The use of space and internal organization of the Late Neolithic settlement at Drenovac, Serbia

Abstract

The site of Drenovac in central Serbia has been extensively researched through several projects from the 1970s to present. In recent years, application of geophysical survey significantly changed a course in the investigation of the use of space and spatial patterning. It provided means for targeted excavations and research of specific features – houses, non-domestic buildings, ditches, etc. Comparing different lines of evidence obtained through recent systematic excavations and geophysical surveying, we will present the complex history of the settlement and its internal organization. Drenovac is a large and long-lived settlement inhabited in the Early (6100-5900 BC) and the Late Neolithic (5300- 4700/4500 BC), with thick cultural deposits and complex stratigraphy. Detecting changes in size and internal organization of the settlement during this long occupation proved to be a difficult task. While data on the earlier phases of occupation are still limited, extensive research of the latest building horizon (Vinča-Pločnik phase) provided valuable data for research of the settlement’s spatial organization and architecture. Thus the focus of this presentation will be on this phase. On the macro level, we will discuss the settlement’s size, layout and internal organization. We will evaluate both natural and cultural factors that could affect the specific patterning of different features. On the micro level, we will turn to the individual houses and their immediate surroundings, and make some observations about space division and use.