Pottery Technology at the Dawn of the Metal Age

Contents

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

About the Author

Silvia Amicone is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Tübingen, where she focuses on the study of archaeomaterials through an interdisciplinary approach. She earned her PhD in archaeological science at University College London, where she is also an Honorary Research Associate at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Her research combines material analysis with scientific and archaeological methods to understand the techniques and knowledge of ancient materials. She is also deeply engaged in experimental archaeology, reconstructing ceramic production processes to gain deeper insights into past technologies and craftsmanship. She directs and co-directs several international projects and has published in academic journals worldwide. In addition to her research, she contributes to the training of young scholars and the development of interdisciplinary collaborative initiatives. She currently serves as President of the Ceramic Petrology Group, further supporting the advancement of ceramic research and professional exchange in the field.