NEW DISCOVERY OF VUČEDOL CULTURE
Vučedol – a notable archaeological site from which the most significant Eneolithic culture got its name, is located on the right bank of the Danube, five kilometers downstream from the center of Vukovar.
It is a multi-layered site inhabited through centuries. In a six-meter thick cultural layer, we find traces of the earliest Starčevo culture dating back to the 6th and 5th millennium BC (5500 – 4300 BC), Eneolithic cultures (approximately 3500 – 2200 BC) – Baden, Kostolac and Vučedol (which we date to the period of 3000 – 2200 BC), to the Bronze Age cultures – Belegiš (1500 – 1400 BC).
Life in Vučedol was most intense and almost uninterrupted during the Eneolithic period, and the majority of archaeological material is dated precisely to the second half of the 4th and 3rd millennium BC.
European archaeological community.
In these campaigns, a multitude of ceramic, bone, and stone materials, as well as metal objects from the Vučedol, Kostolac, and Baden cultures, have been collected, helping us reconstruct life in Vučedol during the 3rd millennium BC.
The 2007 research campaign brought an exceptional and beautiful find – a small ceramic boot from the Vučedol culture.
On September 10th, towards the end of the workday – as is usually the case with a special discovery – while cleaning the floor of a Vučedol house, in the rubble of a collapsed wall that fell onto the floor when the house burned down, we came across ceramics that were stably positioned on the ground. Usually, each season we find thousands of ceramic fragments. There were, and even more than a hundred whole beautiful objects, but it was immediately clear that the very special object needed to be carefully cleaned with gentle movements of tools and brushes. After just a few moments, the small ceramic boot revealed itself in its entirety.
Although there were traces of a plow just ten centimeters above it, as a result of years of land cultivation where a vineyard is now planted, it is fortunate that the boot was preserved completely; only a tiny fragment is missing, fortunately unimportant for its overall appearance and reconstruction. The soil that surrounded and filled it preserved it, and after cleaning and gluing, it shone in all its beauty and warmth, which is visible, especially when you hold it in your palm. A true human touch.
Besides being exceptionally rare and valuable in every sense, it was made with indescribable care, patience, knowledge, and love. All of this can be seen on this small ceramic boot.
Manager of the Archaeological Collection City Museum of Vukovar
Photographs: Professor Dr. A. Durman