6533b838fe1ef96bd12a42e0

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Entanglements, transmission processes and social identities : the technical traditions of ceramics in the Trois-Lacs region and its margins (3600-3000 BC)

subject

description

In Western Europe, the second half of the 4th millennium is a turning point. On the Swiss Plateau, this phase is characterized by the end of Middle Neolithic cultures (Cortaillod and Pfyn) around 3550 BCE, and the emergence of Horgen after 3250 BCE. The transition between these two phases is now better documented thanks to Port-Conty type and Pfyn/Horgen settlements dated around 3400 BCE. This work aims to identify the cultural substract at the origin of the Horgen by characterizing the technical identities and entanglements at the end of the 4th millennium, then by identifying over time the transmission or abandonment of certain ways of making pots in order to determine the share of local identities in the establishment of the Horgen.We propose to take up these questions by studying the technological aspects of pottery production between 3650 and 3000 BCE in the Trois-Lacs region and its margins. The shaping of bases, which involves motor habits acquired during the initial learning process, is considered as a good indicator for highlighting technical traditions. This sequence of the “chaîne opératoire” shows a great diversity in the used techniques without any direct correlation with ceramic morphologies. The analysis proposed here has therefore confirmed the existence of entanglements with, sometimes, an identification of direct contacts. It has also made it possible to propose technical boundaries that limit the range of one or other of the technical traditions, and whose position and role seem to have changed over time. Indeed, the detailed study of these corpora has made it possible to characterize the phenomenon of transmission, whether at the individual level with the identification of learning pots, or at the collective level and over time with the transmission, abandonment or emergence of techniques over several centuries.