Geographical range | North-west Balkans, Pannonian Plain |
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Period | Chalcolithic Europe |
Dates | c. 3000 BC – 2200 BC |
Major sites | Vučedol, near Vukovar |
Preceded by | Baden culture, Kostolac culture |
Followed by | Nagyrév culture |
The Vučedol culture (Croatian: Vučedolska kultura) flourished between 3000 and 2200 BC (the Eneolithic period of earliest copper-smithing), centered in Syrmia and eastern Slavonia on the right bank of the Danube river, but possibly spreading throughout the Pannonian plain and western Balkans and southward. It was thus contemporary with the Sumer period in Mesopotamia, the Early Dynastic period in Egypt and the earliest settlements of Troy (Troy I and II). Some authors regard it as an Indo-European culture.
Following the Baden culture, another wave of possible Indo-European speakers came to the banks of the Danube. One of the major places they occupied is present-day Vučedol ("Wolf's Valley"), located six kilometers downstream from the town of Vukovar, Croatia. It is estimated that the site had once been home to about 3,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest and most important European centers of its time.Coordinates: 45°21′N 19°00′E / 45.350°N 19.000°E According to Bogdan Brukner, proto-Illyrians descended from this wave of Indo-European settlers.