Ceramics in Archaeology: Pottery of the Vučedol Culture in the Vinkovci Region

Authors

Ina Miloglav
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9185-9958
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17234/9789531757775

Synopsis

The book is divided into two parts: the first part stems from the author’s position in the Subdepartment of Archaeometry and Methodology at the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University, where she deals with an aspect of archaeology which is not very popular among archaeologists: counting, classifying and typologically describing tens of thousands of pottery sherds. But, as the author herself put it, We put together pieces of information as if piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, as though we were participating in the creation of the pottery vessels and entering the lives of the people who made them. Pottery is one of the materials most frequently processed and analysed by archaeologists, since it provides infinite and important information about the cultural, social, economic, religious and technological achievements of a community and about the period in which the vessel was made. This part of the book discusses analytical techniques and theoretical frameworks of pottery technology, and parameters for the processing of archaeological pottery. As such, it is very useful and pertinent for any archaeologist dealing with pottery finds as the leading source of archaeological data. 

The second part of the book is also interesting to a broader readership, and not just for experts. Much as archaeology is nowadays an interdisciplinary science – which can also be read from Ina Miloglav’s book – we could not imagine reconstructing a landscape or the dietary habits of a population without archaeobotany, while archaeozoology studies animal remains found at archaeological sites. For example, we have learned that, in the period between around 2880–2480 BC, the predominant economic activity of the Vučedol population of Ervenica was animal herding, and that they mostly raised cattle. Many analyses done on sherds of Vučedol pottery have yielded ‘unimaginable’ data on the pottery. The archaeological biomarkers from a cup recovered from Ervenica have revealed residues of milk fat, allowing us to interpret it as a milk cup, while the fat residues on a pottery strainer from Damića Gradina lead to the conclusion that the Vučedol population produced cheese. In addition, petrographic analysis of pottery sherds has shown that the mineral composition of the pottery corresponds to the mineral composition of the loess that Ervenica and Damića Gradina sit on, which confirms that vessels were produced from local raw materials. A standardization test has also been conducted on the pottery material, and its results suggest that the production of pottery was standardized, especially when it comes to a certain type of bowl. On the basis of the results obtained, the author has concluded that the pottery production in these two Vučedol settlements was organized and that it involved specialized potters. (from the Foreword by Maja Krznarić Škrivanko)

Chapters

  • Foreword / Predgovor
    Predgovor.pdf Foreword.pdf
  • FIRST PART / PRVI DIO
  • 1 Introduction / Uvod
    1-HR.pdf 1-EN.pdf
  • 2 Archaeometry – archaeology – ethnoarchaeology: interrelated disciplines / Arheometrija-arheologija-etnoarheologija: međusobno povezane discipline
    2-HR.pdf 2-EN.pdf
  • 3 Origins of pottery / Porijeklo keramičkih posuda
    3-HR.pdf 3-EN.pdf
  • 4 Pottery paste / Lončarska smjesa
    4-HR.pdf 4-EN.pdf
  • 5 Physical properties of pottery / Fizičke karakteristike keramike
    5-HR.pdf 5-EN.pdf
  • 6 Operational sequence in the pottery production process / Lanac operacija u proizvodnom postupku izrade keramičkih posuda
    6-HR.pdf 6-EN.pdf
  • 7 Parameters for the processing and typological classification of pottery finds / Parametri za obradu i tipološku klasifikaciju keramičkih nalaza
    7-HR.pdf 7-EN.pdf
  • 8 Methodology of pottery processing / Metodologija obrade keramičkih nalaza
    8-HR.pdf 8-EN.pdf
  • SECOND PART / DRUGI DIO
  • 9 Processing and analysis of excavated pottery from the site of Ervenica and Damića Gradina / Obrada i analiza keramičkog materijala s lokaliteta na Ervenici i Damića gradini
    9-HR.pdf 9-EN.pdf
  • 10 Geographical and geological features of the locality / Geografske i geološke značajke krajolika
    10-HR.pdf 10-EN.pdf
  • 11 Vučedol culture / Vučedolska kultura
    11-HR.pdf 11-EN.pdf
  • 12 Settlements of the Vučedol culture in Vinkovci and Stari Mikanovci / Naselja vučedolske kulture u Vinkovcima i Starim Mikanovcima
    12-HR.pdf 12-EN.pdf
  • 13 Typological-statistical analysis / Tipološko-statistička analiza
    13-HR.pdf 13-EN.pdf
  • 14 Agricultural and economic aspects of the Vučedol settlements / Poljoprivredni i gospodarski segment vučedolskih naselja
    14-HR.pdf 14-EN.pdf
  • 15 Organic residues in pottery / Organski ostaci u keramičkim posudama
    15-HR.pdf 15-EN.pdf
  • 16 The clay paste for Vučedol ceramic vessels / Lončarska smjesa vučedolskih posuda
    16-HR.pdf 16-EN.pdf
  • 17 Product standardization, craft specialization and organization of pottery production / Standardizacija proizvoda, specijalizacija zanata i organizacija keramičke proizvodnje
    17-HR.pdf 17-EN.pdf
  • 18 Use-related properties and the social context of vučedol pottery / Uporabna svojstva i društveni kontekst vučedolskih posuda
    18-HR.pdf 18-EN.pdf
  • List of figures and plates / Popis ilustracija i tabli
    Ilustr-HR.pdf Ilustr-EN.pdf
  • Bibliography / Literatura
    PDF
  • About the author / O autorici
    Aut-HR.pdf Aut-EN.pdf
  • Excerpts from reviews / Izvatci iz recenzija
    Rec-HR.pdf Rec-EN.pdf
  • Plates of drawings of pottery / Table s keramičkim materijalom
    PDF

