Anza, ca. 6500-5000 B.C.: A Cultural Yardstick for the Study of Neolithic Southeast Europe - Marija Gimbutas

Anza, ca. 6500-5000 B.C.: A Cultural Yardstick for the Study of Neolithic Southeast Europe

.. _. MarlJa elm rutas University of California at Los Angeles

The site of A nza is of major importance by virtue of its geographical position in the central Balkans (FIG. 1) and its unique stratigraphy. The excavations at Anza have yielded a variety of types of information that add to our understanding of the early stages of the [Pottery] Neolithic periodJ of the succeeding Starcevo Neolithic cultureJ and of the formation of the Finca civilization.

Introduction. Macedonia, geographically midway between the Aegean Sea and the

drainage basin of the Danube river, also mediated culturally between these important termini. The essential factor for cultural transmission was precisely this strategic geographical location. The information obtained from archaeological research in Macedonia is therefore relevant not only to the immediate zone of investigation, but it also carries implications for the entire Balkan peninsula and for the rest of Central Europe as well.

Macedonia is geographically defined as that territory drained by the rivers Vardar and Haliakmon and their tributaries. Its inherent connections are with the continental land mass of the Balkans rather than with the maritime peninsula of Greece.l Access to the interior from the coast begins some 20 miles southwest of Thessaloniki, on the Thermaic Gulf where the Vardar discharges into the Gulf slightly north of the Haliakmon, and proceeds by way of the Haliakmon, along the tributaries of the rivers, into the lowlands between the rivers and their valleys. At the southern end the narrow defiles which characterize the Vardar were probably less often used for ingress. Progress northward toward this major waterway is marked by the present towns of Edessa and Prilep on the way to the area of Titov Veles and Skopje on the Var- dar. The Bregalnica River, which joins the Vardar just south of Titov Veles, drains the district of OvEe Polje to the northeast and provides transit eastward. Neolithic mounds and later Roman roads mark these very ancient routes. There is also archaeological evidence that the upper Morava served as a direct connection between Macedonia and the area to the north and west that is drained by the Danube River system. On the northeast Macedonia is separated from Bulgaria by the steep watershed of the Thracian Mountains, a natural boundary between Thrace and the central Balkans that was always utilized.

The present investigation concerns the region called OvEe Polje, a shallow basin approximately 150 sq. km. in diameter, that was once part of a neogenic lake bottom in the central portion of Yugoslav Macedonia.

The site name Anza is derived from that of the near-by village Anzabegovo (Amzibegovo), which lies 1.5 km. to the north and is 2 km. from the railway

1. N.G.L. Hammond, A History °f Macedonia I: Historical Geography and Prehistory, (Oxford 1972).

Figure 1. Map of Central Balkans (outlined), surrounding neolithic cultures, ca. 6300-5300 s.c.,and major sites.

Mediterrsnesn Ses

28 Anza, a Cultural Yardstick/Gimbutas

station at OvLe Polje. The village belongs to the administrative unit of Sv. Nikole, 10 km. north of the excavated site. The railroad which goes from Titov Veles to Stip cuts through the southern section of the site, and the discovery of the site is due to this circumstance. Anza is referred to in the earlier literature as Barutnica, after the Eleld on which it is located. The excavation is situated some 34 km. east of Titov Veles and 18 km.west of Stip (FIG. 2).

Figure 2. Map of Macedonia with indication of excavated neolithic sites (+).

The Elrst archaeological exploration of Barutnica (Anza) was carried out in two campaigns in 1960 by the Archaeological Museum of Skopje, directed by Josip KoroNec of Ljubljana University and SarYo SarYoski of the Skopje Museum.2 At this time Elve squares were opened, with an excavated surface of 58 sq.m. These squares are indicated on the site plan by dotted lines (FIG. 3).

The excavation of 1969-70 was on a much larger scale than that of 1960. The campaign was a joint effort of Yugoslav and American personnelS operating independently for two seasons in the field. There were two Principal Investigators: Milutin GaraNanin of the University of Belgrade and the author (for the American UCLA excavation). The Yugoslav staff was responsible for

2. J. KoroNec and S. Sartoski, 4'Barutnica, Anzabegovo," ArchPreg 2 (1960) 44-46; P. KoroNec, Barutnica, Neolitska Naselba (ArheoloNko DruNtvo Jugoslavije, Beograd 1972).

I I w X | | n

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. I, 1974 29

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the excavation of nine squares, each 5 x 5 m. at the center of the mound, north of the wooded zone (FIG. 3, A-L). The American staff excavated 24 squares (FIG. 3, I-XXIV, TP [TEST PITS] 1-4), the majority centrally located and the others radially distributed in order to explore the extent of settlement boundaries at different periods of habitation (FIGS. 4,5).3

The techniques and objectives of the American and Yugoslav teams were en- tirely distinct and different. The results of the Yugoslav effort are being published by Mulutin GaraNanin, Sarlo Sarloski, and Vojislav Sanev who is the Director of the National Museum at Stip.4 The present contents concern solely the results of the American investigation.5 The "American" squares were

3. The information in fig. 5 is based on material from excavation, surface collection, and study of the railroad trench profile.

4. See M. Garasanin, "Barutnica, Anzabegovo," ArchPreg 11 (1969)15-19; and M. Garasanin, V. Sanev, D. Simoska, and B. Kitanovski, Predistoriski Kulturi vo Makedonija (Naroden Muzej, Stip 1971), which includes in the Neolithic catalogue (passim) items from Anza.

5. The supervision of field activities was undertaken by Gene Sterud in 1969 and Geoffrey Sayer in 1970, both of UCLA at that time. The digging responsibilities were shared by Peter Banks of the

Figure 3. Site plan. Prepared by Georgi Dalev.

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30 Anzal a Cultural Yardstick/Gimbutas

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Figure 4. The distribution of American excavated squares with indication of cultural strata.

excavated both by arbitrary level and by natural unit according to the demands of soil and features. Provenance is herein indicated by Square in Roman numerals and Unit in arabic numerals. All excavated soil (except from test pits) was sieved, and from certain squares was consistently flotated. Many miniscule finds such as seeds and beads were thus retrieved.

Full-length reports on geology, vegetation, domesticated plants, fauna, ceramic technology, flintknapping, quantitative analyses of pottery and flint tools, as well as typologies and catalogues of finds will appear in a monograph entitled Neolithic Macedonia as ReJlected by the Excavation at Anza, Ovee Polje.6 The present interim report will integrate in summary the information of various aspects and fields of study. University of California at Davis, Joan Carpenter and Judith Rasson of tJCLA, Dr. Margaret Weide of California State at Long Beach, and Serge Cleuziou and Jean Demoule of Paris Universi- ty. The field laboratory was under the care of Anne Sterud (1969) and Renita Mock (1970), both of tJCLA. Excavated materials were studied by the Principal Investigator as well as by Mrs. E. Gardner, Miss R. Mock, Mr. B. Smoor, Mr. M. Winn, and Mr. D. Shimabuku in the Naroden Muzej of Stip in 1971.

The field project of 1969 and 1970 and post-excavation research in 1971 were made possible by the Foreign Currency Program of the Smithsonian Institution, the grant equally apportioned to the YugoslaYian and American contingents. Additional funds were granted by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for photography and drawing, and by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for the study of chronology. It is my pleasant duty to express thanks and appreciation for the assistance.

6. Special studies to be published in the forthcoming monograph were conducted by the following

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. I, 1 974 31

Other Neolithic Sites in Macedonia. Figure 5. Distribution of Anza I, II-III, IV

In the plain of Macedonia, north and east of the lower Haliakmon, many settlements prehistoric sites are known from surface collections or soundings, but only in two localities have settlements of a neolithic age been dug on a larger scale. In 1961-63, an Early Neolithic site was excavated at Nea Nikomedeia, on the recently-drained lake of Yiannitsa near Verroia.' The cultural remains of the Early Neolithic period from this site are related to those of the earliest village at Anza and provide a connecting link between Thessaly and Yugoslav Macedonia. Servia, another neolithic site of Greek Macedonia on the southern bank of the Haliakmon, was excavated in 19308 and 1971.9 A Middle and Late scholars and institutions: geology, Dr. David Weide, University of Nevada; palaeobotany, Dr. Hans-Jurgen Beug, Dr. Eberhard Gruger (Institute of Palynology, University of Gottingen) and Dr. Jane M. Renfrew (Southhampton); palaeozoology, Dr. Sandor Bokonyi (Archaeological Institute, Budapest); palaeodemography and physical anthropology, Dr. Janos Nemeskeri (Institute of Population Studies, Budapest); radiocarbon dating, Dr. Hans Suess (UCSD) and Dr. Rainer Berger (UCLA); thermoluminescence dating, Dr. M. Aitken (Oxford University). The following graduate students of UCLA took part in analyzing the excavated materials: Ernestine Elster (flint technology); Elizabeth Gardner (pottery technology); Renita Mock (quantitative analysis of Anza I-III pottery); Linda Mount-Williams (analysis of Anza IV pottery); Charles A. Schwarz (animal bones); and Bert Smoor (polished stone and bone tools). 7. R.J. Rodden, A.D. Western, E.H. Willis, et al., "Excavations at the Early Neolithic Site at Nea Nikomedeia, Greek Macedonia (1961 season)," ProcPs 28 (1962) 267-288; "Recent Discoveries from Prehistoric Macedonia, an Interim Report," Balkan Studies 5 (1964) 109-124; "An Early Neolithic Village in Greece," ScientlficAmerican 212 (1965) 82-92. 8. W.A. Heurtley, Prehistoric Macedonia (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press 1939). 9. G. Ridley and K. Rhomiopoulou, "Prehistoric Settlement of Servia, W. Macedonia, Excavation 1971," AAA 5 (1972) 27-29.


Neolithic stratiE1ed site having intimate connections with the Sesklo and Late Neolithic cultures of Greece, Servia must be considered a northern outpost of the Thessalian Neolithic culture.

In western Macedonia rich neolithic deposits were uncovered during the excavations of 1953-54 in Porodin at Bitola.l° This site yielded materials parallel to Anza Ib and Anza II. Unfortunately, the ecology of the site was not investigated and its precise chronological and stratigraphical position is only vaguely known.

On the Vardar at Skopje, the only site excavated (and that on a small scale) was at Zelenikovo. It yielded two strata: one of the neolithic period containing cultural remains of Central Balkan Startevo character parallel to those of the Anza II settlement, and one belonging to the chalcolithic, including materials of Vinta character.ll

Two sites in the OvEe Polje, VrBnik and Rug Bair, revealed a stratiElcation of neolithic and chalcolithic deposits almost identical with that of Anza. VrBnik, located 11 km. north of Stip at the village of Tarinci, was explored in 1958 by O. and M. Garasanin.'2 Rug Bair, 6 km. west of Sv. Nikole and 16 km. northwest of Anza, was sounded by Mr. Sarzo Sarzoski in 1960, and in 1970 by our American-Yugoslav teams. The report will be published by the Yugoslav staff.

The existence of three neolithic-chalcolithic sites including cultural layers from the same periods reflects the extent of the temporal and spatial occupation of the OvEe Polje. We now know that in the period between 6500 and 5000 B.C. settlement of the area was relatively dense. After the Early Vinta period (ca.5100/5000 B.C.) until the reoccupation during the Roman period, there is no indication of human settlement of any duration.

