The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers

Ekaterina Dolbunova, Alexandre Lucquin, T. Rowan McLaughlin (), Manon Bondetti, Blandine Courel, Ester Oras, Henny Piezonka, Harry K. Robson, Helen Talbot, Kamil Adamczak, Konstantin Andreev, Vitali Asheichyk, Maxim Charniauski, Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny, Igor Ezepenko, Tatjana Grechkina, Alise Gunnarssone, Tatyana M. Gusentsova, Dmytro Haskevych, Marina Ivanischeva, Jacek Kabaciński, Viktor Karmanov, Natalia Kosorukova, Elena Kostyleva, Aivar Kriiska, Stanisław Kukawka, Olga Lozovskaya, Andrey Mazurkevich, Nadezhda Nedomolkina, Gytis Piličiauskas, Galina Sinitsyna, Andrey Skorobogatov, Roman V. Smolyaninov, Aleksey Surkov, Oleg Tkachov, Maryia Tkachova, Andrey Tsybrij, Viktor Tsybrij, Aleksandr A. Vybornov, Adam Wawrusiewicz, Aleksandr I. Yudin, John Meadows, Carl Heron and Oliver E. Craig
Additional contact information
Ekaterina Dolbunova: State Hermitage Museum
Alexandre Lucquin: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
T. Rowan McLaughlin: British Museum
Manon Bondetti: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Blandine Courel: British Museum
Ester Oras: University of Tartu
Henny Piezonka: Institute of Pre- and Protohistory
Harry K. Robson: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Helen Talbot: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Kamil Adamczak: Nicolaus Copernicus University
Konstantin Andreev: Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education
Vitali Asheichyk: Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Maxim Charniauski: Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences
Igor Ezepenko: Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Tatjana Grechkina: State Autonomous Institution for Heritage Research and Production
Alise Gunnarssone: National History Museum of Latvia
Tatyana M. Gusentsova: Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage
Dmytro Haskevych: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Marina Ivanischeva: East Onega Archaeological Expedition
Jacek Kabaciński: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences
Viktor Karmanov: Institute of Language, History and Literature, Komi Scientific Center of Ural Branch of RAS
Natalia Kosorukova: Cherepovets State University
Elena Kostyleva: Ivanovo State University
Aivar Kriiska: University of Tartu
Stanisław Kukawka: Nicolaus Copernicus University
Olga Lozovskaya: Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS
Andrey Mazurkevich: State Hermitage Museum
Nadezhda Nedomolkina: The Vologda State Museum
Gytis Piličiauskas: Lithuanian Institute of History
Galina Sinitsyna: Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS
Andrey Skorobogatov: Voronezh Archaeological Society
Roman V. Smolyaninov: Lipetsk State Pedagogical University PP Semenov-Tyan-Shan
Aleksey Surkov: Archaeological Society of Kuban
Oleg Tkachov: Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Maryia Tkachova: Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Andrey Tsybrij: Don Archaeological Society
Viktor Tsybrij: Don Archaeological Society
Aleksandr A. Vybornov: Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education
Adam Wawrusiewicz: Podlachian Museum in Białystok
Aleksandr I. Yudin: Research Center for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage
John Meadows: Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology
Carl Heron: British Museum
Oliver E. Craig: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York

Nature Human Behaviour, 2023, vol. 7, issue 2, 171-183

Abstract: Abstract Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a far faster rate than previously thought. Chemical characterization of organic residues shows that European hunter-gatherer pottery had a function structured around regional culinary practices rather than environmental factors. Analysis of the forms, decoration and technological choices suggests that knowledge of pottery spread through a process of cultural transmission. We demonstrate a correlation between the physical properties of pots and how they were used, reflecting social traditions inherited by successive generations of hunter-gatherers. Taken together the evidence supports kinship-driven, super-regional communication networks that existed long before other major innovations such as agriculture, writing, urbanism or metallurgy.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01491-8

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