Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies

Intra-settlement Burials of Vinča Culture at Sajlovo 5 Archaeological Site: Continuity or Change in the Late Neolithic Period?

Miroslav Marić, Neda Mirković-Marić , Maja Miljević–Đajić, Dušanka Veselinov — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

During rescue archaeological excavations undertaken in 2011 due to the construction of a north bypass connecting the town of Novi Sad and the E75 highway, several Neolithic-period skeletal burials were detected on a multilayered site named Sajlovo 5, located near the northwestern perimeter of Novi Sad. Close to 7000 m2 were excavated in 2010 and 2011, revealing the remains of Early and Late Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, Roman, Medieval and Modern Age settlements. The remains from the Late Neolithic period can be attributed to the early traditions of the Vinča material culture. Of the five skeletons discovered on the site, one is radiocarbon dated to the Early Neolithic Starčevo-Körös period, whilst the remaining four were radiocarbon dated to the Late Neolithic Vinča period. This paper discusses their position relative to other period-related finds in the area, attempting to elucidate the funerary practices and rituals at the start of the Late Neolithic Vinča culture.

The Balkan Linguistic and Cultural Union: A Holistic Research Program

Andrey N. Sobolev — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article proposes a new research program on the Balkan linguistic and cultural union (Balkan Sprachbund and Kulturbund), based on a novel definition of linguistic and cultural union as a group of non-related languages and cultures connected by regular functional correspondences, akin to the presence of regular sound correspondences between languages as a diagnostic feature in the theory of language kinship. It suggests considering diagnostic and union-forming features, correspondences in inventories and rules of distribution of functions of units and categories across different languages and cultures, to test the hypothesis of their inclusion in a linguistic and cultural union. After a brief overview of the current state of affairs in the scholarly literature on the subject, the article proposes a structured list of 160+ selected polyfunctional categorical features, pertaining to different structural levels of language and culture and presumably demonstrating regular interlinguistic and intercultural Balkan correspondences. The detection of regularity in correspondences and, consequently, the formulation of a hypothesis regarding the existence of a linguistic union with prognostic power is suggested as a possible avenue for resolving the theoretical issue of providing rigorous evidence, through methods of the humanities, of the existence in the history of humanity of a particular type of convergent development of idioethnic languages and cultures, and the observed result of such development — linguistic and cultural unions as distinct language groups (distinct from language families) and distinct cultural associations.

A Neverending Story – The Utilisation of Language as a Political Instrument: National and Language Policy of Austria-Hungary in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gordana Ilić Marković — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article focuses on the content of language and national policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Austro-Hungarian administration. It is based on documents, articles in official newspapers and insights into the activities of national and confessional societies and their journals. In this context, i.e. the cultural and national policy of the new government, education and publishing are highly significant. In order to foster a unified national consciousness, the Austro-Hungarian authorities implemented a range of policies, including one standard language, the promotion of a collective sense of national identity, and the establishment of institutions to serve the unified nation. For instance, the census was conducted solely based on religious affiliation, with no consideration of ethnic affiliation. The establishment of a unified national identity was further pursued through the conceptualisation of the glottonym “Land Language” (zemaljski jezik/ Landessprache). From the outset, the name of the language indicated a significant potential for conflict. These debates, primarily conducted in the press of various profiles and in the Diet of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, are pertinent to this analysis. The early 20th century was characterised by deliberate and seemingly indifferent deliberations in parliament on language policy and an ongoing discourse surrounding the South Slavic question, which had been a subject of discussion within the Monarchy for some time, and assumed increased importance for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, it was a period characterised by an escalation of social unrest. In 1913, the discourse on language policy entered its concluding phase. The legislation confirming the glottonym “Serbo-Croatian” with the use of two scripts in Bosnia and Herzegovina was enacted in January 1914. This was achieved through the synchronisation of the language name with that introduced in the other parts of the Monarchy during the 19th century. A mere six months later, the First World War broke out.

The Ruthenian Language in Serbia from the Perspective of Endangerment

Stefana Paunović Rodić — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The paper explores the endangerment of the Ruthenian language in Serbia through a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses of data obtained from a sociolinguistic questionnaire (VLingS Questionnaire 1.0; Mirić et al. 2025) completed by 78 members of the Ruthenian community. The field research was conducted in 2023 as part of the project “Vulnerable Languages and Linguistic Varieties in Serbia” (VLingS), funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia within the program IDEAS (2022–2024). The study presents findings from the quantitative analysis of responses related to the educational background of speakers (V_2, V_5), their emotional and attitudinal relationship to the Ruthenian language (XII_4, XII_5), and perspectives on language maintenance and revitalization (XIV_4, XIV_6, XIV_7). It further examines patterns of language use across different social domains (III_1_1–III_1_6) and the intergenerational transmission of the language (II_5, II_6, II_7). Notable discrepancies emerged between the respondents’ declared attitudes and reported language practices, as well as between their stated values and actual engagement in preservation efforts. To address these inconsistencies, the paper includes a qualitative analysis of open-ended responses concerning language maintenance (XIV_5 and XIV_9), offering interpretative insights into the underlying sociolinguistic dynamics. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex factors affecting the sustainability of minority languages in multilingual settings.

