Neolithic ceramic spoons – indicators of dietary distinctiveness in the eastern Adriatic Neolithic?

Abstract

Among the rich and diverse archaeological finds collected at more than fifty known Neolithic sites in the entire area of the eastern Adriatic and its hinterland, ceramic spoons comprise a group of very rare and almost marginalised items. Only eight examples, discovered in the northern and central Dalmatia region (hinterland of Zadar and πibenik), at open-air Neolithic sites known to date to the Middle and Late Neolithic. Based on current research and in accordance with the available archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from Neolithic sites in the eastern Adriatic region, this paper poses a question about the connection of ceramic spoons with the dietary habits of Neolithic communities in the eastern Adriatic.