‘ORGANIC TEMPER’ AND THE EARLY NEOLITHIC POTTERY PRODUCTION: INTERPRETATIONAL CHALLENGES

Abstract

the hallmarks of the Early Neolithic pottery production at many sites along the Eurasian Neolithisation trajectories (e.g. Todorova & Vaysov 1993; Elenski 2006; Özdoğan 2011; Çilingiroğlu 2012; Vuković 2016). The hidden potential of this archaeobotanical inclusion (see Kreiter et al. 2013; 2014; Pető & Vrydaghs 2016; Mariotti Lippi & Pallecchi 2016) lies in revealing the interplay between two fundamental aspects, which defi ne the Southeast European Early Neolithic – the agricultural (farming/crop husbandry) and the technological cycle (pottery production) – integrated locally, within a settlement-specifi c environment. To explore this, however, it is essential to establish whether the vegetal remains are those of cultivated crops (cereal plant parts), as well as whether their presence in the fabrics plausibly refl ects the intentional addition of organic materials to the clay paste as temper, rather than incidental inclusion. Thus, the article is focused on these two main questions, rather than examining all possible research avenues in detail (see Fig. 1). Based on the contrasting preliminary results obtained from three Early Neolithic Eastern Balkan key study sites, located in present-day Romania and Bulgaria (Fig. 2), this study explores a series of challenges and potential biases when interpreting such vegetal remains in the Early Neolithic context. Temper, as a pottery-making component that refl ects shared values incorporated in technological activity (e.g. Stark et al. 2000), is traditionally studied from the perspective of fabric variation, to help outline cultural group membership and classify ware types (Rice 1987, 406). Here, a range of plant inclusion variables is considered with an aim to diff erentiate between the intentional adABSTRACT Well-preserved plant remains found in clay bodies of Early Neolithic pottery of Southeastern Europe have been largely understudied. The characteristics and provenance of this ‘organic temper’ remain mostly unknown, making interpretations obscure. Based on a range of research methods, this article explores the macro and micro plant remains within the pottery clays, considering such aspects as the use of domesticated versus wild plants and actual functional temper versus organic inclusions as background noise. This innovative approach is applied to explore three diff erent Early Neolithic Balkan sites, demonstrating the importance in distinguishing between (a) deliberate addition of selected temper as a technological prerequisite; (b) sporadic occurrence of plant parts in (domestic) areas where pottery was made, (c) natural characteristics of the local clays containing organics and used as raw materials, and (d) plant use pointing towards more specifi c pottery-making techniques. Possible misinterpretations and pitfalls are discussed in using the applied integrated methodology, thus revealing crucial details on the variability of the technological approaches applied during the Early Neolithic of Southeastern Europe.