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The Central Balkans represents an important corridor for the spread of the farming populations from the origins of the European Neolithic in Greece further into the Central Europe. The absolute date of the first appearance of the Central Balkan Early Neolithic Starčevo culture in this region has been established by previous research (based on the relatively low number of radiocarbon dates) to a period after 6200 BC, but the demographic and social specifics as well as the spatio-temporal dynamics of the expansion remain unknown. In this paper we integrate new radiocarbon evidence from the BIRTH project with statistical analysis and mathematical modelling (implemented in computer simulation) in order to answer the following questions about the spread of the Neolithic across the Central Balkan region. 1. When did the Neolithic arrive to the Central Balkans? 2. What was the speed and the spatial pattern of the expansion? 3. What were the demographic features of the first Neolithic populations in terms of fertility and mortality? 4. What was driving the expansion? Our results confirm the previous dating of the Neolithic entry into the Central Balkan area ~6200 BC, pushing it possibly a few decades earlier. The spatio-temporal pattern of the expansion is in line with the Wave of advance model, with the farming front spreading relatively fast and following the north-south axis in general, but with potential evidence for leapfrogging over larger distances. The computer simulation results suggest that the expansion was fueled by very high fertility and low to medium mortality, and that the primary reason for migration was social rather than economic (i.e. due to limitations of environmental carrying capacity).&nbsp

[EN] The research of Vrbjanska Čuka in 2017 continued those started the previous season, but resulted in much more significant data regarding stratigraphy, architecture and economy in the Neolithic, Late Classical period and Middle Age. They were enabled by the multidisciplinary approach by implementing archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, geomagnetic scanning, digital topography, geoarchaeology, photogrammetry and 3D modeling of artifacts and the environment, drone orthophotography, isotopic, radiocarbon, lipid and use-wear analyses. All these components of the research of Vrbjanska Čuka enabled a comprehensive understanding of the Neolithic settlement and the community that lived there, that was the primary aim of this project. In regard to the stratigraphy of site, it has 5 horizons, the Neolithic ones being determined by architectural features and not by material culture. In this context, a further revision of Neolithic horizons is possible, upon extending the archaeological trench and making a detailed insight into the material culture and the architectural features that would arise. Even though ceramic vessels as the most frequent finds do not bear significant differences between Neolithic horizons in Vrbjanska Čuka, still it could be considered that, examined further, they could contribute towards an even more thorough understanding of changes of this settlement, but also within society. In this regard, radiocarbon analyses provide even a more detailed insight into the chronology of the settlement. According to the data obtained by these analyses at the University of Bern, the earliest Neolithic layers could be dated around 5900 BC. So far, this date places the site in the final phases of Early Neolithic, completely corresponding the dating of few other sites in Pelagonia. Analyzing samples from other Neolithic horizons would determine the chronology of the remaining Neolithic phases of the settlement, which, according to the architectural features, composes of three horizons. Such a stratigraphic condition could potentially be changed, unless there is a significant divergence within material culture and dating of the remaining two horizons. However, according to the current acknowledgment, despite not having an especially high stratigraphy (about 1 meter of the total tell height), this Neolithic settlement was especially dynamic during the 6th millennia BC. The tell was actively used for several hundreds of years during the Early Neolithic, only to be deserted in the next 5 000 years until Late Classical period. According to the material culture found in Horizons IV and V, activities at this site might have continued around the 4th and 5th centuries AD, with recorded activities around the 7th and 8th centuries, and then between the 10th and the 14th centuries., [RU] Истражувањата во 2017 година на локалитетот Врбјанска Чука кај Славеј, се надоврзаа на оние од претходната археолошка кампања, иако се добија многу позначајни податоци за стратиграфијата, архитектурата и стопанскиот живот во неолитот, доцната антика и средниот век. Тоа го овозможи мултидисциплинарниот пристап во истражувањата, коишто освен со елементарните методи и студии на наодите, се проучува и преку археоботаниката, археозоологијата, геомагнетното скенирање, дигиталната топографија, геоархеологијата, фотограметријата и 3Д моделирањето на артефактите и теренот, дронската ортофотографија, изотопските, радиокарбон и use-wear анализите, како и оние на липидите. Сите овие компоненти на истражувањето на Врбјанска Чука овозможуваат мошне доследно разбирање на неолитската населба и заедницата што живеела во неа, што воедно претставува и примарната цел на овој проект. Според добиените податоци од анализите, може да се заклучи дека неолитската населба е формирана околу 5900 година пр.н.е., односно при крајот на раниот неолит и имала 5 развојни фази. Според откриената материјална култура од подоцнежните хоризонти, може да се смета дека активностите на овој локалитет продолжиле околу III и IV век н.е., со регистрирани активности околу VII и VIII век, а потоа и во периодот меѓу X и XIV век.

The domestication of plants and animals, and subsequent the changes that they had triggered om human societies, plays a crucial role in archaeological narratives on processes of Neolithization. Given that Neolithic communities are generally perceived as “pastoral-agricultural”, hunting activities are usually interpreted as sporadic, occasional, seasonal, and even anomalous. In this paper, we argue that subsistence strategies and human-animal interaction were far more diverse, and (micro)regionally and culturally specific. The paper focuses on the site of Golokut-Vizić, which stands out in relation to other Starčevo sites by its specific location within the hilly and forest landscape of the Fruška Gora mountain, as well as by high frequency of wild animals within the faunal sample. By incorporating existing and new results of archaeozoological analyses (namely taxonomic composition and seasonality),stable isotope analyses and archaeological data on settlement patterns (architectural features and artifacts), we examine ecological, economic and social context of animal exploitation at Golokut, and problematise the hunting-stockbreeding dichotomy in the context of the Early Neolithic on the territory of Vojvodina and the Central Balkans.