Prehistoric amber item at Žabalj-Nove Zemlje site (Vojvodina, Serbia)

Kata Furholt; Hendrik Groß; Stefan Schröder; Benjamin Serbe; Ildiko Medović; Tijana Stanković Pešterac; Erik Riese; Fynn Wilkes; Alexandar Medović; Martin Furholt

doi:10.23858/SA/77.2025.2.4120

Published: 2025-12-16

Vol. 77 No. 2 (2025)

Prehistoric amber item at Žabalj-Nove Zemlje site (Vojvodina, Serbia)

Kata Furholt , Hendrik Groß , Stefan Schröder , Benjamin Serbe , Ildiko Medović , Tijana Stanković Pešterac , Erik Riese , Fynn Wilkes , Alexandar Medović , Martin Furholt

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne

Section: Field Survey and Materials

https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/77.2025.2.4120

Abstract

This study focuses on a newly-discovered, perforated pendant from the Žabalj-Nove Zemlje site in Vojvodina, Serbia. The main settlement structure of this multiperiod site is primarily associated with the Late Neolithic Tisza and Vinča cultures (5400-4500/4450 BCE), where two burned houses were excavated from a total of 204 rectangular building anomalies detected archaeomagnetically. A unique, triangular-shaped and perforated pendant appeared on the top of the daub layer of one of the burned houses. The layer was disturbed in several parts by later pits; thus, the pendant cannot be directly linked to a closed Late Neolithic context. Material analysis, including Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and Fourier-Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), confirmed the material to be amber, while excluding other likely options such as beeswax or citrine. The Žabalj amber pendant is contextualised within the local scale and in the broader framework of the Carpathian Basin to gain insight into prehistoric amber use, which was predominant during the Bronze Age. However, this pendant does not typologically fit with Bronze Age amber beads; thus, the possibility exists that it dates to the Neolithic.

Keywords:

Amber, pendant, Prehistoric Vojvodina, provenance study, analytical measurement, exchange system

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Furholt, K., Groß, H., Schröder, S., Serbe, B., Medović, I., Stanković Pešterac, T., Riese, E., Wilkes, F., Medović, A., & Furholt, M. (2025). Prehistoric amber item at Žabalj-Nove Zemlje site (Vojvodina, Serbia). Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, 77(2), 355–372. https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/77.2025.2.4120

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