Europe's first city
On a terrace overlooking the Danube River's Iron Gates gorge, the settlement of Lepenski Vir existed for over 3,500 years, beginning around 9500 BCE. Discovered by Serbian archaeologist Dragoslav Srejović in the 1960s, the site revealed seven successive settlements and the remains of 136 buildings. This was not a random camp, but Europe’s oldest known planned settlement.
The inhabitants built houses with a unique trapezoidal base, arranged in a fan shape around a central open space that likely was a public square. The floors of these structures were made from a mixture of local limestone, animal dung, and ash, creating a form of prehistoric concrete. Set into these floors were rectangular hearths, and near them, the community's most remarkable artifacts: large sandstone boulder sculptures. The entire site was scientifically excavated and moved 30 meters uphill before the construction of a hydroelectric dam flooded the original location.
The sturgeon people
The sculptures of Lepenski Vir are carved from coarse sandstone cobbles collected from the riverbank. They are divided into two main categories: earlier ones feature abstract geometric patterns like meanders and fishbones, while later ones depict strange, compelling humanoid figures. These famous sculptures present heads with wide, fish-like eyes and downturned, gaping mouths, but no necks or hair. These are some of the first life-sized sculptures in human history.
The art reflects a life dominated by the Danube. Stable isotope analysis of human remains shows a diet heavily reliant on aquatic resources. The protein came primarily from river fish, especially large sturgeon (Acipenseridae). The sculptures were integral parts; they were integral parts of the homes, often set directly into the concrete-like floors near the hearth. This placement suggests they represented ancestors or powerful river spirits, beings important to the domestic and spiritual life of a culture whose existence was inseparable from the river's powerful currents and its fish.