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Author Biography

Ina Miloglav, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology

Ina Miloglav graduated archaeology in 1999 from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University. Between 2001 and 2004 she worked as a curator in the Department of Archaeology of the Vinkovci Town Museum. In 2005 she got a post in the Department of Archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University, as a research assistant on the project Vučedol Culture in the Territory of Croatia, led by Prof. Aleksandar Durman, and she participated in it until the project was closed in 2014. In 2012 she earned her doctorate with the thesis Late Vučedol Culture in the Bosut Valley on the Basis of Pottery Finds. In the same year, she became a senior assistant, and in 2016 assistant professor, in the Sub-department of Archaeometry and Methodology. Besides the project mentioned above, she has participated in several scientific projects and programmes: Roman military camps in Croatia – Tilurium; rough experimental archaeology to the technology of pottery production in prehistory; Pottery production in prehistoric cultures, with emphasis on the Hallstatt Culture, in the Croatian and Austrian Danube Region; Between the Danube and the Mediterranean. Exploring the role of the Roman military in the mobility of people and goods in Croatia during the Roman Era (RoMiCRO ); and Potential raw materials in prehistoric pottery production, a case study: Damića Gradina Tell.
Since the academic year 2006/2007, she has actively participated in the university programme of the Department of Archaeology as a teacher of the following courses: Documenting archaeological sites, Introduction to digital processing of archaeological documentation, Processing methodology for prehistoric pottery and Field school. At the doctoral course in Mediaeval Studies, she taught the course Methodology of archaeological excavations over two academic years. 

She has participated in more than 70 archaeological excavations in Croatia, and between 2010 and 2014 she led the archaeological excavation of St. Quirinus in Sisak.
She is the author of a number of papers discussing the methodology of archaeological excavation and the processing and analysis of pottery material. As an author, she has participated in Croatian and international conferences as session organizer and member of organizational committees. Her professional development includes participating in several workshops and courses regarding digital documentation. She cooperates intensively with experts from the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Geology, with a view to stimulating interdisciplinary approaches. 

She is a member of the editorial board of the journal Opuscula archaeologica, published by the Institute of Archaeology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University, and of the Arhaika journal of the Department of Archaeology of Belgrade University.
In 2013 she initiated the scientific conference Methodology and Archaeometry at the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Zagreb University, whose goal is to stimulate interdisciplinary approaches, critical thinking, new understanding and approaches, and theoretical frameworks in contemporary archaeological science.

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Published

3. May 2019.

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Copyright (c) 2019 Ina Miloglav

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ISBN-13 (15)

978-953-175-777-5

Publication date (01)

2019

Details about the available publication format: Print edition

Print edition

ISBN-13 (15)

978-953-175-619-8

Co-publisher's ISBN-13 (24)

978-953-7008-36-9

Publication date of print counterpart (19)

2016

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