General Classification of Cultural Remains. The radiocarbon dates and the stratigraphic and typological evidence permit

a chronological division as follows.l3

Anza I. ca. 6500-6000 B.C. (in dendrochronologically recalibrated dates): a Macedonian variant of the Early Neolithic of the Central Balkans. Anza II-III. 6000-5450 B.C.: Middle Neolithic of the Central Balkans (Startevo culture).

10. M. Grbic, P. Matkic, S. Nadj, D. Simoska, and B. Stalio, Porodin. Kasno neolitski naselVe na tumbi k kod Bitole (Bitolj 1960).

11. Radoslav Galovic, "Zelenikovo, eine neolithische Siedlung bei Skoplje (Makedonien)," RGKomm43-44(1962-63) 11-25.

12. Milutin Garasanin, "Fouilles archeologiques a Taranci-'Vrsnik'," Zbornik na Stipskiot Naroden Muzej I (gtip 1958); M. and D. Garasanin, "Iskopavanja u Tarincima na Iokalitetu 'Vrsnik' kaj selo Tarinci," Zbrnek na Stipskiot Naroden Muzej, Vo1. II (Recueil du Musee National de Stip [ 1960-61 ]) 7-40.

13. Thanks to the gracious cooperation of the University of California Radiocarbon Dating Laboratories at San Diego and Los Angeles we are in possession of 21 dates; see Table I. The distribution of dates is illustrated in fig. 6. Dates are from charcoal samples and from stratigraphically controlled excavation units, except UCLA 1705 B and C which are from sheep bones and derive from the squares excavated by the Yugoslav staff. The majority of the dates are from Square VII; cf.fig.8.

The LJ analyses were supervised by Hans Suess, assisted by Linda Mount-Williams (LJ=La Jolla, University of California, San Diego). This work was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The UCLA dates (from Yugoslav excavated squares) were supervised by Rainer Berger assisted by Reiner Protsch. Other abbreviations in Tables I-IV are P (University of Pennsylvania Laboratory); sc ("small container," under one liter: less exact).

CAARB8ON A N Z A : A N Z A TRUE AGE

BC

- -

Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 1, 1974 33

BP C 5 100

C 5200

C 5300

C 5500

C 5 700

C 5800

C 6 000

C 6100

C 6 300

5900

6100

6300

6500

6700

6 900

7 100

7300

7500

Figure 6. Distribution of radiocarbon dates.

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Table 1. Radiocarbon dates from Anza.

Uncorrected Anza Laboratory Radiocarbon Dates True Age Based

Periods Provenance Number Before 1950A.C. Datessjc. onTree-Ring (5568 Half Life) Calibration

VIII, 55 LJ 2411,sc 6070+200 BP 4120:t200s.c. ca. 5100 B.C. IV XX, 190 LJ2329 6290i80BP 4340:t80s.c.

VII, 87 LJ 2178 7050i 150 5100:t 150

V62 LJ2185 6510i100BP 4560:t100R.c. ca.5500 B.C. III L- 19 UCLA 1705B 6540i120BP 4590+120s.c.

VII, 191 LJ 2345 6600i 110 BP 4650:t 110 s.c. L-20 UCLA 1705C 6700i80BP 4750:t80s.c. VII, 117 LJ 2344, sc 7000i300 BP 5050+300 s.c.

VII, 177 LJ 2338 6800i150 BP 4870+15OB.C. ca. 5800 B.C. II VII, 213 & 215 LJ 2405 6940i80 BP 5050+85 s.c.

VII, 124 LJ2351 7060i80BP 5110+80s.c. VII, 122 LJ2337 7080i60BP 5200+75s.c. VII, 156 LJ2409 6850i50BP 4900+50s.c.

VIIs253 LJ2333 6840+100BP 4890i100s.c. ca.6000 B.C. Ib VIIs 251 LJ 2342 7100i80 BP 5150i80B.C.

VII, 240 LJ 2339 7120i70 BP 5170+80s.c. VII, 188 LJ2341 7230i170BP 5280+170s.c. VII, 256 LJ 2332 7110i120 BP 5160i120s.c.

V, 107 LJ 3032 7160i50 5210i50 ca. 6200 B.C. Ia VII, 257 LJ 2330/31 7170i50 5220i50

V, 111 LJ2181 7270i140 5320i140

Anza IV. 5450-5300 B.C.: Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic of the Central Balkans (Early Rlinta culture).l4

The synchronism between the various phases of Anza and the sites south and north of Macedonia based on radiocarbon dates and supported by stratigraphic and typological evidence is shown in the following three tables (TABLES II, III, and IV).ls

Thermoluminescent Dating.

M.J. Aitken and J. Huxtable of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology in Oxford furnished the following information on TL dating.

Of the fourteen sherds (all from Square XIII, ANZA Ib layer), four were rejected as being too small and six as having unsatisfactory TL characteristics. The dates obtained for the remaining four were: 6830 B.C., 6730 B.C., 6530 B.C.

and 6390 B.C. The fine-grain technique was used.l6 14. Only small traces of copper discovered.

15. Lepenski Vir I and II in the Danube Iron Gate region are parallel to the Anza l-lll phases and hence cannot be considered to be of pre-Startevo age. Cf. the 14C dates and the chronological classiElcation of the Lepenski Vir materials in Dragoslav Srejovic, "Europe's First Monumental Sculpture: New Discoveries at Lepenski Vir," New Aspects of Antiquity, ed. M. Wheeler (London 1972). A neolithic culture, analogous to Anza I, extended as far north as Transylvania as indicated by the stratigraphy and the typological comparisons of Gura Baciului and Donja Branjevina (unfortunately 14C dates are not available).

16. D.W. Zimmerman, 'SThermoluminescent dating using Elne grains from pottery," A rchaeometry 13:1 (1971)29-52.


Table II. Radiocarbon dates from the sites of northern Greece (Thessaly and Macedonia) compared to Anza periods.

Anza Northern Greece: Periods Cultures Sites Radiocarbon Dates

IV Dimini No dates equivalent to early Vinta in Thessaly or Macedonia (but are known from KNOSSOS, CRETE: STRATUM Vl and V and SALIAGOS on ANTIPAROS ISLAND)

III Late Sesklo SESKLO P 1672:6504i85BP(4554 B.C.) P1675:6694i87BP(4744 B.C.) P1677:6741i163BP(4791 B.C.)

II EarlySesklo ACHILLEION P2130:7084i91BP(5134B.c.) P2125:6964i87BP(5014 B.C.) P2124:7086i85BP(5136 B.C.) UCLA 1882 A: 6930i155BP(4980 B.C. ) LJ 2941:6930i50BP(4980 B.C . ) LJ 2943:7020i100BP(5070 B.C.) LJ 2942:7200i50BP(5220 B.C. )

Earliest Sesklo ACHILLEION P 2117:7273i76BP(5323 B.C.) P2121:7107i85BP(5157 B.C.) P2122:7181i85BP(5231 B.C.) UCLA 1882B:7260i155BP(5310 B.C. )

I Proto-Sesklo ACHILLEION P 2118:7471i77BP(5521 B.C.)

and Early Pottery P 2120:7342i68BP(5392 B.C.) UCLA 1896 A: 7460i175BP(5510 B.C. )

NEA NIKOMEDEIA P 1203 A: 7281i74BP(5331 B.C. ) SESKLO P 1680:7300i93BP(5350 B.C. )

P1678:7422i78BP(5477 B.C.)

Table III. Chronological table of Central Balkan and Djerdap (Danube Iron Gate) sites.

Radiocarbon Dates Tentative true Anza Other Neolithic central Balkan Lepenski Vir (LV) before present and age (corrected and Danubian sites and Padina

B.C. 14C dates)

From 6800 to 6400/6300 5500 B.C. III Obre IA, G. Tuzla Vl in Bosnia Padina B-3 BP (4850-4450/4350 B.C.) Kotacpart, SE Hungary LV II, Houses IX,

Deszk, SE Hungary XXXII Starcevo IIb, near Belgrade Let, II-III, Perieni in Moldavia ()ura Baciului III, in Transylvania Gladnice Ib, near Pristina Tecic, central Yugoslavia

From 7100/7000 to 5800 B.C. II Let, I, Transylvania Padina B-a and 2 6800 BP (5150/5050- Starcevo IIa at Belgrade LV I b-d: Houses I, 4850 B.C) Divostin, central Yugoslavia 9,37

Crnokalacka Bara near Nis Gladnice Ia near Pristina Donja Branjevina II, NW Yugoslavia Gura Baciului II, Transylvania

From 7360+ 100 BP 6000 B.C. b (5140 B.C.) to 7100 BP I Donja Branjevina I, in Transylvania LV Ia: House 36 (5150 B.C.) 6400-6200 B.C. a Gura Baciului I, NW Yugoslavia


Table IV. List of Early Vinta, Butmir I, and Karanovo III sites with radiocarbon dates equivalent to Anza IV.

SITE CULTURE LABORATORY 14C DATES 14 C DATES TRUE AGE BEFORE PRESENT B.C.

OBRE II BUTMIR I LJ 2327 6020i150 4070 4950

OBREII BUTMIR I UCLA 1605A 6020i60 4070 4950

OBRE II BUTMIR I Bln 792 6075i100 4125 4970

OBRE II BUTMIR I G r N 5683 6110+ 65 4160 5000

OBRE II BUTMIR I Bln 639 6175 i 80 4225 5060

PLOVDIV KARANOVO III Bln 338 6080 i 80 4130 4970 (Jasatepe)

MEDVEDNJAK VINtA LJ2523 6100+ 100 4150 5000

MEDVEDNJAK VINtA Bln480 6050 i 100 4100 4840

STAROSELO VINtA LJ 2521 6100 + 100 4150 5000

VINtA VINtA Bl GrN 1546 6190 i 60 4240 5100

PREDIONICA VINtA Bln435 6270+ 100 4330 5320

SITAGROI KARANOVOIII Bln778 6030 i 150 4080 - 4960

SITAGROI KARANOVO III Bln 648 6265 i 75 4315 5320

SITAGROI KARANOVOIII Bln778 6425 i 100 4475 5450

KARANOVO KARANOVOIII Bln 158 6360+ 100 4410 5400

36 A nza, a Cultural Yardstick/Gimbutas

This degree of scatter is reasonable for material of the same date, but we are reluctant to regard the average (ca. 6600 B.C.) as definitive for the level. This is because of the unsatisfactory characteristics of the other sherds, which may be influencing these four to a small extent, making the TL date more recent than the true date by a few hundred years. The dates obtained for four sherds which had poor TL characteristics, but for which it was in fact possible to calculate a result, were: 5880 B.C., 5300 B.C., 4600 B.C., and 3100 B.C. There is no question of suggesting that these ought to be regarded as significant; they are quoted to illustrate a stronger interference by the adverse characteristicl7 which is thought to affect the first four quoted to only a small degree. Hence there is a need to treat the average with caution and reserve. However, as indicated above, the true date for the level is likely to be less recent than the TL date. It is to be noted that this is in conflict with the calibrated date of ca. 6000 B.C.

obtained from radiocarbon dating. However, on account of the unsatisfactory TL characteristics of the samples from this site, there is no basis for question- ing the radiocarbon results.

