STONE AGES COLLECTION
The Stone Ages Collection consists of over 1000 exhibits and various study material covering the Neolithic periods: Early Neolithic, Proto-Starčevo culture (around 6200 – 5900 BC), Starčevo culture (around 5900 – 5300 BC) and Late Neolithic, Vinča culture (around 5300 – 4500 BC).
The most important objects are those of also extraordinary beauty: ceramic vessels, painted and barbotine Starčevo pottery and polished and ornamented Vinča ceramics; cult vessels and altars; zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines among which are the unique and world-famous examples such is the “Mother with Child”; chipped and polished stone tools and bone artifacts. This precious material, acquired since the very foundation of the Museum, has been collected from more than 200 sites on the territory of Pomoravlje through field surveys and archaeological excavations as well as donations and purchase.
Since the 1960s some 20 sites which testify to life in the Neolithic have been researched through multi-year projects: “Archaeological sites in Pomoravlje”, “Ancient peoples and cultures in the city of Svetozarevo” and “Starčevo culture in Pomoravlje”, as well as the “Permanent archaeological workshop – The Central Pomoravlje in Neolithization of Southeast Europe” which has been realized since 2002. Most of the researched sites are multi-layered with the oldest settlements belonging to the Proto-Starčevo or Starčevo culture of which the most important are “Bukovačka česma” (Bukovče) and “Pojate-Pojilo” (Belica). The excavation of the proto-Starčevo site “Dunjićki šljivari” (Međureč), which lasted for two centuries at the end of the 7th millennium BC, was begun in 2007. The first protective research of the Regional Museum Jagodina at the “Motel” site (Paraćin) in 1962 produced rich Late Neolithic material. The multi-layered site “Slatina-Turska česma” (Drenovac), with a Neolithic layer over 6 meters, have revealed the world most significant and beautiful finds of the Vinča culture. The sites “Stublina” (Supska), “Buljićke bare” (Veliki Popović) and “Sastavci” (Svojnovo) document the specifics of only the Late Neolithic Vinča culture.
Curator: Sonja Perić
