RADIOCARBON DATING OF GRASS-TEMPERED CERAMIC REVEALS THE EARLIEST POTTERY FROM SLOVAKIA PREDATES THE ARRIVAL OF FARMING

In the absence of wood, bone, and other organics, one possible candidate for determining the age of a site is the radiocarbon (C-14) dating of pottery. In central Europe during the Early Neolithic, pottery was ubiquitous and contained substantial quantities of organic temper. However, attempts at the direct dating of organic inclusions raises a lot of methodological issues, especially when several sources of carbon contribute to the resulting radiocarbon age. Hence an alternative approach to dating of the early pottery is necessary. Here, we present a novel method of bulk separation of organic content from the grass-tempered pottery from Santovka (Slovakia). The procedure is based on the consecutive application of three inorganic acids, dissolving clay, silica content, and low molecular or mobile fractions to separate organic inclusions added to the pottery matrix during the formation of vessels. Radiocarbon dates obtained with this method are coherent and produce the shortest time span compared to other pretreatment methods presented in this study. The paired dates of grass-tempered pots with the C-14 age of lipids extracted from the same pots point to a difference of 400-600 C-14 yr, however they are in line with the site's chronostratigraphic Bayesian model. Grass-tempered pottery from Santovka (Slovakia) is dated to the first half of the 6th millennium cal BC, making it the earliest pottery north of the Danube. It seems feasible that ceramic containers from Santovka were produced by hunter-gatherers, and pottery predated the arrival of farming in the Carpathian region by a couple of centuries.

Automated summary

In the absence of wood, bone, and other organics, radiocarbon dating of pottery can be used to determine the age of a site. However, direct dating of organic inclusions in pottery raises methodological issues. To solve this problem, a novel method of separating organic content from grass-tempered pottery from Santovka (Slovakia) is presented. The obtained radiocarbon dates are coherent and suggest that the grass-tempered pottery from Santovka dates back to the first half of the 6th millennium cal BC, making it the earliest pottery north of the Danube.