The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers

Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a far faster rate than previously thought. Chemical characterization of organic residues shows that European hunter-gatherer pottery had a function structured around regional culinary practices rather than environmental factors. Analysis of the forms, decoration and technological choices suggests that knowledge of pottery spread through a process of cultural transmission. We demonstrate a correlation between the physical properties of pots and how they were used, reflecting social traditions inherited by successive generations of hunter-gatherers. Taken together the evidence supports kinship-driven, super-regional communication networks that existed long before other major innovations such as agriculture, writing, urbanism or metallurgy

New evidence for deer valorisation by the TRB farmers from Poland using ZooMS and micro-CT scanning

Throughout the long history of the Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture in the region of modern Poland (4100–3100 BCE) we can observe how local farming communities interacted with the wild world and how deer species became an important ideological resource for the TRB people. Biomolecular and histomorphometric evidence from two archaeological sites in central Poland add new information for a better understanding of these multi-layered interactions. Our findings fuel a discussion of deer valorisation during the TRB era in Poland, showing that the dagger from Sławęcinek was made from the bone of a red deer or elk and may have served as a clan accessory. Furthermore, the results indicate that a likely candidate for the bone used to temper the ceramic vessel from Kałdus is red deer, which allowed us to speculate that the utilisation of bone-tempered pottery by the local TRB farmers may possibly reflect the magical domestication of cervids.1. Introduction 2. Material 2.1. The dagger from Sławęcinek 2.2. The vessel from Kałdus 3. Analytical methods 3.1. ZooMS 3.2. Micro-CT scanning 3.3. Histomorphometric analysis 4. Results and discussion 4.1. The dagger from Sławęcinek 4.2. The vessel from Kałdus 5. Combining the artefacts with patterns of deer valorisation 5.1. Possible explanation for the dagger from Sławęcinek 5.2. Possible explanation for the vessel from Kałdus 6. Final remark

The Four Motors for Europe. Analysis of a Cooperation Experiment. Final Report: A study carried out on behalf of: Commission of the EC, DG XII, MONITOR-FAST, Dossier No.1 and Minister für Wirtschaft, Mittelstand und Technologie des Landes Baden-Württemberg, Generalitat de Catalunya, Regione Lombardia, Conseil Regional Rhone-Alpes. In Cooperation with Institut Universitari d'Estudis Europeus (Barcelona, Univ.)

The deal with the cooperation of the four regions (the "Four Motors for Europe" initiative): Baden-Württemberg, Catalunya, Lombardia, Rhône-Alpes. It was carried out on behalf of the Commision of the European Communities, DB XII-MONITOR/FAST, and of the governments of the four regions. The central concern of this analysis is the question of what contribution inter-regional cooperations - such as the "Four Motors for Europe" being examined here - make towards achieving the aim of economic and social cohesion of European regions. The "Four Motors" experiment is suitable for analysis because it is, considered from the point of view of its aims, the most far-reaching model of inter-regional cooperation in Europe to date. Thus the results of the study could later be linked with considerations on the function and promotion of inter-regional cooperation of other regions. The question on cooperation experiences of the "Four Motors" is impicitly based on the hypothesis that inter-regional coope rations are advantageous for the participants. It is assumed that the cooperation facilities the mutual valorization of diverse strengths of the regions