21 - 1985

PREISTOUIA

ALPI~A

MlJSEO TRIDENTINO nr 'CIENZE NATlJlIALI . TIIENTO

RIVISTA ANNUALE DELLA SEZIONE IJI I'AI.ETNOI.OGIA

Preistona Alpina • Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali pagg. 49-57 Trento 1985

B. BAGOLINI • P. BIAG!

Balkan influences in the Neolithic of Northern Italy •

ABSTRACT

Balkan influences in the Neol ith ic of northern Italyare particu larly active during the IV millennium beSquere-Mcuthed Pottery Cult ure in the form of stampseals (epintaderasal and figurines as well as potterydecorations characteristic of the dal matian Cultures.Venuses are also present in early Neoli thic times beingexclusive of the Pc Plain and Alp ine cultural groups.

Bern ardino B8gollnl, Dip. di Storia delle Civilta Euro­pea, Universtta. Via S. Croce 65, 38100 Trento.

Paol o Biag! , D.AR.F1.CL.ET., sezione archeologiaden'tf niverstta. Via Balbl 4, 161 26 Geneva .

The end of the Mesollthlc

The appearance of industries withtrapezes and dent iculated blades coincidesw ith the beginn ing of the Atl ant ic climaticphase. Assembl ages of this horizon, wh ichKozlowski (1975) includ es in the CastelnovianCulture, are well known in the north Italianareas of the Trentino (BROGUO 1971), theTrieste Karst (CREMONESI et al 1973) and inthe Tuscan and Emilian Apennines (BIAGI etal 1980).

The most complete sequence for the Mes­oli thic know n to date in northern Italy is thatfrom the rock shelter of Romagnano III in the

"} Thi s paper was originally delivered at the Symposium_Die Kultur von lepenski Vir und die Probleme der HeraUSbil ­dung des Neo lithikums in Sudos t· und M itteleuropa_ held inColog ne In February 1&.25, 1981.

Adige Valley where excavations carr ied outover the last decade have revealed a longsuccession of Mesolith ic levels covering thePre-Boreal, Boreal and Atlantic periods. Dur­ing this last climatic stage, in layers AB andAA , industries with trapezes appear, whi chare characterised by the scalene, rectangularand isosceles trapezes them selves, the de­nticu lated blades, the truncated tools andend scrapers of various types. while the rnl­croburin techn ique is also very much in evi­dence. In the earlier layers of the same sitewe see the evolution of an industry with tri an­gles, called by some the Sauveterrian, on ac­count of its affi nities with the Culture of theParis Basin (ROlOY 1978). This, in the AdigeValley. presents many types for a period ofalmost two thousand years, although in thePre-Boraal mlcrol ithlc isosceles tr iangles oc­cur which are unknown in the follow ing cl ima­tic per iod , Boreal industries are known notonly on the valley floors a Id in the Po Plain,in the latter case as isolated f inds, but also atquite high altitudes as at the Colbricon pass(BAGOUNI et al 1975) in the Trentino and onother alpine passes at a height of around2000 m. The Atlantic assemb lages in theAlps, on the other hand, occu r less frequentlyat high alti tudes, although they are occasio­nally found . In the Emili an Apennines, indus­tri es with trapezes and denticulated bladesare well known, even on sites close to thevery high passes (CASTELLETII et al 1976).

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They also occur on the Po Plain, especially atthe confluence of rivers (BIAGI 1980), whereextensive marshy areas abounding in manyfood resources are found (CLARKE 197B).

Industries with trapezes are also foundclose to the present middle altitude lake bas­ins as well as on the major pre-alpine lakesand around the lake basins of the glacial endmoraines. which were subsequently more in­tensively settled during the Bronze Age. Thisis a situation which is again observed inneighbouring Switzerland , where traces ofMesalithic encampments often cluster ar­ound existing lakes (SAKELLARIDIS 1979).

