Revisioning the world of our early ancestors in Europe

(Part 6) Encounters with the Deep Past

Seated female figurine holding a vessel, Borđoš, Serbia c. 4500 BCE Belgrade National Museum © Gabriela Gutierrez

Hello from another Balkan cafe. I’m writing to you, quite literally today, from under a fig tree; in a pebble-stoned terrace, refuging again from this ruthless July sun, and transcribing more of my interview with Dragan Jankovic.

Before we dig into the next part of my conversation with him, I wanted to thank those of you who sent me birthday wishes on Monday! I spent the morning on a pilgrimage to a medieval chapel built over a sacred spring. And sat in it for hours, grateful for the frankincense, the beeswax candles, and the quiet.

Here is a short video on this special place-

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Over the next few weeks, I’m reviving my Series Encounters with the Deep Past (see link for more context). The focus is the peaceful agrarian culture of the Neolithic Balkans. I’m trailing a question that rises its head every time I locate myself in prehistory: What if prehistoric humans were never primitive? Dragan is one of the few archaeologists who believes our prehistoric ancestors were as intelligent as we are. To re-quote a particularly poignant point he made last week:

We continue today with the interview. To receive this series and listen to the audio recording, you can upgrade your subscription below.