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Dragoslav Srejović bio je svestrani proučavalac praistorije na tlu Balkana i njegov opus zahvata brojne teme i aktuelna pitanja praistorijske arheologije. Bavio se periodima od paleolita do gvozdenog doba, i raznolikim temama, među koje spadaju problemi relativne i apsolutne hronologije, procesi neolitizacije, kao i različiti aspekti ritualnog života praistorijskih zajednica – praistorijske, posebno neolitske figurine, njihov značaj, uloga i simbolička vrednost, pogrebni obredi, i drugo. Nešto je manje primetan njegov doprinos analizama različitih vidova praistorijskih artefakata. Međutim, njegov rad na proučavanju predmeta od kamenih i koštanih sirovina, mada čini manji udeo u njegovom opusu, veoma je značajan za praistorijsku arheologiju u Srbiji. Naime, zajedno sa Borislavom Jovanovićem, Dragoslav Srejović je pedesetih godina 20. veka objavio članke posvećene upravo ovim temama, koštanim i kamenim predmetima sa lokaliteta Vinča – Belo Brdo. Mada su u pitanju kratki radovi, oni su od izuzetne važnosti kao prvi radovi posvećeni isključivo ovim pitanjima. U ovom radu će biti dat pregled rada D. Srejovića na proučavanju koštanih i kamenih predmeta i biće dat kritički osvrt na njegov dopirnos za sistematsko proučavanje ovih vidova materijalne kulture.

Because of their hardness, toughness, and durability, stone tools had a long, dynamic, and complex life in which they could pass through different segments of the operating chain again and again until their final disposal. Various aspects of the use of rocks and minerals as raw materials were particularly emphasized during the Neolithic period, when the technology of stone working reached its peak. Stone tools wore out slowly and could be used for a long time with constant renewal. Even after being damaged, they started a new life cycle through various recycling processes or in a secondary context. Although very interesting for research, these specific ways in which stone objects were redirected to a secondary or recycling function, usually after damage in their original function, are often neglected in archaeological studies. The spectrum of repeated functions of such stone tools is broad, ranging from utilitarian to symbolic purposes, and provides important information about the cultural practices of the communities that made and used them. The aim of this paper is to clarify the use of the terms for repeated, prolonged, secondary, and reused use within the lithic industry and to present the most common examples of the use of ground and abrasive tools in secondary contexts in the Neolithic of Serbia, focusing primarily on tools for everyday use and the ways in which their function was redirected through different segments of the operational chain.

Projekat U pokretu: praistorijska mobilnost i širenje poljoprivrede u Evroaziji ima za cilj da između ostalih proučavanih regija šireg prostora jugoistočne Evrope i istočnog i centralnog Mediterana, vrati istraživački fokus na Đerdapsku klisuru i teritoriju severoistočne Srbije. On jednim delom predstavlja nastavak projekta Praistorija severoistočne Srbije u okviru koga su od 2004. do 2009. godine rađena arheološka istraživanja ranije nepoznatih praistorijskih nalazišta (Pećina iznad Trajanove table, Pešćera Mare, Dubočka pećina, Aria Babi, a po prvi put nakon 1971. godine kada je puštena u rad Hidroelektrana Đerdap I, otkriveni su i sistematski istraženi sačuvani mezolitski i ranoneolitski slojevi na Vlascu, na samoj dunavskoj obali.

Technological changes that occurred during the Neolithic period had the most lasting and the most far-reaching consequences upon human societies. They brought changes in subsistence and economy, and along with them new tasks, new activities, new needs, and, eventually, they led to occupational specialisation and modern organisation of societies. The site of Vinča–Belo Brdo is one of the most extraordinary sites of the Vinča culture. It is among the largest Vinča culture settlements and the one with the longest occupation, which left an impressive 9m-thick cultural layer. Furthermore, the material culture recovered here stands out from the majority of other Vinča settlements by its quantity, quality and diversity. This suggests that the settlement at Vinča had a special place within the economic organisation of the Vinča culture and there is even some evidence that this was a centre of sorts for craft production and trade. In this paper, we will examine some of the aspects of technology and craft production at the Vinča settlement, with special focus on technologies for lithic and osseous raw materials, as well as indirect evidence on perishable technologies.

Cilj ovog izlaganja je da razjasni upotrebu termina ponovne, prolongirane, sekundarne i reciklažne upotrebe u okviru glačane kamene industrije, kao i da prikaže najučestalije primere upotrebe glačanih i abrazivnih alatki u sekundarnom kontekstu u kasnom neolitu Srbije. Fokus je pre svega stavljen na oruđe za „svakodnevnu upotrebu“ i načine na koje se ono preusmeravalo kroz razčličite segmente operativnog lanca.