The first evidence of the Neolithic in north­ern Italy appears to relate to the ImpressedWare Culture both along the Adria tic and Lig­urian coastlines. From a detailed analysis ofthe stone industries of the end of the Mesoli·thic and the beginning of the Neolithic it ispossible to observe a technological jump inthe produ cti on of unretouched tools (PITIS1970) and tool s, even though the technologyof retouch remained unchanged dur ing bothper iods.

There is however a differentiation, per­haps related to the different qualities of theflint used, in the form s of the tools, as in theNeolithic new burins, awl s, rhomboid geo·metrics and denticuiated blad es and brokenintentionally blades with abundant traces ofwear occur.

The Early Neolithic

The main influences leadi ng to the to rrna­tion of the first Neolithic in north ern Italy aretoday recogni sable in the following geographi·cal and cultural groupings.

1. The Impressed Ware. Comprisinggroups found in the area of the Ligurian coast(BERNABO BREA 1946, 1956) and on the op­posite Adriatic side in Romagna (BAGOLlNI ,VON ELES 1978).

The Ligur ian Impressed Ware traditionmade its influence felt in the perialpine re­gions of western Lombard y. The ImpressedWare of the Adriati c and Romagna, docu­mented in the environs of Riccione, extendsits influence likewise into the hinterland ofthe Po Valley as far as in the region of Reggio

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Emilia. These latter territories soon after­wards becom e domin ated by the Fiorano Cul­ture group (MALAVOLTI 1951·52) wh ich in its«f1oruih extended its influence from the areaof central Emilia into Romagna where impor­tant finds have been made near Riolo Terme,while even further afield it affects the lateImpressed Ware groups of the Marche (LOL·L1NI 1962).

2. In the Po Plain and the Veneto tradi ­tion s appear during the early Neolithic a·mong which the Fiorano Culture is the mosthomogeneous and best docum ented ; this as­semblage, wid ely spread in the south westVeneto, in Emilia and Romagna, also extendssouth of the Apennine watershed into north­ern Tuscany (BAGOLlNI, BIAGI 1977).

The other groups, recognised to date, arethose of Fagnigola in the lower Friuli (BIAGI1975) and of Vhb on the south Lombard plain(BAGOLlNI , BIAGI 1975).

3. In the Alpine and centre-eastern, perial­pine regions, are found the Gaban group inthe mounta inous area of the Adi ge Valley(BAGOLlNI, BIAGI 19na) and the Isolinogroup in the area of the Lombard Lakes(GUERRESCHI 1976-n). These groups showdistinctive regional traits which distinguishlh em from the assemblages on the Plain. TheGaban group has the closest links with thepreceding Mesolithic traditions.

4. The Trieste Karst , a bord er area be­tween the cultural areas of lh ePo Valley andVeneto and the Balkans, is characterised dur­ing the early Neolithic by tul ip-shaped pedes­tailed cups with restri cted mouths, of ten withincised decoration , which have a very Balkancharacte r (BARFIELD 1972) being compara­ble with material both from the Dalmatiancoast and the late Adr iat ic Impressed Ware,especially that of the Marche. This culturalgroup, called vrasca whi ch seems to have along life, replaces a local Mesolithic traditionwith which it seems to be unconnected.

In this context we can suggest a probablechronological sequence for the area, startingwith Impressed Ware elements of the Dalrna­tia n Istr ian tradition (BATOVIC 1975) and Iol­lowed by evidence of contac t with the Flora­no area and afterwards with that of Danilo(BARFIELD 1972, 1973).

In Liguria the Apennine chain is lower and

becomes easily traversable by low passesclose to the coast. Communi cations betweenLiguria and the Po Plain (BIAGI 1980a) aremuch eas ier than those leading from the nar­row and ofte n rugged coastline whi ch linksLiguri a with the Versili a and the Valle y of theArno.

To the south the passes of the Tuscan-E­mili an stretch, although not always impenetra­ble, do not provide easy access with centralItaly . However already during the Mesolithicthey allowed extensive contac t between thepopul ation on either side of the watershed(TOZZI 1980).

On the Adriatic side the geog raphica l con­dit ions are much more favourable since thewatershed of the Romagnan Apennines, be­nding southwards , leaves a broad band ofhill s near the coast which permi t easy com­munication with the M arche and in generalwith the whole Adriatic coastline.

To the east the coast provides a naturalline of communication between the Venetiaand the Po basin and the Balkans (BARFIELD1973).

To the north and west the alpine wa­tershed, wi th its high and difficult passes, pre­sented a major obstacle to communicationwith the western and central regions ofEurope.

These geographical factors affec ted theformation and the development of the earlyNeolithic of the Po and Venetian areas anddetermine an area of U gurian influence in thewestern Po Valley and an area of Adriat icinfluence in Romagna, while the central PoPlain is open to multiple influences, amongwhich are recognisable Ligurian, peninsula,Adriatic, Balkan and central European traits.

The rather scant evidence from the we­stern alpine area of the Po Valley (BAGOLlNI ,BIAGI 1972-74) suggests that here the Neol i­thic transformation originated in Ligurla.

The various cultural groups that charac ter­ise the earliest Neolithic of the central andnorth -eastern alp ine and Po Valley regionsshow very close similarities in their flint indus­tries , which have connections with those ofthe local Mesolith ic, but they have a markedindividu alit y in ceramic traditi ons (BAGOLlNI ,BIAGI 1977). The economic evidence forthese groups, whi ch is not abundant, gives

an impression of variety, with herding(BARKER 1977) and agriculture (CASTELLET­T I 1975) as well as significant levels of hun­ting and collecti ng, being represented. Parti ­cularly important is the evolution of the locaiMesolith ic for the Gaban group, whose econo­my, in its initial stages, is essentially thesame as that of the preceding Mesoli th ic.

Such a kaleidoscope of sub cultures w ith­in the north Itali an Neolith ic, which appear inneighbouring territories and in similar environ­ments, raises some interesting questions re­garding the formation processes that lead totheir development .

Above all the characteristics of thesegroups are not explicable purely in terms ofthe simple accu lturation of local indige nousgroups from the two different coastal as­pects, Ligu rian and Adri atic, of the Im­pressed Ware CUltu re; even if c lear relation­ships existed with these areas, as we cansee from reciprocal culture traits in Fioranoand the Liguri an Ware or between the Gabanand Vhb groups and the Adr iatic ImpressedWare (BAGOLl NI, VaN ELES 1978).

A greater atte nt ion to the subsistence cap­aci ty availa ble in the different areas, accom­panied by a growi ng familiarity with theforest product s and small game, fishing andbirds, may have lead to an increa se in «terr i­toriality» if not to true settled communities ,by the final Mesolithic inhabitants of the PoPlain and the Alp s. This in turn led to an in­creased potent iai receptivity wi th regard tothe economic and technological innovationswhich accom panied the process of Neol ithictransformation. This acculturation must havetaken place by means of multiple, and notnecessarily contemporary, influences.

These influences must have spread princi­pally fro m the coastal centres of the Im­pressed Ware Culture and from the continen­tal Balkan area across the eastern Veneto.Various cultural e lements, above all in pot­tery and figurines, principally in the VhOgroup (BAGOLl NI, BIAGi 1977b) recall protot­ypes found in the early Balkan Neolithic inparti cular the area of starcevo, Cont acts withthe areas of the early «figulina» and paintedpotte ry traditions in Peninsular Italy are e­vident at an early date, both in imports andimitations. These are especially clea r in the

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context of the Fiorano group, whose limitsexte nd south of the Apennine watershed asfar as the Tyrhennian Sea in northern Tusca­ny (BARFIELD 1981).

