Lepenski Vir is an ancient settlement on the banks of the Danube in Boljetin village (eastern Serbia), near Donji Milanovac. The site shows evidence of a culture which is more than 8000 years old and which included social interactions, religious practices, architecture, and art, with features and layers of both the Mesolithic and Neolithic period. Archaeologists have unearthed intriguing pieces of stone sculpture at the site, some portraying human-like figures and others which point to an appreciation of astronomical events.

Lepenski Vir was discovered in the 1960s by a group of Serbian archaeologists led by Dragoslav Srejovic, who was an important contributor to the discovery and excavation of the site. The discovery of 136 residential and sacral buildings dating from c. 9500/7200 – c. 5500 BCE occurred unexpectedly due to the tide created during the construction of the hydroelectric power plant – Djerdap 1 – which is 78 km away from Lepenski Vir. The first excavations, which started in 1965, were not promising. After a couple of months spent on the site, archaeologists finally dug up the first objects. It was the moment in which they understood that the excavation was of a great historical and cultural significance.

The overall architecture at Lepenski Vir is of a specific shape with all the houses built according to a plan. The shape was trapezoidal with the flooring construction made of some kind of plaster – i.e. limestone clay mixed with animal dung and ash. Stone reinforcements carried the roofing while smaller stones were placed around the hearth close to the entrance. The home fire was an important element at the site. It did not serve for heating only but also as protection from animals. The embers were separated, covered with ash and carried until dawn when they were needed for another fire.

Courtesy of Šormaz, A. (2020, May 05). Lepenski Vir. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Lepenski_Vir/