Corded Ware in the Central and Southern Balkans: A Consequence of Cultural Interaction or an Indication of Ethnic Change?

43 Pages·3.269 MB·English

by  Bulatovic A.

Corded Ware in the Central and Southern
Balkans: A Consequence of Cultural
Interaction or an Indication of Ethnic Change?

Aleksandar Bulatovic
Archaeological Institute, Belgrade

The analysis of corded ware and accompanying artifacts
reveals the nature of its appearance across the Central and
Southern Balkan Eneolithic during three cultural-
chronological horizons. The first horizon corresponds to the
Early Eneolithic, namely the Bubanj-Salcuta-Krivodol
cultural complex (BSK), while the second corresponds to the
Cotofeni culture. The third horizon, showing chronological
continuity with the second, and set within the Late
Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age, has a site distribution that
encompasses the territory of nearly the entire Balkan
Peninsula, where corded ware is found together with other
steppe elements which are present in large numbers, such
are burials under mounds and the appearance of the
domestic horse.

In contrast to the Neolithic, especially the Late
Neolithic, where one can observe cultural continuity in the
central Balkans over the course of several centuries, during
the Eneolithic there are periodical changes in material and
symbolic culture affecting the societies settled in this
region. These changes are often regional, and observable
in stylistic-typological properties of pottery. They are less
prominent during the Early Eneolithic, but become more
striking during the Middle and Late Eneolithic. Assuming
that gradual cultural changes are mainly the result of
autochthonous evolution of a society, every sudden and
abrupt change in any segment of material or symbolic
culture might point to the existence of certain outside
factors that were the triggers of indirect cultural influences
– migrations, exchange or other kinds of contact. One
such striking and easily observable change is the
appearance of a previously unattested style in pottery

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102 Aleksandar Bulatovic
decoration, in which ornaments are imprinted by pressing
a twisted cord on the vessels` surface, which appeared in
the Balkan Peninsula during the Eneolithic. This kind of
pottery is known in the literature as “corded ware” or
Schnurkeramik, and its distribution during the 4th and 3rd
millennia BC covers much of Europe. The very appearance
of this decoration technique in which a cord is twisted, or
wrapped around a stick, and then pressed directly onto the
fresh surface of a vessel leaving a characteristic imprint
(Wickelschnur) is entirely innovative, with no correlations
with the autochthonous Neolithic traditions of pottery
decoration. The appearance of corded ware in the Balkans,
as well as in the rest of Europe, corresponds to a series of
changes which, with various intensity, affected different
aspects of life, which local societies accepted or rejected in
different regions. These changes were so dynamic and
intensive in central Europe that they gave rise to a new
cultural phenomenon – the Corded Ware culture.
However, corded ware appears sporadically in the
central and southern Balkans, within one or more cultural
groups and always in small numbers compared to other
decoration techniques. The appearance of corded ware
corresponds to observable, long lasting changes in the
social, economic and spiritual aspects of local communities,
in different areas and periods, so it can be assumed that
the consequences of changes were profound and perhaps
indicated by the appearance of this specifically decorated
pottery. The goal of this paper is to identify origins of this
kind of pottery in the central and southern Balkans, as well
as to eventually explain the intensity and character of
changes accompanying its appearance in local cultural
groups. Scientific publications dealing with corded ware are
numerous, but with the last papers published as long as two
or more decades ago, there is now room to implement new
finds and knowledge, which could advance our
understanding of this subject with greater
comprehension.1

1Beside numerous papers, we especially emphasize an extensive synthesis
on corded ware, which, admittedly, encompasses the territory of all south-
eastern Europe, published more than two decades ago (Roman et al.
1992).

