Vinča (also known as Belo Brdo) is the name of a large tell, located on the Danube River in the Balat Plain about 15 kilometers downstream from Belgrade in what is now Serbia. Vinča is 10.5 meters high, and it is the largest and most extensively investigated settlement dated to the Balkan Neolithic.
The site was first occupied about 4800 BC, but by 4500 BC, Vinča was a flourishing Neolithic agricultural and pastoral farming community, with some influence over sites all over central and southern Europe. Although Vinča's population dropped about 3500 BC, people lived on the tell until the Romans entered the Danube region.
Vinca was first excavated by Miloje M. Vasic, beginning in 1908. Modern excavations were begun at Vinča under the auspices of the Serbian Academy of Sciences in 1978, directed by Nikola Tasic, Gordana Vujovic, Milutin Garasanin and Dragoslav Srejovic.
Project Rastko has published an entire electronic book on Vinča, in English and Serbian.
Sources and Further Information
[link urlhttp://www.rastko.rs/arheologija/vinca/vinca_eng.html]Rastko Project
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Sources for the term include the references listed on the front page of the Dictionary, and the websites listed in the sidebar.
