Vinča-Belo Brdo, a late neolithic site in Serbia consideration of the macro-botanical remains as indicators of dietary habits

The analysis of macro-botanical remains from the late Neolithic site of Vinča-Belo Brdo has provided first information on the range of crops and wild plants present at the site, and revealed their potential role as foodstuffs. The abundance and distribution of certain plant taxa across different archaeological deposits suggests to what extent they were used within the settlement. The analyzed plant remains also offer insight into the types of food consumed by Vinča residents and serve as a basis for inferring the seasonality and method of food provision/production and activities related to plant use. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177012: Society, spiritual and material culture and communications in prehistory and early history of the Balkans

The Impact of Quality Management Purchasing Practices on Purchasing Performance in Transitional Economies

This study examines the nature of relationships between quality management practices in purchasing and purchasing-related organisational performance within ISO 9001:2008 environment in transitional economies. The study was based on managers’ responses from 90 ISO 9001:2008 certified large organisations from Serbia. The findings show that quality management practices in purchasing positively affect purchasing performance. Further, purchasing performance is found to be a significant mediator between quality management practices and time-based performance. However, despite the overall good predictive model power, the explained variance on time-based performance is quite low. Thus, the effects on time-based performance are arguable. PLS-SEM Importance-performance analysis reveals that purchasing performance, cross-functional coordination and personnel management have relatively high performance, while benchmarking has the lowest value of the performance index. Consequently, the implementation of quality management practices in purchasing along with ISO 9001:2008 might be a part of a good strategic choice for transitional organisations to overcome troublesome transitional times. Still, the discrepancies between this study and the results from developed economies yield potential improvement areas on how organisations in transitional economies should manage purchasing practices

Active solar dryer for biological materials

U ovom radu se prikazuje originalno rešenje male, pokretne, univerzalne, ekološke, komorne, aktivne sušare za sušenje bioloških materijala, lekovitog, aromatičnog i začinskog bilja. Proces sušenja se ostvaruje solarnom energijom. Agens sušenja je smeša svežeg vazduha i izrađenog agensa sušenja. Svež vazduh se zagreva u ravnom solarnom prijemniku i transportuje se do komore za sušenje i kroz komoru za sušenje ventilatorom postavljenim na vrhu komore za sušenje. Promena položaja sušare i prijemnika omogućava optimalni prijem solarne energije tokom celog dana. PV moduli, postavljeni na krovu sušare, obezbeđuju potrebnu električnu energiju za pogon ventilatora, sistema za kontrolu i za punjenje dve akumaulatorske baterije.U radu su takođe prikazani i rezultati eksperimentalnih istraživanja kinetike procesa sušenja, koja su izvedena na prototipu solarne sušare. .This paper presents an original design and construction of a small scale, mobile, universal, ecological, chamber, active, dryer for drying medicinal and aromatic plants and non-timber forest products. The drying process uses only solar energy. The drying agent is a mixture of hot pure air and already used drying agent from the drying chamber exhaust. Pure air is heated in flat plate solar collectors and it is pulled by an electrical fan placed on the top of the drying chamber. The mobility of the collectors and dryer provides optimal utilization of sun energy throughout the day. PV modules, placed on the roof of the dryer, generate all necessary electric power for the fan, the control system and charge a set of accumulators during the day. Experimental results and kinetics of the drying process obtained by the solar dryer prototype are also given

First results of rescue archaeological excavations at the site of Belo brdo in Vinča in 2019

U radu su predstavljeni preliminarni rezultati arheoloških istraživanja obavljenih 2019. godine na delu nalazišta koje je zahvaćeno klizištem. Iskopavanja su izvršena na površini od oko 250 m2, u cilju zaštite srednjovekovne nekropole koja predstavlja najfragilniji deo kulturnih slojeva u Vinči. Na istraženoj površini je dokumentovana 91 grobna celina. Prema predmetima nađenim u grobovima vreme sahranjivanja okvirno je opredeljeno u razdoblje 13-14. veka. Na prostoru nekropole otkriveni su i ostaci tri peći, koje su takođe pripisane srednjovekovnom periodu, ali su starije od istraženih grobova. Najstarije horizonte na površini obuhvaćenoj iskopavanjima činila su dva gorela, ruševinska sloja neolitskih objekata.This paper presents the preliminary results of recent fieldwork conducted in the part of the site of Vinča - Belo Brdo that is endangered by a landslide. In order to excavate the rich archaeological remains before the situation with the sediment movements worsens, rescue excavations took place in the second half of 2019. The focus of this campaign was to investigate the level of destruction of this part of the site, as well as to excavate the human remains from the medieval necropolis that represents the final phases of occupation at the site. Since the first excavations of Vinča in 1908, and especially in the early campaigns of 1911 and 1912, medieval material and presence of inhumations was noted in large numbers. Systematic excavations in the period 1978-1983 were, among other things, focused on the excavation of the necropolis. According to the material in the National museum in Belgrade that originates from the site of Vinča without any specific context, the chronological span of the necropolis was divided into four horizons, ranging, very widely, from the 8th up to the 17th century. Available documentation from these excavations shows the presence of three stratigraphic horizons. At the end of these excavations, the total number of inhumations was well over 1000. In 2011, the focus of research at the site was on the area endangered by the landslide. In a trench with dimensions of 4 x 20 metres, additional 71 graves were excavated, sometimes containing several burials. During the 2019 campaign, a surface of ca. 250 square meters was investigated, with 91 defined and documented graves that sometimes contained several burials. Contrary to the earlier excavations, the number of burials of juveniles is much higher. There were 36 juvenile and 59 adult burials. Among the burials, remains of three medieval ovens were discovered, and one of them was excavated (Oven 3). Up to now, no medieval structures were documented at Belo Brdo. Oven 3 contained two substructions with pottery sherds, stone and brick fragments. Pottery fragments originated both from prehistory and from the medieval period as well. Most of them could not be more precisely dated due to their small size, but those with ornaments could be dated into the period between the 9th and 11th century. As for small finds from the graves, they could be dated into the period of the 13th and 14th century. The most notable one is a bronze belt found in situ. The horizon with ovens is older than the inhumations, as shown not only by the material but also by Grave 87 cutting and damaging Oven 3. The excavations stopped at the level of Neolithic burnt daub. Two Neolithic burnt structures (houses) were detected, in the south-western and south-eastern part of the trench. Faunal remains from all contexts were analysed. Since most of the material originates from disturbed layers due to recent gardening, vegetation and landslide, the distribution of various animal taxa was documented only for Sector K

