The Boian culture (dated to 4300–3500 BC), also known as the Giulești–Marița culture or Marița culture, is a Neolithic archaeological culture of Southeast Europe. It is primarily found along the lower course of the Danube in what is now Romania and Bulgaria, and thus may be considered a Danubian culture.
Geography
The Boian culture originated on the Wallachian Plain north of the Danube River in southeastern Romania. At its peak, the culture expanded to include settlements in the Bărăgan Plain and the Danube Delta in Romania, Dobruja in eastern Romania and northeastern Bulgaria, and the Danubian Plain and the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. The culture's geographical extent went as far west as the Jiu River on the border of Transylvania in south-central Romania, as far north as the Chilia branch of the Danube Delta along the Romanian border with Ukraine and the coast of the Black Sea, and as far south as the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea in Greece.
The type site of the Boian culture is located on an island on Lake Boian in the region of Muntenia, on the Wallachian Plain north of the Danube River.
Chronology
The Boian culture emerged from two earlier Neolithic groups: the Dudeşti culture that originated in Anatolia (present-day Turkey); and the Musical note culture (also known as the Middle Linear Pottery culture or LBK) from the northern Subcarpathian region of southeastern Poland and western Ukraine.
Periodization
The Boian culture is divided traditionally into four phases, each of which is given a name of one of the archaeological sites that are associated with it:
Phase I – Bolintineanu Phase, 4300–4200 BC. Phase II – Giulești Phase (also known as the Giulești-Boian culture), 4200–4100 BC. Phase III – Vidra Phase, 4100–4000 BC. Phase IV – Spanțov Phase (also known as the Boian-Gumelnița culture), 4000–3500 BC.
Decline
The Boian culture ended through a smooth transition into the Gumelnița culture, which also borrowed from the Vădastra culture. However, a segment of the Boian society ventured to the northeast along the Black Sea coast, encountering the late Hamangia culture, which they eventually merged with to form the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture.
The time when the Boian culture developed into the Gumelnița culture is referred to as a transitional period, during which there are commonalities found on both sides of the chronological divide between the two cultures; as such, Boian Phase IV and Gumelnița Phase A1 may be considered as a single, uninterrupted, transitional phase. As a result, there are frequent references to this by scholars, who use the term Boian-Gumelnița culture to describe this specific period. Sometimes, though, this term is mis-used by some to include both the entire Boian culture and Gumelnița culture periods, not just the transitional period overlapping the two cultures. Since each culture is distinct from the other during its main phases, they should each be considered and named separately, with the exception (as just mentioned) of the transitional phases of their development.
Settlements
Boian archaeological sites have tended to be found next to rivers and lakes that had rich floodplains that provided fertile soil for agriculture. There were three different types of structures found in Boian sites. During Boian phases I and II the dwellings of this culture were thrown-together, oval-shaped lean-to or dugout pit-house shelters built into river banks and ledges. In Boian phases III and IV the dwellings became more sophisticated, resulting in structures that were small with raised wooden platform floors. The third type of houses were larger, rectangular (up to 7 by 3.5 meters, or 23 by 11.5 feet) wattle and daub structures with wooden platform floors covered in clay, and roughly-thatched roofs, built at ground level.
During phases III and IV the first settlements began to appear, resulting in the first of this region's archaeological tells. These settlements were typically built on high, steep terraces or headlands above the floodplain of the rivers or lakes that were always nearby. At this time the houses began to incorporate more sophisticated elements, such as raised platform floors, painted interior walls exhibiting geographic designs in red and white patterns, painted clay furniture, and indoor clay ovens. Later settlements also sometimes showed signs of possible fortification in the form of deep, wide defensive ditches.