Bakar je kao prvi metalni materijal imao posebno mesto u ljudskom društvu. Nastao je na kraju neolita, u vreme kada je proizvodnja kame¬nog i koštanog oruđa dovedena do vrhunca, i vrlo brzo izazvao njihovu devalvaciju, čemu je doprinelo svojstvo metala da može beskonačno da se pretapa. Otuda je među arheološkim nalazima najmanje proizvoda od metala, a posebno bakra kao najranijeg, jer oni nisu bili bacani u otpad, kao polomljeni predmeti od keramike ili istrošene alatke od kamena i koštanih sirovina, već su se koristili do krajnjeg uništenja nakon čega su bili pretapani. Dugi život bakarnih alatki može da se sagleda u tek nekoliko sačuvanih primeraka sa sekundarnom obradom i upotrebom. U Srbiji je registrovano dvadesetak primeraka koji imaju tragove naknadnog prepravljanja ili korišćenja nastalih u dugom vre-meneskom periodu od praistorije do savremenog doba.

The area of the Rudnik (rudnik=mine) in central Serbia is the second major volcanic area in central Serbia, exploited today for variety of raw materials, which were also exploited by numerous past communities. Historical and archaeological record showed intensive activities especially during medieval and pre-modern times, regarding exploitation of various ores, such as silver and lead. The riches of the Rudnik mountain were exploited in prehistory as well. On the slopes of the Prljuša mountain, a copper mine was discovered in 1980’s. It was briefly excavated in 1980’s, and systematic researches were initiated in 2011 by Institute of Archaeology and are still ongoing. Excavations revealed abundant evidence for malachite ore exploitation during the Bronze Age, and yielded numerous portable finds (in particular, stone hammer-axes), as well as the information that enabled the reconstruction of the ore extraction process. However, very little information is available regarding communities that exploited this mine, and also there is limited evidence for exploitation of other mineral resources in the area. This is why the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade initiated systematic field reconnaissance with the main scope to search for sources of raw materials exploited in prehistory and associated settlements. Here will be presented the preliminary results of the 2021 field survey campaign, which included the areas of the municipalities of Kragujevac and Knić. Particularly interesting are results regarding three modern quarries and their adjacent areas – Ramaća, Rogojevac and Vučkovica. In the vicinity of Rogojevac and Vučkovica, traces of prehistoric inhabitation were found, while Ramaća, although noted previously in archaeological literature, did not yield any archaeological traces during this field survey campaign, and future plans include its revisiting.

The article presents evidence about the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition interval in the karst area of the Danube Gorges in the Lower Danube Basin. We review the extant data and present new evidence from two recently investigated sites found on the Serbian side of the Danube River – Tabula Traiana and Dubočka-Kozja caves. The two sites have yielded layers dating to both the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and have been investigated by the application of modern standards of excavation and recovery along with a suite of state-of-the-art analytical procedures. The presentation focuses on micromorphological analyses of the caves’ sediments, cryptotephra characterization of Tabula Traiana Cave sediments, a suite of new radiometric dates (AMS and OSL) as well as proteomics (ZooMS) and stable isotope data in discerning patterns of human occupation of these locales over the long-term.

Prehistoric communities exploited diverse sources of raw materials, from relatively small ones up to large mines and quarries. However, tracing down in the archaeological record the exact source of raw material exploitation is in certain occasions rather difficult – these sources may have been completely destroyed and exhausted with later activities, they may have been comprising small, difficult to detect area, preserved archaeological traces may be too scarce to be detected, etc. Certain areas where the present-day geological data show that sources of raw materials are relatively abundant and particularly interesting for archaeological research. One of these areas is Rudnik mountain, the second major volcanic area in central Serbia, known for its richness and variety of raw materials used in the past. Abundant historical and archaeological record of Rudnik showed intensive exploitation of diverse ores in medieval and pre-modern times., as well as prehistoric exploitation of malachite, dated to the Bronze Age period. The site of Prljuša – Mali Šturac was discovered in the 1980s; research with the limited scope was then conducted and systematic research was initiated in 2011 and is still in progress. However, the settlements of the populations that exploited this mine are unknown. Furthermore, the area of Rudnik mountain and adjacent areas are also known for sources of diverse lithic raw materials. This is why the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade initiated systematic field reconnaissance with the main scope to search for sources of raw materials exploited in prehistory and associated settlements. In this poster will be presented the preliminary results of the 2021 field survey campaign. During the 2021 campaign, the areas of the municipalities of Kragujevac and Knić were extensively surveyed. Three modern quarries and their adjacent areas were researched, Ramaća, Rogojevac and Vučkovica, and limited traces of prehistoric activities were discovered in the relativ