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Corded Ware in the Central and Southern Balkans 103
It is argued that corded ware appeared on the territory
of the northern coast of the Black Sea during Dereivka
phase of the Sredny Stog culture (Mallory 2006: 256). This
ornament soon expanded over the territory of the nearby
Tripolye culture, where corded ware was found together
with other pottery forms of foreign origin, designated as
Cucuteni C (Schmidt 1932: 42-45; Mallory 2006: 302;
Anthony 2007: 260). A striking similarity between
Cucuteni C and Sredny Stog pottery was observed many
decades ago by Movsha (Movsha 1961: 186-199). In
addition to Tripolje sites, such pottery appears at Cucuteni
sites in the beginning of the A3 phase, which is 14C dated
to the last quarter of the 5th millennia BC (4200/4150-
4050 BC).2 The oldest corded ware is decorated mostly by
pressing U shaped sticks around which a knotted cord was
wrapped around (the so called “caterpillar motif”). This
ornamentation technique, accomplished by wrapping the
band around a stick, is known as Wickelschnur ornament.
The caterpillar motif is characteristic for the Sredny Stog
culture as well as Cucuteni C pottery, both dated to the
end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th millennium BC
(Mantu et al. 1997: 46-47; Mallory 2006: 256; Anthony
2007: 244). Shortly after that, similar corded decoration is
a regular component of the Cernavodå I pottery
assemblage on the Lower Danube (Roman et al. 1992: 38).
Although the majority of authors agree that corded
ware first appeared in pottery assemblages of a steppe
culture, the Sredny Stog culture, on the Lower Dniepr, the
cause of its emergence remains unclear. An interesting
theory proposed by Sherratt is that the corded decoration
was derived from twined hemp, the rope of which is
thought to be necessary for steppe populations in order to
effectively control their large herds, while the leaves and
seeds were thermally treated to obtain opiates (Sherratt
1994: 175).3 According to this author, corded decoration

2Earlier dating methods, with a lower calibration curve, determined the
span of the Sredny Stog culture to second half of the 4th and first half of
the 3rd millennium BC (Dergachev 1989: 794), but new calibration
methods moved the dates almost a whole millennium earlier (Mantu et
al. 1997: 46-47; Mallory 2006: 253; Kotova and Spitsyina 2010: 181-182).
3It is known that this population had small cauldrons which, according to
Sherratt`s interpretation, could have been used for thermal processing of

Volume 42, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2014
104 Aleksandar Bulatovic
was a symbol for the content of the vessel, containing an
alcoholic drink made of hemp, so that corded ware was
spread by the Globular Amphorae culture which
popularized this drink and corded ornamentation with it
(Sherratt 1997: 215-218).
On the other hand, the emergence of corded
ornament could have a closer correlation with sheep
herding and its spread. It is known that sheep was very
important and often the most numerous animal in the
subsistence of steppe populations, so the fact that during
the next Usatovo culture, which settled in the territory of
the Tripolje culture, the number of sheep remains rose
even higher is not suprising.4 Corded ornament inspired by
a wool cord could have spread together with the
knowledge of wool processing, which goes side by side with
the emergence of wool textiles in the Bell-beaker culture,
where one of the most frequent ornaments was made with
a cord.

The sites with corded ware in Central and Southern Balkans
Preliminary analysis of corded ware and accompanying

hemp seeds, as it was the Scythian custom in the same region, or for
heating hemp leaves in butter.
4This breed of sheep had much more wool than European breeds, and
from it, according to new data, textiles were already produced by Bronze
Age (second half of the 3rd millennium BC) steppe populations (Mallory
2006: 305). Before the appearance of corded ware in the steppe region,
vessels were largely ornamented by comb (Dergachev 1989: 795-796),
which, according to the shapes of imprints and known finds from younger
periods in this area (Shishlina et al. 2000: fig. 6/b, e, f) could serve for
combing the fleece to obtain wool fibre. The wool lining is obtained by
twisting these fibres on a spindle whorl, so it is not improbable that
already during the Eneolithic wool textile was produced and imprinted
on pottery. This assumption is strenghtened by the fact that a large
number of sheep remains have been discovered on Eneolithic sites, and a
combination of ornaments involving a woven lining and comb can be
seen in pottery from this period. New research shows that wool was used
in textile production already in the Majkop culture in the middle of the
4th millennium (Shishlina et al. 2003: 331-344). The above facts suggest
the possibility that already from the end of the 5th and beginning of the
4th millennium BC, which is the time when corded ware appears, steppe
populations herded sheep for wool (Anthony 2007: 62, 269), and the
instruments for textile processing, or similar accessory instruments could
have been used in pottery decoration.

