Vatin culture pottery in settlements and necropoles of Northeastern Serbia

Abstract

Almost five decades following the pioneering research of Bronze Age sites in Northeastern Serbia (Timočka Krajina), several dozens of settlements and solely five necropolises with incinerated deceased burials have been recorded. Without the support of absolute dates, those finds have been attributed with diff erent cultural and chronological determination in the archaeological literature. Relying on stylistic and typological characteristics of ceramic production, forms and manners of decoration of finds in question are characteristic for Middle Bronze Age Vatin and Verbicioara cultures, as well as Paraćin culture which has been dated to the Late Bronze Age. B. Jovanović attributed the researched sites and necropolises to Paraćin culture, while on the other hand D. Srejović and M. Lazić defined a new cultural manifestation based on burial rituals, the Gamzigrad group. The systematic research in the vicinity of Bor, which sought to investigate the problem of Bronze Age copper metallurgy, has resulted in a vast amount of pottery finds characteristic for Vatin and Verbicioara cultures, while a considerable portion of pottery had the characteristics of Paraćin culture. The paper aims to identify some of the crucial cultural attributions of Middle Bronze Age communities in Northeastern Serbia based on new finds and absolute dates.