Theme:
1. The Material Record: Current Trends and Future Directions
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Enclosed Societies: prehistoric ditches of Southeast Europe and the adjacent areas
Content:
Ditches are common feature in the European prehistory, widely spread from the British Isles to Southeast Europe. Initially recognized more than a century ago in Central and West Europe they became eponymous for the enclosure phenomenon. Named as rondels, kreisgrabenanlagen, causewayed enclosures, enceintes à fossés, they are comprehensively studied with the established methodology and terminology. The enclosures have been thoroughly explored in the western parts of the continent, but they are a recent frequent fieldwork feature in the Southeast European archaeology (although ditches were detected and excavated many decades ago). The number of recorded ditches in the Balkans increased sharply in the past decade due to the application of current technology and methods in the archaeological detecting such as remote sensing analysis, geophysical and LiDAR surveys. As a result of these methods and excavations, it is now evident that many Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites were surrounded by a single or multiple ditches, or by more than one set of ditches.
Ditched enclosures arouse a vivid debate in the Balkans and corelates with the ongoing one in the Central and West Europe in regard to their interpretation. There is a variety of perspectives proposed for the motives of the prehistoric societies to construct ditches, as well as the theories about their purpose concerning their defensive, social, economic, symbolic or ritual character.
We welcome contributions dealing with the prehistory of Southeast Europe and the adjacent areas to discuss ditched enclosures within a palette of perspectives ranging from research strategies to theoretical approaches:
- Social, economic and ritual aspects of the enclosures;
- Depositional practices and funeral activities within ditches;
- Regional features and the chronology of enclosures;
- Territoriality and boundaries as a spatial concept;
- Ditches layout evidenced by digging and backfilling processes;
- Particular case studies from the Southeast Europe
Keywords:
Ditches, enclosures, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Southeast Europe, spatial organization
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Goce Naumov (Germany) 1
Co-organisers:
Nikolina Nikolova (Bulgaria) 2
Affiliations:
1. Einstein Center - Chronoi
2. National Institute of Archaeology & Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
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