Vatin culture
{{Short description|Archaeological culture in Serbia}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
| name =
| map = Vatin culture.png
| mapalt = Area of Vatin culture
| altnames =
| horizon =
| region =
| period = Bronze Age
| dates = c. 2000 – 1500 BC/13th century BC
| typesite = Vatin
| majorsites =
| extra =
- Cultural ties with Mycenae
- Defensive structures
| precededby = Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture, Nagyrév culture, Vučedol culture
| followedby = Encrusted Pottery culture, Belegiš culture, Urnfield culture, Glasinac-Mati culture
| definedby =
| antiquatedby =
| module =
}}
The Vatin culture ({{lang-sr-Cyrl-Latn|Ватинска култура|Vatinska kultura}} or {{lang-sr-Cyrl-Latn|label=none|Ватинска група|Vatinska grupa}}) is a name of a prehistoric Bronze Age culture, which was named after Vatin, a village in Serbia. The culture had Indo-European roots and was culturally connected with Mycenaean Greece.{{Cite web |url=http://www.museumns.rs/izdanja/pdf/Godisnjak_MGNS_br3-4_2008.pdf.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425132917/http://www.museumns.rs/izdanja/pdf/Godisnjak_MGNS_br3-4_2008.pdf.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead }} The Vatin culture is dated to the middle Bronze Age and is generally divided into three phases: Pančevo-Omoljica, Vatin-Vršac, and Belegiš-Ilandža.{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/16820501/bron%C4%8Dano-doba-skripta|title=brončano doba - skripta|website=Scribd.com|access-date=29 April 2019}} It flourished from c. 2000 BC to 1500 BC,{{cite journal |last1=Molloy |first1=Barry |display-authors=etal |date=2023 |title=Resilience, innovation and collapse of settlement networks in later Bronze Age Europe: New survey data from the southern Carpathian Basin |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=18 |issue=11 |pages=e0288750 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0288750 |pmc=10637690 |pmid=37948415 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023PLoSO..1888750M }} or until the 13th century BC according to some sources.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/arheologija/srejovic/dsrejovic-srediste_c.html|title=[Projekat Rastko] Dragoslav Srejovic: Kad smo bili kulturno srediste svetaКад смо били културно средиште света|website=Rastko.rs|access-date=29 April 2019}}
The people of the Vatin culture inhabited the entire territory of Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka, Syrmia) and many surrounding areas (including Slavonia, Oltenia, Bosnia and Central Serbia). Its core area was in Serbian-Vojvodinian Podunavlje. The remains of this culture were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century near the village of Vatin (Banat region, Vojvodina province, Serbia). However the real importance of this culture was only realised at the end of the 20th century, when the locality of Feudvar near the village of Mošorin was investigated.
Characteristics
File:Lovas Hoard.jpg bronze and gold artefacts, Croatia{{cite web |url=https://isaw.nyu.edu/exhibitions/ritual-and-memory/objects/hoard-lovas |title=Lovas hoard |website=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|date=21 September 2022 }}]]
The Vatin culture was highly influenced by Mycenaean Greece and had already developed social differentiation within its population. The culture also developed large central settlements, which were surrounded by smaller settlements and farms. Large settlements were economical and social centers, as well as the seats of tribal leaders. These fortified centers had a defensive character and a large number of them existed in the wider area. The thick network of large fortified settlements represents an example of the collective defense of a wide space.
File:Reconstruction of Vatin culture houses at Feudvar, Serbia.png{{cite web |url=https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781784911478 |title=Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context, p. 55|website=Archaeopress |date=2015}}]]
The site of Feudvar in Serbia was an important proto-urban settlement and central place located on the edge of the Titel plateau, above a steep escarpment overlooking the Tisza river and plains below. It consisted of a central fortified tell of 2 hectares, surrounded by an open settlement of up to 6 hectares at its greatest extent. An average of 1000 people are estimated to have lived in the tell itself. There is evidence of craft specialisation, social differentiation and the presence of a ruling elite at the site. Houses were 5-6 m by 10-12 m in size, laid out in a dense rectangular pattern with wide alleys and small squares between them.{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/26716106 |title=Feudvar near Mošorin (Serbia) – Excavations and Research in a Micro-region at the Confluence of the Danube and Tisza: a recapitulation after thirty years |last1=Falkenstein |first1=Frank |date=2016}}{{cite web |url=https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/download/9781784911478 |title=Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context (Part 1) | website=Archaeopress |last1=Kienlin |first1=Tobias |date=2015}}
The main occupations of inhabitants of the Vatin culture were agriculture and animal husbandry and it is assumed that they also produced beer. In many of the settlements, remains of children's toys were discovered. Tools, weapons and jewelry were mainly purchased by trade, but some larger settlements also had their own workshops that produced bronze objects. One foundry of bronze objects was discovered in Feudvar, and according to the researchers, it was probably used for several hundreds of years. There are indications that people of the Vatin culture also had basic mathematical knowledge.
