This is the 6th volume of the edited book that is related to already traditional conference of the Center for Prehistoric Research, particularly focused on the Neolithic of Macedonia and the Balkans. Same as the conference this publication also brings together various specialists exploring different modes of life of the first farmers inhabiting the Balkans, thus promoting new perspectives in research methods and proposing a variety of possibilities in the understanding of the agricultural societies.
Arousing from the papers presented on the conference this publication intends to archive the current knowledge gained from the more intensive exploration of the Neolithic communities in the Balkans. Being exposed to meticulous audience the presentations were facing thorough discussions and therefore were developed into papers with solid data and elaborations on the social, economic and ritual life of the people that introduced novel modes of living in Southeast Europe approximately 8500 years ago. In that manner this volume also exposes the latest research of the Neolithic pottery, tools, diet and architecture of the first farmers in this region.
This year's edition of the 'Neolithic in Macedonia' volume starts with two papers on pottery. First one is Clare Burke's observation of the technological features of the Starčevo pottery and how the relationship in pottery making can be detected among several neighboring settlements in the region of Lebane. Furthermore she identifies the traces of Anatolian traditions in the vessels production in the Balkans that additionally confirms the evident links between these regions. The following paper also elaborates the pottery making but in terms of its aesthetic components. Ljubo Fidanoski emphasizes the notion of proportions in modeling of the Neolithic vessels and that they were produced in terms of protomatematics and anthropometry.
With the subsequent papers the volume shifts from pottery production to manufacture of lithic tools and food economy. The work of Vesna Vučković and Elena Stojanova Kanzurova is focused on the lithic technology, particularly the one from the site of Tumba Madjari. They identify the local resources and the technological skills the craftsmen used in order to fabricate the flint tools in the Middle Neolithic of Skopje region. The following paper considers the use of plants and domestic space among the Neolithic tells of Pelagonia. Sabanov, Antolin, Soteras and Naumov demonstrate the advantage of archaeobotanical analysis in detecting the crops that were majorly employed in the diet, but they also highlight the observation of micro-refuse remains in order to trace the activities performed in the dwellings.
The next paper also deals with the region of Pelagonia and particularly with the latest research on the site of Vrbjanska Čuka. Naumov, Mitkoski, Talevski and Stojanovski present the contextual data from the excavation of this tell in 2020 and 2021 with particular focus on the architecture and its features in different Neolithic levels. This volume is enclosed with the last paper authored by Igor Tolevski where he also gives a report overview of the latest excavation on the site of Bojkovci in the region of Radoviš. He brings the site in the environmental context and demonstrates the characteristics of the architecture and material culture in this Late Neolithic settlement.
Although being composed of several papers this edition of 'Neolithic in Macedonia' gives an extensive elaboration of the latest knowledge in terms of technology, economy and habitation of the first farmers. All these papers provide thorough examination of the material culture, architecture and organic remains in order to demonstrate the modes of everyday life of the agricultural societies from the beginning until the end of the Neolithic period. Furthermore the authors promote novel research approaches and state of the art methods in order to reach a consistent notion of the world in which these farmers lived. That is moreover the substantial principle of the Center for Prehistoric Research which intends to encourage the implementation of the advanced multidisciplinary methods in prehistory and to present their outcome in this volume that has been continuously published since 2016.