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Bird bones were rarely used for production of artefacts, due to various reasons – they were much smaller and thinner than bones of mammals usually selected for tool production; they also have specific shapes and fine structure, inadequate for the majority of common artefact types. They were occasionally used for some specific objects, such as flutes, pipes, needle cases, amulets, etc. When it comes to the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age periods in south-eastern Europe, bird bone artefacts are rare; only few have been discovered thus far. In this paper, we will present one additional finding of a bird bone artefact, from the site of Zók–Gradina, situated in present-day Hungary. Excavations carried out in 1920 by the National Museum in Belgrade revealed a multi-period site, with major parts of the stratigraphic sequence belonging to the Late Eneolithic / Early Bronze Age Vučedol culture (2900–2500/2400 BC). Vučedol layers yielded relatively large quantities of worked bone, including one artefact produced from a bird bone, that will be presented here. The object in question was produced from the right radius of a Cygnus sp.; it is in the shape of an elongated tube; carefully cut at both ends. The function of this item is uncertain – it may have served as some sound-producing instrument (flute), or it was some sort of a handle or needle case. It is interesting to note that bird representations, in particular ornithomorphic vessels, are among the specific traits of the Vučedol culture; therefore, the choice of a bird bone for the production of this artefact may have had a certain symbolic significance as well.

In this paper we present the first results of an interdisciplinary research project focused on Late Bronze Age metallurgy in the western and central Balkans. The comprehensive chemical and lead isotope analysis, and a strict consideration of archaeological criteria, has provided a deeper insight into supra regional metal exchange networks between the 14th and 9th century BC in this part of Europe. Particularly interesting and surprising are results regarding the provenance of raw materials for copper production, which have a chemical composition and lead isotope ratios that closely correspond to ore deposits in the southern Alps (North Italy). Based on the examination of 57 objects of different functions, chronology and distribution, it becomes apparent that copper from the southern Alps was almost an omnipresent raw material in the territories of the western and central Balkans with only a few finds from North Macedonia to indicate alternative sources. The analyses demonstrate that the reuse of fahlore-based copper is attested for the first time in the regions under study. The remarkable fact that other archaeological parameters do not indicate such an intensive connection between the Balkan area and Northern Italy raises a number of questions. The sustained and long-lasting networks of raw material procurement stand in contrast to the expected cultural interaction between metal producing and metal consuming prehistoric societies. The results of this work also highlight the currently underestimated role of the southern Alps as one of the main copper producing areas in Bronze Age Europe, and demonstrate for the first time that the region of western and central Balkans was one of the major recipients.

Bird bones were rarely used for production of artefacts, due to various reasons – they were much smaller and thinner than mammal bones; they also have specific shapes and fine structure, inadequate for majority of common artefact types. However, they were ocasionally used for some specific objects, such as flutes, pipes, needle cases, amulets, etc. When it concerns Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age periods in the south-eastern Europe, bird bone artefacts are rare; only few were discovered thus far. The multi-layer prehistoric site of Zók is situated in present-day Hungary, in vicinity of Pécs. Major parts of its stratigraphic sequence belong to the Late Eneolithic / Early Bronze Age Vučedol culture, but there are also certain remains that may be attributed to the early and middle Eneolithic. The site was extensively excavated in 1920 by National museum in Belgrade. These excavations also unearthed large quantities of worked bone, mainly from Late Vučedol layers, including one artefact produced from bird bone, that will be presented here. The item in question was produced from right radius from Cygnus sp. The object in question is in the shape of an elongated tube; carefully cut at both ends. The function of this item is uncertain – it may have served as some sound-producing instrument (flute), or it was some sort of handle or needle case. It is interesting to note that bird representations, in particular ornitomorphic vessels, are one of the specific tratis of the Vučedol culture; therefore, the choice of bird bone for production of this artefact may have had a certain symbolic significance as well.

The Balkan Peninsula played a crucial role for the introduction of metallurgy during the Copper Age and numerous archaeometallurgical examinations have delivered highly interesting insights on this topic. However, there is a lack of systematic analytical research on copper ore smelting and metal exchange for the later Bronze Age. In this paper we focus on the first archaeometallurgical results of slags from the sites Ruz?ana, Trnjane and C?oka Njica, Eastern Serbia, complimented by the discussion of XRF and lead isotope analyses carried out on 28 copper-based artefacts. Importantly, radiocarbon dating from these sites points to copper production already being undertaken at the end of the Early Bronze Age (19th?18th centuries BC), more than 500 years earlier than previously assumed. This enables us to investigate the flow of metal during the 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC. The analyses of the metallurgical slags indicate a copper matte smelting process in small open pit furnaces and the use of local sulfidic copper ore sources. The fact that these intensive smelting activities in Eastern Serbia can be paralleled with the early production hotspots in central Europe e.g. on the Hochko?nig (Mitterberg mining areas) sheds new light on the development of copper based metallurgy in Europe. At the same time, the evidence from Eastern Serbia shows that this area was a source of raw material for copper and bronze alloys providing a regional and supra-regional perspective. Furthermore, our analyses revealed the remarkable result, that by the start of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700 BC) copper from the Northern Italian mining areas in the Trentino region also reached the western and central Balkans.

Figural representations from the Eneolithic period in the south-east Europe are not very common, especially in comparison with the Neolithic period, and they are also seldom discussed in the archaeological literature. In the Early Eneolithic Bubanj-Hum I culture, part of the Bubanj-Sălcuţa-Krivodol cultural complex, anthropomorphic figurines were produced from clay and bone; however, particularly in the central Balkan area they are rarely found. In this paper, we will present a fragmented figurine so far unpublished from the eponymous site of Bubanj. The figurine was discovered in 1956 and is currently stored at the National Museum in Belgrade. We will present its typological and technological traits and we will also discuss the place of this figurine within the wider context of the Early Eneolithic communities in the central Balkan area.