The transition from the 6th to 5th millennium BC opened the era of metal/copper ore processing. Simultaneously, archeological evidence suggests that there was an increase in the use of personal household shrines. The Vinča civilization was part of this transition; they were the proto-Europeans along the Danube, so their culture and their art were important for later European developments. The Vinča archeological site near Belgrade was used from ca. 5,700 BCE to 1,600 CE. The Neolithic lasted until ca. 3,200, followed by the Bronze Age with the Vatin culture, which used metal tools. The archeological dig relating to f the last period ca. 800-1,600 has uncovered the largest Serbian necropolis. The Vinča Culture is somewhat earlier than the Varna’s that I had mentioned in the Bulgarian blogs. Early on, the Vinča main import was obsidian or volcanic glass from the Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia, Spondylus and Glycymeris shells from the Aegean Sea and salt from the Carthathians. Salt was the most precious commodity in the ancient world, but obsidian was prized as it was hard enough to use as an efficient tool and weapon. The shells were used for jewelry and ornamentation. Ornamentation was an important facet of Vinča art. The Vinča votive figures have sculpted faces with pronounced eyes and noses. They are moulded in clay according to fixed patterns and frequently have birdlike stare, which is very similar to those of the Varna culture in Bulgaria from approximately the same timeperiod. They too have explicitly depicted sexual traits, curly female locks, are naked or dressed, some have engraved hair, and some are without a clearly discernable gender. The figurines are an expression of the Neolithic spiritual life along the Danube.
At the peak of the development of the Vinča world, in the Bronze Age, when the “baroque” aesthetic became ubiquitous, the sculpted art yielded figurines with bodies entirely covered by ornaments. Some figurines were given distinct facial characteristics. Over time, however, the detailed artistic expressions disappeared and more mask-like faces appeared. (Borić-Breškovič 37)
Vinča Civilization – Serbia
Vinča Neolithic goddess, Vinča Museum, Serbia
Vinča Neolithic figurines, Vinča Museum, Serbia
Neolithic Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia
Neolithic figurines, Kosovo Museum, Kosovo
Neolithic Figurines, Kosovo Museum, Kosovo
(To be Continued)
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