Nanostructured Fe2O3/TiO2 thick films prepared by screen printing

Nanostructured single layered (pure TiO2 , pure α-Fe2O3 and mixed Fe2O3 /TiO2 with two different oxide ratios, 2 : 3 and 3 : 2) and double layered (TiO2 layer over a Fe2O3 layer) thick films have been fabricated by screen printing technology on a glass substrate. The pastes used for film preparation were obtained by adding an organic vehicle to the oxide powders together with a small percentage of binding glass frit. Samples were dried up to 100 °C and sintered at 650 °C/60 minutes. Structural, morphological and optical studies have been carried out using XRD, SEM analyses and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The prepared pure and mixed Fe2O3 /TiO2 thick films had a homogenous nanostructure without secondary phases. Indirect band gaps were determined from the measured transmission spectra and the obtained values are in the range of literature data. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III45007

Seeking the Holy Grail: robust chronologies from archaeology and radiocarbon dating combined

The strengths of formal Bayesian chronological modelling are restated, combining as it does knowledge of the archaeology with the radiocarbon dating of carefully chosen samples of known taphonomy in association with diagnostic material culture. The risks of dating bone samples are reviewed, along with a brief history of the development of approaches to the radiocarbon dating of bone. In reply to Strien (2017), selected topics concerned with the emergence and aftermath of the LBK are discussed, as well as the early Vin≠a, Ra∫i∏te and Hinkelstein sequences. The need for rigour in an approach which combines archaeology and radiocarbon dating is underlined

Interwoven strands for refining the chronology of the Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo, Serbia

A formally modeled radiocarbon chronology for a new profile through the great Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo, Serbia, is the third interwoven strand in refining the chronology of the tell. This now joins models for the whole sequence based on the archive of early excavations, and for the last two known horizons at the top of the settlement mound, investigated in recent decades. In the new deep sounding, Vinča culture occupation from the 52nd century cal BC is slightly later than in the main sequence, probably reflecting the horizontal extension of the tell as it began to grow. The last dated occupation falls in the late 47th–early 46th century cal BC, slightly earlier than in the main sequence, but the top of the profile is affected by the slippage that caused the new excavations. Formal estimates are given for the succession and varying durations of burnt and unburnt houses, and indicate a period in the first part of the 5th millennium without house burning. Overall, the combined results from the three interwoven strands serve to produce a radically enhanced understanding of the temporality of the tell, which builds on, rather than supplants, previous research. We knew previously that Vinča-Belo Brdo was very long-lived, but now we can time that history with much greater precision. We can assert with much greater confidence that its vertical buildup was steady and largely uninterrupted. We have begun, from the work on the top of the tell and in the new deep sounding, to grasp better the fluctuations in house durations from generation to generation, and can now contrast the relative fortunes of unburnt and burnt houses. We can say much more about the timing and tempo of the ending of the tell, and about the possible circumstances in which that took place

Seeking the Holy Grail

The strengths of formal Bayesian chronological modelling are restated, combining as it does knowledge of the archaeology with the radiocarbon dating of carefully chosen samples of known taphonomy in association with diagnostic material culture. The risks of dating bone samples are reviewed, along with a brief history of the development of approaches to the radiocarbon dating of bone. In reply to Strien (2017), selected topics concerned with the emergence and aftermath of the LBK are discussed, as well as the early Vinča, Ražište and Hinkelstein sequences. The need for rigour in an approach which combines archaeology and radiocarbon dating is underlined

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ~10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ~8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local Euro-pean wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic con-tribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process