The Timocka Krajina region has not been sufficiently investigated
archaeologically, which coupled with the fact that a very small number of
metal finds and remains have been discovered, makes the reconstruction of the
start and end of the Bronze Age that much more difficult. Identification work
in the area around Romuliana on two occasions in 2001 and 2008 led to the
discovery of another 10 predominantly multi-layered sites dating back to the
Bronze Age, of which 7 are highland settlements while 3 are lowland
settlements located in the immediate vicinity of the Timok river or its
tributaries. The discovered sites 1. Varsari, 2. Djokin Vis, 3. Kravarnik, 4.
Mustafa, 5. Nikolov Savat, 6. Njiva Zore Brzanovic, 7. Petronj, 8.
Potes-Petronj, 9. Strenjak and 10. Zvezdan; bare the characteristics of the
material culture of the ?Gamzigrad group? of the Middle Iron Age. Besides
known ceramic forms and characteristic ornamentation of this culture, there
is a visibly strong influence of the Vatin (Crvenka-Cornes?i) and Verbicioara
elements to a greater extent, and Paracin cultural elements to a lesser
extent. Given that this material was collected during identification work, we
are now aware of the stratigraphic relations between these elements, and have
devoted more attention to common characteristics and interconnections from
which certain conclusions can be drawn. Based on the finds from
archaeological sites that have been excavated it can be concluded that the
distribution of sites with Gamzigrad cultural characteristics is limited to a
very small area, i.e. only to the vicinity of the Crni Timok river. Nearly at
all sites, both highland and lowland, Vatin and Verbicioara elements are
strongly visible on the ceramic materials. The geographic position of the
Crni Timok, which is located in the area where the Paracin, Vatin and
Verbichoar cultures connected and overlapped, could contribute to shedding
light on the origin and characteristics of this phenomenon of the Middle
Bronze Age in Eastern Serbia.