Going West?: The Dissemination of Neolithic Innovations between the Bosporus and the Carpathians

194 Pages·2017·28.09 MB·English

by  Agathe Reingruber

Going West?
The Dissemination of Neolithic Innovations between the
Bosporus and the Carpathians
Proceedings of the EAA Conference, Istanbul, 11 September 2014
ї
Edited by Agathe Reingruber, Zo Tsirtsoni, Petranka Nedelcheva
Themes in Contemporary Archaeology
Series Editors:
Professor Kristian Kristiansen, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Professor Eszter Bánffy, German Archaeological Institute, Frankfurt, Germany
Professor Cyprian Broodbank, University of Cambridge, UK
Series Editorial Assistant:
Claes Uhnér
Themes in Contemporary Archaeology provides cutting edge summaries of areas of debate in current
archaeological enquiry, with a particular emphasis on European archaeology. The series has a broad
coverage, encompassing all periods and archaeological disciplines from theoretical debate to sta-
tistical analysis and three-dimensional imaging. The multi-author volumes are based on selected
sessions from the well-regarded annual conference of the European Association of Archaeologists.
Published Volumes:
Volume 1: Assembling Çatalhöyük
Volume 2: Trypillia Mega-Sites and European Prehistory, 4100-3400 BCE
Volume 3: Going West?
The Dissemination of Neolithic Innovations between the Bosporus and the Carpathians
The European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) is the association for all professional archaeol-
ogists of Europe and beyond. The EAA has around 2,200 members from sixty countries worldwide
working in prehistory, classical, medieval, and later archaeology.
The EAA aims
• to promote the development of archaeological research and the exchange of archaeological
information
• to promote the management and interpretation of the European archaeological heritage
• to promote proper ethical and scientific standards for archaeological work
• to promote the interests of professional archaeologists in Europe
• to promote co-operation with other organisations with similar aims.
Going West?
The Dissemination of Neolithic Innovations between the
Bosporus and the Carpathians
Proceedings of the EAA Conference, Istanbul, 11 September 2014
ї
Edited by Agathe Reingruber, Zo Tsirtsoni, Petranka Nedelcheva
First published 2017
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© 2017 European Association of Archaeologists
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ISBN: 978-1-138-71483-0 (hbk)
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Contents
List of Contributors vii
List of Figures and Tables ix
Introduction 1
Agathe Reingruber, Zoï Tsirtsoni, Petranka Nedelcheva
CHAPTER 1 Northwest Anatolia: a Border or a Bridge Between Anatolia and the
Balkans During the Early Neolithic Period? 7
Necmi Karul
CHAPTER 2 Anatolia and the Balkans: the Role of the Black Sea Between ‘East’ and ‘West’
During the Neolithic Period 19
Eylem Özdoğan
CHAPTER 3 Whither the Aegean Neolithic? 29
Burçin Erdoğu
CHAPTER 4 Identifying the Earliest Neolithic Settlements in the Southeastern
Balkans: Methodological Considerations Based on the Recent
Geoarchaeological Investigations at Dikili Tash (Greek Eastern Macedonia) 43
Laurent Lespez, Zoï Tsirtsoni, Pascal Darcque, Dimitra Malamidou,
Haïdo Koukouli-Chryssanthaki and Arthur Glais
CHAPTER 5 Lithic Industries and Their Role in Neolithisation Models in
Southeast Europe 57
Ivan Gatsov, Petranka Nedelcheva, Malgorzata Kaczanowska
and Janusz K. Kozłowski
CHAPTER 6 Thrace, Post-6000 bc 73
Vassil Nikolov
CHAPTER 7 The First Balkan Neolithic in the Lower Danube Plain and the
Making of a Pottery Tradition 79
Laurens Thissen
CHAPTER 8 The Beginning of the Neolithic Way of Life in the Eastern Lower
Danube Area: a View from the North 91
Agathe Reingruber
CHAPTER 9 The Transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic Between
Western Anatolia and the Lower Danube: Evidence from
Burial Customs 113
Clemens Lichter
CHAPTER 10 Appendix: 14C Database for Southeast Europe and Adjacent
Areas (6600–5000 cal bc) 123
Laurens Thissen and Agathe Reingruber
Index 179

Contributors
Pascal Darcque Clemens Lichter
CNRS, UMR Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité Independent scholar
Nanterre, France
Dimitra Malamidou
Burçin Erdoğu Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala-Thasos
Department of Archaeology Archaeological Museum of Kavala, Greece
Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey
Petranka Nedelcheva
Ivan Gatsov Department of Archaeology
Department of Archaeology New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria
New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria
Vassil Nikolov
Arthur Glais National Institute of Archaeology and Museum,
Department of Geography Sofia, Bulgaria
University of Caen, France
Eylem Özdoğan
Malgorzata Kaczanowska Department of Prehistory
Institute of Archaeology Istanbul University, Turkey
Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Agathe Reingruber
Necmi Karul Institut für Prähistorische Archäologie,
Department of Prehistory Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Istanbul University, Turkey
Laurens Thissen
Haido Koukouli-Chryssanthaki Thissen Archaeological Ceramics Bureau,
Emeritus Director of Antiquities, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kavala, Greece
Zoï Tsirtsoni
Janusz K. Kozłowski CNRS, UMR Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité
Institute of Archaeology Nanterre, France
Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Laurent Lespez
Department of Geography
University of Paris East-Créteil, France

Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1 Map of Epi-Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites in Northwest Turkey 8
1.2 Chronological chart indicating the main sites in Northwest Turkey 9
1.3 General view of the site Aktopraklık C 11
1.4 Round structures surrounded by stones, Aktopraklık C 12
1.5 Round structure cutting into the bedrock, Aktopraklık C 13
1.6 Neolithic monochrome pottery, Aktopraklık C 13
1.7 Closed and S-shaped vessel forms, Aktopraklık C 14
1.8 Bullet pressure flint cores from Neolithic layers, Aktopraklık C 15
1.9 Beads made of different kinds of stones, Aktopraklık C 15
2.1 Cultures and sites mentioned in the text 20
2.2 Drawings of vessels from Yarımburgaz, layer 4 22
2.3 Whole vessel from Yarımburgaz, layer 4 23
2.4 Yarımburgaz 4, deep engraved decorations 23
2.5 Yarımburgaz 3, vessel decorated with ‘Music Note’ patterns 24
2.6 Toptepe type of vessels; a – Aşağı Pınar, b – Toptepe, c – Yarımburgaz, d – Primorsko 25
3.1 Middle Palaeolithic tools from Gökçeada 32
3.2 Location of Uğurlu in the northeastern Aegean 33
3.3 Plan of a Neolithic building in Phase V 33
3.4 Plan of a Neolithic building in Phase IV3 34
3.5 An obsidian bullet core from Phase IV 35
3.6 A macroblade from ‘Balkan flint’ in Phase IV 35
3.7 Selected finds from Phase IV 36
3.8 Head of a figurine made of bone from Phase V 37
3.9 A malachite bead from Phase V and its SEM results 38
3.10 A vessel from Phase V 38
3.11 Selected pottery from Phase IV 39
4.1 Map of the southeastern Balkans with Neolithic sites of the 7th and early 6th millennium bc 44
4.2 Map of the core drillings and interpretation of the settlement dynamics during the early stages of the Neolithic 46
4.3 Core drilling C10 47
4.4 Assemblage of the successive parts of core C1, taken with the open-gouge method 48
4.5 Lowest part of core C10, showing the passage from Pleistocene silt to the first level of occupation on top of the
Holocene palaeosol 50
4.6 West-east section of the Dikili Tash tell with presumed evolution of the settlement in the different periods 50
4.7 North-south section of the tell 51
4.8 Diagram with the 14C dates from cores at Dikili Tash (intra-site and close off-site), modelled with
OxCal (v4.2.3) according to their attribution to the successive occupational stages 52
5.1 Blades with high retouch: 1, 2, 11 – Karanovo I – II period; 3, 4, 10 – Hoca Çeşme (Phase II); 5, 6 – Azmak
(Early Neolithic); 12 – Island of Samothrace (stray find) 58
5.2 Width and thickness of high retouched blades of Karanovo I – II period, Azmak (Neolithic layers),
Hoca Çeşme (Phase II) and Aşağı Pınar (Early Phases) 59
5.3 Map of the sites mentioned in the text 63
5.4 1 – Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in Anatolia; 2 – Single Late/Final Mesolithic Sites with elements of Neolithic
economy considered also as Initial Neolithic; 3 – Contacts between the Pre-Pottery Neolithic
of Cyprus and the Aegean Basin 64
5.5 Map of the Early Neolithic in the Balkans, Middle Danube Basin and Aegean Basin 67
6.1 Main routes of Southeast European Neolithisation in the late 7th and early 6th millennium bc 74
6.2 Thrace. Phase I (Early Karanovo I): 6100–5900 bc 75
6.3 Thrace. Phase II (Classic Karanovo I): 5900–5800 bc 75
6.4 Thrace. Phase III (Karanovo II): 5800–5650 bc 76
6.5 Thrace. Phase IV (Proto-Karanovo III and Karanovo III): 5650–5500/5450 bc 76
6.6 Thrace. Phase V (Karanovo III–IV): 5500/5450–5200 bc 77
7.1 The Lower Danube, Romanian and Bulgarian sites dating to the FBN period 81
7.2 Boldul lui Moş Ivănuş. Complete profile of a medium-sized pot suggesting slab manufacture as indicated
by vertical and horizontal breakage pattern, and paddle-and-anvil not attempted, though intended 82
7.3 Boldul lui Moş Ivănuş. Small pots with vertically pierced knob handles 83
7.4 Boldul lui Moş Ivănuş. Fabric distribution from a single pit C58 (n = 1,092) 84