Transforming Traditions of Material Culture : Spatial and temporal patterns in pottery style, production and use during the second half of the 6th millennium cal BC in south-eastern Transdanubia and beyond

International audienceOne of the most salient traits of a major milestone in European history, the shift to a Neolithic life-style in Central Europe and the associated social changes, was the emergence of pottery production. The main goal of the research project described here is the study of Neolithic pottery production from a complex perspec- tive and the addressing of the associated distinctive social activity types and potential range of meanings during the period from the late Starčevo to the appearance of the Lengyel culture (5500–4900 cal BC). The springboard for our project was the series of intensely investigated sites in southern Transdanubia, a region that acted as a contact zone between the Neolithic communities of Central Europe and the northern Balkans, and thus played a key role in the neolithisation of Central Europe. The research findings from this region are complemented and compared with the data from various sites along the Danube. Aside from our academic colleagues, our research results can be of interest to the broader public too, and our reconstruc- tions of various artefacts and the documentation of our archaeological experiments can be later used as illustrations to museum exhibits. The expected results can be fitted into the broad picture outlined by other research conducted on these sites and offer an exceptionally detailed picture of how the region’s settlements developed during the second half of the 6th millennium BC

Változó tradíciók. A kerámiastílus, -előállítás és -használat tér- és időbeli mintázatai a Kr. e. 6. évezred második felében a Délkelet-Dunántúlon és a környező régiókban

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'It's still the same old story': The current southern Transdanubian approach to the Neolithisation process of central Europe

The pivotal role of the western Carpathian basin in the transmission of key inventions of food production towards central Europe is an accepted fact in Neolithic research. Southern Transdanubia in western Hungary may serve as a unique 'laboratory' for targeted investigations, as north Balkan and central European characteristics overlap in the region. Site-based studies of recently excavated late 6th millennium cal BC Neolithic settlements provide insights into possible patterns in the development of longhouse architecture and settlement layout, different combinations of material culture and their alterations, and technology transfer on a regional scale.In order to gain a more complex view of these themes, three micro-regions have been selected around key sites for further study of different vantage points between Lake Balaton and the Drava/Drava river. The southernmost one is located in the Southern Baranya Hills, the second along the Danube on the northern fringes of the Tolna Sarkoz and in the adjacent section of the Sarviz valley, while the third lies in the central section of the southern shore of Lake Balaton. Field surveys including the systematic collection of surface finds complemented by geomagnetic prospections can contribute significantly to the reconstruction of settlement clusters.Absolute chronology has become an important research focus due to larger sets of radiocarbon dates interpreted within a Bayesian framework. The two dominant scenarios for the start of the westward expansion of the LBK are hard to harmonise with each other. An approach that estimates the beginning of the process around 5500 cal BC at the latest gains support from a west-central European perspective. In contrast, recent radiocarbon dating programmes with formal modelling of AMS series within a Bayesian framework estimate the appearance of the LBK west of the Carpathian basin hardly before 5350-5300 cal BC. The latter view provides the potential of harmonising the Neolithisation of central Europe with the emergence of the Vinca culture, at least in its northernmost region. Beyond this debate, ancient DNA analyses have enriched the discussions on migration, demic diffusion and the scale of hunter-gatherer contribution to the process with fresh arguments