Multiscalar approach to 14C calendar chronologies of the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and its neighbouring regions (original) (raw)

Abstract

In traditional relative chronological schemes from Slovenia and neighbouring regions the transition from the Neolithic to the Copper age is dated to the 2nd half of the 5th millennium calBC. This transition is recognised both at the site- and at the regional level through changes in material culture, especially pottery production, and the settlement pattern. Until recently, these changes could only be temporally positioned within the framework of the long-standing relative chronological schemes or cultural sequences. The abstractions of the variability of material culture within sequential spatially and temporally exclusive units through typological classification limited the temporal precision and supported the culture-historical view that changes appeared suddenly, e.g. by demic diffusion. The increasing number of 14C dates and available tools for their contextual analysis and interpretation allow us to date these changes more precisely, to look for potential temporal continuities or discontinuities in the archaeological record and to view them within the calendric time-scale. In the paper, Bayesian modeling of archaeological chronologies in the OxCal program, which allows the integration of the increasing number of 14C dates and archaeological data, is used as a heuristic tool to establish a calendar chronology of the complexity of changes related to the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and Croatia. At the site level (Moverna vas and Vinkovci-Sopot), stratigraphic and typological sequences are used to constrain and precisely date changes in pottery production and other activities within them. At the regional level, spatio-temporal modelling of period within which a specific variety of pottery was produced i.e. archaeological cultures (Sava group of the Lengyel culture, Sopot culture and Lasinja culture) is used to show their temporal relations. Our results show inconsistencies in typological classification of pottery and cultural attribution of settlements that are contemporary on a calendric time-scale, temporal overlap of supposedly temporally exclusive archaeological cultures and contradictions when calendar and cultural sequences are compared. We propose that changes in material culture, economic practices and settlement patterns appear at different times and with variable intensity in different regions. The increased temporal resolution and multiple scales of our calendar chronologies allows us not just to look more closely at the timing and tempo of changes in different regions, but also to look for potential causes of the changes related to the Neolithic-Eneolithic transition in Slovenia and neighbouring regions.

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