Ground and abrasive stone tools from the Early Neolithic site of Bataševo (Serbia)

Abstract

The rescue excavations in Batasevo in central Serbia showed that it was a multi-layer site, on which occupation traces dated from the Early Neolithic, and then from the Bronze Age and the Roman period to the Middle Ages. The most valuable findings and data in the Early Neolithic settlement were provided by the excavations in Makedonska Street, in trenches 2/06, 1/07 and 2/07 where an Early Neolithic layer 1-1.5 m thick was discovered. According to the archaeological material (stone tools, pottery and cult items, objects made of bone, fauna) and dug-in features and houses, it is very certain that during the Early Neolithic period Batasevo was a well-developed settlement, whose inhabitants, aside from husbandry and agriculture, also took part in the production of items made of stone, bone, pottery etc. Ground and abrasive stone tools, according to the choice of the raw materials, manner of making and consumption, repairing and recycling of tools, completely reflects the Early Neolithic technology of production and manner of tool use observed elsewhere in the territory of the Central Balkans. The only remarkable trait is the great fragmentation of the tools, already mentioned, which has been noted so far only at the site of Aria Babi in the Iron Gates, as well as the existence of specialised grindstones for processing stone tools. On the basis of the small area researched so far (35 m1 2), it is not possible to conclude if there was a specialisation of production of certain groups of artefacts, since no workshop was discovered.