Exploring the beginnings: a multianalytical archaeometric study of the Early Neolithic pottery production at Koprivets, Northern Bulgaria

Abstract

This paper examines pottery production as a proxy for the introduction of major Neolithic achievements, especially in newly-settled territories. It considers potential signs of adaptation of the ceramic technology to new environments, without disregarding possible local contributions to the beginnings of the regional pottery production. The North Bulgarian areas are associated with distinctive climatic conditions, contrasting environmental settings and different raw materials when compared with the homeland of certain new-coming groups. Whereas no loessic sediments extend southwards of the Balkan mountainous range, these are namely the typical Danubian plain accumulations associated with available clays used for pottery production in the region. Taking into account various scenarios for the beginning of the Neolithic in North Bulgaria, as well as the local specifics of the lithic industry, the first pottery from the settlement at Koprivets is considered in a broader Neolithisation context. By recovering and interpreting technological parameters, the study examines the innovative adaptations to specific local conditions that the adoption of pottery production, as a new technology, must have evolved, at one of the earliest known Neolithic sites in Northern Bulgaria.

Keywords

• pottery production
• neolithisation
• north bulgaria
• archaeometry