Pottery With Admixture of Graphite and Exchange Networks in Neolithic of Ukraine: Problem Statement (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ceramic technology and the materiality of Celtic graphitic pottery
Sabatini, S. – Alberti, M. E. (Eds.) Exchange networks and local transformations: interactions and local changes in Europe and the Mediterranean between Bronze and Iron Age. Oxford: Oxbow., 2012
"The Celtic “graphitic ware” is a widespread, distinctive type of pottery, found in most parts of the Central European Celtic world. In Celtic research the term “graphitic ware” is commonly used for a special typological group of ceramics, the most characteristic of which are the situla-like pots or beakers that have a wide mouth, an inverted or swollen rim, accentuated shoulder and a wide, flat bottom. They are typically decorated with vertically incised bundles of lines. This paper examines the technological aspects of Celtic ceramics obtained from a settlement at Dunaszentgyörgy (Hungary). They were examined by using polarising microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA). In this paper we will concentrate on the well-known, yet little-understood graphite-tempered situla-like pots of the Celts. The possible similarities and differences of graphitic and non-graphitic wares are also examined in terms of raw material compositions. Multidisciplinary research has the potential to provide valuable insights into social aspects of prehistoric graphite procurement and the reasons behind manufacturing such pottery. It should be emphasised that we need to move beyond mere functionalist interpretations of pottery technology and raw materials because these practices divorce past human interactions with minerals from wider cognitive, symbolic, phenomenological and social contexts. Within pre-industrial societies minerals are frequently interwoven into not just economic and material, but also social, cosmological, mythical, spiritual and philosophical aspects of life. "
Archaeometric investigation of Celtic graphitic pottery from two archaeological sites in Hungary
In M. Martinón-Torres (Ed.), Craft and science: International perspectives on archaeological ceramics. Doha, Qatar: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation, 191-199
The use of graphite has a prominent role in pottery making during the La Tène period. The term “graphitic ware” is commonly used for situla-like pots. Extended trade in Celtic times is evidenced by the widespread occurrence of graphite-bearing ceramics, far away from restricted graphite sources. Graphite-bearing and non-graphitic ceramics were investigated from two Celtic sites, Dunaszentgyörgy 6.sz. főút (LT B2-C1) and Bátaszék-Körtvélyes dűlő (LT D) in South Hungary. The aim of the research was to compare the characteristics of the graphitic raw material as well as the host vessels found at the two sites and to provide a preliminarily outline about the possible provenance of graphite. Graphitic ceramics from Dunaszentgyörgy and Bátaszék contain graphite fragments and clasts of graphitic paragneiss. Graphitic rocks with sillimanite and kyanite cannot be found in outcrops in the territory of Hungary. According to the mineralogical composition, the potential source for graphitic (para)gneiss found in the Dunaszentgyörgy and Bátaszék ceramics can be restricted to the Variegated unit of the Moldanubicum zone.
Archeologické rozhledy, 2023
Over the centuries, various minerals were used in pottery production; for some societies, graphite played a unique role. Certain areas lack local sources of this mineral but simultaneously reveal a great occurrence of ‘graphite-coated’ pottery. Still, it is commonly believed that the surface of these vessels was coated with graphite. The aim of the article is to examine whether the surface visually characterised as ‘graphited’ (suggesting the use of graphite) could be achieved without the application of the mineral and what the technological process of manufacturing might have looked like. Macroscopical and archaeometry recognition features of ‘graphite-coated’ pottery and mineral graphite were indicated. A series of experiments were performed to achieve a lustrous, silver surface without applying mineral graphite. The firing process was conducted in two types of kilns reconstructed according to archaeological sources from the territory of Poland dated to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The reproduced pottery shows surfaces very similar to their prehistorical counterparts. The significant occurrence of this type of pottery indicates its production could also be conducted in areas lacking mineral graphite.
Cataloguing and mapping the Linear Band Pottery sites in Ukraine
Documenta Praehistorica, LI, 2024
Linearbandkeramik (LBK) is the most well-studied Neolithic culture in Central Europe. However, the easternmost part of its area is less known to European researchers. Addressing this gap, information on 175 reliable and 95 questionable LBK sites and six sub-Neolithic sites with LBK pottery in Ukraine has been collected, verified, and systematized. The precise mapping of these sites provided in this paper allows future analysis of their spatial distribution. Accurate contouring of the eastern boundary of the LBK area has revealed the exploitation and exchange of flint, graphite, and salt as a possible driving force of the first farmers’ mobility in the region.
In the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, so-called graphite-coated vessels were ubiquitous in the Carpathian Basin. Studies on graphite-coated vessels are usually carried out from a typological point of view, describing the shape and decoration of such wares and assessing the effects that co-existing cultural groups may have had on each other. Even though the practice of graphite coating had been present in East-Central Europe for several centuries, the way graphite coating was produced has never been investigated systematically. Technological study of graphite coating can, however, highlight interesting details about this practice and the high skill and knowledge of potters that was necessary for this type of ceramic production. In this study, a methodology of making graphite coated vessels, and in turn achieving a metallic luster, is presented through a range of experiments. The results are compared with graphite coating found on archaeological ceramics from a Late Bronze Age site. The experiments point out that graphite coating can be achieved in several different ways; however, only a limited number of technological choices would result in highly metallic luster. During the experiments different graphite coating techniques were tried which elucidate the possible ways prehistoric potters utilized graphite, surface treatments and firing conditions.
The first find of LBK graphite-coated pottery in Lesser Poland: Więckowice, site 4, Kraków district
Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, 2021
In the years 2006-2011, at the site Więckowice 4, rescue excavations were carried out in the eastern part of an extensive (over 15 ha) multicultural zone. The most numerous are the remains of the LBK settlement from the "music note" phase. The southeastern part of the settlement was explored, discovering lines of building pits and post holes belonging to 3-4 longhouses. A particularly unique discovery was a fragment of a LBK vessel with powdered graphite preserved on the outer surface. In addition to the LBK ornament of engraved lines, it is decorated in a manner referring to the ornamentation of the Eastern Linear circle (Tiszadob-Kapušany group). The presence of graphite on the vessel wall has been confirmed by the results of SEM-EDS analyses. This is the first such find in Lesser Poland. To comprehensively address the cultural significance of this find we provide an upto-date overview of graphite usage in a wide range of LBK contexts.