Archaeometric research on the first pottery production in the Carpathian Basin: mufacturing traditions of the Early Neolithic, Körös Culture ceramics

The paper presents the results of an archaeometric study on the first pottery production of the earliest farmers of the Carpathian Basin. The ceramic samples belong to the Early Neolithic Körös Culture, radiocarbon dated to the beginning of the 7th millennium uncal. BP. The samples comprise both sherds and soils, as potential raw materials, which were collected from surroundings of the Neolithic sites from various geological deposits. In addition, some samples from later Neolithic phases were analysed in order to study possible technological changes trough time. This research represents the very first archaeometric study for the Körös Culture in Hungary. The methods of investigation include a petrographic study of thin sections under a polarising microscope, combined with mineralogical (XRD), geochemical (XRF, NAA) and SEM-EDS analyses. This paper will present and discuss mainly the results of petrographic analysis of clayey sediments and pottery, which allowed us to establish that Early Neolithic potters exploited local clay deposits of the Körös river, with the addition of vegetal temper. Among the possible raw materials, only those with no or very little primary carbonates were selected for pottery production. The ceramic fabrics of the various sites are very similar. Well-defined groups cannot be distinguished, but sherds belong to the same fabric group, which could be subdivided into four subgroups on the basis of minor textural differences. Finally, some ceramic samples of the Linear Pottery Culture from the same area are compared to those of the Körös Culture, which show technological changes in the pottery production through time

Kora neolitikus kerámia készìtés Magyarországon: á Körös és Starcevo kultúra kerámiáinak összehasonlító archeometriai vizsgálata

This paper summarizes the archaeological context, objectives, methods and the preliminary results of an archaeometrical research project that started some years ago in order to characterize the oldest pottery production of Hungary from Early Neolithic sites of the Körös-Starčevo Culture (dated to the first half and middle of the VI millennium cal BC in a comparative study. To reach this goal, different scientific techniques - including petrography, X-Ray Fluorescence analysis (XRF), X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), SEM and electron-microprobe analysis - were used. Starevo culture represents the north-westernmost aspect of the large Early Neolithic archaeological complex of the Balcans, which comprises towards the north-east the Körös culture and furthermore eastward, the Criş culture. In Hungary the Körös culture spreads in the Great Hungarian Plain, while Starčevo occupies the southern part of Transdanubia, reaching its northernmost borders at lake Balaton (Kalicz et al., 1998). These cultures show strong similarities in their material culture. The characteristic pottery of the period is homogenous in form and macroscopic features over a wide area, suggesting a high degree of cultural contacts and transmission of technological skills. Representative pottery samples were studied from five different Neolithic settlements of the Körös Culture and compared to those coming from one Starčevo Culture site, namely Vörs. Moreover other fired clay artefacts of the Körös Culture (net weights, plaster) were also studied. Both Körös and Starčevo pottery products have a fine-grained, dominantly serial fabric, with a porous texture, containing vegetal tempering material, probably chaff. In some samples rounded, pebble-like, almost opaque inclusions can also be found. Petrography of ceramics and geochemistry of nodules suggest that argillaceous silt or silty clay was used as raw material for manufacturing pottery. Macroscopically, all the potsherds have a "sandwich-like" structure (black core and brownish red margin). Compositional differences between the core and the margins show that ceramics were fired at low temperature (maximum 700-750 °C) with short soaking times and high heating rate. Data available so far seem to confirm the great homogeneity - already noticed at stylistic level - of the ceramic production of the Early Neolithic in Hungary. Probably local clay sources were exploited for pottery production throughout a long period, most probably indicating cultural transmission within groups belonging to a traditionally structured, technologically stable society. This research is conducted in the framework of the Hungarian-Italian Intergovernmental Science&Technology Co-operation Program 2004-2007, Project "Archaeometry of the first ceramic pirotechnology in the Carpathian Basin"