It is more ditf icult at present to say howfar certain tra its of the earliest Neol ith ic ofthe eas tern Po Vall ey . recogni sable above allin the context of Fiorano, may be related tothe Linear Pottery Culture of the Upper Danu­be, since we have no clear evidence from theintervening geographical areas.

In particular the decorative syntax of «mu­sic note» design present in the Fiorano groupand fou nd. although in a diff erent technique.in the Gaban group appears to suggest a loc­al re-elaboration of a similar design rangefoun d in the eastern Linear Pottery Culture.

With regard to the eventual direction ofditfusion of the Linear Pottery influences thequestion remains open. It is worth, however,underlining the fact that the easte rn LinearPott ery. in its full development characterisedby «music note» motifs, reaches a final thrustof expansion towards the southern parts ofeastern Europe. Its expansive pressure alsoextends towards southern Pannonia, compel­ling the population related to the Kiiriis tradi­tion to retreat towards eastern Hungary,wh ere that Culture soon afterwards diest out;further to the west links are established be­tween the Linear Pott ery Culture and the lateStarcevo sphere, a question which is still inthe process of investigation (KALlCZ. MAK·KAY 1977).

Such an expansion towards the southmay have allowed Linear Pottery influence toextend along the sa va , Drava and to the Pus­teria Valley. This alpine route might constitu­te a hy pothetical line of the ditfusion of suchinfluences toward s northern Italy (BAGOLIN I.VON ELES 1978) .

We can, with reference to this question,reca ll that the Gaban group of the Trent ino.which has contacts with the Fiorano area, al­so possesses in its decoration range a spe­cial elaboration of the «music note» motif onthose globular fl ask forms wi th necks whichremind one of the eastern Linear Potterytradition.

Very recent ly a settlement of the earlyNeolith ic related to the Gaban group has infact been discovered near Chiusa, at Villan-

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dro in the Vall ey of the lsarco. a di scoverythat extends the distribution of the sub cultur­e north toward s the Puster ia Valley (DAL RI1978).

The signific ant par allels between the Gab­an group and that of Iso lino extends the a·bove-ment ioned influences westwards intothe western Lombard pre-Alps,

Independent of the hypoth eses concer­ning the direct ion of the ditfusion of Balkaninfluences in northern Italy. whi ch derived ulti­mately, althoug h th rough intermediaries.from the developed Starcevo -Kbros and Vin­ce-Tordos traditions, and which perhapscould be confirmed by new excavations atthe sett lement of Fagnig ola in Friu li, there re­main some aspect s of the early Neo lithicgroups in the Po Vall ey which are not explic a­ble in any oth er way .

In th is respect it is part icul ar ly significantthat the Vha di Piadena, group in the centra lPo Plain, charac te rised by pedestalled ves­set-te rms and pots w ith knob s. impressed co r­don s and grooves. Thi s group. like others ofcent ral Po Valley. has a lith ic industry relatedto the local Mesolithic tradition with ceramicelements imitating and imported from the Fio­rano area as well as various elements of con­tact with the Gaban and Isolino groups (BA­GOLlNI . BIAGI 1980).

Thi s has produced a charac teristic reli­gious art style. represented by cla y femalefigurines with double-headed hemi spheri calheads, and incised geometric decoration.Such female figurines are essentially foreignto the Impressed Ware Culture, and in gener­al in all the western Neolithic . and can onlybe connected wi th the Anatolian-Balkan ideo­logical world .

Aspects of Balkan ideology In th e EarlyNeo llthic

Balkan ideological elements are above allrecognisab le in the predominantly female fig ·urines found in various Neolithic contexts innorthern Italy.

The anthropomorphic representationsare, in fact, almost absent from the area ofthe Impressed Ware Culture, both in the Ita­lian peninsula and other areas. These are sub-

stantially foreign to the traditions of «we­stern» inspiration which are established innorthern Italy, above all in the final phases ofthe Neolithic, espec ially the Liguri an Chasseyand Lagozza Cultures.