The Journal of Indo-European Studies
Corded Ware in the Central and Southern Balkans 105
finds, as well as archaeological contexts in which they were
deposited at the sites in the central and southern Balkans5,
shows that corded ware appears in three more or less
distinct chronological horizons: 1st horizon – the Early
Eneolithic (BSK complex); 2nd horizon – the end of the
Middle and beginning of the Late Eneolithic; and 3rd –
the Late Eneolithic and beginning of the Early Bronze
Age (cultures of EBA III and MH I). A similar division of
corded ware, but in four horizons and covering all of south-
east European territory, was proposed by Roman, Dodd-
Opri(cid:3)escu and János (Roman et al. 1992: 35-36). Their 1st
horizon is chronologically approximate to the 1st horizon
proposed in this paper, while during their 2nd horizon
corded ware is not present in the central and southern
Balkans. The 2nd horizon in the central and southern
Balkans would correspond to their 3rd horizon (the classical
period of corded ware in south-eastern Europe), while the
3rd horizon would approximate their final, 4th horizon.

1st horizon
1. Krivodol (Georgieva 2012: tab. 43/2); 2. Zaminec
(Nikolov 1975: obr. 23, 35 and 88); 3. Bubanj (Stojic and
Jocic 2006: T. lxiii/182); 4. Skaleto (Çohadziev 1991: obr.
10/9-14); 5. Crnobuki (Simoska et al. 1976: 62-63, T.
III/1); 6. Suplevec (Garasanin and Simoska 1976: 9-41); 7.
Kapoutzédes (Jovanovic 1979: 383).

2nd horizon
1. Srpski Krstur (Garasanin 1973: tab. 47);6 2. Korbovo
(Bulatovic, Kapuran, Janjic 2013: (cid:1). xl/16, 17); 3.
Ljubiçevac (Bulatovic, Kapuran, Janjic 2013: (cid:1). lv/3); 4.
Kusjak (Bulatovic, Kapuran, Janjic 2013, (cid:1). li/4); 5.
Mokranje (Kapuran, Bulatovic 2012: sl. 93, 94, 102, 106
and 135; Bulatovic, Kapuran, Janjic 2013: (cid:1). xl/16, 17, T.
li/4, T. lv/3, T. xc/23, 25.); 6. Smedovac (Trbuhovic and

5Various contexts of published finds were already given in the cited
bibliography, so the next section will emphasize more the unpublished
ones.
6Although that mound contained pottery which Nadlaçki assigned to the
Bodrogkeresztúr culture (Garasanin 1973, 280), according to the shape
of this vessel and the ornament which is non-existent in Bodrogkeresztúr,
we argue that the vessel is from the inventory of the Cotofeni group.

Volume 42, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2014
106 Aleksandar Bulatovic
Vukovic 1966: (cid:1). vi); 7. Klokoçevac (Nikolic 1997: (cid:1). i/5,
7); 8. Krivelj;7 9. Zlotska pecina (Tasic 1979: T. xvi/3, 5);
10. Klenovac (Stojic, Jocic 2006: T. xliii/2); 11. Tarnava
(Deneva 1982: cat. no. 510); 12. Radomir I (Nikolova 1999:
215).

3rd horizon
1. Pelince (Bulatovic and Stankovski 2012: 73-86); 2.
Bardok, 3. Ganjole, 4. Gajtan, 5. Nezirova pecina (Çovic
1991: 51-59); 6. Krusevica (Mitkoski 2010: 10-11, T. xi.); 7.
Sitagroi (Renfrew et al. 1986: Pl. xcviii/1-8); 8. Dikili Tash
(Deshayes 1970: 21-43; Seferiades 1983: 662-668, figs. 52-
67); 9. Maliq, 10. Tren, 11. Bënjë (Çovic 1991: 51-59); 12.
Kastrisa (Hammond 1972: 248); 13. Sevast;8 14. Nisos
(Çovic 1991: 55); 15. Agios Mamas (Heurtley 1939: 172,
fig. 46/a); 16. Pevkakia (Dimitrijevic 1979: 378, note 30;
Rutter 1982: 476); 17. Agia Marina (Hood 1973: 60); 18.
Eutresis (Hood 1973: 59, Pl. 8/1-3); 19. Lerna (Rutter
1982, 459-488, fig. 3); 20. Otzaki magoura (Dimitrijevic
1979: 378, note 30).9

