Lepenski Vir

A hunter-fisher village settlement on the banks of the Danube in Serbia. Trapezoidal houses (often with red plastered floors), stone hearths filled with fish bones and other refuse, and a remarkable group of stone sculptures --- by far the earliest monumental sculpture in Europe - were part of an advanced Mesolithic economy. Many carved stone human heads were found, often with 'fishy' features. Radiocarbon places it in the 7th millennium BC. The site was later occupied by a Starcevo village. The most significant aspect of Lepenski Vir is the degree of cultural elaboration achieved by sedentary fisher-hunters at a time when agriculture was gradually becoming established in other areas of southeast Europe.

A hunter-fisher-gatherer site in the Iron Gates gorge of the River Danube, on the right (Yugoslav) bank. Excavated by D. Srejovic, this site produced a three-level stratigraphy. I-II were Mesolithic levels, dated c5400-4600 be, with trapezoidal houses (often with red plastered floors), stone hearths filled with fish bones and other refuse, and a remarkable group of stone sculptures — by far the earliest monumental sculpture in Europe. These levels were separated by a sandy level from III, an Early Neolithic occupation in three phases (with no radiocarbon dates), with rectangular houses and pits filled with StarCevo pottery but a complete absence of the sculpture and architecture of levels I-II. The most significant aspect of Lepenski Vir is the degree of cultural elaboration achieved by sedentary fisher-hunters at a time when agriculture was gradually becoming established in other areas of southeast Europe.