Stratigraphy. The major soil units were mapped and incorporated into the isometric struc-

17. "Anomalous fading," see A.G. Wintle, "Anomalous Fading of Thermoluminescence in Mineral Samples," Nature 254 ( 1973) 143-144.


tural proElle by D. Weide, expedition geologist (FIG. 7).

The fact that the chronology of Anza I, II, and III is dated on the basis of radiocarbon analyses of samples obtained from Square VII makes it necessary to present the stratigraphy of excavation units in some detail. This is shown in the idealized proElle (FIG. 8).

Square VII.

In 1970, excavation of this square was resumed at the depth of 3 m. Since it was noted that the culture layers slanted from northeast to northwest (FIG. 8: II

and III), the 1969 excavating method of horizontal levels of 10 cm. was abandoned and the square was thereafter excavated in natural levels or "units."

Anza Ia. The earliest cultural remains of the square were in a brown gravelly silt layer

at a depth of ca. 3.90 (in the middle of the square) and 4.20 m. (in the eastern part of the

square) down to 4.57 m. below the datum point, (hereafter referred to as BDP). This

horizon lay immediately above virgin soil. A large pit of Anza Ib phase had been dug

into this earliest soil. In spite of this disturbance, excavation units 236-238, 248, 257-260

were intact. The radiocarbon date from the charcoal sample collected in unit 257 has

produced the date 7170+50 BP (5220+50 B.C.): see Table I.

Figure 7. Major soil relationships of the Anza Ib. The deposits of this phase were recovered in the eastern section of the square Anza site. Based on excavated Squares 11,

from ca. 3.00 m. down to 3.90-4.20 m. BDP and, including the depth of the pit, this V, VII, K, XXI, and Test Pits 1-4.


Figure 8. Idealized profile of Square VII layer reached sterile ground. Radiocarbon dates from units 256, 251, 240, and 188 very below 3 m. BDP and location of Anza consistently indicate a single time horizon, i.e., the end of the 7th millennium B.C. The I-III excavation. date for VII, 253 (6890+100 BP) seems to be too low; the "probe" digging may have

confused here Anza Ib with Anza II deposits.

Anza II. The Anza II layer of brown clayey silt cut into Ib and Ia deposits. At the bottom, the deposits of Anza II were about a meter thick and included many small pits and charcoal lenses of earlier and later phases. Unit 156, a small pit ca. 0.30 m. deep, contained charcoal which produced the date (6850+50 BP). Since it was a pit dug into a somewhat earlier Anza II deposit, we may surmise that the beginning of Anza II antedates unit 156. The radiocarbon date from unit 177 which was also a small pit dug next to, and partially into, pit 156, quite consistently produced a later date (6800+150 BP). The span of Anza II was probably about 2QO years. The radiocarbon dated units 124 177, 213, 215 yielded the richest number of diagnostic materials of the Anza II phase.

Anza III. Anza III deposits overlay Anza II in a yellow-to-brown silt. Excavation units 1 17 to 124 form a transition zone between the two phases, as the pottery typology indicates. tJnits 90 to 112, above the units shown in Figure 8, contained Anza III materials except where several Vinta or Anza IV pits had been dug into the Anza III deposits. The radiocarbon date obtained from the sample from unit 191 (6660+110 BP) suggests a period about 200 years later than that of Anza II. The sample comes from the Anza III pit dug into the Anza II and Ib deposits.

Square V. Square V was equally important for the study of neolithic remainss in par-

ticular of the Anza I period. In this square most of the botanical samples were recovered, and the best examples of Anza I pottery came to light. Figure 9 shows the proElle of the east scarp of Square V, and Figure 10 presents the summary of stratigraphy of the whole square with an indication of excavation units (cultural levels), disturbed areas (Roman walls and pits), and post holes. The square was 3 x 3 m. and was dug to 4.60 m. depth. Modern and Roman materials (trenches, pits, and walls) mixed with Anza 111 materials in the upper deposits overlay Anza II, Ib, and Ia layers. A huge Roman pit had unfortunately been dug in the middle of this square down to the Anza Ib layer.

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. 1, 1974 39

sSe: :

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1 8 t"""2 4 S/2 9 1::: l 10 HR = House

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Figure 9. Stratigraphy in Square V: profile of east scarp. Key: 1) Sterile, light, fine-grained sandy silt. 2) Moderately loose

medium to dark-brown gravelly silt. 3) Moderately compact light-gray sandy silt with charcoal bits. 4) Very loose grayish

fine gravelly silt; disturbed. 5) Fine-grained yellow silt alternating with layers including charcoal bits: a-d. 6) Charcoal lens.

7) Moderately compact fine-grained medium-brown silt. 8) Moderately compact to loose fine-grained orange silt with large

bits of house rubble. 9) Moderately compact yellow-gray clayey silt. 10) Moderately compact fine-grained yellow-brown to brown silt.


Anza Ia. Soil 2, containing the earliest cultural remains (Anza Ia), was a brown gravelly silt from ca. 3.60-4.60 m. BDP. It overlay the sterile sandy silt layer. Compact yellow lenses, probably traces of several habitations, were intermittently deposited in this layer. Its bottom was uneven and composed of very dark and heavy soil. Most finds and carbonized wood pieces came from here. Excavation Units 64 to 128, with the exception of pits and post holes from the upper layers, belong to this period.

Anza Ib. Soil 5, of yellowish silt, extended from ca. 3.00-3.60 m. BDP. Prior to its deposition a considerable disturbance, represented by a loose gravelly silt layer, was evident (FIG. 9: 4). In the profile of the western wall of the square (not illustrated here) it was associated with a large fire-hardened feature. In the southern part of the square, post holes and deep pits of Anza Ib were dug into Soil 2 of Anza Ia (FIG. 10). In the southern part of the square, burnt house rubble lay directly above Soil 2. Several building periods

Figure 10. Idealized profile of Square V. Summary of units.

I DEALIZED PROFILE OF SQUARE Y

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are likely during the span of Anza Ib since this yellow silt layer was interspersed with house rubble, charcoal, and ashes. Units 50 to 58 contained diagnostic E1nds of Anza Ib.

Anza II. A layer of brown silt with charcoal lenses (FIG. 9: 6) overlay yellow Soil 5. It was of uneven thickness at a depth of 2.75-3.10 m. On top of this horizon was a 10 cm. thick deposit of burnt house rubble (FIG. 9: 7). In the southern part of this square, post holes of Anza II had been dug into the layer of Anza Ib (Soil 5). Units 20-33 belong to this period and represent the later part of Anza II.

Anza III. Soil 8, a layer of clayey silt, may represent another building period with deposition of Anza III materials. The brown silt layer (Soil 9), from 2.1 1-2.50 m. depth in the eastern portion of the square and down to 2.80 m. in its south-western corner, was much disturbed by Roman walls and pits. Throughout this layer finds of Anza III character were encountered.

Square V contained no Early Vinta (Anza IV) materials. Soil 10, from 1.62-

2.11 m. BDP, is a plow zone disturbed, as mentioned above, by Roman and

modern pits and trenches.

The cultural deposits of Square V represent at least seven habitation

horizons of the pre-Vinta culture: two of Anza Ia; two or three of Anza Ib; two

of Anza II; and one or two disturbed horizons of Anza III, mixed with and

topped by the architectural remains of the Roman period.

Three radiocarbon dates (TABLE I) were obtained from Square V: one from a

pit of Anza III (V, 62, connected with a 1 m. deep pit starting in the Level 7,

unit 21, and going down to Level 19, unit 62); the second and third from Anza

Ia layer (V, 107, and V, III).

Chronology of A rchitectural Remains. Architectural remains will be discussed here only as they are related to the

stratigraphy and chronology of the site. As previously mentioned, the study of

architecture in detail was a special task of the Yugoslav team excavating in the

center of the mound.

The sequence of the architectural traditions at Anza is as follows.

Anza I. Mud-brick architecture.

Anza II and III. Houses 8-10 m. long and 4 m. wide built of timber uprights daubed with clay. Stone foundations are also found (Squares, I, XI, XII, XVIII).

Anza IV. Split-plank walls daubed thickly with chaff-tempered mud as much as 15-20 cm. thick. Floors of tamped earth. The size of houses was 8 x 3 or 4 m.

The only area where remains of mud bricks have been observed was Square

I. Unbaked bricks of plano-convex shape were found in a yellow silt layer that

was much disturbed by later pits and the stone foundation of the Anza II

house. The bricks represent a collapsed wall (FIG. lOa).

Diagnostic sherds and figurines of the Anza II period were found above the

fallen wall of mud bricks. The chronology of the mud-brick architecture is thus

established as Anza Ib. The wall was uncovered with utmost care, but was not

removed because of the impossibility of extending the excavation season.

Mud-brick architecture was replaced in Anza II by timber houses built of

thin, round (D. ca. 15 cm.) posts standing close together. Figure 1 1 shows rows

of post holes (a corner and a long wall) uncovered in the Yugoslav squares un-

der the direction of M. Garasanin. Anza IV (Early Vinta) deposits were much

disturbed by Roman and modern activity in all excavated squares, but in

Square X five or six habitation horizons were revealed by superimposed lime


Figure lOa. Anza Ib, ca. 6000 s.c.,Square 1. Contours of plano-convex bricks are discernible in a fallen wall which is the earliest example of mud brick architecture in Europe.

Figure 1 1. Remains of Anza II houses built of timber uprights.

plaster floors. An idealized stratigraphy of this square (1969 season) is illustrated in Figure 12.

Three superimposed house floors were uncovered, and another earlier floor was excavated below these. The uppermost floor was made of lime plaster and had evidently been twice replastered. This latest, uppermost floor was hard- packed and flat. Over this floor, a burned wall shows evidence of wattle-and- daub construction, as well as split planks (up to 2.5 cm. thick by 15 cm. wide) alternating with beam studs. On the exterior the timber was daubed with thick, chaff-tempered mud in which impressions of grain husks and straw had been

85 SURFACE

g5 LEVEL 1

Scatter of walling 105 LEVEL 2 and Ceramic

LEVEL 3 115

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155 LEVEL 7 l l 162 LEVEL 8 |Nga ',g,Xft&,i,N,,$\g^XW Earliest Floor

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75 1 l l l

{1969) Northeast Quad Southwest Quad Southeast Quad Northwest Quad

4 Pit jPitllPiltl unexcalvated unexcavated unexcavated

_Fallen ll/all

R 14 \ Disturbed Area /

Figure 12. Stratigraphy of Square X ( 1969 season) showing superposition of three Anza floors.

H//g/SSt//zat m

- - - - m ---=-=v

petrified when the structure burned. A final coat of clay silt had been applied over the mud to create a smooth surface. The wall had burned all the way through, probably as a result of smouldering over a period of time. The second replastered floor also had a hard compact surface. The first of the three floors was not as hard-fired as the upper two, but it was the most extensive, covering an area of at least 42 sq. m. The earliest floor had not been burned and was of a different texture than the later floors. It was 2 cm. thick, grayish in color, compact, with small pebbles and sherds embedded. It consisted of tamped earth and organic material. House rubble above the floor was porous and not hard- fired.

