Settlement Patterns in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age: The Case of the Prehistoric Settlement of Yunatsite, Bulgaria (original) (raw)

The aim of this paper is to discuss two main problems pertaining to the settlement patterns in Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in Southeast Europe: the appearance of fortified settlements and the formation of tell settlement in Southeast Europe. For this, recent excavation data will be drawn mainly from the Greek-Bulgarian excavation at Tell Yunatsite in Bulgaria. The first part of the paper offers a definition of a fortification, its necessity, its possible form and its earliest appearance. Tell Yunatsite represents one of the various fortified forms of Southeast Europe, consisting of an earthen wall und a ditch, which encircled the densely built settlement. The second part of the paper discusses what a “tell” (or “toumba” or “tepe”) is and when its formation began. The settlement of Yunatsite allows a distinction to be made between two types of tells: tell-formed settlements, which began on the flat land and were fortified, and tell-founded settlements, which were established on top of abandoned Chalcolithic sites and began as already elevated settlements. The first type appears mainly during the Chalcolithic period, but also in the beginning of Early Bronze Age, while the second type emerges only at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.