Neolithic Site in Macedonia Reveals Grain Guardians

Long before granaries had locks or walls, farming communities in the southern Balkans may have protected their food a different way, with symbolism.

An Overlooked Corner of the Neolithic Balkans

The discoveries come from Atici-Spomenik, a Neolithic settlement near the village of Crničani in the Dojran basin of southern North Macedonia, close to routes historically connecting the Aegean world with the Vardar and Struma valleys. Archaeologists first identified the site during surveys in 1974, and Dragiša Zdravkovski led initial excavations in 1988, uncovering pottery and architectural remains but covering only a small portion of the settlement. According to excavation director Elena Stojanova-Kanzurova of North Macedonia’s National Archaeological Museum, the region’s earliest farming communities remain poorly documented, and Atici stands as the only known Neolithic site in the Dojran basin. She dates the settlement’s occupation to the seventh and sixth millennia BC.

A Building Built for Storing Grain

Geomagnetic surveys carried out in 2024, in cooperation with Bulgarian archaeologists Petar Zidarov and Hristo Tsonev, mapped buried structures on both sides of the Kavagdere stream, guiding archaeologists toward where to excavate next. Recent digging revealed a Neolithic building containing rectangular and circular clay installations. According to information the National Archaeological Museum provided to the outlet Sve o arheologiji, these installations were likely used for storing and processing food, particularly cereals. Their arrangement raises the possibility that the structure served a communal rather than purely household purpose.

Two Unusual Ceramic Objects

Inside this building, archaeologists found two ceramic objects that stand apart from ordinary domestic pottery. One carries incised snake-like, wavy, and triangular motifs. The other has a distinctly animal-shaped form, with a projecting neck, a head researchers believe may represent a goat, and a broad body resting on legs, giving it the look of a miniature ceramic table. This isn’t the first such object recorded at the site: a 2019 study by archaeologist Pero Sinadinovski, citing Zdravkovski’s 2008 publication, documents an earlier zoomorphic altar found at Atici, compared at the time to a similar object from the nearby site of Stranata, whose surviving head was interpreted as possibly a ram or ibex.

A Pattern Seen Elsewhere in the Balkans

Researchers see a useful comparison at Vrbjanska Čuka, a Neolithic settlement in the Pelagonia Valley dating to the early sixth millennium BC, where excavators found houses, ovens, and grain-processing installations. One building there contained an elaborate clay installation roughly four meters long, originally interpreted as a sanctuary feature before researchers reconsidered it as a possible granary with compartments for storing and processing cereal. A study published in Prähistorische Zeitschrift by Goce Naumov and colleagues found similarities between that installation’s decoration and smaller ceramic altars, suggesting practical food storage and symbolic practice may have coexisted in the same spaces. Objects like these, sometimes described as zoomorphic altars or cult tables, appear at various Neolithic sites across the Balkans, though their exact function, whether offerings, household ritual objects, or something else, remains uncertain.

A Site Under Threat

Stojanova-Kanzurova has also raised concerns about the settlement’s condition, describing it as facing a real risk of ongoing damage that has continued since the 1970s. The 2024 geomagnetic survey and current excavations aim partly to gather scientific data on the site’s extent, its defensive features, and its residential architecture before further loss occurs, information researchers hope will also support future cultural tourism in the Dojran region.

Sources

This report draws on original reporting by UMNO.mk, including direct interviews with excavation director Elena Stojanova-Kanzurova.