaeological field surveys in the Republic of Macedonia has ensured that only a smaller percentage of the archaeological sites visible on the surface were included in the archaeological map of the country. Up until now there were no systematically gathered field data pertaining to the size, positioning and intra-site organization of non-architectural surface remains. The two small-scale and hyper-intensive surface artifact surveys presented in this study were the first glimpse of the type and distribution of settlement on a parish level and in a rural context, in the regions along the Vardar Valley. Not attempting to offer a representative coverage of the region as a whole or of certain types of micro-geographic entities, the surveys were rather concentrated on 1) reconstructing the long-term history of individual settlements (by means of highly intensive and systematic survey coverage and careful study of the ceramic fabrics); 2) understanding the integral set of habitation practices (by adopting a site-less approach in the interpretation of the surface artifact scatters) and 3) exploring the type of micro-topographic elements preferred by the local farming communities (the concept of settlement niche). The study and interpretation of the field data faced us with the problem of understanding the settlement dynamic on a micro-level, but it also brought up a series of interpretative and methodological problems inherent to all studies of surface archaeological material.

Avian remains presented here were collected from the deposits spanning between late MIS 5 to 3, and give a rare opportunity to observe Last Interglacial/Last Glacial avian succession in the Central Balkans. The Late Pleistocene avifauna from Pešturina cave (Niš District, SE Serbia), comprises 26 taxa from 18 families and 10 orders, 16 of which are reported for the first time from Pleistocene deposits of the Central Balkans. Today, these species live in a variety of habitats – open grassland, forest, rocky, and aquatic habitats. The species from forest habitat were the most abundant. All species (еxcept black grouse) are present in the country’s modern avifauna. The cave provides some examples of “mixed” Pleistocene avifaunas, including species both of Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean/temperate present day distribution. The occurrence of rock sparrow marks one of the northernmost Pleistocene ones in Europe so far, while presence of other species is suggestive for complex mosaic ecosys...

Avian remains presented here were collected from the deposits spanning between late MIS 5 to 3, and give a rare opportunity to observe Last Interglacial/Last Glacial avian succession in the Central Balkans. The Late Pleistocene avifauna from Pešturina cave (Niš District, SE Serbia), comprises 26 taxa from 18 families and 10 orders, 16 of which are reported for the first time from Pleistocene deposits of the Central Balkans. Today, these species live in a variety of habitats-open grassland, forest, rocky, and aquatic habitats. The species from forest habitat were the most abundant. All species (еxcept black grouse) are present in the country's modern avifauna. The cave provides some examples of "mixed" Pleistocene avifaunas, including species both of Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean/temperate present day distribution. The occurrence of rock sparrow marks one of the northernmost Pleistocene ones in Europe so far, while presence of other species is suggestive for complex m...

point of view, the data gathered in the course of these excavations are an important contribution to our understanding of the evolution of the topography of this settlement. This is briefly discussed against the background of the known regional developments in the urban geography and administrative divisions during the Roman period.

Avian remains presented here were collected from the deposits spanning between late MIS 5 to 3, and give a rare opportunity to observe Last Interglacial/Last Glacial avian succession in the Central Balkans. The Late Pleistocene avifauna from Pešturina cave (Niš District, SE Serbia), comprises 26 taxa from 18 families and 10 orders, 16 of which are reported for the first time from Pleistocene deposits of the Central Balkans. Today, these species live in a variety of habitats-open grassland, forest, rocky, and aquatic habitats. The species from forest habitat were the most abundant. All species (еxcept black grouse) are present in the country's modern avifauna. The cave provides some examples of "mixed" Pleistocene avifaunas, including species both of Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean/temperate present day distribution. The occurrence of rock sparrow marks one of the northernmost Pleistocene ones in Europe so far, while presence of other species is suggestive for complex m...

STUDY OF “CENTRAL PLACES” IN THE HISTORICAL
GEOGRAPHY OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN THE BALKANS
AND POSSIBILITIES OF APPLYING THE NEW METHODOLOGY
The paper aims to further promote the historical-geographical studies of urban
centers in the medieval Balkans, by highlighting the results achieved by
Johannes Koder in the field of Byzantine studies, and pointing out further possibilities of applying his research methodology. In his numerous works, Koder both improved the methodology of historical geography, and in practice, conducting the project Tabula Imperii Byzantini (TIB) for over four decades proves how it is possible to enlarge our knowledge of medieval social and cultural landscapes.
Those works for me were the ‘gate’ to obtain a proper insight into this particular scientific discipline and showed me the prospects of yielding new results in the field of my own research — medieval Bosnia. By applying his methodology of combining various historical sources (narrative, diplomatic, travelogues, topographical, cartographical etc.) with certain theoretical concepts, such as von Thunen’s location theory and ‘central place theory’, it was possible both to establish a much denser urban settlement network in the regions of Western and Northern medieval Bosnia, as well as to analyze correlations between the city and its agrarian hinterland, with or without the centers with a lesser impact, i.e. lower hierarchical level. Therefore, there are numerous future prospects of improving the research methodology of urban studies in medieval Serbia, together with more extensive
archaeological research.

With the exception of well known Mesolithic sites in the Danube Gorges, which provide ample evidence of (more or less) continuous human occupation between 9500 and 5500 cal BC, the wider areas of the Central Balkans and southern fringes of the Great Pannonian Plain still represent a terra incognita when it comes to the presence and settlement patterns of Mesolithic communities. In the archaeological literature, the absence of Mesolithic sites in the region was associated with environmental changes in the Early Holocene, presumed low human population densities, the visibility and state of preservation of organic material (often the only indicator of human activity), or the lack of adequate research. However, valuable insights into the obscure regional Mesolithic can be gained not only by new archaeological excavations, but also by revisiting and reanalysis of existing archaeological collections. Particularly informative in this respect are the Early Neolithic sites, which are indicat...

Competition Between Humans and Large Carnivores presents Late Pleistocene archaeozoological material from Late Mousterian and Gravettian contexts in the Central Balkans. The results answer some important questions about Late Pleistocene Neanderthal and modern human ecology and their animal exploitation in this region. Most importantly it deals with the high presence of large carnivores in the Central Balkans at the sites located in different ecological settings, discuss human subsistence choices, and identifies the Central Balkans as a refugium during the MIS5-2 Late Glacial period.

With the exception of well known Mesolithic sites in the Danube Gorges, which provide ample evidence of (more or less) continuous human occupation between 9500 and 5500 cal BC, the wider areas of the Central Balkans and southern fringes of the Great Pannonian Plain still represent a <em>terra incognita</em> when it comes to the presence and settlement patterns of Mesolithic communities. In the archaeological literature, the absence of Mesolithic sites in the region was associated with environmental changes in the Early Holocene, presumed low human population densities, the visibility and state of preservation of organic material (often the only indicator of human activity), or the lack of adequate research. However, valuable insights into the obscure regional Mesolithic can be gained not only by new archaeological excavations, but also by revisiting and reanalysis of existing archaeological collections. Particularly informative in this respect are the Early Neolithic sit...