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Ceramic Traditions and Cultural Identities: West‐Central F rance during the L ate N eolithic II Period ( c .3400–2900 cal. BC )
Author(s) -
Ard Vincent
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/ojoa.12020
Subject(s) - pottery , period (music) , homogeneous , archaeology , subject (documents) , history , anthropology , geography , ancient history , art , sociology , aesthetics , computer science , mathematics , library science , combinatorics
Summary Pottery is generally used as the main basis for characterizing N eolithic cultural identities: archaeologists tend to define groups and cultures in time and space on the basis of typological classification. This paper proposes a different approach to the study of pottery that takes into account the various steps of the chaîne opératoire of manufacture, particularly the methods used to form and finish the pots, in order to characterize the cultural landscape of the L ate N eolithic II period in west‐central F rance (3400−2900 BC ). This cultural landscape has hitherto been poorly defined and subject to endless debate since the 1950s, largely because the pottery is fairly homogeneous in shape and is mostly undecorated. The technological study presented here, based on the examination of 23 ceramic assemblages and focusing on a variety of stages in the chaîne opératoire, has allowed the definition of three technical traditions. The main characteristics and diagnostic features of these traditions are outlined below, together with their interrelationships.