The Lost World of Old Europe the Danube Valley, 5000–3500 Bc
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The Lost World of Old Europe The Danube Valley, 5000–3500 BC The Lost World of Old Europe The Danube Valley, 5000–3500 BC Edited by David W. Anthony With Jennifer Y. Chi Including contributions by Douglass W. Bailey, Cătălin Bem, Veaceslav Bicbaev, John Chapman, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici, Ioan Opriş, Ernst Pernicka, Dragomir Nicolae Popovici, Michel Louis Séfériadès, and Vladimir Slavchev The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University Princeton University Press Princeton and Oxford Contents Published by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) 6 Letter from Roger S. Bagnall 90 4. Copper Age Traditions North at New York University and Princeton University Press Director, Institute for the Study of the Ancient of the Danube River Institute for the Study of the Ancient World World, New York University Dragomir Nicolae Popovici 15 E. 84th Street New York, New York 10028 8 Letter from Crişan Muşeţeanu 1 1 2 5. The Figurines of Old Europe nyu.edu/isaw Director, The National History Museum Douglass W. Bailey Princeton University Press of Romania, Bucharest 1 2 8 6. Cucuteni Ceramics: Technology, Typology, 41 William Street Princeton, New Jersey 08540 10 Letter from Gheorghe Dumitroaia Evolution, and Aesthetics press.princeton.edu Director, Neamţ County Museum Complex, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici The exhibition The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, Piatra Neamţ 16 2 7. The Invention of Copper Metallurgy and 5000–3500 bc (November 11, 2009–April 25, 2010) has been organized by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University 12 Letter from Lăcrămioara Stratulat the Copper Age of Old Europe in collaboration with the National History Museum of Romania, Director, Moldova National Museum Complex, Iaşi Ernst Pernicka and David W. Anthony Bucharest, and with the partici pation of the Varna Regional Museum of History, Bulgaria, and the National Museum of Archaeology and 14 Letter from Valentin Pletnyov 1 7 8 8. Spondylus and Long-Distance Trade History of Moldova, Chişinău. Director, Varna Regional Museum of History, Varna in Prehistoric Europe The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue were made possible 16 Letter from Eugen Sava Michel Louis Séfériadès through the generous support of the Leon Levy Foundation. National Museum of Archaeology and History 1 9 2 9. The Varna Eneolithic Cemetery in Managing Editor: Julienne Kim of Moldova, Chişinău the Context of the Late Copper Age Copy Editor: Mary Cason Designer: CoDe. New York Inc., Jenny 8 Del Corte Hirschfeld, 18 Foreword, Jennifer Y. Chi in the East Balkans Mischa Leiner, Franck Doussot, Raul Bortolotti Vladimir Slavchev Color Separations and Production: Colorfast, New York, NY Associate Director for Exhibitions and Public Printer: L.E.G.O., EuroGrafica, SpA, Vicenza, Italy Programs, Institute for the Study of the Ancient 2 1 2 10. The Copper Age Cemetery of Giurgiuleşti Copyright © 2010 by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World World, New York University Veaceslav Bicbaev at New York University and Princeton University Press 22 Acknowledgments All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form 2 2 6 Museum Abbreviations or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the Institute for 26 Map of the Region and Selected Sites 2 2 8 Exhibition Checklist the Study of the Ancient World and Princeton University Press, except by 2 4 0 Bibliography a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. 28 1. The Rise and Fall of Old Europe 2 5 4 Photography and Drawing Credits Library of Congress Control Number: 2009933358 David W. Anthony ISBN: 978-0-691-14388-0 58 2. A History of Archaeology and The book was typeset in Sabon MT Pro and Helvetica Neue LT W1G Museography in Romania and printed on Condat Silk 150gsm. Ioan Opriş and Cătălin Bem Printed and bound in Vicenza, Italy 74 3. Houses, Households, Villages, and 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Proto-Cities in Southeastern Europe John Chapman The Institute is profoundly grateful to Professor David Anthony of Hartwick College, Letter from who functioned as our guest curator for this exhibition, and ensured the timely com- pletion of a scholarly catalogue that reflects the high standards of research conducted at 15 East 84th Street. His multidisciplinary approach to the prehistoric steppe region, Roger S. Bagnall particularly that in modern Russia and Ukraine, has much furthered our understanding Director, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University of the spread of Indo-European languages and the archaeological data that support his argument. Old Europe may retain its enigmatic place within the large dialogue of prehistoric Europe, but we hope that this catalogue will provide scholars, students, and interested persons with a publication that presents