Runik (definite Albanian: ''Runiku'') is a village in the

Skenderaj Skenderaj ( sq-definite, Skënderaj or ''Skënderaji'') or Srbica ( sr-Cyrl, Србица) is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Skënderaj has 9,372 inhabitants, while ...

municipality of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. It is located in the

Drenica Drenica ( al, Drenicë, Drenica, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klin ...

region and has 1,585 inhabitants as of 2011. The village has a football club,

KF Përparimi Runik KF Përparimi Runik () is a professional Association football, football club from Kosovo which competes in the Third Football League of Kosovo, Third League (Group B). The club is based in Runik, Skënderaj. Their home ground is the Runik Sports F ...

. Runik is the site of an important

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

settlement in Kosovo and the wider region. The excavated finds at the site include a baked-clay

ocarina The ocarina is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from c ...

, one of the oldest musical instruments which have been in the Balkans and the oldest in Kosovo.

History

It is located the

region, about southwest of Mitrovica and northwest of Skenderaj (near the Skenderaj-Istog road). The site, one of the most prominent

Neolithic sites in Kosovo This is a description of Neolithic sites in Kosovo. The warm, humid climate of the Holocene which came soon after the ice melting of the last glacial period brought changes in nature which were reflected in humans, flora and fauna. This climatic s ...

to date, contains artefacts from the Starcevo, Cardial and

Vinca culture ''Vinca'' (; Latin: ''vincire'' "to bind, fetter") is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus ''Catharanthus'' (an ...

s. As of 2020, the two oldest sites of Starcevo are Crkvina near Miokovci, Serbia and Runik, Kosovo which are statistically indistinguishable to each other and have been dated to ca. 6238 BCE (6362-6098 BCE at

95% CI In frequentist statistics, a confidence interval (CI) is a range of estimates for an unknown parameter. A confidence interval is computed at a designated ''confidence level''; the 95% confidence level is most common, but other levels, such as 9 ...

) and ca. 6185 BCE (6325–6088 BCE at 95% Cl) respectively. It was excavated in 1966-68 and in 1984. Research was conducted in about 35 private parcels in the Dardania neighborhood of Runik. Starcevo and Vinca pottery fragments dating to 6500-3500 BC have been found at the site. A

magnetic survey Magnetic surveying is one of a number of methods used in archaeological geophysics. Magnetic surveys record spatial variation in the Earth's magnetic field. In archaeology, magnetic surveys are used to detect and map archaeological artefacts an ...

was conducted at the site in March 2010, and the remains of huts reinforced with wooden joists have been found. Monochrome pottery decorated with red gloss,

Cardium pottery Cardium pottery or Cardial ware is a Neolithic decorative style that gets its name from the imprinting of the clay with the heart-shaped shell of the '' Corculum cardissa '', a member of the cockle family Cardiidae. These forms of pottery a ...

barbotine Barbotine is the French for ceramic slip, or a mixture of clay and water used for moulding or decorating pottery. In English the term is used for three different techniques of decorating pottery, though in all cases mainly for historical works. ...

earthenware and ceramic pottery painted with linear and geometric designs have been found, along with anthropomorphic figurines and cult tables (small altars). Ornamental artifacts include a spiral baked-clay vase tinted with

ocher Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

, painted in dark colors and decorated as the palm of a hand. A significant find is a baked-clay

in length, known as the Runik Ocarina, the oldest musical instrument found in Kosovo to date.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Runik Populated places established in the 7th millennium BC 1966 archaeological discoveries Villages in Skenderaj Archaeological sites in Kosovo Archaeology of Illyria Illyrian Kosovo Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture