Spécialisation fonctionnelle des premières productions céramiques dans les Balkans (6100-5500 av. J.-C.)

Abstract

This paper deals with an issue that has rarely been addressed for the Neolithic period : the degree of functional specialization of ceramic productions. The question was applied to the earliest pottery from Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC). Results obtained on the pottery function from Kovačevo suggested in fact that some vessels were manufactured for a specific use. From the ceramic assemblage of this site, a new analytical method was developed to assess the degree of functional specialization. This method involves comparing the variability of pottery from a same functional range with those of the whole ceramic assemblage. The attributes that distinguish them could thus be identified. Next, their impact on the properties required by the different use of vessels (resistance to thermal and mechanical shock, waterproofing or heating efficiency) was measured using experimental and ethnographic data. However, some characteristics significantly change the performance of vessels. It was thus deduced that a part of the ceramic production from the site was already devoted to a particular purpose during the manufacturing process. At Kovačevo, two categories of ceramic vessels were undoubtedly produced for a specific function : storage vessels and cooking pots. Indeed, these two categories show a whole range of specific features which were particularly suited for their actual use. Thus, storage vessels often present a very thick slip on their inner surfaces which has not been identified in other functional classes of pottery. However, this type of slip gave them the high waterproofing required for storing substances. Cooking pots always have a narrow opening and a flat base. Their walls are relatively thick and their outer surfaces are often slip trailed. The combination of these different attributes provided them with the excellent thermal shock resistance required for cooking. Other functional classes of ceramic vessels were not necessarily made for the use to which they were put. This is the case of pottery used for grinding products. Indeed, they do not seem very suitable for this specific function. The study carried out on the ceramic assemblage from Kovačevo has allowed different degrees of functional specialization to be identified within the same pottery range : loww and high. These different degrees of specialization may be explained by more or less important use constraints depending on the function of the ceramic vessels. The preliminary work carried out the functional specialization of ceramic productions has finally provided a new picture about the first Neolithic potters from Bulgaria. The choices made during the manufacturing process of storage and cooking vessels confirm that their know-how was high. Indeed, these potters knew the technical solutions required to meet the different use constraints of ceramic vessels. Moreover, the choices made to optimize the pottery efficiency show that not only environmental, technical and cultural factors determined the potters’ behaviour. The function of ceramic vessels could also influence it.