Imprints of the Neolithic mind – clay stamps from the Republic of Macedonia

The presence and unusual structure of clay stamps found in Neolithic settlements often give rise to multiple interpretations to define their character. The small dimensions and specific shape of the stamps suggests that these portable objects were important in the social relations and visual communication between members within the same community and, possibly, more distant communities. The definite patterns distinguishe their function in maintaining the visual traditions of the populations inhabiting southeastern Europe. They had an important role in building the Neolithic image modularity, so that they fitted into the comprehensive decorative structure of Neolithic iconography, and the patterns present on the stamps are related to several aspects of Neolithic material culture from the Balkans and Anatolia. This homogeneity of patterns indicates that they were actively included in the transposition of cognition into visual metaphors.Glinasti pečatniki, ki jih najdemo v neolitskih naselbinah, in njihova nenavadna struktura so pogosto interpretirani na različne načine. Majhne dimenzije in značilne oblike kažejo, da so ti prenosljivi predmeti imeli pomembno vlogo v družbenih odnosih in vizualnih komunikacijah med člani iste skupine, morda pa tudi med bolj oddaljenimi skupnostmi. Njihovi očitni vzorci kažejo na njihovo pomembno vlogo pri oblikovanju neolitske vizualne kulture; njihovi vzorci so del neolitske ikonografije, ki se pojavlja v materialni kulturi od Anatolije do Balkana. Homogenost vzorcev kaže na njihovo aktivno vlogo pri oblikovanju vizualnih metafor

Neolithic anthropocentrism: the principles of imagery and symbolic manifestation of corporeality in the Balkans

The body in the Neolithic was used as adequate symbolic medium which on the one hand strengthened the crucial features of individuals, while on the other was capable to explicate the essential function of particular objects and constructions. As result to this also the concept of imagery hybridism was deployed which incorporate human body within more complex segments of visual culture and symbolic communication. Considering the variety of human representations it can be deduced that anthropocentrism was one of the main visual principles in the Neolithic Balkans which established corporality as major cognitive reference in explication of human agency and its role in understanding the fundamental symbolic processes.Telo je bilo v neolitiku uporabljeno kot simbolni medij, ki je na eni strani krepil temeljne elemente individualnosti, na drugi pa pojasnjeval bistvene funkcije posameznih predmetov in struktur. Razvil se je koncept hibridnega imaginarija, ki je vgradil človeško telo v različne segmente vizualne kulture in simbolne komunikacije. Iz raznolikega upodabljanja človekovega telesa lahko sklepamo, da je bil antropocentrizem glavno vizualno vodilo, ki je v neolitik na Balkanu uvedlo telesnost kot glavni kognitivni napotek pri pojasnjevanju človekovega delovanja in razumevanja temeljnih simbolnih procesov

Tell communities and wetlands in Neolithic Pelagonia, Republic of Macedonia

Pelagonia is the biggest valley in the Republic of Macedonia, positioned in its mountainous southwestern area. It was first inhabited around 6000 BC by agricultural societies, which established the tell settlements in the region. Their villages were densely concentrated in several regional centres located near wetlands and rivers. These farming communities produced a variety of ceramic household items with pronounced features of a distinct identity, such as white painted pottery, anthropomorphic house models, figurines, tablets and stamps. The particular landscape and isolated network of Early Neolithic tell societies in Pelagonia remained unaffected until the Late Neolithic, which was an outcome of the idiosyncratic and strong relationship between the environment, dwellings and human body. Therefore, the paper discusses the first farming communities in Pelagonia, as well as the process of how identity was manifested in regard to the wetland environment and networks.Pelagonija je največja dolina v Republiki Makedoniji in leži v jugozahodnem goratem predelu. Poljedelske skupnosti so regijo prvotno poselile dolino ok. 6000 pr. n. št. in postavile t. i. tell naselbine. Njihove vasi so bile zgoščene v številnih regionalnih centrih, ki so bili omejeni predvsem na območja močvirij in rek. Te poljedelske skupnosti so izdelovale različne keramične hišne izdelke z izrazitimi značilnostmi, ki kažejo posebne identitete kot so belo slikana lončenina, antropomorfni hišni modeli, figurine, plošče in žetoni. Značilna pokrajina in izolirana mreža povezav zgodnje neolitskih tell naselbin v Pelagoniji so ostale nespremenjene do poznega neolitika, kar je rezultat značilne in močne povezave med okoljem, naselbinami in človeškim telesom. V članku se zato ukvarjamo tako s pojavom prvih poljedelskih skupnosti v Pelagoniji kot tudi z načinom, kako se je glede na vlažno okolje in mreže povezav oblikovala njihova identiteta