Ecology.

Climate. The information about the climate was obtained from the analysis of wood

samples and the pattern of soils. Unfortunately, the analysis of pollen samples by E. Gruger revealed a high degree of oxidation within the upper 3-4 m. of soil, and recovery of identifiable pollen has proved extremely difficult.

The results of the analysis of wood samples done by H.J. Beug is given below in Table V.

Conceivably, the charcoal range for the various periods-shows something of the changing vegetational cover during neolithic settlement. Thus, the diversity of charcoal from Anza Ia varies from that of the later periods. The amounts of Juniperus here are conspicuously low, and those of Quercus quite high. In spite of the relatively inferior number of specimens in Anza Ia, more woody plant genera have been established in this time than in other periods. One may assume the charcoal range from Ia is representative of the then still extensive primordial vegetation situation; that in the course of settlement, Juniperlls, being most affected by man, accelerated the replacement of the forest.

Based on the major soil relationships as illustrated in Figure 7 the following tentative sequence of ;;soil-forming" events is proposed by Weide to account for most of the non-cultural variations among the soils of the Anza site.

1) With uplift and deformation of the soft lacustrine sediments that form the base of the site, intense and widespread mechanical disintegration of the siltstones and fine-grained sandstones produced a uniform and relatively thick blanket of sandy material across the upland margins of the ancient lake.

Table V. Distribution of charcoal finds from the periods Anza I-IV

lal Ia2 Ibl Ib2 II 111 IV Total Speci- Speci- Speci- Speci- Speci- Speci- Speci- men % men % men % men % men % men % men %

Juniperus 9 25.0 65 98.5 271 83.3 74 93.6 92 85.3 33 61.6 6 85.8 550 Pinus 3 8.3 2 1.9 5 Quercus 1 2 33.4 46 1 4.3 4 5. 1 1 2 11. 1 1 9 35. 1 93 Ulmus 7 19.5 1 1.5 4 1.2 1 1.3 1 0.9 8 14 Castanea 1 2.8 2 0.6 3 Ligustrum 2 5.5 2 Evonymus 2 5.5 2 Fraxinus 2 3.8 1 14.2 3 ct Platanus 1 0.3 1 Salix 1 0.3 1 0.9 2

Total 36 66 325 79 108 54 7


2) This surface deposit was subject to localized fluvial erosion that produced gullies and concentrated coarse debris in channels and other shallow topographic depressions.

3) During initial phases of occupation (Anza I), chemical weathering of sands and silts, plus the addition of cultural debris, led to the formation of local pockets of clay-rich soils. In general, however, the soils associated with the earliest phases of occupation are less modified than the later soils which overlie them.

4) Continued occupation, coupled with perhaps slightly more humid climatic conditions, intensiEled the production of clay-rich soils from the un- derlying sands and silts. During periods of intensive local runoff small len- ticular deposits of coarser gravel and rock fragments were formed on the soil surface. Usually such deposits were scattered or quickly buried. The soil formed during this phase would correspond with the unit of dark gray-brown, heavy clay soil with gravel lenses (Anza II).

5) Minor environmental changes are indicated by the deposition of soil units where sand and Elne gravel are deposited at the expense of clay.

6) At some point in time after the formation of the above soil unit, deposition of the light-brown clay-silt loams began under conditions of continuous occupation (Anza III and IV). The vertical transition within this unit in the form of coarse sands and gravels through zones where clay predominates and into the upper silt dominated areas indicates the possibility of a gradual though continued decline in available moisture throughout the general region of central Macedonia.

7) Conditions of aridity are indicated by the presence of a fairly high carbonate content in the light-brown sandy silt horizon.

8) Reoccupation of the Anza site during Roman times appears to have been responsible for the destruction of at least part of the carbonate-rich horizon.

9) Modern farming practices account for the uniform depth of the disrupted plough zone, while the rather low rainfall regime now characteristic of interior Macedonia appears to be reflected in the vertisol structures now forming in the upper 1 m. of soil. Calcium carbonate precipitation and accumulation are also a part of the current pedogenetic process (or have been active in the immediate past as shown by the carbonate coatings of most of the pottery sherds that date to Roman times).

Pollen studies from central and western European sites have shown that the European climate seems to have changed quite often during post-glacial times. The comparison of the data on climatic conditions elsewhere in Europe as outlined by Frenzell8 with the evidence for climatic history and chronology at An- za, as outlined above, gives the following picture (TABLE Vl):

Table VI. Tentative climatic history.

Anza periods True Age B.C. (approx.) Climatic Condition

Anza IV 5450 - 4850 warm and/or dry Anza III 5750 - 5450 cool and/or mist Anza II 6050 - 5750 cooling and/or wetter Anza Ib ca. 6200 - 6050 warm and/or dry Anza Ia 6500 - ca.6200 cool and/or wet


18. B. Frenzel, "Climatic Changes in the Atlantic/Sub-Boreal Transition on the Northern Hemisphere: Botanical Evidence," Proceedings of the Interntional Symposium on World Climate 8000-OBC(London- Royal Meteorological Society 1966) 108, fig. 4.

Species Ia Ib (VII, 122) II III IV large

deposit

Emmer wheat 40 7 XX 30 2 20 Einkornwheat S XX 3 2 23 Wheat spikelet forks XXX 26 1 19 Club wheat 15 Six-row barley 12 1 X 4 2 2 Barley rachis X Grass seed 1 X Oat X Lentil 2 X 4 1 7 Pea 3 3 2 Vetch 1 Apple X Cornelian cherry X Wild grape X Hazelnut 1 Fat hen X 10 Blackbindweed X 1 Knot grass X Dock 1 Greater bladderwort X


The Elve sequential climatic changes apparently did not severely affect agriculture at Anza; we cannot conclude from stratigraphy and the radiocarbon dates that the site was temporarily abandoned for any length of time during the overall period of occupation. The abandonment of the site after the Early Vinca period (Anza IV) appears to have taken place at the onset of a 400- year period marked by generally warm and/or dry conditions. Perhaps Anza was then unsuitable for agriculture. At the same time other sites at Ovce Polje, Rug Bair and Vrsnik, also were abandoned. Vinca sites of a later age are found to the north in the Morava and Danube basins of central Yugoslavia, a forested area of rolling hills. The modern climate represents perhaps the warmest and driest of the climatic patterns that could have occurred during the neolithic habitation of the Ovce Polje.

Cultivated Plants. The seeds from Anza were analysed

species are given in Table VII: by Jane M. Renfrew. The identified

Table VII. Seeds found at Anza 1969 and 1970. VII, 122 is a pit of Anza III period dug into II and Ib layers. The 14C date from its bottom is of Anza II age. Arabic numerals indicate number of seeds. XXX = chief component; XX = moderately frequent; X = present.

Since all this material was recovered by flotation and most of it occurred in very small quantities in each sample, it is likely that we have a fairly representative collection of information about the development of crop husbandry around this site in the early and later neolithic periods. It appears that emmer wheat, supported by smaller amounts of einkorn (until the increase in this crop in Anza IV) and hulled six-row barley, was the basic mainstay of the cereal crops as it was also in other areas of southeastern Europe and the Near East. The hexaploid club wheat appears in the Ia deposit, but not later. Peas and lentils represent the pulse crops. It is clear that wild fruits were gathered in season to supplement the food supply.

According to Jane Renfrew the appearance of the hexaploid wheat is most interesting; the closely related forms, bread wheat and club wheat, do not haoe a wild form and arise as a result of hybridization of a tetraploid wheat and another (unknown) species which contributed the D genome. They seem to

Table VIII. Neolithic vertebrate fauna of Anza: number of specimens.

Period I Period II Period III Period IV Total From A1- mixed together layers

spec. % spec. So spec. % spec. % spec. spec. spec.

cattle 115 9.60 101 13.47 89 6.84 496 16.17 801 1605 2406 sheep/goat 938 78.30 543 72.40 995 76.42 2067 67.40 4543 9557 14100 pig 99 8.26 74 9.87 115 8.83 351 11.44 639 1308 1947 dog 5 0.42 10 1.33 28 2.15 36 1.17 79 80 159 dom. animals 1157 96.58 728 97.07 1227 94.24 2950 96.18 6062 12550 18612

aurochs 15 9 2 22 48 113 161 red deer 4 5 3 21 33 51 84 roe deer 0 2 11 0 13 5 18 wild swine 7 1 5 5 18 27 45 badger 0 \ 0 0 1 1 0 1 brownbear 0 j 0 1 0 1 1 2 wolf 0 t ° 0 1 1 2 3 fox 0 ) 3.42 0 2.93 1 5.76 2 3.82 3 6 9 carnivore 0 t 0 0 0 0 4 4 beaver 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 brown hare 2 / 3 8 5 18 42 60 rodent 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 birds 1 0 8 0 9 10 19 tortoise 12 2 35 60 109 56 165 wild animals 41 22 75 118 256 317 573

Total 1198 750 1302 3068 6318 12867 19185

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. 1, 1974 47

have been particularly frequent in neolithic deposits of the southern Balkans, occurring only occasionally in the Near East, Anatolia, and Crete. This type of wheat is much better suited to baking purposes than einkorn or emmer, which lack gluten in their flour and so cannot be baked into anything lighter than biscuits.

Domestic A nimals.

Of ca. 45,000 animal bones, 19,185 specimens were identified by S. Bokonyi. The E1ve domestic species (cattle, sheep, goat, pig, dog) are in overwhelming majority, of which 10 percent are wild. The 15-17 wild species (aurochs, red deer, wild swine, badger, brown bear, wolf, fox, a small carnivore, beaver, brown hare, a small rodent, 2-4 birds, 1-2 tortoises) represent under 6 percent. No fish bones were recovered (TABLES VIII-IX).

Throughout the four Anza periods caprovines are the most frequent domestic species, followed by cattle, pig, and dog respectively. In the course of occupation caprovine numbers gradually decreased, while pig and cattle increased, except for a recession in Period III. Wild aurochs were the most common wild species, followed by red deer, brown hare, and wild swine. In general, the faunal assemblage resembles that of neolithic Greece; the domestic fauna is similar to that of the Koros culture of southeastern Hungary and northeastern Yugoslavia.

The domestic cattle were large or medium-sized. Individuals transitional between domestic and wild cattle attest to some local domestication. The sheep were small animals of a primitive type, the males heavily horned, the females hornless or with small rudimentary horns. Goats were heavily horned and

Table IX. Neolithic vertebrate fauna of Anza: number of individuals.

Period I Period II Period III Period IV Total

ind. So ind. So ind. SZo ind. % ind.

cattle 12 10.62 12 15.19 10 7.63 48 17.84 82 sheep/goat 80 70.80 49 62.03 85 64.89 161 59.85 375 pig 8 7.08 7 8.86 11 8.40 32 11.90 58 dog 2 1.77 3 3.80 5 3.82 7 2.60 17 dom. animals 102 90.27 71 89.88 111 84.74 248 92.19 532

aurochs 3 2 2 5 12 red deer 2 2 2 4 10 roe deer 0 1 3 0 4 wild swine 2 1 2 2 7 badger 0 1 0 0 \ 1 1 brownbear 0 j 0 1 j 0 1 wolf ° t ° 0 1 1 1 fox 0 ) 9.73 0 10.12 1 ) 15.26 1 7.81 2 carnivore 0 l ° ° l ° ° beaver 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 brownhare 1 1 1 2 1 2 6 rodent 0 0 0 1 1 birds 1 0 3 0 4 tortoise 2 1 3 4 10 wild animals 11 8 20 21 60

Total 113 79 131 269 592


larger than sheep. Pigs were small; there was no evidence of local domestication. Dogs were small, or less often medium-sized.

