Dating burial practices and architecture at Lepenski Vir

Previous attempts to establish a chronology for Lepenski Vir using three different methods (stratigraphy, radiometric 14C dating of bulk charcoal samples, and AMS 14C dating of human bone collagen) produced inconsistent results. Discrepancies between the human bone and charcoal ages were found to result from a reservoir effect in the bones of people who ate significant quantities of Danube fish. When a reservoir ‘correction’ is applied, the human bone 14C dates are consistent with the charcoal dates, and this raises questions about the excavator’s relative and absolute chronology based on stratigraphy and inter-site comparisons. Single-entity dating of surviving archaeological materials offers the best hope of constructing a reliable chronological framework for Lepenski Vir. This paper presents the results of a further programme of AMS 14C dating of human remains. Direct dating of 24 burials confirms that different burial practices characterized the Final Mesolithic and Early Neolithic. Previous attempts to assign burials to Mesolithic or Neolithic phases, based on stratigraphic observations, are shown to be broadly correct but not always accurate in detail. The evidence from radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy is used to calculate ‘minimum’ and/or ‘maximum’ ages for certain of the trapezoidal buildings, which suggest that this architectural form was in use during the Final Mesolithic and Early Neolithic. The implications of the human bone 14C dates and associated stable isotope measurements for the timing of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Iron Gates are also discussed.