Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from Swifterbant S3 (Prov. Flevoland / NL) (c. 4300–4000 cal BC)

Abstract

Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from Swifterbant S3 (Prov. Flevoland / NL) (c. 4300–4000 cal BC)

This article presents a petrographic analysis of 18 ceramic sherds from Swifterbant S3. The Swifterbant pottery is rather homogeneous. Most vessels were made from a clay containing diatoms, spongia needles and mica and were tempered with stone material that may have been collected on-site. We suggest that the plant fragments in our samples are primarily natural inclusions. The current sample was compared with sherds studied by de Roever (2004) from S3 and neighbouring sites. These sherds include some grog-tempered fabrics. This implies that the sample size of the present study is insufficient to cover the variability in clay and temper. Our analysis has also made clear that the proposed correlation between temper and function is not as clear-cut as proposed earlier by Raemaekers et al. 2013 and that emmer was found in pots from all clays and with almost all tempers. The petrographic analysis underlines the differences in ceramic technology between the Swifterbant Culture and the Ertebølle Culture. The use of clays rich in plant material is typical for the Swifterbant pottery.