Plague Epidemics and Sacrificial Offerings along the Danube: Two Case Studies (1769–1814)

Silvia Notarfonso — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper investigates the relationship between plague epidemics, religious rituals, and community responses in the Diocese of Nikopol, Ottoman Bulgaria, from 1769 to 1814. Amid political and social instability, exacerbated by wars and brigandage, the region was struck by devastating plague outbreaks. Catholic missionaries sent to the Ottoman Balkans by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) documented how local communities sought protection from disease through traditional sacrificial rites, such as the kurban. These animal sacrifices, perceived by the missionaries as a superstitious practice, were performed by Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims alike. Through two case studies, this article highlights the friction between local religious practices and missionary efforts to maintain doctrinal purity, providing a deeper understanding of the challenges missionaries had to face in an attempt to enforce religious boundaries.

The Family of Dr. Vladan Đorđević: Cultural Transfers in 19th- and 20th-Century Belgrade

Boris Milosavljević — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Vladan Đ. Đorđević was born in Belgrade in 1844 and died in Baden, Austria in 1930. He was a surgeon, scientist, writer, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia (President of the Council of Ministers), and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1897 to 1900. Vladan Đorđević’s real name was, in fact, Hippocrates, and his family name was Jimo or Čuleka. Not all Tsintsars and Greeks changed their names. Vladan Đorđević’s mother’s family has kept its original surname, Leko, to this day. His mother, Maria Đorđević, n.e Leko, was born in Bela Crkva in Banat, then part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Vladan Đorđević’s father, Đorđe Đorđević alias Georgije D. Georgijević, was in the medical service of the army of the Principality of Serbia (later becoming a medical lieutenant). Vladan Đorđević’s father and mother actually came from the same region of the Balkans, and their families left their ancestral homes and went north for the same reasons. Đorđe Đorđević was born in the predominantly Aromanian village of Fourka in present-day Greece. Vladan Đorđević’s maternal grandfather, Marko Leko, was born in Vlachokleisoura, today Kleisoura in the Greek municipality of Kastoria. Migration to the northern areas of Southeast Europe was gradual. Merchants from the Ottoman Empire used to travel to and live in the Habsburg Empire for business purposes. Final departures from the old country were caused by the violence of the local semi-independent pashas. The most notorious was Ali Pasha of Ioannina. As is well known, the Tsintsars, like the Greeks, considered the Orthodox Church based in Constantinople and Byzantine culture to be their heritage. Apart from the businesses they ran, they had their own churches and schools (the Greek quarter in Vienna). They could start schooling in Greek in Belgrade, continue in Zemun, move on to Buda, and finish it in Vienna or Trieste. Business and cultural networks spread from Western European cities to Vienna, Buda, Pest, Constantinople, Odessa, and the country of the Khazars. Vladan Đorđević was not the only high-ranking official of the Kingdom of Serbia who was not of Serbian ethnic parentage. As in other European countries of that time, citizens of the Kingdom of Serbia of German or Jewish ethnic origin could also reach the highest positions. They were, of course, completely integrated into the framework of Serbian state politics and society.

Carlo Sforza and the Attempt to Define a New Italian Foreign Policy in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the Danube Region, 1920–1921

Antonella Fiorio — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

At the end of World War I, Italy sought to expand its influence in Central and Eastern Europe. To achieve this, it was crucial to establish good relations with the Balkan region, resolve the Adriatic issue peacefully, and assert its presence in the Mediterranean. This paper broadly analyses this significant period in postwar Italian foreign policy by outlining the strategies implemented by Italian Foreign Minister Carlo Sforza from 1920 to 1921 in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Danube regions. Sforza attempted to mediate and intervene in many significant issues of the international debate, including Albanian independence, support for Mustafa Kemal’s Turkish nationalist movement, relations with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (SCS), and support for the Little Entente. The détente in Adriatic relations, produced by the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo with the Kingdom of SCS and the beginning of dialogue with the Czechoslovak Republic and the Kingdom of Romania, formed the basis for true politics of power in Eastern Europe, particularly among the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Analysing historiography, diplomatic documents, and archival records, the paper examines Carlo Sforza’s diplomatic moves in regions that would return to the focus of Italian diplomatic interests in the coming years, entangling with the directives of Fascist imperialism.

