Baley Overview

Stefan Alexandrov

This project will enlighten the Late Bronze Age development in the periphery of the Aegean world through publishing the site of Baley, the only fully excavated, long sequence settlement from the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Northern Balkans. Thus a contribution will be made to a better understanding and interpretation of archaeological finds from the Aegean world.

The site of Baley is the only known settlement from the Late Bronze Age in the area between middle Danube and the southern Balkans. The site has 4 building levels (horizons), dated in the Late Bronze Age to the beginning of the Early Iron Age (in Aegean chronological terms), based on preliminary reports of the ceramics. A long time of occupation of the site can be assumed from the stratigraphic sequence, from an absolute date, belonging to the lowest (oldest) level (1510-1460 B.C.), and the appearance of pottery, typical of the beginning of the EIA in the uppermost building level.

According to the preliminary reports of the excavations of the site, one and two-partite houses have been discovered, with apsidal and rectangular planning. Most of the ceramic in Baley is richly decorated with incised and incrusted motives. This ceramic coexists with types, which have no decoration and distinctive dark burnished surface. The finds include a number of artifacts such as clay bell-shaped anthropomorphic figurines, clay models of boats, clay models of household goods, bird-vessels. The bell-shaped figurines have their best parallels in similar clay and terracotta figurines from Peloponnese and Crete.

This project will result in a complete publication of the excavations of the site, which will include: process of research and excavations of the site; stratigraphy; settlement and house planning; finds (pottery, clay artifacts, stone and metal tools); find context and households reconstruction; relative and absolute chronology; economy and social aspects of life in Baley according to archaeological data; interpretation of the ornamental schemes on pottery and other finds. A special part of the publication will deal with an evaluation of contacts between the Northern Balkans and the Aegean during the Late Bronze Age based on the above information.

The camera ready manuscript will be ready for peer reviewers 1 year and 11 months from the time the grant begins and will be published 2 years after the start of the grant. It will be published by Craft House Bulgaria as a monographic publication with high quality illustrations and graphic material in English. Appended are permit documents, budget and academic resumes of the applicant and its' team.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Publication of the archaeological site of Baley will provide an insight and understanding about the northern neighborhood of the Aegean world during the Late Bronze Age and beginning of Early Iron Age, which remain “terra incognita” for archaeologists, working in the Aegean. Baley is the only settlement from the Late Bronze Age in the Northern Balkans and is among few sources of structured, long sequence archaeological information for this period. The site has an important position close to the Iron Gates passage on the Danube River — an important road to Southern Balkans and Middle Danube.

The publication of Baley will be an considerable contribution to clarifying processes, which took place on the Balkans at the end of the Late Bronze Age. This currently missing information is a significant challenge to understand for example the appearance of Handmade Burnished Ware in the Aegean around 13-12th cent. B.C., which is associated with movement of groups of people of probably northern origin. Ceramics with dark burnished surface has been discovered during the excavations of Baley, but detailed studies are needed to locate its' closest parallels and origin.

The study of finds and publication of the settlement will enable archaeologists to obtain precise chronological markers, usable in the whole Balkan Peninsula and comparable with Aegean chronology. On its' turn this will bring light to processes in and contacts of people from the Balkans and the Aegean world.

Another problem is discussion about the origins of the “Danubian” or Channeled Wares in the Aegean, which could not be solved also because there are no published sites from the inland Balkans. Baley could throw light on this case as well, being the only site in the Northern Balkan, which has documented materials with EIA characteristics in its' last horizon.

The project foresees consultancy visits from some of the key experts in Late Bronze Age Aegean chronology, which will provide an important opportunity for scientific discussions.