Karanovo culture

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Karanovo culture
Mesolithic Europe
Followed byHamangia culture, Varna culture, Gumelnița culture, Cernavodă culture
See also: Old Europe (archaeology) and Danubian culture

The Karanovo culture (

Danube civilization, is considered the largest and most important of the Azmak River Valley agrarian settlements.[1]

Discovery

Karanovo culture ceramic vessel, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I), Stara Zagora Neolithic Dwellings Museum

Archaeologists discovered the Karanovo settlement in the 1930s when a tell - a settlement mound - was excavated at Karanovo.[1] The hilltop settlement is constituted of 18 buildings, which housed some 100 inhabitants. The site was inhabited more or less continuously from the early 7th to the early 2nd millennia BC. The Karanovo culture served as the foundation of the

Balkans prehistory. This culture had seven major phases: Karanovo I and II, which existed parallel to Starčevo; Karanovo III (Veselinovo); Karanovo IV; Karanovo V (Marica); Karanovo VI (Gumelniţa); and, Karanovo VII, which emerged during the Early Bronze Age.[2] The Karanovo I is considered a continuation of Near Eastern settlement type.[3] Karanovo VI appeared to have collapsed around 4000 BC without any signs of conquest or resettlement.[4]

Characteristics

Some of the main characteristics of the Karanovo culture are the white-painted pottery and dark-painted vessels obtained from the tell.[5] These artifacts were particularly associated with the first and second phases.[6] There is also the case of The Gumelnita Lovers, a terracotta statuette crafted from 5000-4750 BCE.[7] This artifact, which was excavated at the Gumelnita Tell in southern Romania, is associated with the culture's notion of fertility.[7] There is also the Karanovo macroblade technology, which featured semi-steep and steep retouching as well as the use of yellow flint with white spots.[8] This particular technology, which is also known as "Karanovo blade",[9] emerged during the culture's early Neolithic phase.[8] Scholars note its interesting length and width: 100 mm long and between 15 mm and 23 mm wide.[8]

Karanovo II is distinguished from its predecessor due to its influence on the Thracian culture, or the assimilation of its elements into those inherited from Karanovo I.[10] The basic characteristics of this phase continued until Karanovo III and were particularly pronounced in its coarsely made ware, such as pitchers, shallow dishes, and cylindrical vases (e.g. Kügel).[10]

The burial practices of Karanovo I and II were similar to the practices of other eastern Balkan cultures, such as the Kremikovci, Dudesti, and Ovcarovo cultures.[11]

Gallery

  • "Lady of Pazardžik" (c. 4500 BC)
    "Lady of Pazardžik" (c. 4500 BC)
  • Pottery, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[12]
    Pottery, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[12]
  • Tulip-shaped vase, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[13][14]
    Tulip-shaped vase, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[13][14]
  • Ceramic vessel
    Ceramic vessel
  • Ceramic vessel, 5th millennium BC (Karanovo VI).[15]
    Ceramic vessel, 5th millennium BC (Karanovo VI).[15]
  • Pottery
    Pottery
  • Miniature cult scene, 5th millennium BC (Karanovo VI).[16][17][18]
    Miniature cult scene, 5th millennium BC (Karanovo VI).[16][17][18]
  • Zoomorphic ceramic vessel
    Zoomorphic ceramic vessel
  • Pottery
    Pottery
  • Pottery
    Pottery
  • Anthropomorphic vessel, 6th-5th mill. BC (Karanovo III-IV).[19]
    Anthropomorphic vessel, 6th-5th mill. BC (Karanovo III-IV).[19]
  • Inscribed object, with possible numerical meaning.[20]
    Inscribed object, with possible numerical meaning.[20]
  • Jade amulet, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[21]
    Jade amulet, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[21]
  • Necklace, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[22]
    Necklace, 6th millennium BC (Karanovo I).[22]
  • Ceramic object
    Ceramic object
  • Ceramic figurine
    Ceramic figurine
  • Karanovo tell, Bulgaria, excavation stratigraphy.[23][24]
    Karanovo tell, Bulgaria, excavation stratigraphy.[23][24]
  • Tell Yunatsite, Bulgaria.[25][26]
    Tell Yunatsite, Bulgaria.[25][26]
  • Neolithic house reconstructions, Topolnica, Bulgaria, c. 5000 BC.[27][28]
    Neolithic house reconstructions, Topolnica, Bulgaria, c. 5000 BC.[27][28]

See also

Literature

  • Stefan Hiller, Vassil Nikolov (eds.), Karanovo III. Beiträge zum Neolithikum in Südosteuropa Österreichisch-Bulgarische Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in Karanovo, Band III, Vienna (2000),
    ISBN 3-901232-19-2
    .

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780765682222
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-520-01995-4
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-78297-481-9
    .
  4. ISBN 978-1-989604-36-6
    .
  5. ISBN 9781598749885
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-59874-988-5
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-937445-18-8
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 9781138714830
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-138-71483-0
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 0-521-22496-9
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-19-954584-1
    .
  12. ^ "Ceramic vessel". Bulgarian Heritage.
  13. ^ "Karanovo culture, tulip-shaped vase".
  14. ^ "Tulip vessel". Bulgarian Heritage.
  15. ^ "Ceramic vessel". Bulgarian Heritage.
  16. ^ "Altar from a cult scene". Bulgarian Heritage.
  17. ^ "Priestess from a cult scene". Bulgarian Heritage.
  18. ^ "Cult scene". europeanvirtualmuseum.it.
  19. ^ "Anthropomorphic vessel". Bulgarian Heritage.
  20. ISBN 9783843806466
    .
  21. ^ "Amulet". Bulgarian Heritage.
  22. ^ "Beads". Bulgarian Heritage.
  23. ^ "Photo of the excavated Karanovo Tell site".
  24. ^ "Photo of the excavated Karanovo Tell site".
  25. ^ "Early contact between late farming and pastoralist societies in southeastern Europe". Nature. 2023. Tell Yunatsite in Bulgaria, associated with the Karanovo culture
  26. ^ "Tell Yunatsite". Balkanheritage.org.
  27. ^ "Archaeological Park Topolnitsa". EXARC.net.
  28. ^ "The chronological framework in Greece and Bulgaria between the late 6th and the early 3rd millennium BC". openedition.org. 2016.

External links

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