Starčevo -Körös-Criş (Starcevo-Koros-Cris)

Maximilian O. Baldia

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.

At the Edge: The First Farmers in the Carpathian Basin

The first farmers appear perhaps as early as 6400 to 6200 cal BC[1] near at the southeastern edge of Central Europe in the Carpathian Basin. This is much earlier than previously thought.[2] We hypothesize that the cooler and dryer climate between ca. 6400 and 6150 cal BC encouraged the first (North) Balkan – Carpathian Neolithic farmers to occupy the Carpathian Basin as far north as Tisza River Basin, up to the Maros (Mures) or Körös River (Map).[3] These makers of unpainted (monochrome) pottery preceded or gave rise to the actual Starčevo-Körös-Criş (Starcevo-Koros-Cris) culture, which probably dates to about 6100 – 5500 cal BC. The complex name for this culture is partly due to historical and political differences as well as perceived prehistoric variation in pottery styles.

The first type-site was the village of Starčevo (Map) in Yugoslavia (Vojvodina, Serbia and Montenegro), about 20 km east of Belgrade (Beograd). Initial excavations were conducted by M. Gribić in 1928. It was more intensively excavated in 1932 by Vladimir Fewks, Robert Ehrich and others.[4] Researchers included Americans, Yugoslavs and Czechs. The excavation was partly funded by the Peabody and Fogg Museums of Harvard University and the American School of Prehistoric Research. The site was on the northwestern edge of the village on a former bank of the Danube. The river now flows about 3.5 km away, but the site had suffered erosion and was used as a clay quarry for “modern” brick making.

Only a year after the Starčevo excavation, in 1933 – 1934, J. Banner started to excavate the site of Kotacpart in Hungary. In this and other sites along the Köros Rivers, a style pottery related to Starčevo was discovered and became known as Körös. In adjacent Romania the pottery was called Criş.

Evolution

Traditionally, it has been supposed that farming came in a package from the Near East and spread into Europe. However, Hungarian archaeologists argue that the expansion of farming came to a halt in eastern and southern Hungary. Several reasons are given for this. Among them is the theory that farming stopped at the edge of the Mediterranean climate zone for up to a 1000 years due to an environmental or climate barrier.[5] During this time farming techniques are thought to have adapted to the Central European ecological and climatic conditions, leading to the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in the Carpathian Basin. This has been deduced from the Körös site distribution (Map) and the subsequent development of the Bandkeramik. Kalicz and Makkay (1977) proposed that the Szatmár group developed from Körös, giving rise to the Bandkeramik (Map).

Dating

The precise chronological and pottery style relationships are debated. For example, differing interpretations of the excavation results at Starčevo have lead to problems in various relative chronologies.

Even the C¹⁴ dates of various publications[6] are somewhat contradictory. Several appear to be too late, while some new dates are rather early. Hertelendi at al. (1995) calculated a range of 5950 to 5400 cal BC foror Early Körös. Late Körös (Protovinča) was dated from 5770 to 5230 cal BC. However, at Morosele-Pana, near the Maros-Tisza confluence, a date associated with Körös II pottery ranges from ca. 6400 – 6200 cal BC.[7] This is identical to a date for similar early monochrome pottery from the Poljanica Plateau, Bulgaria. Polianica is nearly 600 km to the east of Morosele-Pana (Map), not too far from the Black Sea. There the monochrome pottery is found below Karanovo I deposits (cf. Ivan Vajsov). Another, similarly early date stems from Zadubravlje-Dužine in Croatia.

The end of Starčevo-Körös-Criş (Starcevo-Koros-Cris culture was often dated around 5000 cal BC. This would mean that there was an extraordinarily long coexistence with other cultures. However, the early Bandkeramik dates would suggest an end between 5700 – 5500 cal BC, unless the Transdanubian Bandkeramik develops before its counterpart – the Alföld Bandkeramik – located in the same Körös site distribution area. Therefore, it seems that more refined archaeological excavation methods, combined with careful, context sensitive dating are required, before the internal and external chronology is reasonably well established in eastern Central and Southeast Europe.

