Rastko Vasić: some personal reflections

Abstract

first met RastkoVasić at the 8th Congress of the Union International des Sciences Pré- et Protohistoriques (UISPP) in Belgrade in 1971. He was very friendly and helpful to me as a young student who was still finding his way in archaeology, including trying to understand the Bronze Age archaeology of what was then Yugoslavia, and its relationship to the Bronze Age cultures of the Aegean. For a student, attending a large conference for the first time, in the presence of dozens of important and influential scholars (Milutin Garašanin, Vladimir Milojčić, Marija Gimbutas, Colin Renfrew, to name but a few), this was potentially a terrifying experience; but Rastko helped me navigate these difficult waters and put me at my ease.