17 The message of some Neolithic astronomical symbols from Vinča civilization 131

ological findings from the Vinča civilization, can be found such symbols. Perhaps
these symbols may have lost their meaning in time, and become simply a decorative
pattern. But the significance of these symbols increases as symbolic letters or abbre-
viated words, which could evolve from the lines used to draw the constellations in
proto-writing.
These special preciously Neolithic findings can be interpreted as instruments
for measuring astronomical phenomena as for example the sun’s azimuth at sunrise
or sunset in order to obtain a calendar date.
Much remains to be discovered about the Vinča civilization, but this interesting
archaeoastronomy research is a stimulating contribution to solving the mysteries of
the European Neolithic period.

Acknowledgements. I. Szücs-Csillik is partially supported by a grant of the Romanian Ministry

of National Education and Scientific Research, RDI Programme for Space Technology and
Advanced Research - SAFE SPACE, project number 236/04.04.2018.

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