Burned house horizon

A map showing the extent of the Burned House practice in Southeastern Europe, based on Tringham.[1]
Chalcolithic
Eneolithic, Aeneolithic,
or Copper Age
↑ Stone Age
↑ Neolithic
By region
Africa (2600 BC–1600 AD)
Naqada culture, Gerzeh culture, A-Group culture, C-Group culture, Kerma culture

West Asia (6000–3500 BC)

Ghassulian culture, Uruk period

Europe (5500–2200 BC)

Metallurgy during the Copper Age in Europe
Vinča culture, Varna culture
Cucuteni–Trypillia culture
Yamna culture, Corded Ware
Cernavodă culture, Decea Mureşului culture, Gorneşti culture, Gumelniţa–Karanovo culture, Petreşti culture, Coțofeni culture
Remedello culture, Gaudo culture, Monte Claro culture

Central Asia (3700–1700 BC)

Botai culture, BMAC culture, Afanasevo culture

South Asia (4300–1800 BC)

Periodisation of the Indus Valley civilisation, Bhirrana culture, Hakra Ware culture
Ahar–Banas culture
Kaytha culture, Malwa culture,
Savalda Culture, Jorwe culture, Anarta tradition
Ajay culture

China (5000–2900 BC)

Mesoamerica (6500–1000 BC)
Related topics
Metallurgy, Wheel,
Domestication of the horse
↓ Bronze Age
↓ Iron Age

In the archaeology of Neolithic Europe, the burned house horizon is the geographical extent of the phenomenon of presumably intentionally burned settlements.

This was a widespread and long-lasting tradition in what are now Southeastern Europe and Eastern Europe, lasting from as early as 6500 BCE (the beginning of the Neolithic in that region) to as late as 2000 BCE (the end of the Chalcolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age). A notable representative of this tradition is the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, which was centered on the burned-house horizon both geographically and temporally.

There is still a discussion in the study of Neolithic and Eneolithic Europe whether the majority of burned houses were intentionally set alight or not.[1]

Although there is still debate about why the house burning was practiced, the evidence seems to indicate that it was highly unlikely to have been accidental. There is also debate about why this would have been done deliberately and regularly, since these burnings could destroy the entire settlement. However, in recent years, the consensus has begun to gel around the "domicide" theory supported by Tringham, Stevanovic and others.[2] Recent studies in paleogenetics from ancient mass burial sites of possible victims of epidemic disease, showing no visible signs of trauma, have yielded DNA of Yersinia pestis (the plague).[3] It is possible that survivors of recurring plague events discovered the technique of high intensity fire destruction of all buildings in a community (domicide) would halt the spread of plague by sterilizing the bacteria, carriers and hosts. This would strongly support the domicide theory of Tringham, Stevanovic and others.

Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements were completely burned every 75–80 years, leaving behind successive layers consisting mostly of large amounts of rubble from the collapsed wattle-and-daub walls. This rubble was mostly ceramic material that had been created as the raw clay used in the daub of the walls became vitrified from the intense heat that would have turned it a bright orange color during the conflagration that destroyed the buildings, much the same way that raw clay objects are turned into ceramic products during the firing process in a kiln.[4] Moreover, the sheer amount of fired-clay rubble found within every house of a settlement indicates that a fire of enormous intensity would have raged through the entire community to have created the volume of material found.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Tringham was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Patel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ [23] Zimmer C (2015-10-22). "In Ancient DNA, Evidence of Plague Much Earlier Than Previously Known". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stevanovic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).