The wild animals, aurochs, wild swine, red deer, and roe deer were generally small to medium in size; badger and fox large; brown hare small. Cattle, goats, aurochs, red deer, and hare were killed at maturity; sheep and pig at a juvenile or sub-adult stage.

Sources. In the attempt to locate as many source areas as possible for the raw

materials used in the construction of neolithic tools, the stone implements from the excavation were first classiEled as to composition.

Four basic categories were established. These included 1) grinding implements used in the preparation of cereal crops, 2) polished stone tools, 3) chipped stone objects, and 4) miscellaneous lithic artifacts. Over 300 tools from these categories were examined and catalogued on the basis of their macroscopic petrology by Weide. The results of his research are presented in the following tables (TABLES X-XII).

It is apparent that the majority (81So) of the stone implements were composed either of andesite (a partially vesicular extrusive igneous rock) or a medium to fine-grained well-cemented sandstone. Of the chipped stone artifacts, well over 50So were either quartz or cryptocrystalline silicate material from volcanic rocks. Ground stone objects, on the other hand, were almost en- tirely derived from dense, extremely fine-grained metamorphic rocks.

To determine source areas of the specific rocks, geological reconnaissance of possible outcrops was done during the course of general field mapping. Investigation of available material was based on the fact that the bulk of the

Table X. Grinding Implements.

Rock type No. %

Andesite 16 31 Sandstone (medium to fine grained) 26 50 Basalt 4 8 Quartz latite 2 3.5 Metamorphic (undifferentiated) 2 3.5 Limestone (fine grained) 1 2 Quartzite 1 2

TOTAL 52 100

Table XI. Chipped Stone.

Sq. Sq. Sq. Rock type XI XIV XVII No. %

Yellow-brown translucent jasper 25 8 18 51 20 Quartz 29 18 39 86 34 Yellow-red opaque jasper 9 6 16 31 12 Miscellaneous rock fragments 17 9 26 52 20 Chert breccia 7 1 1 9 3.5 Chalcedony 5 5 2 12 5 Opalite (hydrated & non-hydrated) 6 4 4 14 5.5

TOTAL 255 100

Table XII. Ground Stone Composition.

Recrystallized felsite Fine-grained gabbro Lime-silicate hornfels Talc schist (steatite) Serpentinite Jadeite Fine-grained meta-basalt Jasper Flint

Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. I, 1974 49

stone objects recovered from the Anza site are of three forms of cryptocrystalline silicate material. These are, in approximate order of importance: 1) a cryptocrystalline rock derived from an extrusive volcanic terrain (technically jasper); 2) quartz and/or chalcedony; and 3) hydrated and non- hydrated opalites.

Jasper, in cobble to boulder size angular blocks, is sparsely distributed along stream courses throughout the north and northeast OvEe Polje. In all probability the outcrops of Tertiary volcanics lying northeast of Sv. Nikole are the original source area of the jasper. The Geological Map of Yugoslavial9 shows an area of such volcanics extending over approximately 600 sq. km. in this region. Colors range from a light golden brown to opaque black. Color in transmitted light (seen in specimens up to 1.5 cm. thick) is a clear golden yellow to clear brown. Fragments from the archaeological excavations often retain a white to light-yellow weathered cortex. This cortex is also common on the larger blocks recovered from stream channels. Other varieties of volcanic- derived jasper include a dark-red semi-granular form and a yellow-brown opaque form which was apparently distributed at random throughout the cultural deposit. Selection for red jasper increases tremendously in Anza IV. Of

1 9. 1 953, 1 :500,000.


all red jasper pieces examined, 8 370 are from Anza I contexts; 16<37o from Anza II and III; and fully 76<37o from Anza IV.

Quartz (with its amorphous counterpart, chalcedony) constitutes a major component of the local stream gravels and is common both as cultural and non-cultural material within the Anza site. The form which predominates is a milky-to-white amorphous or cryptocrystalline quartz with numerous internal fractures. This high degree of internal straining is evident in the abundance of random fractures on worked pieces. Pebbles and cobbles of similar quartz are locally quite common as skeletal material in the soils of the low hills and rolling uplands that form the margin of the basin.

Opalites and hydrated opalites form approximately 1 5So of the cryptocrystalline chipped stone tools. It is most probable that this material was originally derived from the rhyolitic portion of the Tertiary volcanics northeast of Sv. Nikole that supplied the jasper, andesites, and basalts used in the manufacture of grinding tools. Nodules of opalite were probably obtained as alluvial debris in local stream channels and from lenses of cobbles contained within the older stream terraces.

Grinding stones of volcanic rock probably had their source in the region northeast of Sv. Nikole. Under the present erosion regime, volcanic cobbles of a size suitable for artifact manufacture are not found in the vicinity of the Anza site. In the present particle-size gradient along the channel of the Sv. Nikole River, such cobbles do not occur south of the town of Sv. Nikole, over 14 km. distant. Well-cemented sandstones, however, similar in lithology to those forming 50 percent of the Anza grinding stones, are found in outcrop less than 4 km. to the south. No speciElc quarries were located. It is interesting to note that, assuming stream directions were the same during the Neolithic as today, natural stream transport could not have carried large cobbles of this well- cemented sandstone northward to the vicinity of the Anza site.

The last category of material to be considered consists of the rocks utilized in the manufacture of polished stone axes and other ground tools. Two source areas are possible for this material. First, small pools of jadeite and serpentinite are numerous in the basic, ultrabasic, and metamorphic rocks along the north and northeast flanks of Bogoslav Mountain. Although in situ outcrops of this material are generally masked by soil and colluvium, rounded clasts up to 20 cm. in length may be found along stream courses and erosion gullies. The second major source, especially for the isexotic" rock types such as quartzite, felsite, and fine-grained limestone, may be the small lenses of conglomeratic material that occur both in the Tertiary marine section and, to a lesser degree in the coarser sand units of the Pesirovo Formation. At the present time it is impossible to determine the original source area of these clasts.

Polished Stone Tools. Forty-three polished tools were recovered, including reconstructible

fragments. Their temporal distribution is as follows: 3, Anza I; 1, Anza II; 4, Anza III; 27, Anza IV. Their stratigraphic and chronological placement is quite unequivocal. The very large numerical increase in Anza IV suggests increased and varied activity.

The stone implements are classiEled as axes, adzes, picks, and hammerheads. They are made of "greenstone," a mineral composite of mainly serpentine and jadeite with intrusions of asbestos, which is abundant on the slopes of ttwe near- by Bogoslav Mountain. A few of the small tools are of pure jade, little pods of which occur in the jadeite. The color of greenstone runs the gamut of shades of

JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol. 1,1974 51

green, from almost white to almost black. At times the rock is veined, mottled, or spotted in beautiful combinations of patterns and contrasts.

The axes fall into two categories: miniature, 2-5 cm. long; and large, 5-10 cm. long. Small axes appear in Anza I, increasing in number in Anza II-III and IV. The wedge shape with rounded or pointed butt, with slight variations in size and thickness, is constant throughout the three phases for the small axes (FIG. 13). There is, however, a trend toward the reduction of width in the cross- section. The same is true of the chisels: the earlier are almost round in cross- section, the later ones are thin and flat. The chisel-like smaller tools and those of somewhat larger size tend to be parallel-sided. The large axes and axe adzes, consistently wider at the cutting edge than at the butt end, are reminiscent of the so-called "shoelast axes." Picks exhibit considerable srariation of size. Lengths are from 3.0 cm. to 8.4 cm.; widths are from 1.5 cm. to 5.1 cm. In cross-section at maximum width the size ranges from 0.35 cm. to 5.0 cm. The earlier picks are more rounded than the later.

The larger stone implements show great variety in size and shape, particularly in cross-section. Some are rounded, others rectangular and almost complete- ly flat.

In addition to the criteria suggested by Semeonov,20 the characteristically flat back of the adze was taken into consideration for purposes of typology. Other features to which attention was directed were as follows.

1) The "cutting platform" (the Rattened area, in most cases only on the back, but in a few isolated instances also on the front) of an axe, adze, or chisel. This area, ending at the sharp edge of the tool, was found to vary greatly. In some instances it was under 0.5 cm. in width, in others over 2 cm. 2) Assymetry. This can be ascribed to the resharpening of the tool. It is equally plausi- ble that the form of the tool is intentional and that this feature is related to function. 3) Absence of the platforms. Many of the Anza IV tools, especially the large ones, show no cutting platforms at all; the backs are gradually rounded towards the cutting edge, without a trace of dividing line. 4) Grooves. Some of the implements bear seemingly intentional grooves. 1

McPherron, in excavating the site of Divostin in Yugoslavia, has found evidence that axes were sawed out of the solid rock with the help of abrasives and water. Just before the end of this time-consuming process it would have been easy to break off the axe-like shape, leaving a rough, scar-like area on one side.2l On the other hand, the possibility is not excluded that the grooves are connected with some hafting device. Although there is as yet no evidence of hafting from sites in southeastern Europe, it is inconceivable that axes or adzes could have otherwise been put to use. Perforated stone axes were found only in the Anza IV period.

The techniques of micro-analysis and micro-photography used by Semeonov (see Note 20) were applied by B. Smoor to the few wedge-shaped small axes with quite surprising results (the large axes and adzes could not be taken out of Yugoslavia). Under the microscope the fronts of all these axes show extremely fine parallel striations perpendicular to the cutting edge (FIG. 14). Figure 14:3 of Anza IV shows additional striations on the left side at an angle of 45°. Accor- ding to the findings of Semeonov and Kantman this would indicate the characteristics of an adze. However, when we look at the wear pattern of the

20. "An axe is recognized by its symmetrical proElle, an adze or hoe by its assymetry, and a chisel by its small size." S.A. Semeonov, Prehistorie Teehnology (London 1970).

21. A. McPherron and D. Srejovic, Divostin (Belgrade 1974).

o fl t 3 W

:A : 2

Figure 13. Wedge-shaped, greenstone axes. Anza 11. I) From Square Vll, 159. 2) From Square Vll, 216.

1 1

1,,, 1 l

/ f' j i


backs of these tools, in each case the wear pattern is different. In summary, since none of the wear patterns conforms to the S;typical''

characteristics of either an axe or an adze, it would seem that all of the samples were S;multiple-purposes' tools, serving for the manufacture of vessels and con- tainers, for the cutting down of small trees, and for the smoothing of planks. They may have been used for other purposes as well.

