This paper deals with the appearance and development of particular ceramic
forms that were prevalent on the wider territory from the lower Danube to the
northern shores of the Aegean sea during the middle and Late Bronze Age.
These forms relate to globular beakers, pear shaped vessels with everted rims
with arch shaped handles, cups with handles with plastic applications on
their upper surface, etc. Particular attention is devoted to the phenomenon
of globular beakers of the LBA in the valleys of Varder, Mesta and Struma
rivers. All information collected primarily through analysis of
stylistic-typological characteristics of ceramics of the middle and Late
Bronze Age - that took into account ritual burials, layout of settlements,
trade routes and climactic conditions during that period - points to
population movements from the north to the south already by the LBA, i.e. in
15th century BC. These movements contributed to the creation of particular
cultural groups in the LBA in the central Balkans, such as the Brnjica
cultural group. However, these movements cannot be clearly linked to the
so-called Aegean Migration, and for this reason their character and
chronology are subject to debate. Ultimately it can be concluded that beakers
of the Zimnicea -Cherkovna-Plovdiv type appeared in the late Bronze Age in
the Vlasine depression and the Danube valley through the evolution of beaker
forms of cultural groups of earlier periods. Almost contemporaneously, during
LBA, a variant of this ceramic form, richly ornamented (mostly with spirals)
and similar in manner to the cultural group Dubovac-Zuto Brdo-Grla Mare-
Krna, appeared in the LBA culture in northern Greece. Clearly this stylistic
mannerism, with spirals as characteristic elements, spread relatively quickly
through successive migrations in the period of 15th-14th century BC, toward
the south of the Balkan Peninsula, thus covering the wider territory from the
southern tip of the Carpathian mountains down to the northern shores of the
Aegean Sea. Participants in those migrations are in fact representatives of
cultural groups that were created in the northern Balkan Peninsula during the
16th and 15th centuries BC through the breakdown of Vatic culture. As the
result of pressures from the north and north-west they headed south,
contributing to the creation and development of cultural groups on the
territory of the central Balkans. The final destination of the migrations
were the valleys of the Mesta, Struma and Vardar rivers where, starting in
the 15th century BC, a noticeable foreign cultural influence can be felt that
became most pronounced during 14th century BC.
Foundry in the Late Bronze Age Baiões/Santa Luzia Cultural Group: some reflections starting from a new metallic mould for unifacial palstaves
