Addressing the issue of the Early Neolithic pottery exchange through a combined petrographic and geochemical approach: a case study on LBK ware from Dzielnica (Upper Silesia, southern Poland)

Abstract

The article presents the results of petrographic and geochemical analyses on Linear Band Pottery culture (LBK) ceramic materials from the Dzielnica site (Upper Silesia, southern Poland). The study area, situated in the northern foreland of the Moravian Gate, can be considered a melting pot for various cultural influences. This peculiar location resulted in multidirectional entanglements of the Early Neolithic inhabitants of the site. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the importance of pottery exchange in these foreign connections. The sherds ornamented in Alfold styles prove to be consistent with local geochemical and petrographic signature and, therefore, may be regarded as a result of implementation of exogenous decorative patterns. On the other hand, at least some of the vessels decorated in Sarka style should be considered to have been produced elsewhere. The archaeometric results indicate that the long-distance exchange of pottery was probably largely confined to occasional importation of vessels from the adjacent areas of Lower Silesia and northern Moravia. In addition, it may be tentatively suggested that some mundane, stylistically inconspicuous ceramics could have been passed through intra-regional circulation within the Upper Odra River basin.