Cetina culture

The Cetina culture is the name for the culture of the inhabitants of the Middle Dalmatian coast, and especially its hinterland, during the early Bronze Age (1900 to 1600 BC), or, according to Paul Reineck's chronology, Br A1 - A2/B1 (2200. – 1500 BC.). It is named after the numerous sites along the Cetina river in Central Dalmatia and Herzegovina. People of this culture were present in caves (Škarin Samograd near Drniš, Gudnja near Ston, Ravlić cave in Drinovci) or in open settlements (Gradac in Kotorac and Krstina near Posušje). The graves are in rocky colonies. In the case of inhumation, they have the shape of a stone chest, while incinerated remains of the deceased are laid in clay pots.

Heyd (2013) describes the early Cetina culture as a "syncretistic Bell Beaker culture", splitting off from the dissolving variant of the Vučedol complex, and at the same time incorporating elements of the Bell Beaker phenomenon.

Area of diffusion
The largest number of well-known sites of Cetina culture is located in the interior of Dalmatia, primarily between the upper stream of the Cetina river and the lower Neretva river. Individual finds are documented on Central Dalmatian islands, Palagruza, Northern Adriatic, deep in the interior of the Western Balkans, Albania, Southern and Eastern Italy, and Greece.

According to Heyd (2013) and Maran (1998), Cetina people from the Adriatic region migrated into southern Greece at the transition from Early Helladic II to III, c. 2200 BC. This explains the appearance of Bell Beaker artefacts in mainland Greece, Crete and the Aegean at this time. Kristiansen and Larsson (2005) suggest that migrants from both the Adriatic Cetina culture and the Danube area reached Greece in this period, the latter indicated by close similarities in pottery forms to the Mokrin and Nagyrev cultures. According to the authors there were "movements of groups of traders and some whole communities from east central Europe and the Balkans into Greece and the east Mediterranean at the close of the third millennium BC along already established routes of contact." Galaty et al. (2015) similarly argue that a 'warrior culture' including "ideas related to warrior aristocracy" spread from Europe to Greece through contact with the Cetina culture, along with the tradition of tumulus burial.

Settlements
Settlements are the least known aspect of Cetina culture. The most significant deposits of Cetina culture were discovered in the Škarin Samograd cave located at the foot of the Mogli brdo, six kilometers northwest of Unešić. The amount of findings collected in other researched settlements, mostly caves, suggests mainly temporary inhabitation. The stratigraphy of Škarin Samograd enabled Ivan Marovic and Borivoj Covic to produce a three-phase periodization of Cetina culture, which is still used.

Funeral Customs
The bearers of the Cetina culture buried their dead in tumuli usually made of large crushed stone, and only exceptionally of small stone or a mixture of stone and earth. The deceased were laid in a crouched position in a stone chest or their cremated remains were stored in a clay urn, most often placed in the center of the tumulus. In both burial methods, fragments of a large number (from two to as many as 67) of ceramic vessels were discovered in the stone layer of the tumulus, and it is possible that these are traces of the ritual breaking of dishes used during the posthumous feast. In addition to exclusively inhumation or cremation necropolises, there are also those where both funeral rites were used. Contributions in graves are very rare, and most often they are bronze weapons or jewelry. The ceramics found in the funerary context are generally of much lower quality than those from the settlement.

Genetics
The Mathieson et al. (2018) archaeogenetic study included two Early to Middle Bronze Age samples (1631-1521/1618-1513 calBCE) from Veliki Vanik, Dalmatia, Croatia (near Vrgorac). According to autosomal admixture analysis they had approximately 60% Early European Farmers, 33% Western Steppe Herders and 7% Western Hunter-Gatherer-related ancestry. The male individual from Veliki Vanik carried the Y-DNA haplogroup J2b2a1a1a1b2-Z38240 while his and the female's mtDNA haplogroup were I1a1, W3a1 respectively. Freilich et al. (2021) identify the Veliki Vanik samples as related to Cetina culture. They carry similar ancestry to a Copper Age sample from the site of Beli Manastir-Popova Zemlja (late Vučedol culture), eastern Croatia.

Systematic archaeological excavation of numerous prehistoric sites located around the source of the Cetina River were conducted between 1953 and 1968. All presented graves/skeletons are dated to the Early Bronze Age, i.e. the Cetina culture (ca 2200-1600 BCE). During the campaign carried out at the Rudine site in 1958 stone barrows 19 (T-19) and 21 (T-21) were completely excavated (among several others). T-19 was oval-shaped with a diameter of 17.1 m reaching in height up to 2.4 m. It contained four burials: three in graves and one in the stone deposit. Numerous pottery fragments were found in and around the barrow suggesting 116 some kind of ritual feasts. T-21 was also oval-shaped with a diameter of 13.6 m reaching in height up to 1.2 m. The tumulus contained a central grave in the shape of a stone chest. Nine stone barrows were completely excavated during the campaign conducted at the Preočani site including the Luića gomila or barrow 93 (T-93). This is an oval-shaped stone barrow with a diameter of 12.5 m reaching in height up to 1.1 m. The barrow contained one grave in the shape of a stone chest covered with a large square stone slab. The grave contained the remains of two individuals lying in crouched position with some bones belonging to the third individual moved out of the grave (primary skeleton). Three pottery fragments were found inside the grave. Lazaridis et al. (2022) examined these 18 samples from the Bronze Age Cetina Valley. Out of 10 males whose Y-DNA was successfully extracted, 9 belonged to haplogroup J2b (mainly J-L283 subclades) and 1 to haplogroup R-Z2118. The mtDNA haplogroups consisted of 2x H, H13a2a, H5, H6a1, 3x H6a1a, HV0e, 6x J1c1, N1a1a1, T1a1 and U5a1a.