Belica hoard found
The hoard find from Belica near Jagodina in central Serbia is the most comprehensive treasure trove in Europe from the Early Neolithic (around 5700 BC) with 78 individual pieces made of bone (10), stone (61) and clay (7 ).
history
The region around the village of Belica near Jagodina was already settled in the Neolithic Age. The following Vinča culture , in the center of which lies Jagodina and produced one of the supposedly oldest known writing systems, the so-called Vinča script , played an important role. Finds of prehistoric figures in the late 1990s on the outskirts of Belica showed that the municipality was also as early as 5700 BC. Chr. Inhabited. Finally, an excavation by Serbian archaeologists in 2002 brought to light Europe's most extensive treasure trove from the early Neolithic .
Belica's hoard is said to be around 7,700 years old and consists of 78 individual pieces made of bone (10), stone (61) and clay. The archaeologists mapped the outline of an early Neolithic settlement with the distribution of the finds on the surface. In the middle they found the largely undisturbed hoard . The objects are stylized female (gynecomorphic) figures, phalluses , miniature axes and abstract figures. The stone objects are mainly made of serpentinite from an ophiolite belt , 40 km west of Belica . The rock was washed out of the mountains, smoothed in water and shaped by ancient artists.
Many of these pieces puzzled the researchers ; As part of a joint project, the Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory of the University of Tübingen and the Archaeological Institute of the University of Belgrade began an investigation .
Web links
- Archaeologists from Tübingen examine early Neolithic treasures from Serbia in: Archeology Online (accessed on January 29, 2013)
- Investigations into the early Neolithic hoard of Belica (Central Serbia) . University of Tübingen (accessed January 29, 2013)
Remarks
Coordinates: 43 ° 56 '20.2 " N , 21 ° 7' 55.5" E