| Abstrakt: |
The archaeological site of Obrovčine in Ratkovača--Lug is located in the Mačva region in Western Serbia. These two small mounds are encircled by two trenches, where a small settlement was founded in the late 5th millennium BC. They were first discovered over 50 years ago, with excavations of a 4 x 4m trench in 1971. Data from those excavations are limited. According to their type and layout, the sites were described as "Obrovac-type" of sites, typically dated to the Late Neolithic and Early Eneolithic, characteristic for western Serbia. Over the past decade, the site was revisited, surveyed, and geoarchaeological coring, geophysical prospection, and excavations took place within the project "Life in wetlands". The aim of this project is to examine the occurrence of Obrovac-type of sites using a multidisciplinary approach. This paper presents new results that originated from the excavations of these two mounds, labelled Obrovčine 1 and Obrovčine 2 in Ratkovača--Lug. At Obrovčine 1, a test-trench (size: 2 x 2 m) was located in north-western part of the mound, with a diameter of ca. 30 m. The position of the trench was influenced by the vegetation covering the mound, whereas areas with wood cover or large roots were avoided. Parallel to the excavations, a coring campaign was conducted. The trench showed remains of several archaeological structures, which were, unfortunately, only partially located within the trench. Two of them represent postholes, reaching the depths of 0.9 m and 0.95 m, respectively. Cores around the mound indicated several heavily burned daub structures, whereas only their borders were explored in the area within the trench. Obrovčine 2 was located to the north-east of the site of Obrovčine 1, on the other side of the dried-out river channel (now an irrigational channel), some 20 m away. The site underwent certain modifications in recent times, due to its position on an agricultural plot, where extensive land use and ploughing have damaged the site. Geoarchaeological coring indicated a trench surrounding the mound, at least to the north and to the east, as well as burned daub remains, while geomagnetic survey indicated at least two burned structures. One of these burned structures was excavated in a 2 x 3 m trench. The excavations revealed a burned building with at least three superimposed floors, where the lower two were heavily burned, and the most recent, third one, was the thinnest and least preserved. On the most recent floor, a compact layer of ash was recorded. It was 7--8 cm thick, covering an area of ca. 0.7 m by 0.7 m. It was brought into connection with the damaged remains of an oven. The building was not fully excavated, and it was damaged by a later ditch, excavated through it. Two absolute dates are available from this building: 4331--4059 cal BC (95.4% probability) and 4329--4249 calBC (95.4% probability). Limited number of artefacts, in combination with the absolute dates obtained, could chronologically determine this site as belonging to the Early Eneolithic Bubanj culture. A small number of plant and animal remains was retrieved from the site, but only couple of them that could be identified, such as reed (Phragmites communis, 4 fragments), Sus domesticus (3 fragments), Sus scrofa (1 fragment), and Bos sp. (1 fragment). Restoration of building floors that burned down could indicate longer or numerous episodes of use and occupation of the site. Very few and relatively similar remains of material culture indicate a limited type of activities that took place on the site. These would suggest a potential abandonment and return to the site, possibly as part of seasonal activities. Absolute dates correspond well to several other Obrovac-type of sites that were dated into the late 5th millennium BC according to some chronologically sensitive artefacts that were recovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
