Identifying the original function of vessels deposited in Lusatian Urnfield burials: the case of the Czernikowice cemetery (Poland)
-
Dagmara Łaciak
,
Tomasz Stolarczyk
,
Erika Ribechini
,
Jacopo La Nasa
and
Jeannette J. Łucejko
Abstract
Usage patterns are one of the leading research issues in archaeological pottery studies. Non-cinerary vessels deposited in burials of the Lusatian Urnfield are particularly intriguing since they did not typically undergo detailed functional analysis. Their function has usually been determined based on the shape and surface treatment. Thus, grave pottery is widely regarded to have been explicitly fashioned for mortuary practices and not used for other purposes. It applies particularly to ceramic items other than containers, such as zoomorphic vessels, figurines, and rattles, which must have played a significant role in funeral ceremonies.
The paper presents the outcome of morphological, stylistic and chromatographic analyses of vessels deposited in the Lusatian Urnfield cremation graves found at site 2 in Czernikowice, Legnica district, Poland. The ceramic items come from well-investigated grave contexts dated to Montelius’ periods IV and V. The results indicate that most of the analysed vessels had contact with substances of vegetal and faunal origin.
Zusammenfassung
Gebrauchsspuruntersuchungen sind eines der wichtigsten Forschungsthemen in der archäologischen Keramikforschung. Von besonderem Interesse sind in Gräbern beigegebene Gefäße, die nicht zur Verbrennungsprozess gehören, da sie normalerweise keiner detaillierten Funktionsanalyse unterzogen wurden. Ihre Funktion wird meist anhand der Form und Oberflächenbehandlung bestimmt. Daher wird im hier benannten chronologischen Kontext allgemein davon ausgegangen, dass Grabkeramik speziell für Bestattungszwecke hergestellt und nicht für andere Zwecke verwendet wurde. Dies gilt insbesondere für andere Keramikgegenstände als Behälter, wie z. B. zoomorphe Gefäße, Figuren und Rasseln, die bei Bestattungszeremonien eine bedeutende Rolle gespielt haben müssen.
Der Artikel präsentiert die Ergebnisse morphologischer, stilistischer und chromatographischer Analysen von Gefäßen, die in Lausitzer Gräberfeldern in den Bestattungen deponiert wurden, und hier solche, die auf der Fundstelle 2 in Czernikowice, pow. Legnica, Polen, gefunden wurden. Die Keramikgegenstände stammen aus gut untersuchten Grabkontexten der Montelius-Periode IV und V. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die meisten der analysierten Gefäße Kontakt mit Substanzen pflanzlichen und tierischen Ursprungs hatten.
Abstrakt
Sposoby użytkowania ceramiki to jedno z głównych zagadnień w studiach ceramiki archeologicznej. Szczególnie interesujące wydają się badania nad naczyniami, które deponowane były w pochówkach łużyckich pól popielnicowych. Funkcja naczyń poza popielnicami nie została jednoznacznie wskazana, a określana jest obecnie na podstawie kształtu oraz zdobnictwa powierzchni. Dlatego istnieje powszechny pogląd, że ceramika składana w grobach była wykonywana wyłącznie w tym celu i wcześniej nie była użytkowana. Wskazuje się na przedmioty ceramiczne o formie odbiegającej od naczyń-pojemników, np. naczynia zoomorficzne, figurki, grzechotki itd., które z pewnością miały szczególne znaczenie w trakcie przeprowadzania czynności związanych z pogrzebem.
Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badań morfologicznych, stylistycznych oraz chromatograficznych przeprowadzonych na naczyniach pochodzących z grobów ciałopalnych łużyckich pól popielnicowych ze stanowiska Czernikowice, stan. 2, pow. legnicki, Polska. Materiały ceramiczne pochodzą z dobrze rozpoznanych kontekstów grobowych, datowane są na IV oraz V okres epoki brązu. Wyniki wskazują na kontakt większości analizowanych naczyń z substancjami pochodzenia roślinnego i zwierzęcego.