1st horizon
The corded ware from the 1st horizon is exclusively
decorated by the Wickelschnur technique and on all of the
sites in the central Balkans it is found together with
pottery characteristic of the BSK cultural complex (Map 1).
On this territory corded ware is certainly of non-native
origin, because it is not found earlier in autochthonous
Neolithic cultures.
Many elements of the pottery assemblages (Figure 1)
from the Pelagonian sites Suplevec and Crnobuki have
their analogies in the earliest strata of the Bubanj-Hum I

7Unpublished find. I thank to I. Jovanovic, custodian of the Museum of
Mining and metallurgy in Bor for his insights into this research.
8Project is still in progress, and preliminary results can be seen at:
http://thesprotiaexpedition.com/Thesprotia/texts/Report07_2.htm
and http://thesprotiaexpedition.com/Thesprotia/texts/Report10.htm
(accessed on 10.2.2013.).
9I. Merkyte mentions the handles of Salcuta IV type (Scheibenhenkel) at
Pevkakia, but does not mention the context of the find, so its stratigraphic
relation to the corded ware is uncertain (Merkyte 2007: 50).

The Journal of Indo-European Studies
Corded Ware in the Central and Southern Balkans 107

Map 1. The first horizon of corded ware in the central and
southern Balkans. Cultures with corded ware (circles) on
the north and north-eastern shores of the Black Sea and
hinterland and the find spots of horse-headed scepters
(rectangles) and other steppe elements (triangles) in the
central and southern Balkans (1-9) and neighboring areas
(a-c) in the last quarter of the 5th millennium and first half
of the 4th millennium BC. Sites: 1. Krivodol; 2. Zaminec; 3.
Bubanj; 4. Skaleto; 5. Crnobuki; 6. Suplevec; 7. Kaputsedes;
8. Ostrovul Korbului; 9. Gornja Tuzla; a. Csongrad; b.
Decea Muresului; c. Kladovo

group at the site of Bubanj10 (horn-like plastic appliques in
a continuous row along the rim, two-handled beakers-
kantharoses, bowls with inverted rim, rows of triangular
imprints, rows of circular imprints, etc.), as well as at the
site of Hisar, Kosovo (kantharoses, ornaments in form of

10The find of a kantharos decorated with corded ornament from the site
of Bubanj is of unknown stratigraphic provenience, but is nearly identical
with a find from Crnobuki, so it is assumed that they are of similar
chronological framework, and according to stylistic and typological
characteristics, certainly belong to the BSK complex. The material from
recent excavations at Bubanj is known to the author from the analysis.

Volume 42, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2014
108 Aleksandar Bulatovic

Figure 1. Ceramics of the first horizon of corded ware in the
Balkans. 1. Bubanj, Serbia (after Stojic and Jocic); 2-4.
Crnobuki, Macedonia (after Simoska et al.); 5-8. Suplevec,
Macedonia (after Garasanin and Simoska); 9. Skaleto,
Bulgaria (after Çohadziev)
circular imprints around plastic warts) (Todorovic 1963: 25-
35). Together with the above mentioned pottery, at Hisar,

