In the late 1960s, American and Yugoslav archaeologists began a series of Neolithic-period excavations that opened research in the Balkans to Americans. The first projects were funded by the Foreign Currency (Blocked Funds) Program of the Smithsonian Institution. Few scientific strings were attached apart from the fact that excavations had to be joint ventures; no team could work independently. The Americans adopted the already-established Neolithic culture history approach dominant in Yugoslav archaeology, although many of the Americans (mainly graduate students) were trained in the methods of processual archaeology. Differing theoretical orientations between Americans and Yugoslavs were potential sources of conflict but had relatively little impact during the excavations. Differences of opinion arose over excavation techniques and data management, which reflected different theoretical objectives. The long-term consequences of these joint excavations were to solidify the understanding of domesticated plants and animals in the Balkans—a bridge linking Europe with earlier Neolithic cultures in Anatolia—and to increase communication between American and European archaeologists.