Pottery Technology at the Dawn of the Metal Age
Exploring Dynamics within Vinča Material Culture
By (author) Silvia Amicone
Hardback (Published)
(October 2025)
ISBN: 9781803278896
8.07 x 11.42 inches
Price: $78.00
In stock
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
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