Ceramics

The first pottery is plain or monochrome with a finger applied thick slip called “barbotine,” leaving a rough surface. It is found sporadically over a broad area in the northern part of the Balkans. The western pottery has fingernail impressions, which may be an autochthonous western invention (Schubert 1999).

Starčevo-Körös-Criş pottery uses organic (chaff) temper and contains mica, sand and pebbles.[8] It was fired in an oxidized environment at low temperatures (500º - 600ºC). The exterior is roughly slipped. (Later) pottery is sometimes painted. Starčevo pottery is probably painted with iron pigments after burnishing and before firing. The related Obre I pottery appears to be painted after firing. Unfortunately, relatively little technical information on the pottery production process and clay sourcing is available. Painting includes dots, spiral-like, and curvilinear designs. White dots may be the earliest painting motives. White, dark/black, and red paint, including white on red polychrome exists.

Economy

Following Kosse (1979), the Körös culture appears to be focused on aquatic resources. Wild animals also appear in the sites, but there are no obvious hunting tools. Wheat, barley and millet have been identified. Land for planting is supposedly limited by the chosen site location. Therefore, permanent fields are stipulated. Hazel nuts were stored in pits. Stockbreeding includes sheep/goat at 30-68%, cattle at 7-22%, pig at 3% or less. Storage pits and large (communal?) grindstones (millstones) have been reported.

Settlement

Most sites are located on levies near the rivers. The of Körös cultural layer thickness can be up to 75 cm deep, suggesting permanent occupation. However, other sites indicate ephemeral deposits, implying short or seasonal settlements.

A village near Zadubravlje-Dužine, Croatia, exhibits different activity zones, which apparently include ovens for bread baking and “kilns” for the production of pottery.

Houses

Pit houses and rectilinear/quadrangular houses are reported. However, the interpretation of pits as human housing is disputed.[9] Hearths and ovens are plentiful.

Wells

At Zadubravlje-Dužine, near the Sava River in Croatia, the oldest well has been reported. A C¹⁴ date of 6320 – 6250 cal BC is associated with the 4.5 m deep well.[10]

References and Credits

Baldia, M. O.

2003 Breaking Unnatural Barriers: Comparative Archaeology, Climate, and Culture Change in Central and Northern Europe (6000 - 2000 BC). Paper presented in the Session “Comparative Archeology and Paleoclimatology: Sociocultural Responses to a Changing World” under the Theme “Past Human Environments in Modern Contexts” at the Fifth World Archaeology Congress, Monday, June 23, 2003, Washington DC, USA. (Publication in prep.)

Ehrich, Robert W.

1977 Stračevo Revisited. In V. Markotic (Ed.) 1977:59-67. In Markotic, V. (Ed.) Ancient Europe and the Mediterranean. Aris & Phillips, Warminster, England. 1977.

Kalicz, Nádor and János Makkay

1977 Die Linienbandkeramik in der Großen Ungarischen Tiefebene. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.

Lichter, Clemens

1993 Untersuchungen zu den Bauten des südosteuropäischen Neolithikums und Chalkolithikums. Internationale Archäologie 18. Verlag Marie Leidorf 1993. Rahden/Westf..

Manson Joni L.

1995 Starcevo Pottery and Neolithic Development in the Central Balkans. In William K. Barnett and John W. Hoopes (Editors) The Emergence Of Pottery: Technology and Innovation in Ancient Societies. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 1995:65-77.

Obelić, Bogomil

2002 Date List: Rudjer Boškovć Institue Radiocarbon Measurements XV. Radiocarbon 44/2, 2002 :601-630.

Otte, M. and P. Noiret

2001 Le Mésolithique du Bassin Pannonien et la formation du Rubané. L'Anthropologie 105, 2001:409-419.

Sherratt, Andrew

1997 Economy and society in prehistoric Europe: Changing perspectives. Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press, 1997.

Schubert, Holger

1999 Die bemalte Keramik des Frühneolithikums in Südosteuropa, Italien und Westanatolien. Internationale Archäologie 47. Verlag Marie Leidorf 1999. Rahden/Westf.

Zohary, Daniel and Maria Hopf

1993/00 Domestication of plants in the Old World: The origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley. Second Edition. Oxford University Press. New York.

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.