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From the beginning of the Neolithic period people started living in permanent
houses, using pottery vessels and keeping domesticated sheep, cattle and pigs and cultivating cereals. The houses to the east and south of the Balkans were
substantial rectangular timber buildings. In northern Greece these had stone foundations , and to the west houses were simple elliptical pit huts with lighter rectangular
wattle and daub. Across Bulgaria and Macedonia the same sites were used for many centuries and millennia leading to the "tell" raised area.
Typical symbols of the Neolithic period are: sun represented as circle and spirals, fire as volutes (wave patterns), meanders and anthropomorphic figures.
Burials were only frequent in the Danube Gorge area with other areas having some burials within villages and inside buildings.
The earliest Balkan Neolithic cultures can be broadly divided three groups:
Balkan group
Covering the areas of Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece, known as Gura Baciului, Karanovo I, Porodin (Velušina), proto-Sesklo
cultures, in the settlement friendly areas of Thessaly, Pelagonia, S Albania (Vlush), middle Struma, and central areas. Characterised by light monochrome
pottery and white painted pottery
Central Balkan group
Covering the area of Sebia and south Panonnia into Banat
Known as Starčevo I, Körös, Criş cultures
Characterised with coarse pottery and Barbotine decoration
Mediterranean group
Along the coast of Iberia, Italy, and north Africa with pottery decorated by finger nail and
shell impressions, known as "impresso" technique.
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- Gura Baciului culture
- Gura Baciului site near Cluj, and a second site is at Cârcea (Oltenia), other sites are in Serbia and southern Pannonia.
- Area - Serbia, Transylvania, Pannonia and Oltenia
- Pottery - Red monochrome, decoration in white paint, decoration dots along the rims.
- Links - Anzabegovo Ic
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- Karanovo culture
- Origins - Pontic Steppe
- Phase I early neolithic, phase II middle neolithic
- Area - Thracian plain, includes Conevo (Dobrudza), Čavdar (Sofia basin)
- Settlements - "tell", arranged in rows with streets
- Houses - rectangular, one room, wattle, wooden substructure
- Pottery - monochrome, decoration in white paint
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- Anzabegovo culture
- Origins - Pontic Steppe
- Previously known as Vršnik
- Phase I early neolithic, phase II to IV middle neolithic.
- Area - plain of Skopje, the Bregalnica valley, to the Struma valley and to the lower reaches of the Vardar.
- Houses - Phase I mud brick, phase II were wattle on a platform, organised settlements
- Pottery - fine light in colour, phase IV spiral motif
- Links - Phase II ~ Karanovo II
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- Porodin culture
- Origins - Pontic Steppe
- Area - Pelagonia, previously called Porodin, now Velušina
- Settlements - "tell"
- Houses- rectangular or trapezoid, wattle.
- Pottery - red, plain
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- Starcevo culture
- Origins - Pontic Steppe
- The first phase Starčevo I is only found within Romania in the Banat region.
- Phase I early neolithic, phases II & III middle neolithic, end seen as Vinča, phases II-III=Anzabegovo II-IV
- Area - Serbia, Kosovo, S Vojvodina, NE Bulgaria, Drina valley in SW
- Pottery - phase I coarse, decoration Barbotine, no painted ware, phase II painted=Anzabegovo, phases III increase of fine ware, Barbotine decoration, spiral patterns, polychrome
- Settlements - never "tell", most only one layer, may be more primitive agriculture?
- Houses - pit-dwelling
- Links - Körös, Criş, Lepenski Vir IIIb
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- Stijena-Smilčić group
- Origins - Pontic Steppe
- Area - Istria to Albanian coast
- Pottery - clay mixed with mica or sand, brown colour
- Settlements - most in caves, open settlements around an open area
- Houses - some wattle and daub, circular
- Farming - gradual change from gathering to agriculture and stock breeding (mainly sheep, goats oxen) in latter phases
- Links - mixing with Starčevo in central Bosnia
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- Vashtëmi-Podgorie
- Origins - Pontic Steppe
- Area - south Albania
- Pottery - mostly white decoration on red, some impressed, barbotine later
- Links - closest to Anzabegovo and Neo Nikomedeia, also with Porodin, rare pottery has some early similarity with proto-Sesklo & pre-Sesklo, barbotine pottery links to Starčevo
