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The social context of the emergence, development and abandonment of the Varna cemetery, Bulgaria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

John Chapman ,
Tom Higham ,
Vladimir Slavchev ,
Bisserka Gaydarska  and
Noah Honch
John Chapman
Affiliation:
Durham University, UK
Tom Higham
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, UK
Vladimir Slavchev
Affiliation:
Varna Archaeological Museum, Bulgaria
Bisserka Gaydarska
Affiliation:
Durham University, UK
Noah Honch
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, UK
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Abstract

In this article we outline some of the key characteristics of the social structure of the Climax Copper Age in the eastern Balkans and the contributions of the Varna cemetery to those developments. We continue by examining the implications of the new series of 21 AMS dates from the Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratory, which represent the first dates for the Varna Eneolithic cemetery on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Representing the first phase of the AMS dating project for the Varna I cemetery, these dates have been selected to provide a range of different grave locations, ranges of grave goods, and age/gender associations. We conclude by addressing the question of the unexpectedly early start of the cemetery, as well as its apparently short duration and relatively rapid demise.

Dans cet article sont décrits quelques-uns des aspects les plus caractéristiques de la structure sociale durant l'apogée de l'âge du Bronze des Balkans orientaux, ainsi que le rôle qu'a joué le cimetière de Varna dans ces développements. Les implications des nouvelles séries de dates AMS 14 du Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratory, qui constituent les premières datations du cimetière énéolithique de Varna sur la côte bulgare de la Mer Noire, sont analysées par la suite. Ces dates représentant la première phase du projet de datation AMS du cimetière de Varna I ont été sélectionnées afin de couvrir un éventail de différents emplacements, de mobilier funéraire distinct et d'associations variées de sexe et d'âge. La question de la première phase du cimetière, nettement plus ancienne que présumée, sa durée apparemment relativement courte et sa fin relativement abrupte seront abordées pour clore ce chapitre.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

In diesem Beitrag werden einige Schlüsselcharakteristika der Sozialstruktur während des Höhepunktes der Kupferzeit auf dem Ostbalkan und der Einfluss des Gräberfeldes von Varna auf diese Entwicklungen umrissen. Weiterhin werden die Ergebnisse einer neuen Serie von 14 AMS-Daten des Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratory untersucht, die die ersten Daten der äneolithischen Nekropole von Varna an der bulgarischen Schwarzmeerküste darstellen. Als erste Phase des AMS-Datierungsprojektes des Gräberfeldes Varna I wurden diese Daten ausgewählt, um eine Reihe von verschiedenen Grabplätzen und unterschiedlichen Grabbeigaben zu untersuchen sowie um Problemkreise von Alter bzw. Gender thematisieren zu können. Abschließend werden die Fragen des unerwartet frühen Beginns der Nekropole wie auch ihrer offensichtlich kurzen Laufzeit und relativ schnellen Aufgabe diskutiert.

Keywords

AMS datesBulgariacemeterygoldsocial structureVarnadates AMSBulgariecimetièreorstructure socialeVarnaAMS-DatenBulgarienGräberfeldGoldSozialstrukturVarna
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 9 , Issue 2-3 , 2006 , pp. 159 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Sage Publications 

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