The Later Aeneolithic in Southeastern Europe Author(s): H. Arthur Bankoff and Frederick A. Winter Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 94, No. 2 (Apr., 1990), pp. 175-191 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/505948 Accessed: 26/02/2009 20:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aia. 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WINTER Abstract European economy and society that, if not as striking Changes in the European economy and society during as the beginnings of agriculture that marked the start the later Aeneolithic (late fourth to third millenniaB.C.) of the preceding Neolithic, were equally fundamental were fundamental in the of cul- determining trajectory in determining the trajectory of cultural change in tural change in Europe for at least the next 1500 to 2000 Europe for at least the next 1500 to 2000 years (or years. Recent research has shown that this period, rather until well into the Hallstatt/La Tene Iron We than being a short transitionbetween the "Neolithic"and Age). the "BronzeAge," begins earlierand lastslonger than has believe that recent research has shown that this pe- been traditionallythought. Thus, the sociocultural,eco- riod, rather than being a short transition between the and materialtransformations observed the end nomic, by "Neolithic" and the "Bronze Age," begins earlier and of the Aeneolithic may be seen to be the result of gradual lasts longer than has been traditionally thought. Thus, changes over a considerableperiod of time, rather than the and material transfor- necessitating explanations involving unique dramatic sociocultural, economic, events such as migrationsor invasions.* mations observed by the end of the Aeneolithic may be seen to be the result of gradual changes over a INTRODUCTION considerable period of time, rather than necessitating In southeastern Europe the two millennia that be- explanations involving unique dramatic events such gin at about 4500 B.C. form a period that does not fit as migrations or invasions. into the classic Three Age system. What one calls it is Beginning in the early fourth millennium B.C., implicitly based on how one approaches it. If tech- southeastern Europe underwent major changes in nology, especially metallurgy, forms the basic criterion settlement and subsistence economy that marked a to differentiate this period from the one before, then very significant break from the Neolithic.' These one opts for Copper Age (or the fancier "Chalco- changes included the abandonment of many long- lithic"). The same emphasis is implicit in the more settled sites, an apparently more dispersed settlement common designation "Aeneolithic" (Lat. aeneus = of pattern, and a greater dependence on animal husban- copper or bronze). Considered as a bridge between dry. The socioeconomic patterns associated with these the Neolithic and the Bronze Age (an attempt to hold changes form the basis for the ensuing Bronze Age. onto the Three Ages), it can be considered a "transi- It is closer to reality to dispense with the traditional tion period." This paper concentrates on the latter labels altogether, and to treat the developments in part of this time span, the late fourth to late third southeastern Europe during the fourth and third millennia B.C., the later Aeneolithic, Chalcolithic, or millennia B.C. together, although they encompass por- Copper Age, depending on one's terminology, and tions of the traditional Aeneolithic and Bronze Age. the centuries immediately following it, the beginning Recognizing that southeastern Europe is not com- of what is traditionally referred to in southeastern monly the focus of Western European and North Europe as the Early Bronze Age. American archaeological studies, we will begin with a In fact, the period from about 3200 to 2300 B.C., review of the general geography and cultural se- no matter what it may be called, saw changes in the quence.2 * This is a revised version of a paper presented at the eastern Europe are rare and generally limited to a specific Columbia University Seminar on the Archaeology of the region. Perhapsthe most accessibleare the relevantchapters Ancient Near East, the Mediterranean, and Europe. We in CAH III, 1 (1982) and R.K. Evans and J.A. Rasson, "Ex would like to thank Prof. Edith Porada for giving us the BalcanisLux? Recent Developmentsin Neolithic and Chal- opportunity to speak, and for her helpful comments and colithic Researchin Southeast Europe,"American Antiquity suggestions.We would also