Analiza glačanog i abrazivnog kamenog oruđa sa lokaliteta Pločnik sprovedena je na kolekciji od 72 artefakta pronađenih 2012. i 2013. go¬dine, tokom arheološkog istraživanja Sonde XXIV. Arheološko istraživanje je vršeno u okivru međunarodnog projekta „Razvoj metalurgije u Evroaziji“ u saradnji više domaćih i inostranih institucija nauke i kulture. Analiza materijala vršena je sa tehnološkog aspekta i podrazumevala je tehnološku, funkcionalno-tipološku i petrološku analizu. Rezultati analize, iako na relativno malom uzorku, upućuju na zaključak da je na Pločniku vršena produkcija glačanog i abrazivnog oruđa koje svojim tehnološkim karakteristikama i tipološkim repertoarom u potpunosti odražava vinčanske standarde, od čega ne odstupa ni izborom sirovina. Kolekcija se sastoji od glačanih alatki – tesli i dleta, potom fragmenata glave buzdovana, privezaka, fragmenta jedne posude; zatim abrazivnih alatki – mahom bruseva, glačalica, tučkova, čekića, rastirača, nakovnja. Glačano oruđe sa sečicom je izrađeno pretežno od sivozelenkastih sedimentnih i kontaktno metamorfnih ste¬na, kao i od „lakih belih stena“ tipičnih za vinčansku kulturu, dok su za abrazivno oruđe korišćeni različiti varijeteti kvarcnog peščara. Tehnologija izrade oruđa je takođe standardna. Glačano oruđe sa sečicom je izrađeno tehnikama okresivanja i glačanja, dok je u izradi pojedinog abrazivnog oruđa korišćena tehnika ozrnjavanja. Zabeleženi su primeri reparacije i reciklaže. Međutim, iako tipičan, materijal sa Pločnika ipak odražava pojedine osobenosti koje je potrebno istaći: nekoliko abrazivnih alatki čiji oblik i funkcija (tragovi upotrebe) do sada nisu zabeleženi u neolitu Srbije i čije se za sada najbliže analogije nalaze u Grčkoj i na Levantu; potom jednu ostavu izduženih tesli od „lake bele stene“ od kojih neke nose jasno prepoznatljive tragove upotrebe, i par čekića, odnosno multifnukcionalnih alatki koji su mogli biti korišćeni i u obradi bakarnih predmeta. U radu će biti predstavljeni rezultati

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region.

Godine 2021. Arheološki institut pokrenuo je projekat „Sistematsko rekognosciranje praistorije Rudnika i okoline“, sa ciljem da se detaljnim pregledom terena pokriju ranije nedovoljno istraženi aspekti naseljavanja i korišćenja prostora tokom praistorije u rudničkoj oblasti. Na planini Rudnik se već dugi niz godina istražuje praistorijski rudnik malahita Prljuša – Mali Šturac, jedini takav rudnik u Šumadiji, ali nisu poznata naselja rudara koji su koristili ovaj rudnik, niti su dovoljno istraženi drugi izvori mineralnih si¬rovina u ovoj oblasti. Tokom 2021. godine rekognosciranja su obavljena na teritorijama koje pripadaju gradu Kragujevcu i opštini Knić. Od posebnog značaja bile su lokacije Ramaća, Rogojevac i Vučkovica. Ramaća je lokacija koja je u ranijoj arheološkoj literaturi označena kao mesto odakle su različite praistorijske zajednice eksploatisale kamen. U blizini sela Ramaća danas se eksploatišu dva izvorišta ka¬menih sirovina, međutim, obilaskom terena nisu uočeni tragovi praistorijske eksploatacije, što može biti i zato što su uništeni savre¬menom eksploatacijom. Obilazak okolnog terena takođe nije dao rezul¬tate, tako da pitanje korišćenja Ramaće ostaje otvoreno. Prikupljeni su petrografski uzorci, koji će biti naknadno analizirani. U blizini sela Rogojevac nalazi se veliki kamenolom kvalitetnog kremena. Opet, na samom kamenolomu tragovi praistorijske eksploatacije nisu uočeni. U blizini kamenoloma, na potezu Kamare, nađeni su na površini fragmenti praistorijske keramike. Kamenolom Vučkovica takođe je potencijalno mesto eksploatacije kamena u praistoriji, što će biti provereno kada petrografski uzorci budu analizirani. Fragmenti praistorijske keramike su nađeni u blizini kamenoloma. Daljim istraživanjima biće provereni i drugi podaci, i nadamo se dobijeni novi, o eksploataciji različitih mineralnih sirovina tokom praistorije u rudničkoj oblasti.

