Investigating Compositional Variation of CeramicMaterials during the Late Neolithic on the GreatHungarian Plain – Preliminary LA-ICP-MS Results

Abstract

Investigations have been undertaken to assessthe extent to which compositional analysis can be usedto determine trade and interaction on the Great HungarianPlain during the Late Neolithic. Ceramic and clay samplesin the Körös and Berettyó River Basins were analyzedat the Elemental Analysis Facilities (EAF) at The Field Museumof Natural History in Chicago, IL, USA. With the useof laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-MS), the aim of the project was to ascertainif micro-regional or site-specific compositional signaturescould be determined in a region that is typically characterizedas highly geologically homogenous. Identifyingsite-specific signatures enables archaeologists to modelprehistoric interactions and, in turn, determine the relationshipbetween interaction and various socio-culturalchanges. This paper focuses on the preliminary compositionalresults of materials analyzed from three differentsites across the Plain and the methodological implicationsfor future anthropological research in the region.

Keywords

• geochemical variation
• compositional analysis
• clay and ceramic materials
• eastern europe
• prehistoricexchange