The cultural contex t of female figurines,as far as the northern peninsula is con­cerned, is thus restricted to some of the earlyNeolithic groups and the whol e ensuing devel­opment of the Square-Mouthed Pottery Cul­ture (BAGOLlNI 1978).

In the framework of the early Neollthicthe anthropomorphic iconography clearlyruns from those of Balkan inspiration, likethose of the Vhb group, to others in whi ch aMesolithic substratum appears to be lrnpor­tant, as in the Gaban group (GRAZIOSI 1975).

In these two groups in particular, whi chwere in vogue during the last two centuri esof the V miJlenium be some features are ofgreat significance for our argument. The in­cised phalllc-shaped pebble from Gaban andthe formal designs incised on a human fem ­ur, st rongly recall that art of Lepenki Vir(SREJOVIC 1972) wh ich are attributable toperiod whi ch is not very much earlier (LV 11) .Considerable similarities are met in the re­markable sculpture found at Capdana k - LeHault in Lot in an early Chassey contex t.

In the same cultural contex t of Gabanthere is also a schematic female stereotypeon a bone plaque whi ch is comparable to tern­ale figurines with a rectangular outline distrib­uted in var ious 8alkan assemblages.

As far as the double-headed clay figurinefrom Vhb di Piadena is concerned, the Balkanparallel is limited by the ideological signif ican·ce of this, since it is found in a variety ofdifferent cultural contex ts . Double-beadedNeolithic f igures are found from Asia Minor,at Tell Brak (MALLOWAN 1947) and CatalHuyuk (MELLAART 1967), to the Balkans(GIMBUTAS 1974). Over this area we areclearly dealing with two types of representa­tion : one suggesting a symbiosis of two per­sons, male and female, and another strict lydoubl e-headed. It is evident that the symbolicand ideolog ical mot ivations are very differentin each case, above all in those which re­present twins of opposite sex . If we exc ludethe twin version, the most striking parallelsare found in the cultural contex t of Vin~a in

the «two-headed goddess« from Rast (DUMI ·TRESCU 1972) and later in the classic Vinca,at Vinca itself and Gomolava (GIMBUTAS1974).

Reflexes from the Balkan ideologicalworld could also be recognisable in the pre­sence of «plntaderas» (CORNAGGIA CASTI·GLlONI , CALEGARI 1978), but these are, atour present state of knowl edge, absent fromthe Impressed Ware traditi on and the earl yNeolithic of north ern Italy. The first pintader­as with certain associations come from theensuing Square-Mouthed Pottery Culturewhere they last throughout its deve lopment.

Thi s fact is remarkable if one considersthat in the Balkan area such objects are wlde­Iy distri buted dur ing the early Neolithic, espe­cially in the Starcsvo-Koros Culture.

The Full Neolithic

The Square-Mouthed Pottery Culture dorn­inates the scene during the IV millenium bc.After an initial «Llgurian style» with incisedlinear geometri c decoration (BARFIELD1972), there foll ow, in a later development ,stylistic influences from the Adrtatic-Batkanarea which are mainl y der ived from the Dani­10 (KOROSEC 1958, 1964) and Hvar (NOVAK1955) Cultures. These new cultural inf luencesare distinguished by the introducti on, alonqsl­de surviving indigenous traits, of dynam ic de­coration, such as meanders, bar meanders,spirals and spiral meanders executed with ascratch or cut-out technique.

It is worth however pointing out how dur­ing its whole developm ent the Square­Mouthed Pottery Cultu re is profoundly lntlu­enced by Balkan traditions see n principally inthe presence of figurines and pintaderas.These elements point to a close relationshipbetween thi s Culture and those of the Bal­kans in the spiritual sphere. It is not possibleto point to any specific similarities outsidethe culture area since in northern Italy theyoccur in original and independent forms re­lated to the autonomy that the Square­Mouthed Pottery Culture itseif maintains dur­ing its developm ent.

