Vučedol is located on the right bank of the Danube River, 4,5 km downstream from the center of Vukovar. Culture that bears its name, the Vučedol culture ( 3000 - 2400 BC), is contemporary with Sumerian period in Mesopotamia, the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the beginnings of Troy. In its initial phase it's located in Srijem and Eastern Slavonia, and in the late stage it spread over the whole of Croatia and parts of 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
First archaeological findings on the site made family Streim in the late 19th century, who was the owner of Vučedol site and whose reconstructed house still stands in the archaeological park. This prompted further research, of which the most notable was the one made in 1938 when a German archaeologist, Robert R. Schmidt excavated Megaron and found the world famous Vučedol Dove.
All of Gradac was a casting center, and because of casting and the poisonous gases released from that process, Gradac was separated from the rest of the village, and was as a kind of acropolis and religious center of the village. The Vučedol houses had numerous cylindrical tombs that were used for storage room, and sometimes as the tombs for ritually sacrificed animals and humans. Vučedol houses are characterized by rounded corners and walls of wicker, coated with clay, with a large fireplace in the center.
Systematic research of Vučedol began in 1984. and already at the beginning of the excavations, there was the idea of an archeological and a museum on the site of the excavations. The research stopped in the early 90’s because of the war and resumed in 2000 after the de-mining of the area.
The archaeological site extends to just over 6 acres and is mostly covered with woods and vineyards. The terrain rises from about +90 m AMSL where the entrance to the museum is, to approximately 110 m AMSL where the Gradac site is located. The main buildings in the park are: the museum, restored Villa Streim (which will serve as a research center for the archaeologists), old crafts workshops (for demonstrations of crafts from Vučedol culture), underground building on the site of Gradac and reconstructed building of Megaron above it. Everything is still under construction.
More about the site:
Vučedol Archaeological Museum
Vučedol Culture - Wikipedia