Vinča
Not far from Belgrade, on the banks of the Danube, a large Neolithic settlement from the 5th millennium BC was discovered, called Vinča. An entire culture that emerged 500 years after the Starčevo culture is named after this site. This culture was much more advanced and can be considered a full manifestation of the Goddess Culture, featuring complex and sophisticated houses, the use of oxen for ploughing, urban and national organization, international trade, advancements in pottery and weaving, the development of religious worship and belief, the beginnings of metrology, and innovations in agriculture.
The Vinča site is a hill on the banks of the Danube where about 2,500 people lived. Archaeological findings reveal a city with straight, intersecting streets and hundreds of wooden and mud houses, some up to 80 square meters in size, with multiple rooms. The houses were built from wood, clay, and mud. The roofs consisted of wooden beams covered with mud and straw, while the floors were made of wooden beams covered with a worked clay surface.
From the floor, and using the same clay material, a cooking stove with a chimney was built, which also served as a heating source for the house. The heat spread through the clay floor connected to the stove and walls, making the house smoke-free and thermally insulated—an optimal design in terms of energy efficiency. Remains of these houses have been found, demonstrating a technological level far beyond what was known in later periods. Most of the houses lacked gardens, suggesting that the inhabitants were not primarily farmers but merchants or craftsmen, making Vinča possibly the oldest known city in the world.
The Vinča people travelled throughout the Balkans, bringing goods back to their city. One of the most important materials they obtained was obsidian from the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. This volcanic glass is one of the sharpest materials in nature and is still used in modern surgery. They fashioned obsidian into flint knives, scrapers, sickles, leather-working tools, and even arrowheads. In addition to obsidian, they produced paints, traded salt from Bosnia, and collected other stones useful to Neolithic culture.
Vinča represented a way of life that extended across hundreds of settlements throughout the Balkans, from Greece to Romania and from Croatia to Bulgaria. The center of trade was in Vinča, which was strategically located at a crossroads. Trade encouraged collaboration—neighbours were no longer seen as enemies but as potential customers, and a win-win approach prevailed.
Agricultural methods improved significantly. The increased use of fertilizers boosted crop yields, freeing some people to specialize in other crafts. The Vinča people domesticated goats and sheep and used oxen to plough the fields where they grew wheat and barley, as well as flax, which they used to make clothing. The shape of their garments can be seen on their sculptures, and textile remains have been found in excavations.
The Vinča people excelled in various crafts. They knew how to weave clothes using an ancient loom, producing socks, shirts, and trousers. They drilled round holes in stones using a rotating reed drill with sand. They created advanced glazed ceramics through repeated firing. They crafted delicate and sophisticated stone tools. Most significantly, they were the first in human history to produce copper—long before the Chalcolithic period.
We call them a culture because remains of the same pottery and way of life have been found in many settlements across the Balkans, from Greece to Romania. We assume that these settlements were all part of a network of trade and exchange of goods and ideas and that they maintained contact with one another. In these settlements, we find jewellery, gemstones, and urns decorated with a distinctive style of spirals. The museum in Vinča displays rods, bowls, jars, stones with holes in them, figurines of Goddesses, and many other interesting artifacts.
There are also many symbols inscribed on various objects, which may represent the first appearance of writing. Over a thousand objects with this ancient script have been discovered throughout Serbia and the Balkans, most of them made of clay, with only a single symbol appearing on each. In Romania, however, the Tărtăria Tablets have been discovered, containing multiple symbols.
An essential part of life was religion and worship. Indeed, many figurines of female Goddesses dressed in robes with large eyes were found at different sites. The eyes symbolized vigilance and awareness, and these figurines were likely carried as amulets on journeys. In the houses, bull skulls covered in mud masks were hung, symbolizing the belief in the spiritual properties of cattle horns. This may be related to the astrological sign of Taurus and the belief in the horned God.
All the houses in Vinča were equal in size, and there was no evidence of social stratification between the rich and the poor. Each person was responsible for themselves and obtained food through their own efforts. At the same time, people lived humbly, fulfilling only their basic needs. They did not build palaces, seek to exploit the labour of others, accumulate excessive property, or live lives of luxury. They were in touch with themselves, with each other, and with the Great Mother.
The Great Mother was seen as a protector, watching over people at night, never sleeping, and offering help in times of need. Her eyes were always open. She handled matters gently and opposed violence. The Vinča Culture was fundamentally non-violent—there is no evidence of warfare, fortifications, destruction, or weapons. The assumption is that this culture had a social structure that effectively managed and excluded violent individuals, controlling destructive impulses, which allowed it to exist peacefully for 2,000 years.
One of the most impressive finds in the local museum is a black-glazed clay jar with a lid shaped like a cat’s head or a similar animal. According to an archaeologist who excavated the site, the large eyes and ears of the cat symbolize the alertness and attention required of humans. This represents the ideal person in Vinča Culture—one who is aware of others, themselves, and their surroundings. Inside the jar, seeds were stored for the next year’s harvest.
Marija Gimbutas excavated the site and drew inspiration from it, using it as supporting evidence for her theories on the Goddess Civilization.
