January 29, 2022 - The Paleo or Stone Age diet is amongst the most popular lifestyle trends in the 21st century, claiming a variety of health benefits including weight loss and improved mental health.

But what about our ancestors after the stone age? What were their lifestyles like over the next 3,000 years?

A Croatian ancestral burial site may hold some answers.

A recent study on remains excavated from the Vučedol archeological site located in eastern Croatia was able to determine the long-term dietary choices, and the type of food that inhabitants consumed during the Bronze Ages.

Results point to the possibility that they consumed more animal proteins and fewer greens than our Paleolithic ancestors.

Where is Vučedol and what is the significance of this site?

Vučedol is an important archeological site located in the southwestern Carpathian Basin.

In terms of modern boundaries, the vast Basin spans across the territories of Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria.

Outline of the Carpathian Basin with Modern Boundaries. Image: Google Earth

The Vučedol archeological site is located in the eastern region of Slavonia, along the Danube River, and is approximately 5 kilometers downstream from Vukovar.

While only 10% of the Vučedol site has been excavated today, rich findings from the area have improved our understanding of the late Stone, Copper, and Bronze Ages within the Carpathian Basin.

Location of Vukovar, Croatia. Image: Google Maps

For more in-depth reports of Vučedol heritage and archeological findings, take a look at TCN’s coverage here and here.

New insights

The remains at Vučedol were originally unearthed in 1897, where a total of 15 skeletons were found. However, due to technological and financial constraints, bioarchaeological data on these remains have been relatively scarce.

Fortunately, with access to modern scientific methods (i.e. stable isotope analysis) researchers have been able to revisit and conduct a series of tests on human remains excavated at Vučedol in the late 19th century.

Researchers suggest the graves dated back to the Early Bronze Age (3300-1200 BCE), but individuals were buried over a time period spanning several decades.

By examining the dental and skulls of the remains, the sex and age distributions of these remains stood out. The group was evenly represented by four male and four female skeletons. All individuals were able to reach adulthood.

Of these, 6 were considered ‘middle/older’ aged 35 years and older, while the other two were categorized as ‘young/sub adults’ (18-35 years).

Other archeological digs have unearthed remains from the same time period, but usually consisted of children or young/sub-adults. Although 5 of these individuals suffered from poor health during childhood, they were well enough to reach adulthood.

Some of the ailments they suffered were attributed to the lack of vitamins B12, and anemia brought on by iron deficiency and harsh living conditions.

During the Early Bronze Age, inhabitants experienced extensive socio-economic change. They lived through a period of great prosperity around 2500 BCE, lasting almost 150 years. Unfortunately, their fortunes reversed quite rapidly with a decline that lasted another 100 years.

Stone age vs. Bronze age diets

Researchers were also able to outline clear differences in diets between the Late Stone Age and the Early Bronze Age based on comparisons of stable isotope values from the remains.

It showed the reliance of inhabitants on different ratios of crops and animal proteins which evolved depending on the climate and social-economic conditions.

Generally, inhabitants of the Late Stone Age adopted similar agricultural practices. In line with the growing conditions of the area at the time, their diets were mostly made up of fibrous crops such as rice, wheat, barley, oats, beets, and potatoes as opposed to corn, sugarcane, or millet.

At the turn of the Early Bronze Age, it appears the region’s inhabitants began to incorporate more meat in their diet with a decrease in plant carbons in their remains compared to their Stone Age counterparts.

Researchers theorized inhabitants of the Early Bronze Age were able to regulate the farming of livestock, which provided them with a dependable source of protein.

Alternatively, the increase in protein consumption could also be due to the lack of abundant plant vegetation. Climate conditions during the time were seemingly not as hospitable to agricultural farming as those living during the Stone Age

They also supplemented their diet by hunting wild game such as deer and boar from the nearby forests. Occasionally, they caught fish from the Danube River, albeit to a much lesser extent than the consumption of animal proteins.

Wild Boar. Image: Francesco Ungaro/Pexels

While stable isotope analysis provides powerful insights into the types of food our ancestors consumed, for example, that they were likely eating more rice and potatoes than corn, it has limited application in identifying exact types of produce as well as serving sizes.

History of the Vučedol site

This site was inhabited for three millennia, from the Neolithic to the Bronze Ages (4000-1500 BCE), providing invaluable insights into the lives of people and the social and economic changes during this period.

Towards the end of the Copper Age, lived the Vučedol culture (3080-2340 BCE). The first recorded finds arrived at the Archeological Museum of Zagreb as early as 1894 through Josip Brunšmid, museum director.

This collection continued to grow due to the support of the Streim family who owned the land.

Vučedol, along the Danube River. Image: Google Earth

In one of the most famous finds surrounding the Vučedol site, ceramics were unearthed in 1938 by German archeologist RR Schmidt. The Vučedol culture was well known for the production of ceramics that required highly refined pottery skills.

These vessels are currently on display at the archeological museum in Zagreb.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

September 19, 2021 - The Vučedol Archaeological Park project was presented at the Museum of Vučedol Culture to introduce the events that will follow in the next two years.

Namely, this extensive project includes the construction, reconstruction, and revitalization of the archeological site, communal and catering infrastructure, and the tourist promotion of the entire project on an area of slightly more than 28 hectares, reports HRTurizam.

“The Vučedol Archaeological Park project is conceived as a platform, backbone, and initiator of a complex program of systematic interdisciplinary research of the Vučedol archaeological site, which expands the area of Vučedol. It presents as an archeological-historical, but also a tourist-catering and sports-recreational center," said the director of the Museum of Vučedol Culture, Mirela Hutinec.

At the future site, there will be a planetarium, info point and scientific research center, restaurant, area for the presentation of Vučedol livestock, a museum square, Vučedol labyrinth and children's playground, reconstruction of the Megaron and Vučedol settlement, a stilt house on Orlov otok, and passenger and communal port for boats. These are big plans that, once realized, will be the backbone of tourism in Slavonia and Baranja and an important place for scientists and researchers.

The project's specific objectives are preserving the Vučedol archaeological site and enriching the cultural (archaeological) and tourist offer by using creative, innovative, and technologically advanced solutions in education, presentation, and promotion of the Vučedol Archaeological Park.

The partners of this vital project are the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media, the City of Vukovar, the Public Institution Port Authority of Vukovar, and the Vukovar Tourist Board. The project value is 117,299,998.51 kuna, of which 85%, or 99,704,998.72 kuna, are grants from the European Regional Development Fund.

In the entire locality of Vučedol, after 40 years of systematic research, only 10 to 12% of the area has been explored. So, we can still expect new knowledge about the Vučedol culture.

"In Europe, the highest level of civilization was developed by the Vučedol culture, which began here on Vučedol around three thousand years ago. As far as we know, this is the oldest locality of the Vučedol culture, and everything started from this area. Here we have the oldest Indo-European calendar, excavated at the site in Vinkovci. If we can recognize and read it, then we have the oldest pictorial letter of Indo-Europe," said Professor Aleksandar Durman, who has been working on researching Vučedol culture for many years.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.