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The end of the affair: formal chronological modelling for the top of the Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2015

Nenad Tasić ,
Miroslav Marić ,
Kristina Penezić ,
Dragana Filipović ,
Ksenija Borojević ,
Nicola Russell ,
Paula Reimer ,
Alistair Barclay ,
Alex Bayliss  and
Dušan Borić
...Show all authors
Nenad Tasić
Affiliation:
Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade University, Čika Ljubina 18–20, Belgrade
Miroslav Marić
Affiliation:
The Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Knez Mihailova 35, Belgrade
Kristina Penezić
Affiliation:
Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade University, Čika Ljubina 18–20, Belgrade
Dragana Filipović
Affiliation:
The Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Knez Mihailova 35, Belgrade
Ksenija Borojević
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Fiske Center for Archaeological Research, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston MA 02125, USA
Nicola Russell
Affiliation:
SUERC Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK
Paula Reimer
Affiliation:
14CHRONO Centre, Queen's University Belfast, 42 Fitzwilliam Street, Belfast BT9 6AX, Northern Ireland
Alistair Barclay
Affiliation:
Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury SP4 6EB, UK
Alex Bayliss
Affiliation:
Historic England, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138–142 Holborn, London EC1N 2ST, UK
Dušan Borić
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK (Email: whittle@cardiff.ac.uk)
Bisserka Gaydarska
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK (Email: whittle@cardiff.ac.uk)
Alasdair Whittle
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK (Email: whittle@cardiff.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Bayesian statistical frameworks have been used to calculate explicit, quantified estimates for site chronologies, and have been especially useful for resolving the complex probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates to the level of individual prehistoric lifetimes and generations. Here the technique is applied to the Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo in order to answer long-standing questions about the timing and circumstances of its demise. Modelled date estimates place the end of the site in the second half of the forty-sixth century cal BC. Two successive horizons of closely spaced houses each suffered extensive burning; the interval between them was placed at a maximum of 25 years, with the last house probably used for less than 15 years. The evidence suggests that these house burnings were deliberate, and opens new considerations for the causes of the end of the tell-based system in south-east Europe.

Keywords

Vinča-Belo BrdoNeolithicradiocarbon datingBayesian modellinghouse burning
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 347 , October 2015 , pp. 1064 - 1082
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2015 

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