Pottery Technology at the Dawn of the Metal Age

This book explores pottery-making recipes at Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites Belovode and Plocnik (5200-4650 BC), using interdisciplinary methods to trace technological knowledge and its links to early metallurgy. It reveals distinct craftsmanship and insights into ceramic and metallurgical innovation.

This book investigates the reconstruction and transmission of pottery-making recipes at the Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites of Belovode and Plocnik (c. 5200-4650 BC), two key settlements of the Vinca culture located in northeast and south Serbia, respectively. Both sites have recently yielded some of the earliest known copper artefacts in Eurasia, making them exceptional case studies for exploring the evolution of ceramic technology during the transition to the Metal Age. An interdisciplinary methodology-combining macroscopic observations with a suite of analytical techniques including thin section petrography, XRF, XRPD, and SEM-was applied to a wide selection of ceramic samples. These samples span the full typological and technological spectrum of pottery from both sites, enabling the reconstruction and comparison of production recipes across different occupational phases. The study’s primary aim was to trace the transmission of technological knowledge in pottery production and to investigate potential pyrotechnological links with the emergence of early metallurgy. The results demonstrate the value of integrating materials science with archaeological inquiry. They reveal distinct technological choices and refined craftsmanship, offering fresh insights into the interplay between ceramic production and metallurgical innovation at the dawn of the Metal Age.

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Ceramic studies in the Balkans

Structure of the book

Chapter 2: Archaeological background

The Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic in the Balkans

The origin of the Vinča phenomenon and its chronology

The Gradac phase and the appearance of metallurgy

Vinča settlement and subsistence

Burial practice and the afterlife

Material culture

The end of the Vinča culture

Summary

Chapter 3: Environment and archaeology of the studied sites

Belovode

Pločnik

Relative and absolute chronology of Belovode and Pločnick

Chapter 4: Theoretical background

Technology and society: a theoretical overview

Chaîne opératoire and technological choices

Technological change

Cultural transmission theories and social learning

Mechanisms of cultural transmission in dual inheritance theory

Units of cultural transmission

Recipes as units of transmission

The role of material science in reconstructing recipes

Application to the present study

Chapter 5: Materials and methods

Interdisciplinary approaches to Vinča ceramics

Pyrotechnological connections: pottery and metallurgy

Macroscopic classification and sampling strategy

Compositional characterisation

Statistical treatments of the WD-XRF data

Estimation of firing temperatures and pyrotechnology

Geological prospection and raw material analysis

Chapter 6: Results of pottery macroscopic analysis – Belovode and Pločnik

Belovode - pottery types by horizon

Belovode - macroscopic technological characterisation of pottery

Pločnik - pottery types by horizon

Pločnik - macroscopic technological characterisati-on of pottery

Chapter 7: Results of the archaeometric analysis - Belovode

Results of the XRPD and SEM analyses

Characterisation of the raw materials

Discussion

Summary

Chapter 8: Results of the archaeometric analysis - Pločnik

Results of the compositional analyses

Results of the XRPD and SEM analyses

Characterisation of the raw materials

Discussion

Summary

Chapter 9: Discussion of the Results

Ceramic production technology

Organisation of production

Pottery circulation

Summary

Chapter 10: Conclusions

Cultural Transmission in Vinča material culture

Pottery-making recipes: continuity in change

Connecting pyrotechnologies: new perspectives

Similarities and diversity within Vinča material culture

Final remarks

Bibliography

• By (author) Silvia Amicone