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Likewise, the spread of the Neolithic package to the northwestern region a little later (at Demircihöyük, Fikirtepe, Ilıpınar, and Mentes¸e) might be linked to the momentum generated in the Konya area.106 The contrasting evidence from the coastal and inland sites located in the northwestern region suggests a mingling of traditions—one was brought to the area by farming communities from west of the Central Anatolian plateau, the other essentially belonged to the greater Balkan region and developed from indigenous Epipalaeolithic traditions.

SPREAD OF FARMING INTO EUROPE

The knowledge of cereal cultivation and animal domestication was transmitted, imperceptibly to any single generation, from the Fertile Crescent across the Anatolian plateau to southeastern Europe, and eventually to its central and western regions in the fourth millennium BC. It would be prudent, then, to say a few words about the establishment of farming communities in southeastern Europe up to the Hungarian Plain, which represents the first stage of a complicated transformation of the European landscape, the so-called “Neolithization of Europe.” that stretched from about 7000 to 4000 BC.107 When the Near Eastern dates are set against those from Neolithic settlements in Europe, a progressive spread westward of the knowledge of agriculture, if not the farmers themselves, is the likely sequence. There is no archaeological evidence to support the independent development of farming in southeastern Europe, but much that points to a clear cultural break between the mobile Mesolithic communities and the intrusive Neolithic village-based societies.108

With new elements not native to Europe—wheats, barley, sheep, and goats—came a new lifestyle that changed the face of Europe forever. Cattle and pigs were also kept, but there is some argument that these were native to temperate Europe. This new way of life also brought with it timber-framed buildings arranged in clusters, and, less frequently, mud brick structures, distinctive burial types, clay figurines with coffee bean-shaped eyes, bone spoons and hooks, stamp seals, slings, polished stone axes, and a variety of pottery, including the distinctive prismatic polypod vessels otherwise known as “cult tables.”109 This Neolithic package also promoted a new set of values and opportunities, but the exact nature of this transformation is still not altogether apparent.110 Clearly, there was considerable contact between communities from the Near East and Europe, but what is not altogether obvious is whether this took the form of colonization—immigrant farmers seeking new land—or native groups adopting foreign staples and ideas.111

We know very little about native communities in the Balkans between 10,000 and 7000 BC, with most of our evidence coming from the Danube gorges south of Belgrade and Franchthi

Cave, in the northeast Peloponnese. These local foragers had varying subsistence strategies ranging from fishing for tunny in Greece through exploitation of game and plants at home in river and forest settings. Some mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies of extant European populations certainly suggest that indigenous populations of southeastern Europe, already

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predisposed to new technologies and in contact with neighboring communities, played a role in the transition from foraging to farming.112 But this argument cannot be applied to the whole of the Balkans, which would have been sparsely populated before the influx of farmers. Even so, taking a cue from the debate surrounding the “Uruk expansion” discussed in the next chapter, it would be wise to leave both options open.

There are a number of considerations that one should be aware of when delving into the archaeology of the Balkans. First, information is disseminated in a number of languages (at least eight), and inevitably similar geographical features and archaeological cultures have different terms. The Hungarian “Körös” culture, for instance, equates with the Romanian “Cris¸.” This has led to temporal equations, involving a number of terms such as the Kremokovci–Karanovo I Complex and the Starcˇevo–Körös–Cris¸ Complex. Second is the patchiness of the evidence, which is certainly not unique to the Balkans. Radiocarbon determinations, when they are available, must be assessed with respect to the variability between different laboratories and the reliability of sampling techniques. Finally, one should be aware that pottery styles loom large in the definition of cultural horizons in the Balkans (and Europe)—Bandkeramik or linear pottery, corded ware, bell beaker and so on—but these in themselves do not comprise separate cultures.

Communities practicing a Neolithic lifestyle appeared suddenly in the Balkans.113 Broadly speaking, cultural divisions are noticeable between the southern Balkans and its neighbor in Greece, and the central and northern Balkans, which looked north towards temperate Europe. Communication between the regions meant that very similar pottery is found across the Balkans, but linking it to Anatolian sequences is not straightforward. The abrupt appearance of dark coloured ceramics in Crete (Knossos IX), for instance, is difficult to explain. But the detection of key Y-chromosome haplogroups that occur in Crete and Anatolia and not elsewhere in the Aegean, together with the occurrence of bread wheat from Knossos, point to direct connections between the Aegean island and sites from southwest and central Anatolia.114

We are on firmer ground when dealing with decorated pottery with painted designs executed in red, black, or white paint. Across southeastern Europe different styles begin to appear with red-on-white wares favored in northern Greece, whereas white-on-red ceramics distinguish the early levels at Karanovo in Bulgaria. Whatever the color combination, the similarity of decorative designs and concepts between painted assemblages from the Balkans and the Hacılar and Can Hasan sequences, clearly point to inter-regional dynamics, if not migrations. Shapes for the most part are simple—deep open bowls and globular jars—and occasionally feature tubular and ledge handles. Unusual shapes include square or rectangular jars, and bowls with oval mouths.

Towards the end of the Early Neolithic in the Balkans, which equates with the end of the Early Chalcolithic in central and western Anatolia, painted wares start to wane in both areas. What emerge in the Balkans are the formative elements the Vincˇa culture, distinguished by an assemblage of black burnished ceramics decorated with grooves and incisions. On the broader scale, we need to remember that the Vincˇa culture is contemporary with the Ubaid of the Near East, which we encounter later.

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