Encircled in water: Modelling watercourses of the late Neolithic - early Copper Age Vinča culture sites in the Danube region (c. 5300 - 4500 BC)

This paper presents a GIS model of the watercourses and settlement locations in the Danube region around Belgrade during the course of late Neolithic Vinča culture (late 6th and early 5th Millennium BC). Vinča culture settlements and material culture characteristic of the central Balkans and parts of Vojvodina and Transylvania grew up around major waterways like Danube, Sava, Morava, Tisza and Timiş rivers. The lack of research based on incorporation of landscape studies, water dynamics, paleoenvironment characteristics, and settlement location patterns has hindered our knowledge on the decision making of the late Neolithic population when choosing where to settle. Using computer models of the terrain, satellite image overlays and flood modelling, the decisions underlying the location of Vinča settlement sites in the area around present day Belgrade are analysed. The model will show that the choice of settlement placement in regard to water accessibility was not left to chance, but rather a deliberate decision was needed to ensure survival in an inhospitable, often flooded region of Vojvodina.