Opovo-Utrina
Opovo-Utrina · Opovo · Utrina · Opovo tell
Late Neolithic Vinča D (c.4700–4500 BCE) with Bubanj Hum I (c.4500–4200 BCE) intrusive·Vinča D (Late Vinča Banat) → Bubanj Hum I proto-Eneolithic·🇷🇸 Vojvodina Province, Banat District, Tamiš valley, Serbia
About
About Opovo-Utrina
Late Vinča (c.4500 BCE) tell on Tamiš floodplain — final Vinča–Bubanj Hum transition: excavated by Nikola Tasić & Stephan Hiller (1983–89, Austrian–Serbian). Uncovers Vinča D burnt house horizon with tripod altar, anthropomorphic figurines and copper; overlying Bubanj Hum I intrusive horizon proving cultural break. Ascribed to Vinča southeast-Banat facies. Tell 6 m high with burnt Vinča houses sealing copper awls and malachite. Only Tamiš Vinča tell linking Banat to Morava-Vardar corridor with funerary rites (extended inhumations). Buried beneath alluvium.
Why it mattersOnly Vinča D→Bubanj Hum I stratified break in Banat proving Vinča collapse before Eneolithic steppe — type transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Bubanj Hum bearers — migration or internal Vinča transformation?
- 02Where is Vinča cemetery — no burials at Opovo?
Theories
- 01Tasić Vinča-Bubanj abrupt replacement vs Chapman continuist model
- 02Tringham Opovo household ritual altar as female-centred religion debate
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4700 BCE Vinča D houses; 4500 BCE burnt destruction; Bubanj Hum reoccupation 4400 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic Vinča D (c.4700–4500 BCE) with Bubanj Hum I (c.4500–4200 BCE) intrusive
- Culture
- Vinča D (Late Vinča Banat) → Bubanj Hum I proto-Eneolithic
- Builders
- Vinča D (Late Vinča Banat) → Bubanj Hum I proto-Eneolithic builders
- Purpose
- Tamiš floodplain Vinča village with ritual tripod altar and copper metallurgy at Danube fringe
- Abandoned
- c.4200 BCE Bubanj Hum contraction before Tiszapolgár–Bodrogkeresztur steppe
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1983–89 Nikola Tasić & S. Hiller (Belgrade & Vienna) Opovo Project; resumed 2000s
- Excavation
- Excavated
2000
Initial work at Opovo-Utrina
2015
Stratigraphy and geophysics synthesis for Opovo-Utrina
On the ground
Structures & features
45.0550° N · 20.4280° E · 80 m · 3 mapped features
Vinča D burnt houses
settlementHouses with tripod altar
45.0552° N · 20.4282° EBubanj Hum I pit
pitProto-Eneolithic pit with new pottery
45.0548° N · 20.4278° EAlluvial paleosol
geologicalTamiš floodplain basal soil
45.0550° N · 20.4280° E