like to thank Petar Glumac,Tim 49 (1984) 713-41. Sections of J. Coles and A.F. Harding, Kaiser,and Bernard Wailesfor their astute advice. Remain- TheBronze Age in Europe(London 1979), and R. Tringham, ing errors are our own. Hunters,Fishers and Farmersof EasternEurope, 6000-3000 T. Champion, C. Gamble,S. Shennan, and A. Whittle, B.C. (London 1971) contain good, if now somewhat dated, PrehistoricEurope (New York 1984) 154; A. Sherratt, information. A more detailed chronology of the area is "Ploughand Pastoralism:Aspects of the SecondaryProducts discussedin R.W. Ehrich and H.A. Bankoff, "Geographical Revolution,"in I. Hodder, G. Isaac,and N. Hammondeds., and ChronologicalPatterns in EastCentral and Southeastern Pattern of the Past (Cambridge 1980) 261-306. Europe," in R.W. Ehrich ed., Chronologiesin Old World 2 Surveysor review articlescovering the later part of the Archaeology2(Chicago, in press). Aeneolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age in south- 175 AmericanJournal of Archaeology94 (1990) 176 H. ARTHUR BANKOFF AND FREDERICKA. WINTER [AJA94 Fig. 1. Map of archaeologicalsites in southeasternEurope GEOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND west, the Great Hungarian Plain in the center, and in the east. Geographically, our focus will be the middle Dan- Transylvania Although physiographically (and until 1920, a the ube river basin, a drainage that includes the "Carpa- politically) unity, Carpathian Basin has been broken into thian Basin," as well as the Moravian Corridor, the historically up many re- the the Alpine tributaries of Transdanubia and Slovenia, and gions including Vojvodina, Transdanubia, Little the the southern tributaries of the Sava and the Danube Alfold, (Great) Alfold, Transtisia, Transyl- vania, and Slovakia, all of which lie within the Car- (such as the Morava), which flow northward from the pathian arc. Balkan ranges of Bosnia and Serbia 1).3 This (fig. Across the Danube to the south loom the mountains river system drains an area of almost 730,000 m2 of of Sumadija, Serbia proper, broken the southeastern What is most about only by plain Europe.4 striking of the Morava, which flows northward into the Dan- this area, when it is viewed in to the comparison ube between Smederevo and Pozarevac. Almost im- Middle East and circum-Mediterranean regions, is the mediately to the east of the Morava plain, from the temperate climate and the year-round free accessibil- left bank confluence of the Nera, the Djerdap region to water. ity of the Danube begins. Here the river, which has at the different subdivisions of this Looking larger heretofore run easily at the southern edge of the level the Basin" area, "Carpathian includes Pannonia in the loess country of the Pannonian Plain, violently cuts 3 R.W. and 4 Ehrich, "Geographical Chronological Pat- G. Hoffman, A Geographyof Europe(New York 1953) terns in East Central Europe,"in R.W. Ehrich ed., Chronol- 522. ogiesin Old WorldArchaeology (Chicago 1965) 403-58. 1990] THE LATER AENEOLITHIC IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE 177 through a system of alternating narrow defiles and the way to the south; the Sava, leading westward to slightlywider basinsextending for more than 150 km the Alpine forelands; the Danube, the primaryroute from Golubac on the Yugoslav side downstream to to and from CentralEurope; the Tisa, running down Turnu Severin on the Romanian bank. This part of from Hungary and Slovakia, whose plain leads into the river is sometimes referred to as the "Iron Gates," the metal-rich mountains of western Transylvania; although the term more properly belongs to a specific and the Tamis, connecting to the rich lands of the gorge near Sip. Today considerably widened and CarpathianBasin. To the east acrossthe Moravaflood tamed by the lakes formed behind two dams (Djerdap plain (8-12 km wide in its lower course) lie the copper- I just upstream of Kladovo, Djerdap II at Prahovo), ore-bearing mountains of East Serbia. To the west, this was formerly the wildest part of the river, and easily accessiblealong the many small Moravatribu- formed the nearly impenetrable boundary between taries, lie the loess-coveredrolling hills of Sumadija.6 the Danube's middle and lower courses. Here the These waterwaysform the primary natural routes of river originallydescended from 70 to 40 m above sea communication,either by offering navigablepassages level, a far steeper gradient than anywhereelse along for water traffic or broad river valleys and easy avail- its length.