Bone Tools. Sixty bone tools were found at Anza. The typology divides the artifacts into

four categories: awls; needles; spatulae; and others. The spatulae are an interesting feature of Anza. In Anza I there is only a

single fragment, which could also have been a polisher. (Bone pottery polishers are deElnitely present in Anza III, and in Anza IV they are abundant.) Although most of the Anza spatulae were fragmentary, one example was complete (FIG. 15) and many more of the type are known in related sites; it is not therefore difElcult to reconstruct the spatulae fragments. In all cases the thin blade-like tip has been preserved. The spatulae could have had several func- tionss such as pigment mixers or simply as small spoons.

g\4 X tj X ,X,,;_ -t 3

X4 0 9 5 6

Figure 14. Wedge-shaped axes as examined under microscope. Anza II (1,4), Anza III (2,5,6), Anza IV (3). I) Extremely fine striations running at 45° angle angle from left, and a small section of striations running from the right, all covering the cutting platform which in this unique case is double. 2) Fine parallel striations on the back, perpendicular to the cutting edge. Another series of fine striations perpendicular to the left side of the axe higher up. 3) The pattern is similar to that of (4): a series of striations starting on the left side and perpendicular to that side, gradually vanishing towards the center of the axe. 4) A series of fine striations on the back, starting on the left and perpendicular to this side, gradually fading out towards the middle of the axe. The cutting platform shows no striations. 5) Small jade tool with diagonal striations forming a cross pattern on the front. On the back, however, the striations are perpendicular to the axis of the tool. 6) A chisel, the back of which is unfortunately chipped off, with a series of striations running at an angle of 45° from left to right.


Several objects were unique: a violin-shaped object, the function of which is problematic, especially in view of the small perforation; and the perforated caput of a bovid femur whose function, because of its fragmentary state, is difficult to determine. On the whole, the bone tools are similar to those found in sites of the same chronology, especially at VrBnik and Rug Bair, sites close to : >;k S:

Sunsnwrv of Pottery Typology and Technolocy- g

Colorful vases probably made especially for religious ceremonies and other 1 l vessels found in the earliest cultural layer are of fine quality. By no means "primitive," they are undoubtedly the product of a long technical tradition. It is not germane at this point to bring up the problem of earlier proto- types-these have not been found in the Vardar region; possibly they will appear as a result of future explorations. We are confident, nevertheless, that the earliest Anza pottery is autochthonous. Admittedly it is related in quality and form to that of the "Early Ceramic" (Fruhkeramikum) stage in Thessaly and early Nea Nikomedeia, as well as to that of Hacilar IX-VI in Central Anatolia. But we do not infer from this fact that the Anza pottery is imported from those areas. At this stage, the Anza ceramic style already has its own "Macedonian" character.

There are three categories of wares according to quality: very fine, medium _ thick, and coarse.

The finest pots are maroon-slipped and red-burnished; they are extremely thin-walled, of well-fired clay almost without temper. The bonding of the maroon iron oxide slip to the orange clay body has not worked well, and the slip peels off easily. The maroon-slipped category includes elegant jars with body flared at the base (FIG. 16:2), and open straight walled bowls (FIG 16:1). The red-burnished jars are globular with gracefully swung profile (FIG. 16:3,5). Vessel forms are rounded, without lip or carination.

A small amount of medium-fine ware is decorated and seems to represent an initial stage of painting. These pots are thicker than the maroon-slipped or red- burnished; the clay is tempered with grit or pebbles and has a dark-brown core. The surface is orange-slipped, with designs, including triangles, curved lines, ovals, and net pattern, overpainted in white.

The medium-coarse ware is brown-slipped or pink-buff burnished. Jars and bowls have flaring rims (FIG. 16:6,7). Globular jars with a flat or concave base and two string-hole lugs at body center appear (FIG. 16:4). Thicker pots have applied crescent lugs. Ring bases of jars are common in the earliest horizon of this phase. A distinctive form is the quatrefoil base divided into four sections with an excised V in each (FIG. 17).

The coarse ware is unslipped salmon-pink or buff. The clay is coarsely tempered with grit, and the vessels are poorly fired.

A nza Ib.

Globular jars and open bowls remain the basic categories of shapes as in la. | _

The truncated-globe, red- or brown-burnished, is the most common shape in I 2 !! | | -

the fine ware category. Necks and rims, varying in height and degree of flare, _ i8il | l l | l 311

are quite frequent. Tall slender jars with cylindrical neck occur. -I | | I I I _

Medium-thick buff or pink-buff burnished jars with two solid or string-hole Figure 15. Bone spatula from Anza II, lugs seem to have become popular (FIG. 18). The perforation of the lug is SquareA.


Figure 16. Group of Anza Ia pots (reconstructed). 1) Maroon-slipped from Square V, 97. 2) Maroon-slipped from Square V, 92. 3) Red burnished from Square V, 109. 4) Buff from Square V, 125. 5) Red burnished from Square V, 125. 6-7) Buff from Square VII, 259.

b

Figure 17. Quatrefoil base of Anza Ia pot, divided into four sections with excised V in each (from Square V, 82). a) ProSlle. b) Bottom.

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2

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Figure 18. Anza Ib pink-buff burnished jar with perforated lugs (Square V, 36) and lug of another jar (Square Vl 1, 222).

- -

:;

:

Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 1, 1974 55

usually horizontal, but some lugs are vertically perforated as in Hacilar, central Turkey. Coarse ware is decorated with finger-tip impressions, stabbing, and in- cisions. Ring, flat, and quatrefoil bases continue from Anza Ia. Miniature cups sometimes have a quatrefoil base.

Painted vases are thin-walled, the fabric usually without temper. Vessels were painted with iron oxide pigments, and afterward burnished. Painted or- namentation is most commonly white on a ground of red, brown, or black (the black background the result of intentional smoking). An orange-red paint on a cream-slipped background is also found. Characteristic of this phase are whirl patterns made of triangles, geometricized leaves and buds, and rows of dots at- tached to white lines, probably abstract plant designs (FIG. 19). Symbolic design also included eggs and moon crescents. So far there are no close analogies in either Greece, Yugoslavia, or Bulgaria, for this surprisingly rich and aesthetically pleasing painted pottery. It represents a local ceramic development which reached a climax in the period following Anza Ia.

A nza 11.

Changes in shapes, colors, and designs between Anza Ib and II are marked. Fine ware of burnished maroon-slipped straight-walled bowls, highly bur-

nished red-slipped jars on a raised foot, and well-burnished black ware with profiled or everted lip continue in the tradition of Anza I, but the almost mirror-like sheen of the vessels exhibits progress in the technique of burnishing. The use of a new manganese pigment initiates a new decorative style: chocolate-brown painting on orange-slipped vases. This mode persists until the start of the Vinta (Anza IV) period; the designs are curvilinear (FIG.

20) but the symbolic elements of the earlier period, such as triangles, con- secutive dots and lines, and the net pattern, continue in the repertoire. Exclusive to Anza II was also painting in red-on-red or on maroon (FIG. 21),

brown-on-red, or red-on-brown, and occasionally brown-on-cream. The coarse clay with vegetable temper contrasts with the untempered fabric of the very thin vases of Anza Ib.

The shapes of globular and oval pink-buff and gray coarse wares are more varied than in earlier phases. Though bases are uniformly flat, necks are cylindrical, sharply everted, or with an outward flare at the rim (FIG. 22). A great variety of techniques were also employed in the plastic decoration of the vessels: streaking, incising, stabbing, shell impressing, pinching with finger nails, stamping. Decoration is confined to the portion below the neck, and either covers the entire body or only the lower part. A style of decoration called "Barbotine," accomplished by thick but random smearing with heavy slip, is common on large, yellow-slipped gray jars and bowls (FIG. 23).

A nza 111.

There is no abrupt change of style between Anza II and III. Fine and coarse vessels continue the same traditions. Maroon-slipped and red-slipped vases are prominent in the fine ware category, which is outstanding for its quality. Even the shapes of the maroon-slipped, usually straight-walled open bowls continue. Orange-red slipped footed vases are decorated with brown paint as in Anza II. The painted design is more tectonic than in Anza II; converging vertical lines are painted lengthwise from top to foot, or alternate with thick lines or lenses. Around the rim there is a simple or indented band, a row of crosses or net design, or a band of garlands (FIG. 24). Slightly biconical black-burnished or

a

b

Figure 19. Painted designs of Anza Ib. a) Whirl pattern composed of triangles painted white on black burnish. b) White designs painted on red or brown.

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c

Figure 20. Vases with painted design in chocolate-brown on background of orange-slip (reconstructions). Anza II (Squares I, VII).

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Figure 21. Vase with design painted red on maroon-slip. Anza II (Square VII, 127).

Figure 23. Fragment of large pot with "Barbotine" decoration. Anza II (Square VII, 204).

Figure 22. Anza II. a) Sharply everted rim from Square VII, 145. Medium-coarse ware with outward flaring rims: b) from Square VII, 209; c) from Square VII, 149.

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Figure 24. Anza III. Brown-on-orange painted jars (reconstructions). a) From Square VII, 98. b) From Square VIII, 18; XIX, 225. c) From Square XVIII, 141.

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Figure 25. Anza III: Square V, 6. Frag- ment of large gray storage jar with finger- tip impressions on raised ridge around middle.

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a

b

Journal of Field Archaeology/ Vol. I, 1974 57

maroon-slipped pots are present. Beaded and slightly out-turned and sharply everted rims are as frequent as during Anza II.

The impressed, stamped, and barbotine decoration of medium and coarse utility wares continue from Anza II. The large pots are globular jars with cylindrical neck and open bowls with straight, out-turned, or somewhat inverted rim. They range from brown-and yellow-slipped to pinkish-buff burnished and gray or dark-gray unslipped varieties. The large storage jars, usually gray,- have a raised ridge with finger tip impressions around the middle (FIG. 25).

Anza IV.

Anza IV is characterized by great quantities of Dark Wares: gray-black- burnished or black-slipped and hard fired, as well as by a much greater variety of shapes and handles than during the previous periods. Flat and rounded plates, a variety of biconical vessels, carinated dishes, zoomorphic or ornithomorphic vases, and high-footed vases or "fruit stands" are now leading forms in the fine ware category (FIGS. 26-32).

Channelled and black-topped vases (the black tops of dishes or biconical vessels were obtained through intentional smoking of the upper parts of pots) represent a new style of decoration. The new decorative techniques coincide with the appearance of button handles in the earliest habitation level of the Early Vinta settlement at Anza, i.e., Anza IVa (FIG. 33). These features have parallels in the East Balkan Karanovo culture and seem to be borrowed from the east. Handles and lugs are imaginative and stylistically unique during IVb (FIGS. 28, 30-32).

Spouted and perforated vases (sieves or lamps) are also innovations. Three or four-legged cult vessels incised with ideograms or conceptual designs22 are typical of the Early Vinta complex, but in shape recall the Karanovo III and IV cult vessels(FIG. 34).