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Abhandlungen
- The Late Palaeolithic in Toruń Basin in the light of the latest research in Brzoza, Site 50
- Verifying the chronology of Ukrainian Neolithic
- Settlement layout and social organisation in the mid-6th Millennium BC at Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada, North-eastern Aegean
- Early farming settlement of the marginal zone of loess uplands and its palaeoenvironmental context – a case study of the Iłża Piedmont (S Poland)
- Macrolithic flint products from inventories of adult male graves of the Lublin-Volhynian culture – prestige goods or everyday use items – by the example of grave No. 2/1987 from site 1C in Gródek, Hrubieszów District (Poland)
- Pit-houses of the Stone Age Belarus in the 4th millennium BC
- Technologies and standards in ceramic production of middle–late Trypillya culture
- Late Tripolye Culture Settlement Spatial Pattering: Case study from the Gordineşti II-Stînca goală site, Northern Moldova
- New Considerations on the Relationship between Predynastic Spiral-Patterned D-Ware Pottery and Breccia Vessels. The Contribution of an Unpublished Vessel from the Macquarie University History Museum (MU5038)
- Chronology of the Seima-Turbino bronzes, early Shang Dynasty and Santorini eruption
- Identifying the original function of vessels deposited in Lusatian Urnfield burials: the case of the Czernikowice cemetery (Poland)
- Traces of a “new” Metalcraft Specialisation: A unique Late Bronze Age Burial at Karzec Cemetery
- Five hoards in eighty years. Landscape perspectives on new Bronze Age hoard finds around Lake Mälaren in Sweden
- A Final Bronze Age hoard from Cierpice, Poland: new evidence for the use and deposition of a horse bridle in the region
- Kuyavian bronzes or Stanomin-style dress accessories – studies on the chronology of the early Iron Age in Central Europe
- Research methodology of the zolnik (ash hill) at the Scythian cultural circle hillfort in Chotyniec
- A gold coin from Jastrzębniki, Kalisz district (PL). On the late Celtic coinage in north-central Europe
- Pilipenkova Gora – eine Siedlung der Zarubincy-Kultur am Mittleren Dnjepr
- Opening graves and turtles. The pond turtle (Emys orbicularis L.) from the cemetery of the Wielbark Culture in Czarnówko and the question of post-funeral interferences in the past
- The marketplace landscape in Santok in the 8th–9th century, NW Poland
- Rezensionen
- Stepan Stepanenko (ed.), A Viking Century. Chernihiv Area from 900 to 1000 AD (Occasional Monographs, Hlib Ivakin Memorial Series 6). Paris, Association des Amis du Centre d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance (ACHCByz), 2022. 636 S., zahlreiche farbige und S/W-Abb., Tab. ISBN 978-2-916716-88-6.
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Abhandlungen
- The Late Palaeolithic in Toruń Basin in the light of the latest research in Brzoza, Site 50
- Verifying the chronology of Ukrainian Neolithic
- Settlement layout and social organisation in the mid-6th Millennium BC at Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada, North-eastern Aegean
- Early farming settlement of the marginal zone of loess uplands and its palaeoenvironmental context – a case study of the Iłża Piedmont (S Poland)
- Macrolithic flint products from inventories of adult male graves of the Lublin-Volhynian culture – prestige goods or everyday use items – by the example of grave No. 2/1987 from site 1C in Gródek, Hrubieszów District (Poland)
- Pit-houses of the Stone Age Belarus in the 4th millennium BC
- Technologies and standards in ceramic production of middle–late Trypillya culture
- Late Tripolye Culture Settlement Spatial Pattering: Case study from the Gordineşti II-Stînca goală site, Northern Moldova
- New Considerations on the Relationship between Predynastic Spiral-Patterned D-Ware Pottery and Breccia Vessels. The Contribution of an Unpublished Vessel from the Macquarie University History Museum (MU5038)
- Chronology of the Seima-Turbino bronzes, early Shang Dynasty and Santorini eruption
- Identifying the original function of vessels deposited in Lusatian Urnfield burials: the case of the Czernikowice cemetery (Poland)
- Traces of a “new” Metalcraft Specialisation: A unique Late Bronze Age Burial at Karzec Cemetery
- Five hoards in eighty years. Landscape perspectives on new Bronze Age hoard finds around Lake Mälaren in Sweden
- A Final Bronze Age hoard from Cierpice, Poland: new evidence for the use and deposition of a horse bridle in the region
- Kuyavian bronzes or Stanomin-style dress accessories – studies on the chronology of the early Iron Age in Central Europe
- Research methodology of the zolnik (ash hill) at the Scythian cultural circle hillfort in Chotyniec
- A gold coin from Jastrzębniki, Kalisz district (PL). On the late Celtic coinage in north-central Europe
- Pilipenkova Gora – eine Siedlung der Zarubincy-Kultur am Mittleren Dnjepr
- Opening graves and turtles. The pond turtle (Emys orbicularis L.) from the cemetery of the Wielbark Culture in Czarnówko and the question of post-funeral interferences in the past
- The marketplace landscape in Santok in the 8th–9th century, NW Poland
- Rezensionen
- Stepan Stepanenko (ed.), A Viking Century. Chernihiv Area from 900 to 1000 AD (Occasional Monographs, Hlib Ivakin Memorial Series 6). Paris, Association des Amis du Centre d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance (ACHCByz), 2022. 636 S., zahlreiche farbige und S/W-Abb., Tab. ISBN 978-2-916716-88-6.
