Adriatic Neolithic Mortuary Ritual at Grapčeva Cave, Croatia

Excavations at Grapčeva Cave in Croatia, a major eastern Adriatic Neolithic site, yielded evidence of ritual activities during the 5th millennium CAL B.C. Structured deposits in the main interior chamber consisted of large burned features containing extremely high frequencies of animal remains and artifacts, including richly decorated Late Neolithic “Hvar-style” pottery, as well as scattered human remains. We argue that Grapčeva was a mortuary ritual site, where feasts, offerings to supernatural powers, and secondary burials took place. At Grapcčeva memories were produced and maintained at a time when group histories and genealogies were gaining importance among the newly settled Neolithic food producers of the Adriatic.