Lepenski Vir

Lepenski Vir

Displaced site under glass roof
Shown within Serbia
Location	Serbia
Coordinates	44°33′40″N 22°01′27″E / 44.56111°N 22.02417°E / 44.56111; 22.02417Coordinates: 44°33′40″N 22°01′27″E / 44.56111°N 22.02417°E / 44.56111; 22.02417
Type	Settlement
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Lepenski Vir sculptures

Artist	Lepenski Vir culture
Year	~7000 BC
Type	Cobblestone (red sandstone)
Dimensions	(2 ft  × 198 lb )
Location	Belgrade

Lepenski Vir (Serbian: Лепенски Вир, Lepen Whirl) is an important Mesolithic archaeological site located in Serbia in central Balkan peninsula. The latest radiocarbon and AMS data suggests that the chronology of Lepenski Vir is compressed between 9500/7200-6000 BC. There is some disagreement about the early start of the settlement and culture of Lepenskir Vir. But the latest data suggest 9500-7200 to be the start. The late Lepenskir Vir (6300-6000 BC) architectural development was the development of the Trapezoidal buildings and monumental sculpture The Lepenskir Vir site consists of one large settlement with around ten satellite villages. Numerous piscine sculptures and peculiar architecture have been found at the site.

Lepenski Vir is located on the banks of the Danube in eastern Serbia, within the Iron Gates gorge, near Donji Milanovac. The first excavations were made on the site in 1965. In 1966 it was listed as a cultural monument of Yugoslavia. It was only in 1967 that its importance was fully understood after the discovery of the first Mesolithic sculptures. The excavations ended in 1971 when the whole site was relocated 29.7m higher to avoid flooding from a new artificial lake created in the Iron Gates gorge. The main contribution to exploration of this site was through the work of professor Dragoslav Srejović of the University of Belgrade. 136 buildings, settlements and altars were found in the initial excavations in 1965-1970.

Lepenski Vir was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.