The changes in ceramic art at this time, which corresponds with Karanovo III in central Bulgaria, are noticeable all over the central Balkan area and Northern Greece.23 Anza IV pottery has close analogies in a series of Early Vinta sites in Macedonia and Serbia. An "eastern shock" cannot be denied. The transformation from Anza III to Anza IV is synchronous with the period of remarkable increase of population and the expansion of Karanovo III elements from central Bulgaria (the Marica valley) to the Danube valley in southern Rumania, hitherto occupied by the Startevo (Cris) people, and south of the Rhodope Mountains into Greek Macedonia and Thrace. A wave of Karanovo-based influences reached the central Balkans at the same time. We emphasize the word influences since Anza IV materials do not furnish us with substantial evidence of such complete cultural change as to imply an ethnic shift. The change seems to be the effect of new inspiration on local traditions. So, at least, it is reflected in the ceramics.

Alongside the "exotic" features in Anza IV ceramic art such as button handles and decoration by channelling and black-topping which we consider to be borrowings from eastern neighbors, other elements of pottery-making continued from the Anza III period. The "Vinta type" blackwares start in Anza III. Fine and medium-Elne brown, as well as coarse brown pottery, continue

22. I.e., various combinations of Vs, chevrons, three lines, groups of parallel lines, net, and checkerboard patterns.

23. Cf. Arapi, upperlayer: H. Hauptmann and B. Milogtic, "Die Funde der fruhen Dimini-Zeit aus der Arapi-Magula, Thessalien," Beitrage zur ur- und fShgeschichtlichen A rchaologie des Mittelmeer-Kulturraumes 9 (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt 1969) pls. II and 17.

Figure 26. Anza IV dishes, flat and rounded. a) Coarse ware (IX, 55; I, 6, 9, 10). b) Fine, burnished and decorated with channeling on interior and black-topping (I, 10; X, 4; VII, 66: X, 27).


Figure 27. Anza IV. Carinated bowls with decorations of channeling and applied bosses. 1 ) Square XX, 10. 2) Square XXIV, 7. 3) Square I, 18. 4) Square XXIII, 16.

Figure 28. Anza IVb. Vessels with long handles and narrowed mouths. 1) Square Vlll, 32. 2) Square VII, 83. 3) Square XV, 9. 4) Square X, 13. 5) Square XIV, 15.

@ 3 cm

1 1

from Anza III to the end of Anza IV. Biconical bowls and footed vessels, shapes which clearly dominate throughout the Vinca civilization, have their beginnings in Anza III. Painting techniques also continue from Anza III. White slip and red-on-white painting is new, though seemingly a local innova- tion. The very frequent representation of the Bird Goddess face on the cylindrical neck of vases during Anza IV has its roots in Anza III. The Bird Goddess continues to be the most prominent divinity at Anza, as reflected by the miniature sculptures portraying a Bird Goddess, the most numerous among the representations of gods in both the Starcevo (Anza II and III) and the Early Vinca (Anza IV) periods.

The study of pottery and figurines does not support the hypothesis of an im- migration of the Vinca people from the east, i.e., from Anatolia, as has been presumed for the last 30 years by a number of archaeologists. The strorXg *m- pact from the East Balkan Karanovo civilization is nevertheless indicated by many features in the ceramic art, and its implications cannot be overlooked.

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Figure 29. Anza IV, flne ware. Brown footed vessel from Square X, 17.

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Figure 30. Anza IVb. Brown dish, ornithomorphic protomes from Square X, 179.

Figure 31. Anza IVb. Zoomorphic handle of black burnished vase from Square XVI, 11.

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Figure 33. Anza IVa. Button handles of burnished gray vases. 1) Square XIX, 5. 2) Square X, 27.

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Figure 32. Anza IVb. Gray burnished askos from Square XIII.

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Figure 35. Anza Ib. I) Greenstone pendant from Square VI, 17. 2-3) Bone rings, Square XV, 8; VII, 219. 4) Stone beads, Square XIII.

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Figure 36. Anza II. White marble toad from a sacrificial pit. Perhaps epiphany of the Goddess in birth-giving aspect.

Figure 34. Anza IV. Cult vessel with incised decoration characteristic of Early Vinca culture from Square X, 27.

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60 Anza, a Cultural Yardstick/G.imbutas

Ornaments and Other Small Finds. There are 77 items in this category including a considerable variety of or-

naments, pendants, beads, discs, and bracelets made of a variety of materials: shell, bone, clay, and stone. The miniscule objects, such as tiny annular beads were found through flotation.

Unique finds of Anza I are two fragments of musical instruments: pipes with flattened base and wind holes. Both are made of long bones, very well polished; a groove on one indicates long use. So far, no parallels from Neolithic settlements of the same period are known. The instruments belong to the Anza Ib phase. The preserved length of one of the pipes (XIII, 63) is 4.63 cm., the cross-section 1.63 cm. at its widest diameter, and the diameter of the hole, 0.06 cm.

The exquisite quality of the Anza I stone carving tradition may be seen in the smooth greenstone pendant (FIG. 35:1) and in the tiny annular, tubular, and disc-shaped beads made of various shades of greenstone (FIG. 35:4). For ornaments, as for the small greenstone axes and chisels, Anza I people selected stone of striking or unusual color, light or dark, mottled, or with spots on dark green. Small discs of very rich dark green stone apparently served as decoration for garments. Evidence for this custom is present on the figurines which display tiny appliqued discs in a row across the shoulders in front, or around the waist or hips.

Stone ornaments or amulets have parallels in northern Greece. For instance, the pendant sectioned into five parts by parallel grooves is closely analogous to one at Nea Nikomedeia.24 Probably amulets representing a chrysalis, their significance relates to the concept of regeneration. The Anza I mode of stone carving is similar to that of marble and greenstone beads, studs, and pendants in Thessalian and Macedonian Early Pottery layers. At Anza, however, studs (usually called "ear plugs" or 'nose plugs") have not been discovered.

The high standard of bone carving is indicated by the two fragments of pendants or rings from the Anza Ib deposits (FIG. 35:2,3). The ring illustrated in Figure 35:3 is exquisitely polished.

Ornaments of Spondylus gaederopus shell, a mussel native to the Aegean Sea, known from all phases of the Anza site, prove that for many centuries people in the Vardar basin were getting this shell in trade with their southern neighbors. Spondylus beads and a ring came to light in Anza Ib deposits.

With the exception of beads, stone ornaments and pendants were not as popular as in Anza I, though two pendants of bone and a marble bead do belong to Anza II-III. Instead, bracelets of Spondylus or clay became fashionable. The Spondylus bracelets belong exclusively to the Anza II phase; those of clay to both Anza II and Anza III. Considering the long duration of Anza II and III, ornaments are rather low both in quantity and quality. Standards were apparently not as high as in Anza I. Ceramic discs, perforated and unperforated, may have been used as spindle whorls or for garment ornaments as in Anza I. Parallels are known from almost all Starcevo and Sesklo settlements.

The Anza IV ornaments include a variety of beads, bone and marble rings, and Spondylus bracelets. A considerable number of beads made of Spondylus and other shells, including very fragile tubular shells of Aegean origin, have close parallels in the East Balkan area and in the Cyclades. Similar tubular shell beads from the island of Paros are on exhibition in the Athens National Museum. Marble and greenstone were used for stone discs.

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Figure 37. Anza IV. Terracotta torso fragment from Square VII, 10.

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Figure 38. Anza II. Schematic figurine of squatting female from Square VII, 196.

Figure 39. Anza II. Seated beaked female from Square I, 36. 24. Rodden, op. cit. (in note 7, 1964) pl. 4B.


F* a

gurlnes.

The total number of figurines discovered during the two seasons of excavation is 70. Comprised in this number are sculpture fragments, such as legs, heads, torsos, zoomorphic protomes of cult vessels, and anthromomorphic or ornithomorphic vases.

The chronological classification of the sculptures is Anza I, 5; II-III, 16; IV, 49.

Provenance.

The provenance of the figurines and cult vessels was in either of two contexts: 1) above the floors of houses or in the debris of house walls, usually in association with fine pottery; 2) in pits, probably sacrificial, together with painted or carefully burnished ware, offering tables, animal bones, teeth, claws or antlers, ceramic discs, and other objects.25

Within the houses, figurines seem to have been grouped in a single locality such as a dais or altar, since most of them were found in clusters. Most of the figurines and ornithomorphic vases and zoomorphic protomes of cult vessels of the Anza IVb period were found in definite association above the floor of the last Vinca house in Square X. The striking number of ornithomorphic- anthropomorphic vases and bizarre vessels with horned animal protomes that accompanied beak-faced figurines shows that this house either included a domestic shrine or was itself a temple.

Manufacture.

Broken clay figurines reveal certain details of manufacture. A round or cylindrical solid core was prepared from a lump of well-tempered clay; then the desired contours were added onto the core and shaped by finger modeling (FIG. 37). The various parts and limbs buttocks, legs, arms, necks, heads were individually modeled, then joined to the central core. On completion, the figurine was smoothed with a bone polisher, then either burnished by rubbing with a pebble, or slipped (i.e. given a finish coating) by dipping in a solution of finely-grained clay to which color had been added. Eyes, ornaments, dress, hair, or symbolic decorations were indicated by excisions encrusted with white paste made of crushed shell, or by overpainting in red. Red and white is the usual color combination throughout the whole sequence of the Anza settlement.

Function.

Despite the varying degree of schematization that prevails in the art of Anza and in neolithic art in general (FIG. 38), some parts of the human body, buttocks, thighs, bellies, breasts, were occasionally rendered realistically with masterful skill.However the primary function of sculpture was not represen- tational, but presentational: its aim was a plastic manifestation of an item in the symbolic and shared lexicon. A divinity is a corporate image of an amalgamated metaphysical concept; and a hybrid creature such as bird- woman, snake-woman, or other compound was by its form immediately in- telligible in terms of the symbolic "language" of neolithic peoples. Thus an anthropomorphic figure may have, instead of a human mouth and nose, a beak; instead of arms, arm-stumps or other appendages neither arms nor wings, but something suggestive of both.

25. E.g., in figure 1, the contents of the pit in Unit 213, Square VII, which comprised a marble FIgurine of an anthropomorphized toad (fig. 36), a zoomorphic (deer) figurine, a bear claw, a ceramic disc, a grinding stone, and brown-on-red painted vase sherds of Anza II.

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Figure 40. Anza II. Bird-woman from Square I, 9.


Typology and Interpretation. In spite of the fragmentary nature of some of the Elgurines, the following

classification can be offered.

1) Beaked, Elgurines with or without arm-stumps. These have incised eyes or no eyes; no mouth; and the head is usually crowned. 2) Anthropomorphic-ornithomorphic vases with a bird beak and human eyes, in relief or incised, on the cylindrical neck. 3) Seated Elgurines of which only the buttocks are preserved. They are too fragmentary for the deElnition of type represented, but some of these were probably in a squatting position. 4) Legs of standing or enthroned Elgurines. 5) Phallic stands, some with animal heads, and figurines with no female attributes. 6) Animals. 7) Zoomorphic protomes of cult vases and animal figures shown in relief on large vases.

