The use of early pottery by hunter-gatherers of the Eastern European forest-steppe. (1st October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Courel, Blandine; Meadows, John; Carretero, Lara González; Lucquin, Alexandre; McLaughlin, Rowan; Bondetti, Manon; Andreev, Konstantin; Skorobogatov, Andrey; Smolyaninov, Roman; Surkov, Aleksey; Vybornov, Aleksandr A.; Dolbunova, Ekaterina; Heron, Carl P.; Craig, Oliver E.
• Is Part Of: Quaternary science reviews. Volume 269(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10-01
• Subjects: Holocene -- Palaeogeography -- Russia -- Middle Don -- Middle Volga -- Archaeology -- Hunter-gatherers -- Early pottery -- Vessel use -- Lipid analysis; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Quaternary -- Periodicals; Stratigraphie -- Quaternaire -- Périodiques; 551.79
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107143
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-3791

Abstract

Abstract: The Eastern European steppe and forest-steppe is a key region for understanding the emergence of pottery in Europe. The vast region encompasses the basins of two major waterways, the Don and the Volga rivers, and was occupied by hunter-gatherer-fisher communities attracted to highly productive forest/aquatic ecotones. The precise dates for the inception of pottery production in this region and the function of pottery is unknown, but such information is vital for charting the pan-Eurasian dispersal of pottery technology and whether there were common motivations for its adoption. To investigate, we conducted AMS dating, including a re-evaluation of legacy radiocarbon dates together with organic residue analysis and microscopy. The dating programme was able to clarify the sequence and show that hunter-gatherer pottery production was unlikely in this region before the 6th millennium BC. Regarding use, stable isotope and molecular analysis of 160 pottery samples from 35 sites across the region shows that terrestrial animal carcass fats were preferentially processed in pots at Middle Volga sites whereas aquatic resources dominate the residues in pottery from the Middle and Upper Don basin. This is supported by fragments of fish, legumes and grasses in the available charred deposits adhering to the inside of pottery from the Don basin. Since the sites from both river basins had similar environmental settings and were broadly contemporaneous, it is posited that pottery use was under strong cultural control, recognisable as separate sub-regional culinary traditions. The 'aquatic hypothesis', previously suggested to explain the emergence of Eurasian pottery, cannot be substantiated in this context. Highlights: Pottery production in the Eastern European forest-steppe began from 6000 cal BC, with earlier dates possible but unlikely. Hunted terrestrial animals dominated the use of pottery in the Don basin; fish or wild plants dominated in Volga pottery. The pan-Eurasian 'Aquatic Neolithic' hypothesis is not supported as regional traditions govern pottery use in this context.