Sopot

Version 0.1

Maximilian O. Baldia

Under Construction!

Introduction

The purpose of this text is to provide a general overview of the culture and is intended as a resource for students and teachers of European Archaeology.

List of Figures

Map of Europe

Map of North and part of Central Europe

Location of Sopot

Graph of C¹⁴ dates

Location

The Sopot culture is in the former Yugoslavia (primarily Slavonia, Croatia). It’s type site is Sopot near Vinkovci, Croatia. Sopot is about 45 km north northwest of Zagreb and ca. 60 km south of the Austrian border.

Dating

Sopot belongs to the Late Neolithic in the former Yugoslavia. Relative chronology, that is pottery typology, is used to argue for several phases. Phases I-B, II-A, II-B, and III were identified at the Sopot, I-B and II at Dubovo-Košno near Županja. Phases II and III occur at the sites of Herrmann's Vineyard near Osijek, Mandek's Vineyard near Otok, Privlaka near Vinkovci, and Slav near Nova Gradiška. The duration of each phase, as estimated by Obelić et al. 2004, is shown in the following table.

Phase

Estimated Date Range

I-B

II-A

II-B

III

5480-5070 cal BC,

5030-4770 cal BC

4800-4250 cal BC,

4340-3790 cal BC

Evolution

Sopot belongs to the Lengyel interaction sphere. It is argued to be part of the early formative Lengyel (Protolengyel). However, the earliest phase is not dated. The C¹⁴ dates have a very large standard deviation. Therefore, my evaluation of the C¹⁴ dates suggests that it essentially has the same duration as the entire Lengyel interaction sphere.

References and Credits

Obelić, Bobomil, Ines Krajcar Bronić, and Nada Horvantinčić

2002 Rudjer Bošković Institute Radiocarbon Measurements XV. Radiocarbon 44/2, 2002:601-630.

Obelić, Bogomil, Marija Krznarić Škrivanko, Boško Marijan, Ines Krajcar Bronić.

2004 Radiocarbon Dating of Sopot Culture Sites (Late Neolithic) in Eastern Croatia. Radiocarbon 46/1:245-258.

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.