Istraživanja na Belovodama 2012–2013. godine su rađena u sondi XVIII iz koje potiče 68 artefakata od glačanog i abrazivnog kamena, hronološki opredeljenih u period od faze Vinča Tordoš II (Vinča B1) do Vinča Pločnik I (Vinča C) vinčanske kulture. Celokupna zbirka je petrografski, tipološki i funkcionalno analizirana. U Belovodama su korišćene različite vrste stena za izradu glačanih i abrazivnih kamenih predmeta, ali su najdominantnije bile tri grupe: finozrne sedimentne i kontaktno-metamorfne stene, „laki beli kamen” i peščari. Ostale sirovine (dijabaz, aplit, gnajs, kvarcit, rožnac, kristalizovani krečnjak i kalcit) su bile zastupljene samo pojedinačnim primercima. Makrolitski artefakti iz sonde XVIII su opredeljeni u dve osnovne grupe: 1.pretežno neobrađeno oruđe sa abrazivnim svojstvima i 2. oruđe obrađeno glačanjem. Najveći broj artefakata (43) ima ozbiljna oštećenja, nešto manje je oštećeno – 11 artefakata, dok je njih 14 gotovo u potpunosti očuvano. U tipološku analizu uključeni su svi primerci koji su imali morfološke indikacije za nju. Abrazivno oruđe je manje brojno: pronađeno je osam statičnih glačalica, dva žrvnja, rastrirač, brus, čekić i oblutak-glačalica za keramiku. Oruđe od glačanog kamena čini većinu u ovoj kolekciji: različiti oblici sekira (5), tesli (22) i dleta (12), tri polufabrikata, devet tipološki neindikativnih fragmenata, kao i jedan pedantno obrađen amulet od kalcita. Analiza ove kolekcije kamenog oruđa u potpunosti se podudara sa rezultatima dobijenim ispitivanjem iste kategorije nalaza iz sondi I–VI istraženih u periodu 1994–1997. godine.

Abrasive stone tools are artifacts with abrasive features, due to the petrographic characteristics of the raw materials from which they were made, those being various types of sandstone, conglomerate and magmatic rocks. What is common in the majority of tools with abrasive properties is that their final form was created during long-term use and was not formed by intentional grinding in the process of production as seen with tools with a cutting edge. Abrasive tools encompass various kinds of grindstones, whetstones, handstones, querns and mortars. These stone tools had an important role in the daily life of Neolithic populations. They were used in production of stone, bone, antler, ceramic and wooden objects, as well as in food preparation. At the end of the Late Neolithic and the beginning of the Early Eneolithic, i.e. in the final stages of the Vinča culture, abrasive stone tools were also used in the processing of metal objects. Nevertheless, these tools, mostly massive and relatively unattractive, have been somewhat neglected in earlier archaeological research in Serbia. Explorations of Neolithic sites in the last decades have yielded an enormous number of abrasive artifacts. After analyzing assemblages from several Neolithic sites in Serbia – Vinča, Pločnik, Ilića Brdo, Crkvine, Masinske Njive, Jaričište, Aria Babi, Bataševo etc. – a remarkable quantity of new information on technology, traceology and raw material acquisition was collected. Abrasive stone tools are definitely not luxurious items but they represent such a category of artifacts that researching them is of great importance for understanding the organization of everyday life, economic structure and the functioning of agricultural communities in the Neolithic of Serbia.

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe.

