Multidisciplinary Wetland Archaeology in the Balkan Prehistory
Lecture Series »World Archaeology Seminars«
»Multidisciplinary Wetland Archaeology in the Balkan Prehistory«
Goce Naumov | Einstein Center – Chronoi, Berlin, Center for Prehistoric Research, Skopje
Until a decade ago the wetland archaeology was absolutely absent in the Balkans. The societies that were dwelling next to marshes and on the lakesides were explored with the methodology of 'dryland' archaeology and understood as such. The research was focused mainly on architecture and material culture without consideration of environmental studies and the wetland features of the settlement’s surrounding. Therefore, in the beginning of 2010’s a novel approach was initiated in several parts of the Balkans that intended to employ current methods in more thorough understanding of the first farming societies in this region. Projects initiated by the Center for Prehistoric Research were among few that emphasized more detailed excavation and implementation of sciences in the archaeological studies, supported by the fieldwork in Pelagonia, Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa regions as well as by the laboratory analyses in numerous European institutions.
In addition to the systematic prospection of various regions and the archaeological excavation of several prehistoric sites, the study of architecture, material culture, organic remains and the natural environment was accompanied by series of methods in order to obtain a much more detailed perspective on the different stages of prehistory. It is worth highlighting the geomagnetic, LIDAR and laser scanning, archaeobotanical, radiocarbon, dendrochronological, archaeozoological, geoarchaeological, anthropological and GIS analyses, the study of lipids, isotopes and tool functions or the photogrammetric modeling, many of which were for the first time implemented in Macedonia. Besides the general overview of the CPR’s multidisciplinary projects the lecture will also provide a more detailed insight into the research of the Early Neolithic sites of Vlaho and Vrbjanska Čuka in Pelagonia in order to propose a model of wetlands inhabitation by the first farming societies in the Balkans.