National Museum Čačak

National Museum Čačak

Info

The Neolithic

The Neolithic or the Younger Stone Age represents one of the most important stages in the development of human societes and civilisation, in history, arts, social-economic relations. Between the achievements that essentially changed its character, beside the stone tool polishing, of a crucial importance was the pottery production made of baken clay, animal domestification, soil cultivation, that had for a consequence the transition to the sedentary way of living, new social organisation and new religious conscience.

On the wider territory of the central Balkans, as on this part of the Western Serbia, two significant, succesive cultures were developed, named after the eponymous sites: Starčevo (6200-5300 BC) and Vinča (5300-4200 BC). In the Čačak region several sites belonging to the different phases of the Younger Stone Age were excavated. Some of them testify that this territory was inhabited since the very beginning of the Neolithic (Crkvine in Miokovci, Bakovača in Ostra). The older Neolithic settlements were usually without horizontal and vertical stratigraphy which represented the consequence of a relatively short stay on one place. Settlements belonging to the Vinča culture, especially those from its younger phase, (Trsine in Gornja Gorevnica, Vinogradi in Ridjage) had an extended duration and contained several developing phases.

The life of local communities during the Younger Stone Age is illustrated by different objects, such as bone and stone tools, kitchen and table pottery. Developed spiritual culture is documented by cult figurines and ritual pottery made of clay.