Neolithic and Chalcolithic stone tools used in ceramics production: Examples from the south of Romania

摘要

This paper focuses on Neolithic and Chalcolithic stone tools found at the Mgura uduiasca?and Vitneti gurice?sites in southern Romania, which might been involved in the chane opratoire of ceramic pottery production. To better understand how ceramic objects were made during this period, it is important to know what tools were available. Representative artefacts were selected from the sites and have here been grouped based on their possible involvement in various stages of pottery production: a) quarrying of the raw claystone (picks); b) processing the raw materials (mortars and pestles); and c) surface finishing (smoothers, burnishers, polishers). The surface of the tools was examined by non-destructive methods (handheld loupe, stereomicroscope) with the aim of further determining their function and whether they were likely used in the ceramics industry.This study provides examples of specific Neolithic and Chalcolithic stone tool types and illustrates characteristics useful for identifying their use. It also shows the possible chane opratoire of pottery produced during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic in the area of southern Romania.It is considered that most of these tools categories, and likely most of the individual tools themselves, had multiple uses, or similar uses with different materials in different industries. It is therefore difficult to determine with much certainty whether they were only used within the ceramics industry.