A new Approach for Structure from Motion Underwater Pile-Field Documentation

For a pilot study carried out by the University of Bern together with local partners in Summer 2018 at the pile-dwelling site Bay of Bones (Rep. of Macedonia), a new workflow for underwater pile-field documentation was developed. The site lies in shallow water of 3–5 meters depth and the most obvious constructive remains of the prehistoric settlement are thousands of wooden piles. The piles, mainly of oak and juniper, are excellently preserved in the lake sediments. The aim of the project was to document and sample 40 m2 surface area of the pile-field and the dendrochronological analysis of the samples. Dendrochronological sampling requires cutting the top-ends of the piles and thus changes the preserved situation. Therefore beforehand documentation must ensure the localization of each pile on a map. This calls for a method that ensures a) that every pile is distinctly labeled and b) the location of each pile is accurately captured. While on land, this can easily be achieved, underwater working conditions complicate common procedures. E.g. by measuring with a folding ruler from a local grid, there is later no way to evaluate measuring mistakes or the internal error of the local grid. In addition, for unpracticed divers measuring by hand underwater is not only time-consuming but also tends a lot more to erroneous results than on land. The goal was therefore to find a time-saving, accurate and easy to carry out way to locate the positions of several hundred piles in shallow water. The best solution for us to achieve these goals was a new standardized and reproducible workflow with Structure from Motion (SfM). The applied approach for underwater SfM-documentation includes on-site workflow and post-processing. The on-site workflow covers all steps from the preparation of the archaeological structures to the photographic data acquisition, the calculation of a preliminary 3D-model and its on-site verification. The crucial step was to ensure the suitability for modeling of the data before the situation underwater was irreversibly changed through sampling. Post-processing was carried out in Adobe Photoshop, Agisoft PhotoScan and QGIS where the data was optimized in quality and standardized from digital image processing to the construction of a georeferenced orthomosaic. Applying these results, we can later visualize patterns in the spatial distribution of the piles concerning e.g. their age, their size or their wood species. This will lead to answers regarding architecture, internal chronology, and in-site settlement dynamics. With this newly standardized two-step-workflow for underwater structure documentation, we are able to asses and compare the quality of each orthomosaic in a reproducible way. The presented method is highly promising for underwater-documentation of prehistoric pile-fields, yielding accurate digital plans in an efficient and cost-saving way.</p

An Early Neolithic enclosure at the site of Vlaho, Pelagonia

[EN] Recent study of Vlaho in Pelagonia confirms that it is the earliest known Neolithic settlement in North Macedonia. Multidisciplinary research of the architecture and material reveals a complex enclosure site dating to the seventh millennium BC, with dozens of ditches, daub buildings, white painted pottery and domesticated plants and animals

Dendroarchaeology at Lake Ohrid: 5th and 2nd millennia BCE tree-ring chronologies from the waterlogged site of Ploča Mičov Grad, North Macedonia

On the prehistoric site of Ploča Mičov Grad (Ohrid, North Macedonia) on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid a total of 799 wooden elements were recorded from a systematically excavated area of nearly 100 square meters. Most of them are pile remains of round wood with diameters up to almost 40 cm. A comprehensive dendrochronological analysis allowed the construction of numerous well-replicated chronologies for different species. High agreements between the chronologies prove that oak, pine, juniper, ash and hop-hornbeam can be cross-dated. The chronologies were dated by means of radiocarbon dating and modelling using wiggle matching. An intensive settlement phase is attested for the middle of the 5th millennium BCE. Further phases follow towards the end of the 5th millennium BCE and in the 2nd millennium around 1800, 1400 and 1300 BCE. Furthermore, the exact, relative felling dates allow first insights into the minimum duration of the settlement phases, which lie between 17 and 87 years. The multi-centennial chronologies presented in this study represent a first robust dating basis for future research in the numerous not yet dated prehistoric lake shore settlements in the southwestern Balkans with excellently preserved wooden remains

