ZONA THESSALO-MACEDONEANĂ SI DUNĂREA MIJLOCIE LA SFÂRSITUL MILENIULUI AL VI-LEA SI LA ÎNCEPUTUL MILENIULUI AL V-LEA A. CHR.*
THE THESSALIAN-MACEDONIAN REGION AND THE MIDDLE DANUBE IN THE LATE SIXTH AND EARLY FIFTH MILLENNIUM BC

Summary/Abstract: The cultural group Foeni was defined as a result of material discoveries of 1980s and mostly due to major systematic investigations made in ParŃa II and Foeni-The Orthodox Cemetery. At the same time, the investigations of Vinča C type settlements from the Banat, carried out simultaneously with those in the Foeni sites, allowed a dissociation of the unpainted categories of the two civilizations. The stratigraphic data justifies our affirmation that Foeni group is partially contemporaneous with the end of some Vinča C1 settlements from the Banat and parallel with classical Tisa settlements. Consequently, the chronologic moment of Foeni group in the Banat can be fixed toward the end of the stage Vinča C1. The discoveries located north of the Danube prove the dynamism of Foeni communities responsible for putting an end to the evolution of C1 stage of Vinča culture in the central and northern parts of the Banat. In Transylvania, they contributed to the birth of Petresti culture and the genesis of Iclod group—indirectly, by dislocating Turdas communities from Mures Valley and expelling them toward Central Transylvania. The analogies of painted pottery of Foeni are mainly located in the late Neolithic of northern Greece. This fact urges us to take into consideration the possibility of a contribution of Neolithic communities from Macedonia at the birth of Foeni group. This phenomenon could have taken the form of cultural diffusion grafted on population’s mobility towards the Danubian area. In our opinion, the hypothesis of a southern origin of the Foeni group, in the current stage of research, is the only credible explanation of its birth and until new counter-arguments will be raised, we consider it viable. According to C14 data, this ethno-cultural process took place around 4700 cal BC, when Foeni group was full-fledged.

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