Vučedol () in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, is an archeological site, an elevated ground on the right bank of the River

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, which also forms the border with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Vučedol became the eponym of the

eneolithic The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

Vučedol culture The Vučedol culture (Croatian: ''Vučedolska kultura'') flourished between 3000 and 2200 BC (the Chalcolithic period of earliest copper-smithing and arsenical bronze-smithing), centered in Syrmia and eastern Slavonia on the right bank of the Dan ...

. It is estimated that the site had once been home to about 3,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest and most important European centers of its time. Artifacts from the Vučedol site are located in the

Archaeological Museum in Zagreb The Archaeological Museum () in Zagreb, Croatia is an archaeological museum with over 450,000 varied artifacts and monuments, gathered from various sources but mostly from Croatia and in particular from the surroundings of Zagreb. Its predecessor ...

, and the City museum of Vukovar. The site itself hosts the Vučedol Culture Museum since 2015. Due to extremely favourable strategic position, Vučedol has always been open to colonization. Some of the most important archaeological discoveries belonging to the Vučedol culture have been made at this site. Archaeological research has confirmed finds of

Baden culture The Baden culture or Baden-Pécel culture is a Chalcolithic archaeological culture dating to 3520–2690 BC. It is found in Central and Southeast Europe, and is in particular known from Moravia (Czech Republic), Romania, Hungary, southern Pola ...

, Vučedol culture as well as

Kostolac culture Kostolac ( sr-Cyrl, Костолац) is a town in Serbia and one of two Municipalities and cities of Serbia#List of cities and city municipalities, city municipalities which constitute the City of Požarevac. It is situated on the Danube river. Th ...

on the site of Vučedol. The site is located roughly downstream from the city of Vukovar. During the

Battle of Vukovar The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Bar ...

in 1991, the Vučedol site was destroyed by being used as a firing base for the Serbian

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

artillery and tanks in the three-month bombardment of Vukovar. The site was since restored and the Vučedol Culture Museum established on the grounds.

References

Former populated places in the Balkans Prehistoric sites in Croatia Archaeological type sites {{VukovarSrijem-geo-stub