According to Anthony (2007), chariotry spread westwards to the Vatin culture from the Multi-cordoned ware culture.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLIufwC4szwC |title=The Horse, the Wheel, and Language |date=2007 |last=Anthony |first=David |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=411 |isbn=978-0-691-14818-2 |quote=Chariotry spread west through the Ukrainian steppe MVK [Mnogovalikovaya] culture into southeastern Europe's Monteoru (phase Icl-Ib), Vatin, and Otomani cultures}}
Gallery
File:Pottery assemblage of the Early Bronze Age (classical) Vatin culture, from Feudvar, Serbia.png|Early Bronze Age (classical) Vatin culture ceramics from Feudvar
File:Pottery assemblage of the Middle Bronze Age Vatin culture, from Feudvar, Serbia.png|Middle Bronze Age Vatin culture ceramics
File:Late Bronze Age goblet, museum Zrenjanin.jpg|Late Vatin ceramics
File:Late Bronze Age urns and goblets, museum Zrenjanin.jpg|Late Vatin ceramics
File:Senta museum artefacts 003 (Bronze Age vessel) detail.jpg|Ceramic vessel
File:Bronze Age cabinet 01, museum Zrenjanin cropped.png|Vatin ceramics
File:В музее - заповеднике Аркаим.jpg|Chariot model, Arkaim museum
File:Aerial view of the prehistoric multilayer settlement of Feudvar near Mošorin on the northern edge of the Titel Plateau, Serbia, in 1988.png|Aerial view of the Feudvar fortified tell site
File:Titelski breg.JPG|The Titel plateau, Serbia, site of the fortified settlement of Feudvar
File:Titelski breg3.jpg|The Titel plateau seen from the Tisza river
File:Židovar, pogled.jpg|Židovar, Serbia
File:Aerial view of Middle Bronze Age tell at Židovar, Serbia.png|Aerial view of a Vatin culture tell at Židovar
Localities
Localities of the Vatin culture are:{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/384908832/Kapije-Pomoravlja|title=Праисторија на тлу Србије|website=Scribd.com|access-date=29 April 2019}}
{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
- Belegiš
- Dobrača
- Feudvar near Mošorin
- Gomolava
- Ljuljaci
- Lovas
- Ludoš
- Novigrad na Savi
- Omoljica
- Pančevo
- Popov Salaš
- Sarvaš
- Sotin
- Vatin
- Vinča
- Vinkovci
- Vukovar
- Židovar
{{Div col end}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Dr M. Grbić, Preistorisko doba Vojvodine, Zbornik "Vojvodina", knjiga I, PROMETEJ, Novi Sad, 2008.
- Dr Predrag Medović, Praistorija na tlu Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2001.
External links
{{Commons category|Vatin culture}}
- [http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Kultura/Vatin-cheka-arheologe.lt.html Vatin čeka arheologe - Vatin waits for archaeologists] (in Serbian)
- [https://www.scribd.com/doc/16820501/bronano-doba-skripta Bronzano doba - Bronze Age] (in Croatian)
- [http://www.rastko.rs/arheologija/srejovic/dsrejovic-srediste_c.html Dragoslav Srejović, Kad smo bili kulturno središte sveta, Beograd, 2001. - When we were cultural center of the World] {{In lang|sr}}
- [https://www.scribd.com/doc/52498501/Праисторија-на-тлу-Србије Praistorija na tlu Srbije - Prehistory on Serbian soil] {{In lang|sr}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120425134611/http://upoznajsrbiju.com/index2.php?tekst_id=48&grupa=Kulturno-istorijski%20spomenici Praistorija na tlu Srbije - Prehistory on Serbian soil] {{In lang|sr}}
- [http://anarheologija.blogspot.com/2010/07/bronze-age-cultures-in-vojvodina.html Kulture bronzanog doba u Vojvodini - Bronze Age cultures in Vojvodina] {{In lang|sr}}
- [http://www.narodnimuzej.rs/praistorija/zbirka-bronzanog-doba/ narodnimuzej.rs] - Bronze Age collection
Category:Archaeological cultures of Europe
Category:Archaeological cultures in Serbia
Category:Archaeological cultures in Romania
Category:Archaeological cultures in Croatia
Category:Archaeological cultures in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Category:Bronze Age cultures of Europe
Category:Prehistory of Romania