Over the past few years, new investigations in northern Bulgaria at the site of Bacho Kiro have revived the likelihood that the "Danube corridor" route served as a primary axis for the dispersal of modern humans into Europe. The association of modern humans with material remains of Protoaurignacian and Aurignacian provenance and/or transitional industries, would push the start of the dispersal across this region to 47 ka. Furthermore, fossil remains from the cave site of Peștera cu Oase in the Romanian hinterland of the Danube Gorges area of the north-central Balkans provide genetic evidence of admixtures between Neanderthal and modern human populations that might have taken place precisely along this transitory corridor. Yet, there is still relatively little in the way of evidence about, on the one hand, the last Middle Palaeolithic, and by proxy Neanderthal, and, on the other hand, the Initial and Early Upper Palaeolithic, and by proxy modern human, settlement of the region. Our recent investigations in the Danube Gorges area have brought to light two new sites, Tabula Traiana Cave and Dubočka-Kozja Cave, with Middle to Upper Palaeolithic deposits. The application of modern standards of recovery and recording have enabled us to apply a suite of cutting edge and state-of-the-art methodologies backed by extensive radiometric dating of these sites’ deposits. In this paper, we will present most recently obtained radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements, which allow us to discuss the chronological attribution of different levels of the two sites with more certainty. We will also offer further details regarding the knapped stone assemblages, including the results of use-wear analyses on a select number of artefacts. Finally, this evidence is integrated with the results obtained through the analyses of the faunal assemblages and by characterizing taphonomic factors that impacted their formation. Complementary data come from a relatively large pool of

esearch has shown that the territory present-day Serbia was continuously inhabited from the earliest prehistoric to historic times. Covering most of what is Serbia today, the Central Balkans acted as an important migration corridor that connected Southwest Asia with Central and Western Europe. Moreover, the Central Balkans represented an important ecological and social refugium for European human communities during harsh glacial periods and other crises. The highest population densities throughout the region’s prehistory were recorded in river valleys, as well as the lowland and low hilly areas at their peripheries, while occupations of hilly-mountainous areas were more frequent during Paleolithic and Metal Ages. Apart from historical and social circumstances, population densities and the occurrence of specific settlement patterns were also influenced by the distribution of mineral and food resources exploited during particular intervals. Prehistoric cultural and demographic links between the Balkans and Central Europe or Southwest Asia have been well documented. However, the Balkans also saw the rise of authentic cultural manifestations such as the Lepenski Vir culture which have not been documented in other parts of Europe.

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.

Very little information is currently available on the internal layout and functional diversity of Portuguese Mesolithic shell middens. This is mainly due to the fact that previous work has focused mostly on restricted parts of the middens. New excavations at Cabeço da Amoreira, however, have strongly been concerned with the study of site formation processes and spatial organization. The most remarkable feature of this new work has been the identification of a series of non-midden, multi-stratified loci found in the immediate vicinity of the mound. In this paper, we present the general characteristics of the non-midden components regarding their stratigraphic context, artefactual composition, and chronological succession. Although preliminary, these data are of major importance with regard to two aspects of the Muge shell middens. First, they disclose the organization of the settlement during the Mesolithic, with shell middens no longer being regarded as simple, isolated base camp units. Second, this work identified a series of Neolithic occupations around the midden as an important element in our understanding of the complexity of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transitional process in central Portugal. This is linked to the question of the ultimate fate of these Mesolithic communities.

The article presents evidence about the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition interval in the karst area of the Danube Gorges in the Lower Danube Basin. We review the extant data and present new evidence from two recently investigated sites found on the Serbian side of the Danube River - Tabula Traiana and Dubocka-Kozja caves. The two sites have yielded layers dating to both the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and have been investigated by the application of modern standards of excavation and recovery along with a suite of state-of-the-art analytical procedures. The presentation focuses on micromorphological analyses of the caves' sediments, characterisation of cryptotephra, a suite of new radiometric dates (accelerator mass spectrometry and optically stimulated luminescence) as well as proteomics (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) and stable isotope data in discerning patterns of human occupation of these locales over the long term.

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.

This analysis of ground and abrasive stone tools from Pločnik is based on the examination of assemblage of artefacts found during 2012 and 2013 in Trench 24. The assemblage is very characteristic of the Vinča culture and spans Vinča Tordoš I (Vinča A) to the Gradac Phase (Vinča B2–C1) when occupation at Pločnik terminated in a great destructive fire. We analysed more than 100 artefacts but selected for detailed study only those finds with a clear context; 72 artefacts are discussed here. A large number (41) of large abrasive tools (static grindstones, grinders and querns made of various types of sandstone of local origin) were not included in this study because of their unclear context. As with the Belovode assemblage, the ground and abrasive stone tools were classified according to the production method of the tools and their typological and functional features. The typological analysis was based on general observations and the correlation of metric characteristics of certain tools and their place within the methodological framework established by Antonović (1992, 2003, 2014c). Tool function was examined through the correlation of morphological characteristics and visible traceological markers for all tools with minimum preserved evidence (Semenov 1964; Olausson 1983a, 1990; Adams 1988; 1989; 2002; Adams et al. 2009; Pritchard-Parker and Torres 1998; Plisson and Lompre 2008; Pawlik 2007; Lunardi 2008; Antonović 1992: 20–23; Dimić 2013a, 2015). In addition to specific use-wear traces, other production marks were also recorded, providing indications of the methods and processing techniques used by Pločnik craftspeople for different types of rock. All analyses were carried out at the Institute of Archaeological in Belgrade using magnifying glasses with up to 16× magnification and a stereo microscope (Olympus®) with up to 100× magnification with a connecting camera.