During the first sty list ic phase of theSquare-Mouthed Pottery Culture linear geo·

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metric scratched decoration seems to devel­op from its ear liest Ligur ian aspect (BAR·FIELD 1971 ). It does not however appear pos­sible to support the hypothesis that there wasa close correlation between the scratchedsty le of the VBO Culture and similar featuresfound in the Danilo area , even though thesetraits appear in Dalmatia at a moment imme­diately foll ow ing the disappearance of the Irn­pressed Ware Culture and geographica lly arerecognisable in a few elements. as far as theTrieste Karst (BARFIELD 1973). Also, as re­gards the scratched decoration in the DaniloCulture, some Yugoslav authorities do not re­cognise any influence from the geometricscratched ware style of Matera Ostuni, onthe eastern shore of the Adriatic, apart fromthe fac t that a few later simila r decorativesty les come to predominate in the Danilo trad­ition, executed both in scratched and incisedtechn ique (BATOVIC 1975).

In the sty listic sub-divisions of the Dalrna­tian Neolithic proposed by one Yugoslav au­thority (BREGANT 1968) we see that the be­ginning of Danilo, we ll docum ented at Daniloand Smil cic is characterised by geometric li·near decoration done with a variety of teen­niques, among them scratching (Danil o 1·4);the spiral and spiral meander motifs, now al­so painted, appear at a later stage (Danilo5-7) which in turn is strat if ied below the firststy listic phases of Hvar (Hvar 1·3), and th isshares many motifs besides others that, likethe undul ating festooned bands, are spec ificto the latter Culture.

With the later Hvar sty listic tra its (Hvar4·6) these festoon mot ifs, generally paintedbut also incised, become well established.

This evo lution of the middde and late Neo·lithic, if it could be bette r co nfi rmed by strati­graphical evidence. which at present we donot have, presents a significant parallel tothat of the early and the developed phases ofthe VBO Cultu re.

These parallels can be summarised asfollows :1. Early VBO (Iinear-geometric scratched rnot­

ifs) - fi rst stages of the Danilo Culture(Danilo 1-4).

2. Fully developed VBO Culture (dynamicand spiral meander, scratched, incisedand excised styles) - final stages of Danilo

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(Danilo 5-7) and first phases of Hvar (Hvar1·3).The decorative elements with incised fes·

tooned bands, recogn ised above all at Pesca­le (M alavolti 1951 ·52), can thu s be related toHvar , perhaps in its post Danilo stages . Va·rious features place this Emilian facies in amore developed stylistic position in relation­ship to other spiral meander groups of theVBO Culture (BAGOLlNI, BIAGI 1977c ).

In general the stylistic elements with thegreatest affi nities between the latest spi ralmeander aspects of the VBO Culture and theHvar Culture appea r to be with the continen­tal variant of this Culture, as at Lisicici, ratherthan with the coasta l aspect of Smilcic. Onthe other hand, if the hypothesis concerningthe relationship between Lisicic i and Danilotradition is correct as an episode directly re­lated to Danilo IV, these facts would better fitin with a model of organic development. Theevidence for a connection between the contln­ental area, along the Neretva, and the northItalian VBO area is arguably extensive, evendur ing the early stages of Danilo , and parti cu­larly well docum ented through the mediationof the Kakanj Culture.

It is thu s quite possible that the principaldirection of contacts whi ch lead to the int rod­ucti on of Balkan influences in the middle sta­ge of the VBO Culture, are not to be soughtprim aril y on the Dalmatian coast, but alongmore continental routes centred roughly onthe Neretva and fr om there along the Bosnaand the Sava.

In summary the direction of influencecould be: Danilo Kakanj VBO: early spiralmeander. Follow ed by: Hvar Lisicici ButmirVBO: late spiral meander (BAGOLlNI et al1979).