the many and varied questions surrounding this discipline. It is an honor to introduce the second international loan exhibition at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, at New York University, a center for advanced research and doctoral education in all disciplines concerned with the antiquity of the entire Old World. It has its roots in the passion that Shelby White and Leon Levy had for the art and history of the ancient world, which led them to envision an institute that would offer a panoptic view of antiquity across vast stretches of time and place. The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World aims to encourage particularly the study of economic, religious, political, and cultural connections between ancient civilizations. It presents the results of the research carried out by its faculty, visiting researchers, and students, not only through scholarly publications and lectures but also through public exhibitions in the galleries in its home at 15 East 84th Street in New York City. It is our intention that these exhibitions should reflect the Institute’s commitment to studying cross-cultural connections and significant areas of the ancient world often neglected in research, teaching, and public presentations. The Lost World of Old Europe takes us in a direction that I could not have envisioned when the Institute began in 2007 but which is profoundly true to our mission. As a student I was taught about the Greek Neolithic, but with no sense of its connections to a larger cultural canvas to the north. And when the transition to metal working in Anatolia and the Near East was taught, Europe was never mentioned; we had no sense of how advanced metallurgy was in that region, nor how rich the Chalcolithic societies were. That is a great and exciting revelation, as I believe it will be for most whose back- ground is Classical or Near Eastern. But equally remarkable is the sense that emerges from these finds of the connectedness of Old Europe to Asia and to the Aegean, as well as to points further north. 6 7 these cultures, the Cucuteni civilization is distinguished by its particular expression of Letter from prehistoric art and spirituality, as are the discoveries belonging to the Boian, Gumelniţa, Hamangia, Vădastra, and Vinča cultures, to name just a few of the names that resonate Crişan Muşeţeanu within the Neo-Eneolithic in the Lower Danube area. Director, National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest The organization of this exhibition created the premise for excellent cooperation between the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and the National History Museum of Romania, and the results of such an endeavor are now on display for assessment by the public and scholars. We wish to express our deep gratitude for the generous effort under- taken by our partners from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, as well as to the Romanian museographers who contributed to the development of this project. Also our great thanks are directed to the Romanian Ministry of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage and the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, together with other Romanian and American institutions that continually supported and contributed to the positive achievements of this major cultural project. At the same time, we would like to thank the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens for its interest in presenting this exhibition. We hope that in the future the national cultural heritage of Romania and the valuable Situated in the southeastern part of Europe, Romania is a country with a remarkable archaeological objects found in the collections of Romanian museums will represent cultural diversity as well as an outstanding and varied natural landscape. The major significant arguments for undertaking similar cultural initiatives that aim to offer a dedi- geographic landmarks are represented by the Carpathians, in effect the vertebral spine cated framework for prestigious international activities of cultural diplomacy. of the Romanian territory and at the same time an area rich with natural resources; the Danube, which forms the greater part of Romania’s southern border; and the Black Sea, situated to the southeast. From early times these features determined a densely populated human habitation, resulting in the archaeological vestiges found on Romania’s territory and dating to the Paleolithic. Almost without a doubt, from the historical and archaeological points of view, the most representative epochs are the prehistoric—the Neo-Eneolithic and the Bronze and Iron Ages—as well as that of Greek and Roman classical antiquity. It is well-known to scholars and the broad public interested in ancient history that a large part of what is now Romania, the kingdom of Dacia, was part of the Roman Empire as early as the second century ad. Less widely known, however, is a more distant epoch of the history of this land, namely, the Neo-Eneolithic period.