Bosut culture (
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguation ...
: ''Bosutska kultura'' / Босутска култура or ''Bosutska grupa'' / Босутска група) is a name of an prehistoric
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
culture, which was named after the
Bosut Gradina archaeological site in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
. It is sometimes grouped with related
Basarabi culture
The Basarabi culture was an archaeological culture in Southeastern Europe (mainly in Romania), dated between 8th - 7th centuries BC. It was named after Basarabi, a village in Dolj County, south-western Romania, nowadays an administrative compone ...
into
Bosut-Basarabi complex. There are different views about ethnic identity of the people of Bosut culture; according to one view, they were
Triballi
The Triballi ( grc, Τριβαλλοί, Triballoí, lat, Triballi) were an ancient people who lived in northern Bulgaria in the region of Roman Oescus up to southeastern Serbia, possibly near the territory of the Morava Valley in the late Iron ...
, while according to another view, they were
Daco
The Dacians (; la, Daci ; grc-gre, Δάκοι, Δάοι, Δάκαι) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often cons ...
-
Getae
The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...
s. The culture flourished in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, until the arrival of the
Scythian
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
tribes.
Characteristics
The Bosut culture is dated into early
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
, and it is generally divided into three development stages: 1.
Kalakača-
Bosut, 2.
Basarabi, and 3.
Bosut III. The area of this culture included territory of present-day
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
and northern part of present-day
Central Serbia
Central Serbia ( sr, централна Србија / centralna Srbija), also referred to as Serbia proper ( sr, link=no, ужа Србија / uža Srbija), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the nor ...
.
Earliest settlements of the Bosut culture originated from the late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
Belegiš culture. Large fortified settlements were built on the sites of former settlements that were situated on a higher ground near rivers, on a slopes of
Fruška Gora
Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора; hu, Tarcal-hegység) is a mountain in Syrmia, administratively part of Serbia with a part of its western side extending into eastern Croatia. The area under Serbian administration forms the country ...
and
Vršac Mountains, or on the edge of the
Titel Hill
Titel ( sr-Cyrl, Тител, hu, Titel) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town of Titel has a population of 5,247, while the population of the municipality of Titel is 15, ...
. Large settlements were mutually interconnected into a chain of common defense. Smaller settlements and farms were located around larger ones. Houses in the fortified settlements were located close one to another, and narrow passes existed between them. Defensive trenches were located around settlement walls.
The main occupation of inhabitants of Bosut culture was agriculture and animal husbandry. Agricultural tools were similar to ones from the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. Main market excesses were made from wheat, meat, and animal skin. These products were sold to
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
traders, who in turn brought luxury goods from south-east Europe, that were purchased by local aristocracy. The silver jewelry was especially appreciated.
Two mass graves discovered at
Gomolava locality are indicating that inhabitants of the Bosut culture practiced
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...
.
Localities
Localities of the Bosut culture are:
Nikola Tasić, Historical picture of development of early Iron Age in the Serbian Danube basin, page 9.
/ref>
* Bosut Gradina
* Gomolava near Hrtkovci
* Židovar
* Feudvar near Mošorin
* Kalakača near Beška
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
*Dr Predrag Medović, Praistorija na tlu Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2001.
*Dragoslav Srejović, Iliri i Tračani, Beograd, 2002.
External links
Gradina na Bosutu
a
spomenicisrbije.com (archived copy)
(in Serbian)
Archaeological cultures in Serbia
Archaeological cultures of Southeastern Europe
Iron Age cultures of Europe
Iron Age Serbia
History of Syrmia
Prehistory of Vojvodina
Indo-European archaeological cultures
Thracian archaeological cultures
Dacians