As has been just argued, there are traitswhich support the argument for a diff usion ofcu ltu ral influence into northern Italy perhapsalready during the early Neollthic which re­lates, however distantly, the Starcevo spherewith the cu ltural traditions of the Po Plain.

Balkan Ideological traits in the Square­Mouthed Pollery Culture

In the context of the Square-Mouthed Pot·tery Culture Balkan ideological traits are re-

cognisable above all in the figurines and the«pintaderas».

As far as the femal e figures are con­cerned, it is clear that even at the beginningof the Culture, there are a number of stylist icvariants. Two types, in particular, occur withsignificant regularity: these are figurines witha strongly flattened crutch shaped body, gen·erally seated, with whi ch can prob ably be as­sociated a type with a stylised cylindricalhead ; and figurines with arms folded on thechest and shoulder length hair, of whi ch typ ehowe ver only one example is known (BAGO·UNI 1978).

Both these main types, characteristic ofthe square-Moutbeo Pottery Culture area, de·monstrate how within the same culture andeven the same settlement, there co-existedtwo or more figurine styles each one eviden­ce of an ideologi cal heritage within which thefemal e figurine had several different forms.There indeed would appear to have been anumber of different formal types whi ch it isdifficult to interpret in terms of a single «tert i­lity godde ss., the symbol of «mother earth»,for whom could be performed the seasonalmyths and festivals.

This observation agrees with what hasbeen noted in the Balkan area, where thereexists a proliferation of different female rapre­sentations as well as other persons and cultobjects.

As regard s the possibility of direct rnor­phological comparison between the rangefound in the VBa Culture and that of the Bal­kan region these are rather impreci se becau ­se of the already mentioned re-elaboration oftypes in different cultures.

It is worth however notin g that the seatedfigures with flattened crutchshaped bodiesand lower part of the body with large but ­tacks, flexed knees and tapering lower limbswith no indication of feet, bear a strong sirni­larity with the types found in the fir st phaseof Cucuteni in Moldavia (GIMBUTAS 1974).

The parallels for the typ e of figurine witharm s bent across the chest are too genera­lised to be signif icant. This atti tude is in factvery widely diffused in various cultural con­texts in south east Europe above all in Gree­ce and Bulgaria.

For the «plntaderas» it is possibl e to say

that the majority of these objects found inNeolithic Italy are associated with the VBaCulture (CORNAGGIA CASTIGUONI , CALE·GARI 1978) and therefore in the south of italyare uncommon . This suggests that our areais more open to Balkan influences, which aremainly continental and not maritime.

We can further note that «pintaderas» arenot characteristic of the coastal DalmatianNeolithic of either Danilo or Hvar, in spite ofthe sty list ic cont ribution made by these Cul­tures to that of the VBa Culture.

The «plntaderas» also present a stylisticevolut ion whi ch is related to that of the cera­mic decoration. For when during the secondphase of the Culture the geometri c linear styl­e is gradually replaced by the motifs of thespiral meander style, we find on the «pinta­dera s» also dynamic, spiral meander motifs(BAGOLlNI 1977).

Conclusions

Balkan influences from various sourcespermeate the early Neolithic of northern Italyto the exc lusions of those from the lrn­pressed Ware Cultu re.

The Balkan component appears, in agreater or lesser degree, as a basic elementin these cultural groups.

This component having undergone manylocal transformations cannot be traced to anyspecif ic Balkan Cultu re areas, although theStarcevo-Koros assemblages would appearto be the principle ones involved.

in the full Neolithic, which develops in thewhole territory as the VBa Culture, we findlinks with the Danilo Culture and to a lesserextent that of Hvar, above all in the decorati­ve range of the pottery. Clear links with theBalkan ideological traditions are to be seen inthe var ious types of female figurines and «pin­taderas»,

In the late Neolithic, characterised in thewest by the spread of the Chassey and t.aqoz­za traditions and by the penetration of groupsrelated to Diana from the directi on of the A·dri atic coast (BAGOLlNI, BIAGI1 9771, the trad·itional contacts with the Balkan area, whichhad come along coasta l or land routes, seemto be interrupted. In some areas such as that

55

centred on the Euganean Hills, Lake Gardaand the Trent ino, the VBO Culture survives todevelop local variants permeated by north Al­pine traits, even though a survival of Balkantraditions is st ill clearly recogni sabl e in theco ntinuing use of «pintaderas» and of femalef jgurines, which are similar to those of earlierti mes.