The Journal of Indo-European Studies
Corded Ware in the Central and Southern Balkans 109
vessels with handles modelled in the manner of the
Salcuta IV culture (Scheibenhankel) were discovered in the
same stratum (Todorovic 1963: (cid:1). i/8, T. ii/4, T. iii/2; Tasic
1995: 27), which corresponds to the late phase of the Early
Eneolithic of the central and southern Balkans. In the
youngest stratum of the Early Eneolithic at Bubanj,
consequently, common are kantharoses ornamented with
narrow undercrossing cannelures, which are also
characteristic for the Salcuta IV manifestation of this
culture in Oltenia and northwestern Bulgaria (Georgieva
2012: fig. 31/iii.1.4.8). Although, some like Çohadziev
(Çohadziev 1991: obr. 10/9-14) might consider pottery
found together with corded ware from Pelagonian and sites
from Struma valley as older, and compares them with the
finds from Salcuta III phase, and chronologically into the
second phase of the Late Eneolithic of the Struma valley.
According to the author, it is parallel with the developed
phase of Bubanj-Hum Ia group (Çohadziev 2007: tab. 8),
and puts finds from Krivodol and Zaminec in the same
period (Georgieva 2012: tab. 43/2; Nikolov 1975: obr. 23,
35 and 88).11
Finds of corded ware from stratum II, which is stratum
I from Gornja Tuzla (Roman et al. 1992: 47),
corresponding to the preclassical or classical phase of the
Lasinja culture (Dimitrijevic 1979b: 146), also correspond
in chronology to the Salcuta III-Bubanj Ia, or Salcuta IV
(Tasic 1995: 27).
In addition to corded ware, in the period
corresponding to its first horizon in the central and
southern Balkans, of foreign origin are also long knives of
chipped stone from the hoard near Kladovo. Such knives
are typical of the Bodrogkeresztúr group in the Pannonian
plain, which is parallel with the BSK complex (Jovanovic
1979: 382), but Tasic does not exclude the possibility that
the Kladovo hoard was deposited by the BSK population
(Tasic 1995: 23).
Finds of sceptres in the form of a horse head are also
known from this period, one of which was found at
Suplevec. Sceptres can be directly linked with the steppe

11Compare 14C calibrated dates from Krivodol (Boyadziev 1995: 172, fig.
11).

Volume 42, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2014
110 Aleksandar Bulatovic
cultures because they are characteristic for the territory
between the Caspian and Black seas, as well as for the
steppes in the lower course of the Volga river (Sezzee,
Kujbysev, Arkhara, Berezovka, Ordzonikidze) (Häusler
1982: abb. 2/1-7). These artifacts are, accordingly, more
numerous in the territory of the present day Moldavia, the
southern Ukraine, east Romania, and have been found
sporadically in south-western Romania, central Bulgaria, as
well as in Pelagonia (Brudiu 1975: 169-180; Merkyte 2007:
42-46; Mallory 2006: 299-305; Govedarica and Kaiser 1996:
97-98; Georgieva 2005: 155, and many others auhors). On
the other hand, the appearance of sceptres cannot be
attributed exclusively to a certain cultural group, but have
been recovered from various groups: Cucuteni (ObirUeni,
FedeleUeni) and Salcuta IV (Salcuta, TeliU), as well as in the
Kodzadermen–Gumelnita–Karanovo VI complex (Rezevo,
Drama)12 and the BSK complex (the Suplevec-Bakarno
gumno group). Also, their temporal appearance is similar,
and could be set at the end of the 5th millennium BC
(Brudiu 1975: 176-177; Mantu et al. 1997: 46-47.),13 or into
the first half of the 4th millenium BC (Govedarica and
Kaiser 1996: 83, 101-102). The presence of sceptres in the
central and southern Balkans is sporadic, as are the finds of
corded ware, so it is not realistic to presume the presence
of steppe communities on this territory solely on the basis
of these isolated finds, even more since elementary steppe
characteristics are lacking, like typical ceramic shapes,
crushed shell temper in the pottery14 and steppe funerary
rites.15 Stone sceptres in the shape of a horse’s head

12For the Kodzadermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI complex an abbrevia-
tion “KGK VI” complex will be used from now on in this text.
13The phase Salkuta IIIb is dated 4600-4200 BC (Lazarovici 2006: fig. 11),
but its Salcuta IV manifestation is dated, according to many authors, as late
as to the second quarter of the 4th millennium BC (Bojadziev 1998: 356,
fig. 1; Govedarica 2004: 227).
14At the site of Bubanj, shell was not noticed either in the fabric of
ceramics from the Bubanj – Hum I layer, nor from the same period
pottery from Pelagonia.
15This burial custom, however, was noticed in eastern Hungary during
that time, which shows the fact that a number of steppe societies moved
across the Carpathians already in the Early Eneolithic. It is a grave in
Csongrád-Kettöshalom, where a man was buried in “steppe” posture, with
long obsidian knife, necklaces made of copper and limestone beads, a

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