Les grans làmines de sílex de Catalunya

A finals del mes de gener de 2004 va tenir lloc al Museu Episcopal de Vic una reunió de la quinzena d’investigadors catalans i francesos que integren la Xarxa Temàtica «Producció i circulació de béns de prestigi elaborats amb matèries primeres d’origen mineral durant el Calcolític i les primeres etapes de l’Edat del Bronze». En aquesta reunió es van exposar els resultats obtinguts fins aquells moments en l’estudi de les grans làmines de sílex, instruments lítics que poden arribar a tenir més de 30 cm de longitud i que solen trobar-se en contextos funeraris del 3000-1500 aC. Els resultats exposats en aquesta reunió permeten ampliar notablement el coneixement que tenim d’aquests elements materials i del seu paper en les estructures socioeconòmiques i socioideològiques d’aquelles comunitats. La reunió va permetre, així mateix, estudiar la gran làmina de Serra de l’Arca II, un dels exemplars més remarcables de Catalunya que forma part del fons arqueològic del Museu Episcopal de Vic. At the end of January 2004 a meeting was convened at Museu Episcopal de Vic which united the 15 French and Catalan researchers that make up the Theme Network «Production and circulation of prestigious artefacts made with primary materials of mineral origin during the Calcolithic and first stages of the Bronze Age». During the meeting, the findings achieved in the study of great silex plates were presented; these plates are stone instruments which could be over 30cm in length and were usually found at burial grounds from the 3000-1500 BC. The findings discussed during the meeting allowed for a greater understanding of these artefacts and their role in the socio-economical and socio-ideological structure of those communities. The meeting also favoured the study of the great plate of Serra de l’Arca II, one of the most important pieces in Catalonia that belongs to the collection of Museu Episcopal de Vic

Pottery forming of the Cardial and Epicardial Neolithic wares : Analysis and systematisation of technological traces from the ceramic productions of Cova del Frare (NE Iberian Peninsula, 5200-4800 BCE)

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICThe onset and development of the Neolithisation process in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula have been determined by the division between the Cardial and Epicardial chrono-cultural horizons based on the characteristic traits of the ceramic productions. The investigations about these productions have been fundamentally focused on their formal and decorative features, while other research dealing with their production and use have just recently emerged in the last years. This paper focuses on the reconstruction of the forming technologies that were used for manufacturing the Early Neolithic vessels from Cova del Frare (Barcelona, NE Iberian Peninsula) assigned to the Cardial and Epicardial styles. The analysis and systematisation of manufacturing traces reveal that both ceramic wares were produced with the same forming practices, regardless of their decorative techniques: the use of circular juxtaposed patches and the assembly of coils. The evidence of these pot-forming processes, which prevailed during the Early Neolithic occupations of this cave (5217-4796 cal. BCE), provides the first empirical data of the forming practices that were used by the first communities of farmers in NE Iberia. Furthermore, these results enable us to include this area in the discussions on the distribution of these technical traditions and practices during the Early Neolithic in the Western Mediterranean