Balkan Dialogues: Negotiating Identity between Prehistory and the Present

294 Pages·2017·3.56 MB·English

by  Maja Gori

Balkan Dialogues
Spatial variation and patterning in the distribution of artefacts are topics of
fundamental signifi cance in Balkan archaeology. For decades, archaeologists
have classifi ed spatial clusters of artefacts into discrete “cultures”, which
have been conventionally treated as bound entities and equated with past
social or ethnic groups. This timely volume fulfi ls the need for an up-to-date
and theoretically informed dialogue on group identity in Balkan prehistory.
Thirteen case studies covering the beginning of the Neolithic to the Middle
Bronze Age and written by archaeologists conducting fi eldwork in the region,
as well as by ethnologists with a research focus on material culture and
identity, provide a robust foundation for exploring these issues. Bringing
together the latest research, with a particular intentional focus on the central
and western Balkans, this collection offers original perspectives on Balkan
prehistory with relevance to the neighbouring regions of Eastern and Central
Europe, the Mediterranean and Anatolia. Balkan Dialogues challenges long-
established interpretations in the fi eld and provides a new, contextualised
reading of the archaeological record of this region.
Maja Gori works as postdoctoral researcher at the National Research Council
of Italy (IRISS-CNR). Before this appointment she worked as adjunct faculty
member at the University of Heidelberg. Her research interests comprise uses
of past in identity building, ceramic technology, mobility, and connectivity
in the Mediterranean.
Maria Ivanova is lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of
Heidelberg, Germany, where she studies the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
of Eastern and Central Europe, with a particular focus on ancient technol-
ogy, spheres of exchange, the transmission of technology across Eurasia, and
prehistoric warfare and violence.
Routledge Studies in Archaeology
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com
19 Archaeology’s Visual Culture
Digging and Desire
Roger Balm
20 Marking the Land
Hunter-Gatherer Creation of Meaning in their Environment
Edited by William A Lovis and Robert Whallon
21 The Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions
Strategies for Investigating Anthropogenic Landscapes, Dynamic Envi-
ronments, and Climate Change in the Human Past
Edited by Daniel Contreras
22 Life of the Trade
Events and Happenings in Niumi’s Atlantic Center
By Liza Gijanto
23 Exploring the Materiality of Food ‘Stuffs’
Transformations, Symbolic Consumption and Embodiment(s)
Edited by Louise Steel and Katharina Zinn
24 Archaeologies of “Us” and “Them”
Debating History, Heritage and Indigeneity
Edited by Charlotta Hillerdal, Anna Karlström and Carl-Gösta Ojala
25 Balkan Dialogues
Negotiating Identity between Prehistory and the Present
Edited by Maja Gori and Maria Ivanova
26 Material Worlds
Archaeology, Consumption, and the Road to Modernity
Edited by Barbara J. Heath, Eleanor E. Breen, and Lori A. Lee
Balkan Dialogues
Negotiating Identity between
Prehistory and the Present
Edited by Maja Gori
and Maria Ivanova
First published 2017
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 2017 Maja Gori and Maria Ivanova
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material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gori, Maja, editor of compilation. | Ivanova, Mariya,
editor of compilation.
Title: Balkan dialogues : negotiating identity between prehistory
and the present / edited by Maja Gori and Maria Ivanova.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge studies in archaeology;
14 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016044695 | ISBN 9781138941137 (hardback :
alkaline paper) | ISBN 9781315673875 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Antiquities, Prehistoric—Balkan Peninsula. |
Prehistoric peoples—Balkan Peninsula. | Group identity—Balkan
Peninsula—History—To 1500. | Ethnicity—Balkan Peninsula—
History—To 1500. | Spatial analysis (Statistics) in archaeology—
Balkan Peninsula. | Social archaeology—Balkan Peninsula. |
Ethnoarchaeology—Balkan Peninsula. | Balkan Peninsula—
Antiquities. | Balkan Peninsula—Social life and customs.
Classifi cation: LCC GN845.B28 B36 2017 | DDC 939.8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016044695
ISBN: 978-1-138-94113-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-67387-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of fi gures vii
List of tables x
Notes on contributors xi
Balkan dialogues: Negotiating identity between
prehistory and the present 1
MAJA GORI AND MARIA IVANOVA
PART I
Rethinking groups and cultures 15
1 Later Balkan prehistory: A transcultural perspective 17
JOSEPH MARAN
2 Ethnicity as a form of social organization: Notes on the
multiplicity of understandings of a contested concept 38
HANS PETER HAHN
3 The transitions between Neolithic and Early Bronze
Age in Greece, and the “Indo-European problem” 52
JEAN-PAUL DEMOULE
4 Let’s stop speaking “cultures”! Alternative means to
assess historical developments in the prehistoric Balkans 64
ZOÏ TSIRTSONI
5 A tradition in nine maps: Un-layering Niger River
polychrome water jars 85
OLIVIER P. GOSSELAIN
vi Contents
PART II
Identities in transition 109
6 Socio-spatial organisation and early Neolithic
expansion in Western Anatolia and Greece 111
MARTIN FURHOLT
7 Negotiating identities and exchanging values:
Neolithic pottery production and circulation in Thessaly 131
ARETI PENTEDEKA
8 Inheritance, population development and social identities:
Southeast Europe 5200–4300 BCE 156
JOHANNES MÜLLER
9 Culinary landscapes and identity in prehistoric Greece:
An archaeobotanical exploration 169
SOULTANA MARIA VALAMOTI
PART III
Frontiers and boundaries 195
10 Neolithic assemblages and spatial boundaries as exemplifi ed
through the Neolithic of Northwestern Turkey 197
MEHMET ÖZDOĞAN
11 Cultivating identities: Landscape production among
early farmers in the Southern Balkans 213
SUSAN E. ALLEN
12 Erasing boundaries or changing identities? The transition
from Early/Middle to Late Neolithic, new evidence
from Southern Serbia 240
JASNA VUKOVIĆ
13 Practicing archaeology and researching present
identities in no man’s land: A view from the
Tri-National Prespa Lake 254
MAJA GORI, PETRIKA LERA, STAVROS OIKONOMIDIS,
ARIS PAPAYIANNIS, AND AKIS TSONOS
Index 271
Figures
1.1 Map visualizing the spread of farming economy from
the Near East to Europe 18
1.2 Maps visualizing the spread of different
aspects of “secondary farming” 23
2.1 Levels of negotiation about ethnic identity 44
2.2 Visual representation of four understandings
of “ethnicity” 48
4.1 Chronological chart 69
4.2 Diagram with 14 C dates from KGK VI sites 70
4.3 Pottery vessels from Dikili Tash: a) Graphite painted plate
from House 1; b) black-on-red amphora from House 1 72
4.4 Diagram dates from Thessaly 75
5.1 Location of the potting communities and main
geographical features in the study area 88
5.2 Types and distribution of vessel shapes within
the study area 89
5.3 Types and distribution of décor organization within
the study area (see text for details) 91
5.4 Types and distribution of ornamental techniques
within the study area 93
5.5 Types and distribution of painting tools within
the study area 95
5.6 Distribution of the addition of gum arabic to
painting materials within the study area 96
5.7 Types and distribution of tempering materials
within the study area 98
5.8 Types and distribution of shaping techniques
within the study area 100
5.9 Types and distribution of beating tools used
for primary shaping operations 102
6.1 Map of sites showing elements of (Pre-Pottery)
Neolithic communities in western Turkey and
Greece dating before 6500 BCE 112
viii Figures
6.2 Map of pottery Neolithic sites in western Turkey and
Greece, highlighting those 1 4 C-dated pottery Neolithic
sites starting between 6600/6500 and 6000 BCE 113
6.3 Tentative dating of the sites most prominently
mentioned in the text 113
6.4 Examples of settlement plans from the area
of investigation 119
7.1 Map with the sites included in the study and
mentioned in the text 132
7.2 Distribution map for the common fabric groups (CFG)
identifi ed and their probable production centre 143
7.3 Microphotographs illustrating the main common
fabric groups (CFG) identifi ed within the Thessalian
ceramic assemblages 144
7.4 Microphotographs illustrating the main common
fabric groups (CFG) identifi ed within the Thessalian
ceramic assemblages 145
8.1 The settlement plans of Okolište 2 (5000–4850 BCE)
and Divostin IIa/IIb (4850–4650 BCE) 160
8.2 Examples of settlement plans in Central and
Southeast Europe 162
8.3 Development of selected archaeological sources
(5700–4300 BCE) from sites in the Visoko Basin,
Central Bosnia 163
8.4 The development of house sizes in Southeast Europe 165
8.5 Population estimation on a European level 166
9.1 Map of study area (Greece) 171
9.2 Corn dolly made by Lydie Martin Banquart, purchased
in Sauveterre de Rouergue, July 2010 174
9.3 Waterlogged Cornelian cherry stones from the prehistoric
site of Limnochori, Amyndaion, northern Greece 175
9.4 Grape pressings from House 1 at Dikili Tash 176
9.5 Map showing relative proportions of glume wheat
species (based on absolute glume base counts) from
Apsalos, Kremasti Koilada and Kleitos, western Macedonia,
northern Greece 183
10.1 Major sites of the Ağaçlı culture and of the Neolithic
period in the Marmara region 199
10.2 Lithic assemblages. Upper row western Marmara,
lower row eastern Marmara 203
10.3 Figurines of western and eastern Marmara 205
10.4 Pottery assemblages of western and eastern Marmara 206
10.5 Comparative table of main features of the eastern
and western Marmara Neolithic assemblages 208
Figures ix
11.1 Classifi cation into Groups 1 (weed:crop ratio >1),
2 (weed:crop ratios approximately 1), and
3 (weed: crop ratios <1) for EN sites in northern
Greece/southern Albania and Bulgaria 221
11.2 Map showing locations of sites in Groups 1 (squares),
2 (circles) and 3 (triangles) 222
11.3 Average ubiquity values for Summer, Winter, and
Winter or Summer (W/S) weeds for Group 1 and
Group 3 sites 226
11.4 Average ubiquity values (% presence) for low,
medium, and tall weeds at Group 1 and Group 3 sites 226
11.5 Average ubiquity values (% presence) for reproductive
strategy types for weeds at Group 1 and Group 3 sites 227
12.1 Pottery hybrids exhibiting mixing of different
technological styles 245
12.2 Pottery hybrids 246
12.3 Hybrid vessel with carelessly executed incised motif 247
12.4 Starčevo altar of extremely careless and rough manufacture 248
13.1 Large map of the Prespa region indicating Maligrad Island 255
13.2 Map of the Prespa Lake indicating Liqenas/Pustec and
Maligrad Island 256
13.3 The islet of Maligrad seen from the village of Liqenas/
Pustec seen from the Zvezdes passage 259
13.4 Flag of the Liqenas municipality 260
13.5 A building in Liqenas with Slav Macedonian slogans
and symbols 263