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The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers

Author

Listed:
  • Ekaterina Dolbunova

    (State Hermitage Museum
    British Museum)

  • Alexandre Lucquin

    (BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York)

  • T. Rowan McLaughlin

    (British Museum
    Maynooth University)

  • Manon Bondetti

    (BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York)

  • Blandine Courel

    (British Museum)

  • Ester Oras

    (University of Tartu)

  • Henny Piezonka

    (Institute of Pre- and Protohistory)

  • Harry K. Robson

    (BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York)

  • Helen Talbot

    (BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York)

  • Kamil Adamczak

    (Nicolaus Copernicus University)

  • Konstantin Andreev

    (Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education)

  • Vitali Asheichyk

    (Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus)

  • Maxim Charniauski

    (Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus)

  • Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny

    (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences)

  • Igor Ezepenko

    (Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus)

  • Tatjana Grechkina

    (State Autonomous Institution for Heritage Research and Production)

  • Alise Gunnarssone

    (National History Museum of Latvia)

  • Tatyana M. Gusentsova

    (Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage)

  • Dmytro Haskevych

    (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)

  • Marina Ivanischeva

    (East Onega Archaeological Expedition)

  • Jacek Kabaciński

    (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences)

  • Viktor Karmanov

    (Institute of Language, History and Literature, Komi Scientific Center of Ural Branch of RAS)

  • Natalia Kosorukova

    (Cherepovets State University)

  • Elena Kostyleva

    (Ivanovo State University)

  • Aivar Kriiska

    (University of Tartu)

  • Stanisław Kukawka

    (Nicolaus Copernicus University)

  • Olga Lozovskaya

    (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS)

  • Andrey Mazurkevich

    (State Hermitage Museum)

  • Nadezhda Nedomolkina

    (The Vologda State Museum)

  • Gytis Piličiauskas

    (Lithuanian Institute of History)

  • Galina Sinitsyna

    (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS)

  • Andrey Skorobogatov

    (Voronezh Archaeological Society)

  • Roman V. Smolyaninov

    (Lipetsk State Pedagogical University PP Semenov-Tyan-Shan)

  • Aleksey Surkov

    (Archaeological Society of Kuban)

  • Oleg Tkachov

    (Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus)

  • Maryia Tkachova

    (Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus)

  • Andrey Tsybrij

    (Don Archaeological Society)

  • Viktor Tsybrij

    (Don Archaeological Society)

  • Aleksandr A. Vybornov

    (Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education)

  • Adam Wawrusiewicz

    (Podlachian Museum in Białystok)

  • Aleksandr I. Yudin

    (Research Center for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage)

  • John Meadows

    (Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology)

  • Carl Heron

    (British Museum)

  • Oliver E. Craig

    (BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekaterina Dolbunova & Alexandre Lucquin & T. Rowan McLaughlin & Manon Bondetti & Blandine Courel & Ester Oras & Henny Piezonka & Harry K. Robson & Helen Talbot & Kamil Adamczak & Konstantin Andreev & , 2023. "The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(2), pages 171-183, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:7:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1038_s41562-022-01491-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01491-8
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