Findings

EXCLUSIVELY: SPECTACULAR FINDING OF ARCHEOLOGISTS IN THE VICINITY OF BELGRADE
At the Gates of the Neolith City
In the village of Stubline near Obrenovac, about forty kilometers southwest from the capital, a large 6.000 years old settlement was discovered. Geomagnetic recordings show more than a hundred houses, streets and squares, defensive trenches, as well as numerous smaller settlements in the radius of about fifteen kilometers. After exploring only one of the ten smallest and worst preserved houses, the findings are already extraordinary

NR Press
Photo: Adam N. Crnobrnja, M.A.

News about the extraordinary archeological finding in the vicinity of the Serbian capital circulated through all printed and electronic media in Serbia at the beginning of February this year. A real, exquisitely preserved Neolithic city, dated from 6.000 years ago, was registered at the Crkvine site near Obrenovac. On the trace of this news, we came to the organizer of these explorations, Zorana Simića, conservator-consultant of the City of Belgrade Institute for Protecting Cultural Monuments and Adam N. Crnobrnja, M.A., senior curator and chief of the Museum of Belgrade Archeology Department. The attentiveness of these explorers of Belgrade’s past enables the readers of National Review to gain insight of the process of exploration and unique archeological material from these excavations.
The Crkvine archeological site is in the village of Stubline near Obrenovac, about 40 kilometers southwest from Belgrade, between the rivers of Sava, Tamnava and Kolubara. It is located on a mild height, covering an area of about 16 hectares, bordered from the north and south with springs which merge under its southeastern end.
– Already at the end of the XIX century, there were records of local inhabitants’ memories mentioning the existence of an old church in this place, as well as remains of ceramic objects and stone tools which people found in this area ever since the old times – says Zoran Simić for National Review. – In the year 1967, Jovan Todorović, PhD, on behalf of the Belgrade Museum, performed small archeological explorations which determined that there were three Neolithic horizons of dwelling in Crkvine, the youngest belonging to the very end of the Vinča culture. For four whole decades, this locality was known only for the then published report, and it was not given any special attention. It was most often used as part of the statistics within several hundreds of registered sites in Serbia of the Vinča culture. At the end of summer of 2006, the City of Belgrade Institute for Protecting Cultural Monuments and Museum of Belgrade undertook smaller excavations in order to check the information about the existence of a medieval church, as well as to determine the character of the earlier registered late Vinča settlement. The church was not found, but it was concluded that the houses from the late Vinča culture are not in such a bad condition as stated in 1967. After reviewing the whole site, it was determined that it is a large Neolithic settlement and the decision was made to continue explorations, mainly by using non-destructive methods.

46 FIGURINES FROM CRKVINE

– The first geomagnetic recordings in 2007 already showed that it was an extraordinarily well preserved and very significant site – continues Adam Crnobrnja, M.A. – In an area of 1,64 hectares, outlines of several dozens of Neolithic houses arranged in rows were noticed, and their geomagnetic values showed that they were exquisitely preserved. In late fall of 2008, the Institute and Museum began their first serious explorations. Besides continuing the geomagnetic recordings, one house belonging to late Vinča culture was completely explored. Geomagnetic explorations, which included an area of 3,28 hectares, or only 20 percent of the whole settlement, opened the gates of the ”Neolithic city”. They registered the existence of about 100 houses, organized in groups around areas without buildings resembling squares, while defensive trenches were noticed on two sides of the settlement.
The house explored in 2008, says Crnobrnja, was chosen because it was one of the ten smallest and (based on the geomagnetic recording) worst preserved ones. The received results were astonishing and somewhat unique with regards to Neolith in our lands.
– Besides an abundance of whole and fragmented ceramic dishes, parts of the fixed interior were also found in the house covering an area of about 45 square meters. Along with the remains of two furnaces, also found were a grain mill built of clay with an installed stone for grinding grain, as well as a big altar, with ceremonial clay bread and a dish with a tank beside it. The very well preserved remains of the house and its internal elements alone are an exquisite finding. However, at the very end of the explorations and the available financial means, we had a unique, up to now unseen finding – emphasizes Crnobrnja. – It is a composition of 46 clay figures. Individual findings of figurines are regular in sites from the Vinča époque. However, a group with such a number of figurines is not. It is also specific for other things. All figurines except one are almost of the same shape. One somewhat bigger and more scattered, stood inside a group of nine smaller ones. Besides the figurines, 11 miniature models of tools were also found, with a hole for inserting straws as holders. Each of the figurines also has a little hole for inserting the straw. Whether this is a group of objects related to a cult or they are ”common” toys will be discussed in the future. We are certain, however, that this composition points to the transposing of a certain system of thought or belief from the level of community to the level of cult activity or game.

BEGINNINGS OF PREHISTORIC URBANISM

– We now know that it is undoubtedly a very significant and uniquely preserved late Vinča site, where explorations will continue this year, hopefully also in the following years – says Crnobrnja. – This site offers the possibility of studying the organization of life in a house, group of houses or whole settlement, and it is not all. In the radius of about 15 kilometers from Crkvine, we have 10 more recorded, although smaller, late Vinča settlements. Such a situation enables studying the life in this period on a higher level, on the level of organization of a wider community or several communities. All this points to one thought, a bit heretic though: that here we can search for the beginnings of urbanization on our soil.
The elaborate necessary for proclaiming Crkvine as a cultural good will soon be finished, which will enable active protection, explains Zoran Simić. Due to the uniqueness of this site, it will be suggested to be proclaimed cultural good of extraordinary significance, which is the highest rank of legal protection in Serbia.
– However, in order to achieve its full physical protection, it is necessary to do much more – continues Simić. – Above all, it is necessary to create consciousness of the local population about this site and the benefits it offers them. It will be best protected after we will be able to, besides archeological explorations, also perform conservation in situ, i.e. to preserve the findings at the site itself, to reconstruct the Neolithic houses and create a museum under the open sky.

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Protective Measures
The locality is private property of several dozens of owners, says Zoran Simić. It is endangered by land cultivation, however it was excluded from the construction area several years ago, so it is not possible to build anything on it.
– The fear that the site will be destroyed is certainly present. However, the absence of metal findings and non-attractiveness of fragments of ceramics as objects of illegal trade of antiquities somewhat protect this site from such ill fate – adds Simić. – On the other hand, since the first remains are only about twenty centimeters below surface, only one deeply plowed furrow could destroy dozens of objects from this 6.000 years old ”city”.

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Help and Branding
All that is necessary to do further is a long and often difficult process, warns Adam Crnobrnja, M.A. It can be accomplished only with the understanding and help of the City of Belgrade, which is for the time being the sole financial supporter of these explorations, and the Republic of Serbia and local community in Obrenovac.
– That way, besides preserving the site, Stubline would be adequately presented to the local and foreign public. The Neolith and Vinča culture, it is clear at first glance, can become one of the great tourist brands of Serbia.