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The spread of farming in the Eastern Adriatic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

Stašo Forenbaher  and
Preston T. Miracle
Stašo Forenbaher
Affiliation:
Institute for Anthropological Research, Amruševa 8, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia (Email: staso.forenbaher@zg.htnet.hr)
Preston T. Miracle
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK (Email: ptm21@cam.ac.uk)
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Abstract

The authors present a new, two-stage model of the spread of farming along the eastern Adriatic coast based on the first appearance of pottery. The initial stage was a very rapid dispersal, perhaps by ‘leapfrog colonisation’, associated with cave sites in southern Dalmatia. The second stage was a slower agropastoral expansion associated with cave and open-air sites along the northern coast. Migration was a significant factor in the process. The mountainous hinterland formed an agricultural frontier zone, where farming was adopted piecemeal by indigenous groups.

Keywords

NeolithicCroatiaAdriaticfarmingcolonisation
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 305 , September 2005 , pp. 514 - 528
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2005

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