the shapes were also combined in mushroom shapes; there were circular fireplaces. The houses at the Vučedol site were also places of birth and burial. A number of human skeletons were found in the pits that once served as food storage pits. Their bodies were placed in a ritual way, with some possible indications of human sacrifice. Also, marks on the foreheads of skulls were found that could be attributed to some kind of initiation in early childhood by a drop of molten copper. Trade with other cultures Some researchers of the Vučedol culture have claimed that there was regular trade between the territory of the Vučedol culture and the Helladic culture to the south. Cultural elements found of the B2 phase of the Vučedol culture appear to have originated in the first phase of the middle Bronze Age of the Helladic culture of mainland Greece. Origin The excavated settlement of Vučedol provides a base for the stratigraphic structure of the whole culture. No final conclusions about the linguistic character of Vučedol can be made, such as the inference that its people were linguistically Indo-European, or to what extent they mixed with native European populations, in regions of the eastern Adriatic coast, Dalmatia and Herzegovina with some parts of Bosnia as well. A February 2018 study published in Nature included an analysis of three individuals ascribed to the Vučedol culture. One male carried haplogroup R1b-z2103 and T2e, while the other carried G2a2a1a2a and T2c2. The female carried U4a. In a three-way admixture model, first male approximately had 58% Early European Farmers, 42% Western Steppe Herders and 0% Western Hunter-Gatherer-related ancestry, second male 93% EEF, 4% WSH and 3% WHG while female 37% EEF, 54% WSH and 10% WHG. According to Lazaridis, R1b-Z2103 is linked to the Yamnaya migration from the steppes. See also Apennine culture Notes References Sources External links 'Vučedolska kultura' - Photos and articles from the Vučedol Culture Museum in Croatia Celestial Symbolism of the Vucedol culture (Pasztor 2015) Digital reconstruction of the Vučedol settlement (Vučedol Museum - video) Neolithic cultures of Europe Chalcolithic cultures of Europe Bronze Age cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures of Central Europe Archaeological cultures of Southeastern Europe Archaeological cultures in Austria Archaeological cultures in Bosnia and Herzegovina Archaeological cultures in Croatia Archaeological cultures in the Czech Republic Archaeological cultures in Hungary Archaeological cultures in Romania Archaeological cultures in Serbia Archaeological cultures in Slovakia