Starčevo ( sr-cyr, Старчево), also known as Grad (Град) is the

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

of the

Starčevo culture The Starčevo culture is an archaeological culture of Southeastern Europe, dating to the Neolithic period between ''c.'' 6200 and 4500 BCE.Istorijski atlas, Intersistem Kartografija, Beograd, 2010, page 11. It originates in the spread of the Ne ...

that has been dated to the

Early Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wi ...

period. It is located on the left bank of the

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 ...

, north-west from the village of

Starčevo Starčevo () is a town located in the Pančevo municipality, in the South Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The town has a Serb ethnic majority and its population is 6,661 people ( 2022 census). The ...

and 8 kilometers south of

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...

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 ...

. Starčevo site has been in central register from 1993 as an Archaeological Site of Exceptional Importance.

History

The first systematic archeological digging started in 1928, exploration with the sond took place during 1931 and 1932 and that represented collaboration between Public museum and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

University. In 1939 the leading excavator was Miodrag Grbić. In the middle of the 20th century exploration was done by Milutin Garašanin and

Draga Garašanin Draga Garašanin ( 1921–1997) was a Serbian archaeologist who studied the Copper and Bronze Age of eastern Europe. She became one of the leading prehistorians of Yugoslavia, later Serbia, after World War II and with her husband produced the fir ...

. Revision of excavation was done in 1969 and was protected in 2003 and 2004. On the site they have discovered dugouts ellipsoidal and round shape, with a diameter between 2 and 6 meters, as well as several tombs with the deceased in a fetal position. Inside of the dugouts they have discovered masonry. From the movable material they have discovered stone and bone weapons, ceramics painted with geometric ornamentation, colored with white, red and black, as well an anthropomorphic figurine made out of terracotta.

Cultural connection

The culture of Starčevo is connected with other cites from Balkan and middle Europe where they use the term

Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture The Starčevo–Karanovo I-II–Körös culture or Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture is a grouping of two related Neolithic archaeological cultures in Southeastern Europe: the Starčevo culture and the Körös or Criș culture. Settlements ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

cites to symbolize the union of three close culture: culture of Starčevo,

Körös culture The Körös culture/Criș culture is a Neolithic archaeological culture in Central Europe that was named after the river Körös in eastern Hungary. The same river has the name Criș in Romania, hence the name ''Criş culture''. The 2 variants ...

and

Criș culture Criș may refer to several places: Localities in Romania * Criș, a village in Blăjeni Commune, Hunedoara County * Criș, a village in Daneș Commune, Mureș County Rivers in Romania * Körös, (Romanian: ''Criș''), in western Romania and ...

all of them located on the region of today southeast Hungary, Serbia and Romania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starcevo site 1928 archaeological discoveries Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture