Hilltop Settlements of the Copper, Bronze, and Iron Age in Eastern Serbia

In the course of the ’60s and ’70s of the previous century, Nikola Tasić, member of the Academy, conducted a series of archaeological excavations in the territory of north-eastern Serbia. Thanks to numerous excavations and surveys, a conclusion can be made that the aforementioned territory represented a suitable area for the formation of settlements during the Copper, Bronze, and Iron Ages. Due to the poor quality and fertility of the soil, the Iron Gates region, the Kučaj mountain, and the Timok valley were primarily suitable for the development of stockbreeding, rather than agriculture. It seems as if the basic advantages of the region were its hydrological and mineralogical potentials. On the other hand, by analysing the cultural stratigraphy of settlements that formed on dominant positions (hilltops), one can observe that certain patterns occur repeatedly. The goal of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the motives of late prehistoric populations (from the fourth to the first millennium BC) to form numerous hilltop settlements in the region, through the analyses of spatial distribution and cultural stratigraphy.