A Vinca potscape: Formal chronological models for the use and development of Vinca ceramics in south-east Europe

Abstract

Recent work at Vinca-Belo Brdo has combined a total of more than 200 radiocarbon dates with an array of other information to construct much more precise narratives for the structural history of the site and the cultural materials recovered from it. In this paper, we present the results of a recent attempt to construct formal models for the chronology of the wider Vinca potscape, so that we can place our now detailed understanding of changes at Belo Brdo within their contemporary contexts. We present our methodology for assessing the potential of the existing corpus of more than 600 radiocarbon dates for refining the chronology of the five phases of Vinca ceramics proposed by Milojcicic across their spatial ranges, including a total of 490 of them in a series of Bayesian chronological models. Then we outline our main results for the development of Vinca pottery. Finally, we discuss some of the major implications for our understanding of the source, character and tempo of material change.