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Beyond Technology: Pottery Reveals Translocal Social Relations at a Bell Beaker Monumental Site in Central Europe

Gašpar, Adam; Petřík, Jan; Fojtík, Pavel; Tsoupra, Anna; Mir-Makhamad, Basira; Cardoso, Ana; Beltrame, Massimo; ... Kolář, Jan; + view all (2023) Beyond Technology: Pottery Reveals Translocal Social Relations at a Bell Beaker Monumental Site in Central Europe. European Journal of Archaeology , 26 (3) pp. 299-319. 10.1017/eaa.2022.46. Green open access

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Abstract

The Bell Beaker site near Brodek u Prostějova (Czechia) has yielded remains of a large timber construction accompanied by four symmetrical ritual deposits with numerous artefacts, including more than fifty ceramic vessels. Their decoration consists of incised patterns, in nineteen cases with preserved white inlaid incrustations. To investigate the social relations at this extraordinary site, a multi-analytical and micro-destructive approach was employed to determine the provenance and technology of the pottery and the composition of the white incrustations. The results indicate various origins for the pottery within the region and the presence of extra-regional fabrics and graphitic temper. The main raw materials for the white inlays were calcium carbonate (calcite), hydroxyapatite (bone), and bright clay. The mixing of decorative motifs and the variation in the shape and size of the beakers suggest unique manufacturing processes. These results lend support to the monumental site of Brodek serving as a ritual place for several communities from both local and wider areas.

Type: Article
Title: Beyond Technology: Pottery Reveals Translocal Social Relations at a Bell Beaker Monumental Site in Central Europe
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1017/eaa.2022.46
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2022.46
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Association of Archaeologists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Bell Beakers, ritual deposits, ceramic, provenance, translocality, Czechiac
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10178923
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