Although prehistoric technologies are sometimes perceived as being purely practical and ergonomic, they reflect multiple aspects of the cultural and social relations of a given community. One of the theoretical frameworks for studying technologies is the notion of practical and prestigious technologies, where practical technologies are used to solve basic needs, such as acquiring food, making of shelter, while prestigious technologies are used to solve a social problem, to negotiate and display power and prestige, etc. In this paper, we will analyse some of the aspects of the lithic and osseous technologies in the Late Neolithic Vinča culture in the central Balkan area, with particular focus on rare, exotic, luxurious raw materials: marine shells and lithic raw materials such as marble, obsidian, etc. Beside their exotic origin, their technological traits and life biographies (intensity and duration of use, instances or repair, modes of discard, etc.) suggest these were valued raw materials. The distribution, diversity and frequency of these items vary considerably from site to site, showing that only limited number of settlements and individuals had access to them. The site of Vinča-Belo Brdo particularly stands out among other Vinča culture settlements by diversity and frequency of items made from luxurious raw materials, but there are also some other sites that yielded interesting artefacts, such as the site of Pločnik, where several ornaments made from marine shells were discovered, along with some other less frequently encountered lithic raw materials. This shows that there were differences in economy between different settlements, but also in their importance and wealth, and presumably status. However, at present state it is difficult to assess whether prestigious status was held by individuals, smaller (perhaps family) group or larger groups.

Lithic and osseous industries represent very important technologies among Neolithic communities; they were principal raw materials for production of everyday tools, used also for decorative and other non-utilitarian objects. However, current archaeological practice in majority of projects is to sort portable finds according to their raw material and to study them separately, and this is why wider studies of technological systems are very rare. In this paper, we will explore mutual relations and connections of the ground and abrasive stone and osseous technologies within the Late Neolithic Vinča culture in the central Balkan area (with particular focus on the assemblages from the sites of Vinča-Belo Brdo and Pločnik). Ground and abrasive stone tools were used for production of osseous artefacts; in fact, the abundance of abrasive stone tools is closely linked with the osseous technology, since abrasion was widely used technique for manufacturing and especially for repair of osseous tools. Osseous raw materials were, in turn, used for production of handles and hafts for stone axes, adzes, chisels, etc. There are multiple other aspects of mutual connection and inter-dependence: tool kits for certain activities and craft include both lithic and bone tools for diverse stages of production (for example, woodworking); there are cases of skeuomorphism – morphologically identical or similar artefacts produced from both lithic and osseous tools, such as small chisels, axes, etc. Tight connections between these two technologies show that traditions and innovations in one technology cannot be understood without the studies of the other, and that studies of technological systems are very much needed for comprehensive studies of prehistoric economy and craft production.

Objekat 1 je okno koje je do sada najbolje istraženo i ono se nalazi na vrhu lokaliteta Prljuša na Malom Šturcu. Arheološka iskopavanja koja se u njemu sprovode od 2014. godine pokazala su da je reč o prostranom rudarskom oknu sa obrušenom tavanicom. Nastavak iskopavanja u 2018. godini imao je za cilj otkrivanje njegove zapadne granice radi buduće prezentacije. Takođe, završetak istraživanja Objekta 1 trebalo je da doprinese definisanju funkcionisanja okna i u celosti otkrije prvo praistorijsko rudarsko okno u ovom delu Srbije. Za sada nisu otkriveni dokazi da su okna u nekom momentu mogla da posluže i kao staništa. Zbog upadljivog odsustva keramike i životinjskih kostiju pretpostavlja se da okno Objekat 1 nije pretvoreno u stanište nakon završene rudarske eksploatacije. U njemu je do sada otkriven veliki broj kamenih rudarskih batova, od kojih su neki bili bez tragova upotrebe, što znači da su onovremeni rudari svoje alatke proizvodili na samom rudištu i u oknima pravili njihove rezerve.