Violence in the Mesolithic
The Mesolithic populations of the Danube’s Iron Gates Gorge (Serbia/Romania) spanned over 1500 years (from before 7000 BC to around 5500 BC) in one of the more favourable foraging environments of Europe. Over most of this period, the dominant economy was foraging, but farming was practiced by commun...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2006-12-01
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| Series: | Documenta Praehistorica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/2150 |
| _version_ | 1797949611024842752 |
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| author | Mirjana Roksandic |
| author_facet | Mirjana Roksandic |
| author_sort | Mirjana Roksandic |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Mesolithic populations of the Danube’s Iron Gates Gorge (Serbia/Romania) spanned over 1500 years (from before 7000 BC to around 5500 BC) in one of the more favourable foraging environments of Europe. Over most of this period, the dominant economy was foraging, but farming was practiced by communities in the region from around 6500 BC. This research examines individuals from four sites on the Danube (Lepenski Vir, Vlasac, Padina, and Hajdučka Vodenica) whose traumatic lesions can be most plausibly interpreted as resulting from violent interactions. Given the number of individuals buried at these sites (MNI = 418), the episodes of violent interactions were few and without evidence of a specific temporal pattern. They probably represent sporadic episodes of interpersonal conflict that do not support the notion of endemic warfare deemed typical of the Mesolithic, or elevated levels of interpersonal/intertribal conflict at the time of contact with farming communities. The difference in the pattern of violence between the Mesolithic sites on the right bank of the Danube and a coeval site of Schela Cladovei on the left bank is explained in terms of differences in archaeological context, geographic location and possibly specific local histories. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:02:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bec7234a0da8417b90d8621f363765ce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1408-967X 1854-2492 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:02:23Z |
| publishDate | 2006-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Documenta Praehistorica |
| spelling | doaj.art-bec7234a0da8417b90d8621f363765ce2023-01-18T09:21:36ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Documenta Praehistorica1408-967X1854-24922006-12-013310.4312/dp.33.16Violence in the MesolithicMirjana Roksandic0University of Toronto, Toronto, OntarioThe Mesolithic populations of the Danube’s Iron Gates Gorge (Serbia/Romania) spanned over 1500 years (from before 7000 BC to around 5500 BC) in one of the more favourable foraging environments of Europe. Over most of this period, the dominant economy was foraging, but farming was practiced by communities in the region from around 6500 BC. This research examines individuals from four sites on the Danube (Lepenski Vir, Vlasac, Padina, and Hajdučka Vodenica) whose traumatic lesions can be most plausibly interpreted as resulting from violent interactions. Given the number of individuals buried at these sites (MNI = 418), the episodes of violent interactions were few and without evidence of a specific temporal pattern. They probably represent sporadic episodes of interpersonal conflict that do not support the notion of endemic warfare deemed typical of the Mesolithic, or elevated levels of interpersonal/intertribal conflict at the time of contact with farming communities. The difference in the pattern of violence between the Mesolithic sites on the right bank of the Danube and a coeval site of Schela Cladovei on the left bank is explained in terms of differences in archaeological context, geographic location and possibly specific local histories.https://journals.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/2150prehistoric violenceprehistoric traumaMesolithic/Neolithic transition |
| spellingShingle | Mirjana Roksandic Violence in the Mesolithic Documenta Praehistorica prehistoric violence prehistoric trauma Mesolithic/Neolithic transition |
| title | Violence in the Mesolithic |
| title_full | Violence in the Mesolithic |
| title_fullStr | Violence in the Mesolithic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Violence in the Mesolithic |
| title_short | Violence in the Mesolithic |
| title_sort | violence in the mesolithic |
| topic | prehistoric violence prehistoric trauma Mesolithic/Neolithic transition |
| url | https://journals.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/2150 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mirjanaroksandic violenceinthemesolithic |