Multidisciplinarna istraživanja nalazišta Vrbjanska Čuka kod Slaveja (Pelagonija) – godina 2016.

The Vrbjanska Čuka archaeological site is a tell site of the type that is common in the Pelagonian region. It is located approximately 1.3 km south of Slavej and the same distance east of Vrbjani (Republic of North Macedonia). The site was excavated from 1979 to 1989, and new multidisciplinary research on the tell started in 2016. The recent archaeological excavations took place in a 15 x 10 m trench, where 2 houses with ovens, bins, railings and platforms in their interior were recorded. Typical characteristics of the Pelagonian Neolithic were observed in the material culture but also remains from the Classical antiquity and Medieval periods were documented. Besides the excavation and documentation of archaeological material, in 2016 an archaeobotanical analysis of organic samples was conducted, together with a geomagnetic survey of the whole area, digital topographic modelling of the tell and a 3D reconstruction of its appearance, and also an investigation of the prehistoric sites around Vrbjanska Čuka. This multidisciplinary approach provided new data and a more detailed understanding of the processes through which this settlement developed.Arheološko nalazište Vrbjanska Čuka je nalazište tipa tel kakvo je uobičajeno na području Pelagonije. Nalazi se oko 1,3 km južno od Slaveja, a toliko je udaljeno i od Vrbjana (Republika Sjeverna Makedonija). Nalazište je istraživano od 1979. do 1989. godine, a nova multidisciplinarna istraživanja na ovom telu počela su 2016. godine. U nedavnim arheološkim istraživanjima otvorena je sonda veličine 15 x 10 m u kojoj su otkrivene dvije kuće s pećima, jamama za otpatke, ogradama i platformama. Materijalna kultura je obilježena tipičnim značajkama pelagonijskog neolitika, ali zabilježeni su i ostaci iz antičkog i srednjovjekovnog razdoblja. Osim iskopavanja i dokumentiranja arheološkog materijala, istraživanja iz 2016. su obuhvatila i arheobotaničku analizu organskih uzoraka, geomagnetsku prospekciju cijele površine istraživanja, digitalno topografsko modeliranje tela i trodimenzionalnu rekonstrukciju njegovog izgeda kao i rekognosciranje prapovijesnih nalazišta oko Vrbjanske Čuke. Ovaj multidisciplinarni pristup rezulturao je novim podacima i sveobuhvatnijim razumijevanjem procesa razvoja ovog nalazišta

Living off the land : Terrestrial-based diet and dairying in the farming communities of the Neolithic Balkans

The application of biomolecular techniques to archaeological materials from the Balkans is providing valuable new information on the prehistory of the region. This is especially relevant for the study of the neolithisation process in SE Europe, which gradually affected the rest of the continent. Here, to answer questions regarding diet and subsistence practices in early farming societies in the central Balkans, we combine organic residue analyses of archaeological pottery, taxonomic and isotopic study of domestic animal remains and biomolecular analyses of human dental calculus. The results from the analyses of the lipid residues from pottery suggest that milk was processed in ceramic vessels. Dairy products were shown to be part of the subsistence strategies of the earliest Neolithic communities in the region but were of varying importance in different areas of the Balkan. Conversely, milk proteins were not detected within the dental calculus. The molecular and isotopic identification of meat, dairy, plants and beeswax in the pottery lipids also provided insights into the diversity of diet in these early Neolithic communities, mainly based on terrestrial resources. We also present the first compound-specific radiocarbon dates for the region, obtained directly from absorbed organic residues extracted from pottery, identified as dairy lipids