Neolithic cities
Interesting pottery fragments and small fired clay figurines have been found for some time in valleys of the Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria as they approach the Black Sea. A dizzying number of regional names have been applied to the archaeological cultures these fragments (may have) represented. The late VG Childe created the blanket term 'Danube Culture' to describe them less confusingly.
Danube Culture flourished between 6000 and 3000 BCE, disappearing by 2750 BCE. Its wealth must have been based in some part on rich farmlands, but the salt trade may have been involved. Parts of the zone were involved in very early copper and gold working. The oldest gold treasure in the world was recovered in the 1970s from Varna, on the Black Sea. Click here for more on the clay figurines produced
In the 1960s, aerial photography led to the realisation that some of the Danube Culture settlements were vast. No agricultural villages these - their size merits their being called cities. Being built of timber and wattle, they have completely decayed into the surrounding farmland and had been lost for millennia. The houses and buildings filling them were substantial and lay in planned, curving lines, often surrounding a central space.
More on the Danube Culture settlements
More on the Danube Culture settlements
A shared feature of the settlements large and small, is that they appear to have completely burned down at quite regular periods. Whether this was from attack or another reason isn't known, but this article explains the extent of the phenomenon and offers some suggestions.
The discoveries made on the Danube / Black Sea region led to elaborate theories about the societies being matriarchal, egalitarian, peaceful earth-mother-goddess worshippers (Professors Marija Gimbutas and VG Childe).
The society and its settlements have a frustrating absence of cemeteries on the whole. With the exception of Vinca, at the southern extreme of the group, very few human remains exist. Fragments of disarticulated human bone have been found in and around settlements, but how they ended up there is is a matter of conjecture. Suggestions have included cannibalism, exposure of deceased as a means of disposal, and human sacrifice.
The reasons for the decline and disappearance of these societies have also been debated. What is clear is that after a certain point the large settlements were not used, and pollen analyses show that agriculture in the area swung away from arable farming and towards large-scale herding.
The society and its settlements have a frustrating absence of cemeteries on the whole. With the exception of Vinca, at the southern extreme of the group, very few human remains exist. Fragments of disarticulated human bone have been found in and around settlements, but how they ended up there is is a matter of conjecture. Suggestions have included cannibalism, exposure of deceased as a means of disposal, and human sacrifice.
The reasons for the decline and disappearance of these societies have also been debated. What is clear is that after a certain point the large settlements were not used, and pollen analyses show that agriculture in the area swung away from arable farming and towards large-scale herding.