Archaeological culture · c. 5400–4500 BCE
Vinča culture
The Vinča culture of the central Balkans built large tell villages, mounds formed by rebuilding on the same spot for centuries. Its people made many clay figurines and scratched signs on pottery that some have called proto-writing.
Vinča sites have some of the earliest known evidence of copper smelting in the world. Its villages were probably linked by trade but not united politically.
See Vinča culture on the map in 5400 BCE
- On the map
- 5400–4500 BCE
How we know
No true writing existed: most scholars do not accept the 'Vinča symbols' on pots as writing, so we rely on excavation and radiocarbon.
Sites
- Vinča–Belo Brdo c. 5700–4500 BCE (later reoccupied)