(Translated by L.H. Barfleld)

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SUMMARY

Balkan inf luences from vario us sources permeatethe early Neolithic of Nort hern Italy to the exclusions ofthose from the Impressed Ware Culture.

The Balkan component appears , in a greater orlesser degree, as a basic element in these culturalgroups.

This component having undergone many loc altransformat ions cannot be traced to any spec ific Bal­kan culture area s, although the Star~evo·K()r()s assem­blages wou ld appear to be the principle ones invo lved .

In the full Nectlth!c. whi ch develops in the wholeterr itory as the VBa Culture, we find links with the Dani­10 Culture and to a lesser extent that of Hvar, above allIn the decor ative range of the pottery. Clear links withthe Balkan ideological trad it ions ere to be seen in thevarious types of female figurines and eptntederas• .

In the late Neohthic. characterised in the west bythe spread of the Chassey and Leqozza traditions andby the penetration of groups related to Oiana from thedirection of the Ad riat ic coast the traditional contactswith the Balkan area , whi ch had come along coastal orland rou tes, seem to be Interrupted . In some areas suchas that cen tred on the Euganean Hills, l ake Garda andthe Tre ntino, the VBa Cult ure survives to develop localva ria nts permeated by north Alpine traits, even thougha surv iva l of Balkan tradit ions is sti ll c learly recognisa ­ble in the continuing use of «pmtederese and of femalef igurines, which are simi lar to those of earlier times .

RESUME

Des infl uences balkaniques de diverses sourcesmarquent le premier Neotithique de t'ttene du nord, 8l'exclusion de la Culture de la Ceremique tmpres­slor mee .

la composante balkaniqu e apparait, de Iacon plusou moins ecce ruuee. comme l'element base de cesgroupes cu lture ls.

Cette composante ayant subi de nombreusea trans­formations locales ne peut se reterer 8 une zone cuttur­elle spec itique des Balkans, bien que lea assemblagesStar~evo-K()r ()s puissant appa raitre comme ceux quisont le plus concernee.

Oans le pteln Neotithfoue. qui se developpe sur toutle terri toire comme la Culture des vases 8 embouchurecerree. nous trouvons des liens avec la Culture de Danl·10 et , dans une moindre mesure, evec celle de Hver ,surtout de ns les bandes decorativea des poteri es. Desliens evldenta evec res tradit ions ldeoloqiquea des Bal­kans peuvent se vo ir dans les tlvers types de figurinesIemlnfnes et eplntade ras• .

Au cou rs du Neolitt uque tard if, ca racterlse it l'ouestpar I'extenslon des traditions Chassey et l agozza etpar la penet ration de groupes relies 8 Oiana et proven­ant de la cOte adriatique lea contacts traditionnels avecla reg ion betkantque, qui s'eteient creea le long desroutes cOtieres ou internes , semblent s'interrompre.Oans certaines zones comme cetle qui est centree surles Coll ines Euganean, le lac de Garde et le Trentin. laCulture VBa aurvit pour developper de s vanentes loc ­ales Intluenceea par des traits prove nant du nord desAl pes , meme si une survivance des traditions bene­nlques est enco re clalrement reconnaissable dens l'utlfl­sation con tinue des «pintaderee» et dans les fi gurinestemlnfnee, qu i soot semblables 8 ceues des tem pspasses.

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