BLACK STONE ON WHITE HILL: CHARACTERISATION OF OBSIDIAN FINDS FROM VINA

Introduction Since the beginning of the 20th century, very few sites have ever enjoyed such undivided attention of both the experts and wider public as it was the case with Belo Brdo in Vina. Located on the right bank of Danube, some 14 kilometers southeast of Belgrade, the site of Belo Brdo was the first extensively excavated prehistoric settlement of the Central Balkans, yielding an almost 10 meters thick cultural stratigraphy containing sequences ranging from Neolithic to late Medieval period. The life of the Neolithic settlement can be dated between 5500 and 4600 BC, presenting us with a continuous evidence of changes in style and typology of material culture and technological advances and innovations within the regional context of southeast Europe. Ever since the time of the first excavator of the site, prof. dr Miloje Vasi, various types of artifacts were periodically singled out from the almost inexhaustible collection and studied in detail. To name but a few; polished and chipped stone tools, ceramic finds, small copper and malachite implements, bone and marine shell tools and jewelry, and still, the possibilities for additional studies of the site never seem to cease. Regional importance of Vina and the active role it had in the network of the intercultural exchange is maybe best reflected in the large number of exotic goods found in all of the layers on the site. And whilst copper implements and marine shell jewelry may have been recently studied in detail, obsidian finds one of the essential symbols of communication and contacts of inter-regional importance have remained limited to a typological analysis within the chipped stone industry of the settlement. One of the three most numerous collections of obsidian finds in modern day Serbia, and by far the most numerous one south of Rivers Sava and Danube, the obsidian collection from Vina has its lacking in the poor contextual records of its finds, best reflected by the absence of precise excavation data of the systematic context of most of the artifacts. But alas, such is the case with most of the other artifacts recovered from the site, thus leaving us with many open questions in regard to their linkage to specific objects (i.e. households) or the manner of their deposition. However, because of the meticulous work of Miloje Vasi, precise data of the stratigraphic position and relative frequency of the artifacts as they appear through the stratigraphic sequence exists for Vina finds, as opposed, for example, to the data for settlements located around Vrac

(Potporanj, Potporanjske granice, Kozluk), where large obsidian collections have little or no data on the conditions of discovery. It is of the extreme importance to emphasize this, as vertical and layered sequences of the settlements in Vina allow us to evaluate not only the frequency of obsidian finds through time, but also the comparison with other imported or locally crafted goods, thus tracing roads and historical context through which obsidian and other goods of regional and intercultural significance appear of this important site of European prehistory. Some 46% of chipped stone industry or at least 1488 examples of obsidian tools were discovered between 1929 and 1934 excavations of the site. The most numerous influx of obsidian in the mighty stratigraphic sequence of Vina can be traced between 9.0 and 7.0 meters of depth, accounting for the 69.9% of the chipped stone industry recovered. Bellow this depth, obsidian is found sporadically, disappearing completely just above the fourth meter. The last known obsidian artifact is recorded at 3.8 meters. Having in mind the measurement of the relative depth from point zero, which is unique for all the phases of excavation on the site before the 2nd World War (1908, 1910-1913, 1924, 1929-1934) and the fact that the excavated area of the site was uneven, i.e. conical, the absence of obsidian in the later phases of the settlement should not be taken as an exact rule, but maybe as a consequence of the excavation methodology used. Published data reflecting on the excavations between 1929 and 1934 show only 13 chipped stone artifacts recovered from above 4.0 meters, a number completely inadequate in regard to the excavated area of the site and almost completely statistically disregarded even in the earliest studies of finds. In the light of the recent excavations on Vina (1978-1986; 1998-2008) and the use of modern excavation methodology, soil sifting and collection of all finds, sporadic presence of obsidian finds even in the latest phases of the Neolithic settlement have proven its more or less continuous use between the middle of the 6th and 5th millennia BC. Previous characterization First studies of the chemical composition of various geological and archaeological obsidian finds were conducted in the 1960s in the work of Colin Renfrew and his associates. Numerous characterization methods based on the homogenous structure and chemical composition of obsidian which is identical and unchanged along the entire lava outpour have been developed and perfected over time. Basic chemical components of obsidian are silicon dioxide (SiO2) amassing between 70 and 75 percent, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) with 10-15%,

sodium oxide (Na2O) with 3-5%, potassium oxide (K2O) with 2-5% and Iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3) contributing between 1-5%. Other elements are present as trace components and differ depending on the source origin, enabling us to distinguish various types of obsidian on the basis of measurement of their concentration. Only an insignificant number of samples originating from archaeological sites in modern day Serbia (out of which at least six or seven were from Vina) has ever undergone chemical analysis since the time of the revolutionary characterization of the 1960s. In their first joint article, Cann and Renfrew have, using optical spectography, characterized one blade from Vina (from 8.7 meters) among 115 samples, and placed it into group Ia on the basis of its trace elements and other attributes, denoting Carpathian 1 origin of the obsidian. Spectroscopic analysis of three more blades (from 4.1 m, 8.5 and 8.7 m) has yielded the same results. Over the next four decades neutron activation analysis was used to characterize at least three more artifacts, showing that two originate from Central Europe and at least one to be from Carpathian 1 source in present day Slovakia. Existing results have proven that the Central Balkans obsidian originates from Carpathian sources, which, on one side, represents a good basis for the rejection of earlier romanticist ideas of the existence of local sources of obsidian somewhere in the Central Balkans area. On the other side these results offer a sound grounding for the idea of significant inter-regional exchange network in the late Neolithic period; obsidian exchange playing a very important role in it. However, it is necessary to notice that the available characterizations were performed on an inadequate number of samples and thus emphasize the need to interpret complex stratigraphic sequences of the settlement in Vina and other nearby sites through adequate number of characterized obsidian samples. An important project of the characterization of obsidian artifacts from the Central Balkans has therefore been initiated in 2006, resulting in 60 samples (around 4% of the collection) from chipped stone industry on Vina being sent for analyses. In respect to the mighty stratigraphic sequence of the site, a complex sample selection strategy has been developed with clear methodological results being: a) samples chosen represent the entire span of the Neolithic sequence and b) the possibility of a future macroscopic autopsy of the obsidian artifact origin. Results and commentary Following the analysis of the obsidian samples, in the final examination of the results obtained, a combination of three chemical elements has proven the most usable: Zirconium

(Zr), Iron (Fe) and Strontium (Sr). The diagram shows that all of the Vina artifacts sampled can be grouped within one cluster, indicating shared origin. By comparison with the samples originating from geological sources on the same diagram it can clearly be seen that all of the Vina artifacts originate from Carpathian 1 source in present day Slovakia (DIAGRAM 1), which is in full accordance with all of the previous characterizations of Vina culture obsidian found in the region, including those from Romanian Banat region. Considering the number of characterized samples (4% of the entire number of artifacts) and the complex sampling procedure, two analytical postulations, very important for future work, can be made: first one, (a technical postulation in nature) represents an important step towards the affirmation of the planned macroscopic obsidian autopsy found in Central Balkans that originates from Carpathian 1 source, whilst the second one, speculatively a far more reaching one than the previous is that all of the pieces from the obsidian collection of the Belo Brdo site in Vina originate from a single, i.e. same source. If the future shows the latter postulation to be true, then we may undoubtedly state that the Neolithic community of Vina, as well as others found in the vicinity, have recognized, appreciated and valued mainly obsidian originating from present day Carpathian 1 source. In order to understand the number of obsidian artifacts and its origin, the question of the character of contacts of the Vina community with the communities located in the north, through whom the obsidian was imported, is of the extreme importance. Traditionally, it is assumed that the inhabitants of the settlement in Vina have had intensive and long lasting inter-cultural contacts with the Tisza communities of the Carpathian basin, often evidenced not only in numerous obsidian artifacts, but also in the sporadic occurrence of the pottery and other materials denoted as belonging to Tisza cultural circle. Aside from this, the wider area of middle Danube, encompassing Vina and southeast Panonian basin is a part of an interactive cultural ring in which other types of culturally non-specific artifacts circulate, like alabaster, marble and marine shell jewelry. Obsidian finds should almost certainly be regarded as one of the links and reasons for communication and contacts of Vina and Tisza communities, with its dominance in the chipped stone industry of Vina (located several hundred kilometers away from the source) being a product of an efficient exchange network that had to be and was manifested in the appearance of other exotic goods. One of the possible directions for further research into the extent of these contacts is the discovery of a monumental Myres pithos in Vina (7.44 m) 1.20 meters in height, which coincides with a high frequency of obsidian finds. Primary assumption was that the size of the vessel did not allow for its direct import from the Tisza culture region, thus making it plausible to be a local,

on site production. Further more it has been proposed that the creation of the pithos is the result of exogamous connections between inhabitants of Vina and Tisza communities, also manifested in high frequency of obsidian and other artifacts exotic in origin. Having in mind that these contacts were especially intensive in the last centuries of the 6th millennium BC, the appearance of a monumental pithos in Vina most definitely represents the effects of a maximal extent of the exchange between these two communities, whether as a result of exogamous relationships, regional of frequent movement of goods, or as a combination of all the things mentioned. The sheer number of obsidian artifacts in Vina raises an issue of the manner in which the procurement of mainly single sourced obsidian has influenced its further distribution towards other parts of the Central Balkans. Total weight of obsidian artifacts found in Vina, as it has already been noted, is relatively low, and although the settlement must have had some influence on the quantity of obsidian found in other settlements south of Rivers Sava and Danube, it is a big question whether we can theorize about an organized and socially stimulated exchange network functioning from Danube region towards the inland Balkans. Obsidian artifacts on the sites located south of Sava and Danube, and especially in the river valleys of Velika and Juna Morava are being found only to a very limited extent, either as single finds or up to several dozen pieces per site, a fact that does not fit well into the old idea of Colin Renfrew about the proportional decline of the number of obsidian along the trade route. The amassing of the most of the obsidian in Vina, and a limited exchange of blades (and/or cores?) may indicate the existence of several interactive levels within the exchange network, almost certainly leading even to the total exclusion of some settlements from it. It must also be mentioned that, at the time when the obsidian frequency in Vina declines, so do other surrounding settlements yield a very limited number of obsidian artifacts (e.g. Gomolava, Divostin, Banjica), indicating a disturbance in the active and long practiced exchange network and possibly even reflecting wider changes in the culture of the Carpathian basin. At the same time, most of the other settlements of the Central Balkans region, specifically those found south of Sava and Danube are focused on the use of easily available sources of raw stone material found in the near vicinity of the settlements. A future review and characterization of obsidian collections originating from settlements other than Vina may show the complexity of the exchange network during the late Neolithic of the Central Balkans. For now, it would be wise to assume that the southernmost obsidian of the Carpathian region, discovered at the sites of Mandalo in Aegean Macedonia and itkovac in

Kosovo represent alternative routes and patterns of movement of various goods, including the movement of individuals outside the usual flows of reciprocal terms exchange. Conclusion The characterization of 60 obsidian samples discovered at the Belo Brdo site in Vina represents a largest characterized collection in the Central Balkans so far. Thanking to the complex sampling procedure which included visually distinctive examples of obsidian from all of the stratigraphic sequences, prepositions were created for a future macroscopic autopsy of the origin of this raw material. Finally, the results have shown that all of the samples originate solely from Carpathian 1 source in present day Slovakia, and that for now at least, it can not be assumed how much have other Carpathian sources contributed to the influx of obsidian into the Central Balkans. Judging in accordance with the presented and previously existing results this contribution must have not been significant. Be as it may, the Neolithic community at Vina has perpetuated dynamic and long lasting contacts with the communities of Tisza region. These contacts most likely included the exchange of other goods, not only obsidian, and for now important suggestions on the extent of this exchange and the types of goods exchanged do exist. As it appears, most of the obtained obsidian has been amassed at Vina, with most of the other settlements, even those in the near vicinity, containing very limited quantities of black stone, represent more or less accentuated peripheral manifestations of the obsidian road. Therefore, the understanding of the historical conditions in which obsidian artifacts have ended up at this important settlement on the bank of Danube, must include the origin and the manner of procurement of the lonely obsidian artifacts found on the margins of their spatial distribution.