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Slavonski Brod, Galovo, Archaeological Excavations 2009
Kornelija Minichreiter
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In July 2009, on the Galovo plot in the north-east section of Slavonski Brod, the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb continued systematic archaeological excavations of the Early Neolithic Starčevo culture settlement belonging to its initial development stage, Linear A. During the 12 years of excavations, a surface of 3000 m2 has been explored, out of which 372 m2 were excavated in 2009. The work was done on the area which extended from last year’s excavations in a part of the settlement stretching east of working pit-dwellings 205, 207 and 291 and southeast of the ritual burial area, unearthed in 1997, the first year of excavations. The above-ground rectangular structure 955 (the oldest unearthed Starčevo culture structure of this sort in Croatia) and pits 323, 1121 and 1155 were explored. The foundations of the above-ground structure 955 close the area in a horizontal rectangular projection of the size 7 x 7 m on the western, southern and eastern side, while towards the north the structure is open and the roof construction was supported by a series of posts placed at certain intervals. The structure’s foundations consisted of ditches of an average width of 30 cm in which larger and smaller vertical wooden posts with 15 to 25 cm in diameter were densely placed. A series of posts bearing the roof construction were dug in the inner space of the structure, with three posts in the centre: a larger one, 50 cm in diameter and two smaller ones, 40 cm in diameter each. In the centre of the structure there were two more posts in a row from east to west. Many holes left from posts in the inner space of the structure suggest many years of its continuous use, during which the support of the large roof construction had to be renewed. In the central part of the structure, a group of various pottery pieces was found. The north-western part of the structure’s foundations was damaged by latter shallow pit 323, which was, in its eastern part, dug over the structure’s foundations. Dating pit 323 in the period around 6070–5770 cal BC suggests that the above-ground structure was in use before this period (first phase of the settlement). The construction of the above-ground structures, according to the present state of research of settlements in the central Starčevo culture distribution area, began near the end of the Monochrome stage and at the beginning of Linear A stage. The unearthing of the above-ground house in the Starčevo settlement at the Galovo site in Slavonski Brod, belonging to Linear A stage, confirms that northern part of Croatia was an integral part of the central territory of the Starčevo culture, where settlements grew in all its development stages (with the exception of Monochrome). Galovo settlement in Slavonski Brod with its archaeological inventory, its 14C dating and its most recent discovery of above-ground construction suggests that the upper course of Sava River (eastern and central Slavonia in northern Croatia) should, together with Vojvodina and Serbia, also be considered a part of original Starčevo culture development area.
Keywords
Slavonski Brod; Galovo; systematic archaeological excavations; settlement; above-ground structure; Starčevo culture; Early Neolithic; Linear A stage
Hrčak ID:
64727
URI
Publication date:
3.3.2011.
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