The Bird Goddess. The beaked type of Elgurine is dominant. More than 20 examples came to

light, including cult vessel protomes and cylindrical necks of vases on which beak and eyes are portrayed. There is no question but that the type represents a divinity which assumes a bird's shape, her usual image being a half woman-half bird. She has a bird's beak and neck, arm stumps for wings, female buttocks, and one or two conical legs. Her head is crowned. The type appears in all phases of occupation at the Anza site and has parallels in many settlements of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic. It is one of the stereotypes in the pantheon of gods of Old Europe.26

Two almost fully preserved small sculptures of a Bird Goddess date from the Anza II period. The Elrst is in the seated position and wears a hip-belt and crown (FIG. 39). The second hybrid has a fused conical leg and protrusions indicating wings, a beaked face, and flattened crown (FIG. 40). The fusion of human and bird features and the combination of abstraction and naturalism are impressive. The gracility of a bird and the projecting but perfectly modeled female buttocks are molded into a single form. Although miniature in size (both are little over 3 cm. high), they convey the mystery appropriate to an important divinity. Their status is shown by the indication of a crown: two semi- globular projections on the flattened top of the head and a slightly projecting edge. The seated goddess is painted red. Around the buttocks she wears a hip- belt, an excised line encrusted with white paste; the eyes and the lines around the semi-globular projections of the crown are also encrusted with white paste. The standing figurine is burnished orange-buff and the hip-belt is shown in a red-painted line.

Unquestionable predominance of the Bird Goddess image obtains also in the Anza IV period. The small beaked and crowned ladies with arm stumps (if preserved), are stylistically similar to those of earlier periods, but are almost devoid of naturalistic details. Many are rigidly stylized; even eyes are rare (FIG. 41), but the symbolic crown is almost always indicated. A badly damaged vase protome in the shape of a head with two semi-globes (FIG. 42) iS highly reminiscent of the famous "Hyde vase" from the Vinta site.27

In addition to small Elgurines and small cult vessels with Bird Goddess

26. M. Gimbutas, The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, 7000-3500 B.C.: Myths, Legends, and Cult Images (London 1974) 1 12-142.

27. Ibid., pls. 116, 117.

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Figure 41. Anza IV. Terracotta figurine fragments from Square IX, 57. Upper: proposed reconstruction. Lower: front view and section showing perforation through crown.


protomes, there are large vases with cylindrical neck on which are represented two carefully modeled eyes. Their eyebrows in relief or incised meet in the center to suggest a "beak form." The large, plastically rendered eyes are human, but the beak is that of a bird (FIG. 43).

The most magniElcent vase of Anza is a large pithos, 92 cm. high and 60 cm. wide through the shoulders. Its cylindrical neck (D. 24 cm.) bears a pointed beak in relief, incised lozenge-shaped eyes, red-painted bands over the cheeks, and a plastically rendered necklace below. The body is painted with red diagonal bands which meet in the front to form a multiple V or chevron pattern. The space just below the neck is painted solid red. The two bottom bands below the shoulders are connected by vertical stripes giving the impres- sion of a belt, perhaps representing an elaborate hip-belt (FIG. 44). This is the largest pithos so far known in the Vinta culture area, and at the same time the most monumental portrayal of the Bird Goddess. The Vs, chevrons, or extended and connected Vs forming zigzags, meanders, interconnected Vs, as well as two or three parallel lines sometimes connected by a vertical line, are ideograms that appear on schematic sculptures of the Bird Goddess and on cult vessels which apparently served in the ceremonies connected with her worship (cf. FIG. 34). Several fragments of sacrificial vessels were incised with more complicated signs in lines,28 known in the corpus of Vinta signs.29

The Snake Goddess.

The Anza II bone Elgurine with long cylindrical neck ending in a snake head and a perforation through the chest may very well be an amulet in the likeness of the Snake Goddess (FIG. 45). A snake-like head (discovered in Bloc F, Level 12), also of the Anza II period with human eyes, a bump-nose, and six holes representing a mouth may be attributed to a large figurine of the Snake Goddess. Some totally schematic versions of seated goddesses may be "shorthand" symbols of this image (FIG. 38).

The Male God and Phallic Stands.

The existence of a male god cult at Anza during the neolithic and chalcolithic periods cannot be established on the basis of the existing figurine sample. A torso wearing a disc-shaped medallion in front and in back, from the Anza II period (FIG. 46) may be male, since breasts are not indicated; analogous male Elgures wearing such medallions are known from Late Vinta sites such as Valat at Kosovska Mitrovica.30

Phallus-shaped stands are numerous. Some have projections in the middle, possibly an indication of male genitalia. Others, topped by schematicized animal heads, are a frequent representation of the Anza II (Startevo) period. Still another type is a stand with a round flat base decorated with pits.

Animals.

All periods of the site have yielded animal Elgurines. The more articulate sculptures can be identified as those of dogs, rams, ibexes and he-goats, and

28. Paula Korosec and Josip Korosec, Predistoriska naselba Barutnica kaj A mzibegovo vo AIakedonija. Izvestaj za iskopuvanjeto vo 1960 (Dissertationes et AIonographiae 15 [1973]) pl. XIII:S, 10.

29. Milton McChesney Winn, "The Signs of the Vinca Culture: An International Analysis; Their Role, Chronology and Independence from Mesopotamia" (PhD dissertation, UCLA, 1973).

30. Gimbutas, op. cit. (in note 26) pl. 16. In re to male gods, see discussion on the Year God, pp. 2 1 6-234.

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Figure 42. Anza IV. Bird Goddess protome from Square XXIII, at depth of 1.3-1.4 m. Upper: profile and front view. Lower: proposed reconstruction.

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Figure 43. Anza IV. Bird Goddess face (reconstructed) from Square VII, 24.

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Figure 44. Pithos with face of Bird Goddess on the neck.

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Figure 45. Anza II-III. Snake-headed bone figurine perforated through chest from Square XIX, at depth of 1.55-1.65 m.

toads (FIGS. 38, 47-48). Only a single fragmented sculpture is construed as representing a bull; another badly damaged animal head, found with the marble figurine of a toad, is possibly that of a deer. Of the total number, ten are discrete sculptures, the others are heads decorating cult vases or shown in relief on large vases. A stylized head of a he-goat or ibex with broken horns from Period Ia has a vertical perforation and may have been a pendant (FIG. 47 ).

The zoomorphic sculptures, like the anthropomorphic, are abstract, stylized, and symbolic. That they are sculptures of mythical animals can be concluded from the types represented in the Anza corpus, from their stylization and appearance as protomes of elaborate cult vases, from the peculiar associations with human figurines and other finds, as well as from parallels in other sites.

Conclusion. The figurines and ceremonial vases are witness to religious practices, to the

worship of various gods, and to a rich mythical iconography. The corpus of Anza Elgurines from various periods of occupation includes


several types of the female deities worshipped there and of their manifestations in animal forms. All the images have close parallels at other sites of the Starcevo and Vinca periods in Yugoslavia. The Bird and Snake Goddess is variously represented. The morphological attributes may refer to a single aspect, either Bird or Snake; or, in combined form, to her dual aspect as both Bird and Snake. She is the dominant deity at Anza as she seems to be in the case of other settlements of the Vinca period.

Because of their number and association the Anza figurines provide the most important source so far available from southern Yugoslavia for the study of the religion and art of the Starcevo and Early Vinca cultures.

Recapitulation: Anza as a Cultural Yardstick. O 3 t 3 _- _K

A nza I, Early Neolithic. Despite affinities with the Aegean-Anatolian world in ceramic art, stone and

bone carving traditions, and mud-brick architecture, local personality" is ob- vious in the early stages of Anza. The climate was wetter than at present, and the area, now bare, was forested. The oak and other genera (Quercus, Pinus, Juniperus, and Ulmus), well represented in Anza I, but decreasingly so in following phases, attest to probable encroachment of agricultural and pastoral activities on forested land. Emmer wheat, einkorn, and hulled six-row barley, accompanied by peas and lentils, were found at this early stage. Hexaploid club wheat was limited to Anza Ia. At this time, Ia is the only site in Yugoslavia and the whole Danubian basin that can be shown to have had under cultivation the complete range of neolithic crops. Sheep, goats, cattle, and pig were bred and used for food; caprovines were the most frequent species. The numerical scarci- ty of wild animal bones shows that the dependence on hunting was small and demonstrates the emphasis of the local economy on animal husbandry. Sickle sheen on flakes and blades is observable in the sample from the earliest village at Anza.

The earliest pottery is advanced in technique, including thin fine wares, maroon-slips, burnishing, and painted decoration of white on red. In addition to the coarse everyday ware, graceful jars and bowls were produced for ceremonial use. Polished pendants, beads, and amulets, as well as small delicate axes and chisels, were carved of local greenstone and marble. Bone artifacts include well polished spatulae, awls, perforated needles, pendants, and pipes with wind holes (musical instruments).

Anza II-III, Middle Neolithic. This is a long period of organic local development, gradually more in-

dividualized and more homogeneously continental, while at the same time preserving many elements of earlier Aegean flavor. Local trends become more pronounced. Houses are now built of timber uprights. Ceramic art and figurine style are typically Balkan-Starcevo. Trade relations with the south are abun- dantly continuing evidenced by Aegean shell ornaments of Spondylus. Anza II coincides with climatic conditions slightly more humid than those of Anza I. A gradual decline of available moisture ensued during Anza II. Caprovines decreased, while cattle and pigs increased; but agricultural activities, indicated by cultivated plants and stone tools, do not show marked changes.

Anza IV. No clear hiatus separates Period IV (Early Vinca) from Period III (Late

Starcevo). The distinction is perceptible as a variety of cultural modiElcations.

Figure 46. Anza II. Terracotta torso wearing disc from Square VII, 155.

O o1 g 3 cf

_

Figure 47. Anza Ia. Terracotta horned animal head from Square V, 118.


Changes are seen in plant cultivation and husbandry. Along with the increase of einkorn wheat and lentils, cattle, and pigs, there was an increase in the number and variety of stone tools, accompanied by a wide exploitation of lithic materials including red jasper. Copper appeared at this time.

Innovations in that sensitive archaeological indicator, ceramic art, reflect influences from the eastern Balkans. The innovations, black-topped finish, handles, spouts, organically incorporated zoomorphic forms, all are specific items of the Karanovo III styles of central Bulgaria. The assimilation of the new elements is demonstrated by enrichment and ramification visible in the in- digenous product. The long-standing question as to the origin of the civilization called Vinca is resolved at last by Anza. Local development in the course of Period IV clearly shows both embryonic form and its consequent florescence, while the figurines are witness to the continuity of the pantheon of gods and religious traditions.

At the height of its development, the site of Anza was abandoned. Since there is no evidence of destruction or attrition, the reason cannot definitely be stated. Although Anza IV coincides with a warming and drying period, the climatic change was a gradual process. The archaeological record does not, however, reflect this fact as a necessarily negative factor. There is no sign of economic deterioration or decline. Why it was abandoned is still a matter of conjecture.

Figure 48. Anza IV. Terracotta ram's O 4 X 3 head figure, possibly from a cult vase, from Square X, 45.

Affarija Gimbutas, Professor of European A rchaeology and Curator of Old World Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, has excavated Neolithic stratified sites at Obre in Bosnia, at Sitagroi in Affacedonia and at Achillefon in Thessaly in addition to Anza. Her most recent book is, The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, 7000-3500 B.C.: Myths, Legends and Cult Images (London. Thames and Hudson, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1974).

Documents

Anza, ca. 6500-5000 B.C.: A Cultural Yardstick for the Study of Neolithic Southeast Europe - Marija Gimbutas