The Vučedol culture was a prehistoric Indo-European culture located in an area that included part of the Pannonian Plain extending south into several modern Western Balkan states. The culture’s name comes from a place called Vučedol (meaning ‘Wolf Valley’), located on the western border of present-day Croatia, near the border with Serbia. This site has been identified by archaeologists as one of the main settlements of the Vučedol culture.
A Neolithic culture
The Vučedol culture existed from 3000 BC to 2200 BC. This was the prehistoric period known as the Neolithic Age (also known as the Paleolithic Age or the Bronze Age), during which copper began to be widely used. The Vučedol culture is especially notable for the production of arsenic-containing bronze objects. Arsenic bronze is an alloy in which arsenic is added to copper, instead of/in addition to tin, to create bronze.
Vučedol cultural map. (Public domain)
The Vučedol culture developed from two earlier Paleolithic cultures – the Baden culture, located on the Pannonian Plain, and the Kostolac culture, located to the west of modern Romania and north of modern Serbia.
Due to the widespread use of copper, the Vučedol culture initially settled near mountain ranges, where copper mines could easily be found. Over time, Vučedol settlements were established in more distant places. During the period when Vučedol culture reached its peak, it had settlements in 14 different modern European countries. Sites once occupied by the Vučedol culture have been found not only in Croatia but also as far north as the Czech Republic, and as far south as eastern Greece (where it is thought the Vučedol settlement was detect).
Representative image of Vučedol house. (Vučedol Cultural Museum)
Artifacts to explain
Our knowledge of the Vučedol culture comes from the artifacts they left behind, as it was not known that they had a writing system. For example, it has been suggested that there was social stratification in Vučedol culture. It may be that because the production of bronze objects was a form of specialized knowledge, bronze smiths formed a unique class of their own. Additionally, there may have been a class of food producers – farmers, hunters, fishermen and gatherers who supplied food to the blacksmiths. All of this may have been controlled and organized by an elite occupying the highest positions in the Vučedol hierarchy.
Vučedol Culture (crosci.com)
Vučedol pigeon
In addition to their arsenic-containing bronze objects, Vučedol were also known for their ceramics. The most famous of these is an object known as the Vučedol Pigeon. This artifact was discovered in 1938 by an archaeologist (one source claims that this was a German archaeologist named RR Schmidt, while another source claims that the archaeologist was named M. . Seper), who was excavating Vučedol.
The Vučedol Dove is approximately 49.5 cm (19.49 inches) tall and has been identified as a ceremonial vase made from fired clay. There are many marks on this piece of pottery. For example, on its neck the symbol of an ax and a necklace can be found. In addition, the wings and chest of this bird are covered with a separate set of patterns. Based on these motifs, along with the bird’s crest, this is actually a representation of a domestic pigeon rather than a pigeon.
Vučedol pigeon, symbol of Vučedol culture. ( Croatia.eu )
Another explanation is that the pigeon was in fact a partridge and was intended to symbolize a specific blacksmith/blacksmith of the Vučedol culture in general. This explanation takes into account the fact that the blacksmiths of the Vučedol culture were exposed to arsenic while making arsenic-containing bronze objects.
One of the negative effects on the human body when first exposed to arsenic fumes is loss of feeling in the legs. This loss then spreads to the rest of the body, eventually leading to death. If a blacksmith gets out of the forge in time, he will be able to save his life. However, the loss of feeling in the legs will last for a while.
As for the grouse, the males of this species, while defending their nest from predators, will run away and pretend to limp, in the hope that the predator will leave the nest and chase the bird. ‘injured’. Thus, the partridge is associated with a blacksmith/blacksmith of the Vučedol culture, since both of them walked with a limp.
Regardless of how the Vučedol Dove is interpreted, it has become the most recognizable symbol of Vučedol culture, perhaps even more prominent than the arsenic bronze objects their blacksmiths produced. In recent years, the Vučedol Cultural Museum was established by the Croatian government and opened in 2015. The Vučedol pigeon is almost certainly one of the museum’s biggest attractions.
