Abstract
The object of the paper is to update the current concept of the chronology of the Neolithic (c. 5400–3300 BC) of the Czech Republic and northern Lower Austria by comparing the typo-chronological development of pottery and modelling the corresponding radiocarbon dates. Up until now, pottery and its style have often been perceived in Central Europe as “basic indicators” of archaeological cultures or pottery traditions, which are then further divided into chronological stages and phases. And yet, an analysis of the relationships of all three levels of these entities in the context of four types of models of radiocarbon dates indicates that changes in the original material culture do not necessarily occur on a time axis. While it is true that archaeological cultures have proven to be the robust materialisation of primarily chronological trends valid in larger geographic areas, at the level of general and more detailed pottery groups, development can be manifested in other ways (regionally, socially or in a way that is difficult to interpret). Central Europe – Neolithic – pottery typo-chronology – archaeological culture – radiocarbon dating
Highlights
Archaeological cultures are regarded as the foundation of the material reflection of past societies
While we know that archaeological cultures are highly capable of methodologically partitioning space and time, we don’t know what this means for interpreting the original living culture
It is not possible to work with an archaeological culture as a direct proxy of social relation ships (Shennan 1989; Květina 2010), and the same can be said of the term “culture” in the context of anthropology, which has been unable to find a universal context suitable doi:10.35686/AR.2020.6
Summary
Archaeological cultures are regarded as the foundation of the material reflection of past societies. Wiessner (1983, 256) conceived style in a similar manner, defining it as the formal variability of material culture providing information on the social identity of individuals and society. If we want to touch on a solution to the question we’ve just defined, it means first and foremost validating the existing relative-chronological systems, for which we will use external evidence in the form of radiocarbon dating. To summarize the intent of this article, we ask whether transformations of the original material culture necessarily occur only on a time axis, as has been assumed far, or whether development can be manifested in parallel on the geographical or another level (which we shall leave unlabelled for )
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