Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 27(2)-Supplement: 194-243

Florica MĂȚĂU*, Vasile DIACONU, Mitică PINTILEI, Ovidiu CHIȘCAN, Alexandru STANCU

DOI: 10.47743/saa-2021-27-3-10

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to identify the technological features of the Late Bronze Age ceramic assemblage
discovered at Topolița (Neamț County). The archaeological site is located in the Subcarpathian area of the eastern
Romania and was assigned based on the typological features of the ceramic artefacts to the Noua culture (second
half of the 16th century to the 12th century BC). The dataset investigated in this study consists in 30 samples, selected
to represent the stylistic and functional variability detected at the site. For assessing the various stages of the
chaîne opératoire (raw materials selection, paste preparation, manufacturing procedures, surface finishing and
firing conditions), the pottery samples were studied by means of an integrated analytical approach combining
macroscopic observation with petrographical and mineralogical investigations performed by X-ray powder
diffraction (XRPD). This study revealed various aspects of the pottery production and emphasized a rather
conservative behaviour in terms of raw materials selection combined with a significant degree of variability in the
processing and finishing sequences. Besides, the technological analysis of the ceramic assemblage discovered at
Topolița in terms of chaîne opératoire provided qualitative data to reconstruct technological features that
corresponds to networks of socially linked object-makers.

 

KEYWORDS

ceramic assemblage, Noua culture, chaîne opératoire, petrography, X-ray diffraction, networks of interaction