‘Pre-Neolithic’ in Southeast Europe: a Bulgarian perspective

• Main Authors: Maria Gurova, Clive Bonsall
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts) 2014-12-01
• Series: Documenta Praehistorica
• Subjects: Balkans; Mesolithic; demographic change; Neolithization; exchange networks
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/2930

 This paper discusses why large areas of the central and northern Balkans lack evidence of Mesolithic settlement and what implications this holds for future research into the Neolithization of the region. A marked shift in site distribution patterns between Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic is interpreted as a response to changing environmental conditions and resource availability. It is suggested that some important questions of the pattern, processes and timing of the transition to farming across the Balkan Peninsula may only be answered through new archaeological surveys of the Lower Danube valley and exploration of submerged landscapes along the Black Sea, Aegean and Adriatic coasts.