Abuses against Serbs in the Districts of Otočac and Brinje in World War II with a Special Focus on Religious Conversions

Filip Škiljan — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The text brings an overview of the abuses against Serbs in the districts of Otočac and Brinje, focusing on religious conversion in this area. It draws on archival sources, secondary literature, and verbal witness accounts. After a general introduction about the attitude of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) toward the Serbs, the author offers information on the mistreatment of Serbs in the Otočac area. He then discusses the position of the Roman Catholic Church on religious conversion, especially conversion from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in the territory of the Diocese of Senj-Modruš and 70 persons who requested religious conversion between May and July 1941. Finally, he recounts the fate of Orthodox churches in the Otočac area and the attitude toward the religion of the Serbs in Lika under the socialist regime as a result of Serbian suffering during World War II.

Migration and Different Relationships with the Place of Origin in Eastern Serbia: A Demographic Case Study

Petar Vasić, Aleksandar Repedžić — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The paper shows the demographic and cultural transformation of two micro-areas in eastern Serbia influenced by migration in the last few decades. The work is based on the results of qualitative field research in Homolje, Zvižd, and Ponišavlje in the period 2007– 2024. The different historical and economic contexts of migration from these two microareas are shown through the causes and consequences of migration since the middle of the 20th century. Alongside demographic methods, the paper employs the qualitative interview and comparative method to depict multiple layers of the migration process. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we discuss the demographic causes of the ethno-anthropological phenomenon of identity transformation, and its reflection on the relationship with the place of origin. Qualitative and quantitative research confirmed the decisive influence of the socio-demographic characteristics of the migrating population and the migration destination, as well as the formation of specific identities among migrants, which resulted in a different relationship with the place of origin.

Bernard Lory, Les Tsiganes des Balkans (1280–1914)

Mirjana Mirić — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bernard Lory, Les Tsiganes des Balkans (1280–1914)

Mihailo Vojvodić, Balkanski rasplet: otpor Srbije stranim interesima na Balkanu (od Aneksione krize do Velikog rata)

Đorđe M. Đurić — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mihailo Vojvodić, Balkanski rasplet: otpor Srbije stranim interesima na Balkanu (od Aneksione krize do Velikog rata)

Slobodan G. Markovich, ed., Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace with Europe

Anđelija Miladinović — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Slobodan G. Markovich, ed., Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace with Europe

Stefan Berger and Philipp Müller, eds. Dynamics of Emigration. Émigré Scholars and the Production of Historical Knowledge in the 20th Century

Petar S. Ćurčić — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Petar S. Ćurčić, Stefan Berger and Philipp Müller, eds. Dynamics of Emigration. Émigré Scholars and the Production of Historical Knowledge in the 20th Century

Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović, Jovana Kolundžija, Mircea Măran, Otilia Hedeșan and Christene D’Anca, eds., New Cultural and Political Perspectives on Serbian-Romanian Relations

Marija Milinković — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović, Jovana Kolundžija, Mircea Măran, Otilia Hedeșan and Christene D’Anca, eds., New Cultural and Political Perspectives on Serbian-Romanian Relations

Kosta Nikolić, Bosna i Hercegovina, rat koji su mnogi želeli: 1992–1995. knj. 1. U ime smrti (1992)

Dragoljub Mandić — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Dragoljub Mandić, Kosta Nikolić, Bosna i Hercegovina, rat koji su mnogi želeli: 1992–1995. knj. 1. U ime smrti (1992)

Irina Stahl, Stelu Șerban and Andrei Timotin, eds., Paul H. Stahl. Structures sociales en Europe du Sud-Est

Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Irina Stahl, Stelu Șerban and Andrei Timotin, eds., Paul H. Stahl. Structures sociales en Europe du Sud-Est

Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović, The Untold Story of the Nazarene Emigration from Yugoslavia to North America

Joseph Pfeiffer — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović, The Untold Story of the Nazarene Emigration from Yugoslavia to North America

Iemima Ploscariu, Alternative Evangelicals: Challenging Nationalism in Interwar Romania’s Multi-ethnic Borderlands

Aleksandra Đurić Milovanović — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Aleksandra Đurić Milovanović, Iemima Ploscariu, Alternative Evangelicals: Challenging Nationalism in Interwar Romania’s Multi-ethnic Borderlands

Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković and Monica Huțanu, The Vlachs of Eastern Serbia: Language and Society

Ela Cosma — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ela Cosma, Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković and Monica Huțanu, The Vlachs of Eastern Serbia: Language and Society

Mihailo Vojvodić (1938–2025)

Vojislav G. Pavlović — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mihailo Vojvodić was a distinguished scholar and dedicated academic. Professor Vojvodić’s research focused on what is perhaps the most intriguing period in the modern history of Serbia: the age in which the Serbian national identity was forged in the modern sense (from 1878 to 1914). During his long career, he sought to unravel the intricacies of the foreign policy aspect of this process, in which Serbia’s independence, as established at the Congress of Vienna, set the stage for the development of its institutions, civil society, military and, most significantly, the transformation of the Serbian peasantry into citizens and conscripts of the Serbian state who wholeheartedly embraced the objectives of the Serbian nation.