The chaà®ne opératoire of 6th millennium BC pottery making in the Maritsa Valley, Bulgaria: ceramics from Nova Nadezhda

Spataro, Michela; Nikolova, Nikolina; Tsurev, Atanas; Todorova, Nadezhda; Katsarov, Georgi; Yaneva, Marlena; Krum, Bacvarov

The chaà®ne opératoire of 6th millennium BC pottery making in the Maritsa Valley, Bulgaria: ceramics from Nova Nadezhda

Resource type

Journal article

Creator (person)

Spataro, Michela

ORCID

Nikolova, Nikolina

Tsurev, Atanas

Todorova, Nadezhda

Katsarov, Georgi

Yaneva, Marlena

Krum, Bacvarov

Date published

2019

Abstract

40 potsherds and five other fired clay fragments from the prehistoric site of Nova Nadezhda in Bulgarian Thrace were analysed by archaeometric techniques. Twenty sherds and a daub fragment were analysed in thin section by optical microscopy; these thin sections, and thick sections of a further 24 sherds were also analysed by SEM-EDX. Results were used to describe the Early Neolithic chaà®ne opératoire at Nova Nadezhda, which was then compared to pottery production in roughly contemporaneous StarÄ evo-CriÅŸ communities in the central Balkans, to shed light on the Neolithisation process that took place in the 6th millennium BC. A variety of ceramic recipes was used to make different vessel shapes. Analyses of surface coatings were particularly enlightening in terms of provenance and the organisation of pottery production.