Technological Analysis of Pottery of the Bondarykha II Settlement

Abstract

The Bondarykha settlement is located 4–5 km southwest of the village of Dibrova, Izium district, Kharkiv region. This settlement is, in fact, the type-site of the Bondarykha culture of the Late Bronze Age.
The study of the compositions of ceramic paste was carried out by microscopic analysis of ceramic fractures and comparison with reference samples with known temper concentrations. Traces of vessel-forming techniques and surface smoothing were visibly preserved on the surface and ancient pottery breaks. Three distinct recipes for pottery paste were recorded, which relate to the Bondarykha horizon, filling the pit of the dwelling and its floor.
In some samples correspoding to each paste recipe, it is possible to trace the method of vessel formation — in coils or bundles of 10–20 mm in diameter.
The bases, where visible, are rectangular or rounded in cross-section and lack defined edges. It is equally common for the base of the walls to be formed from the edges of the base, and for the base of the walls to be joined by coiling techniques. The vessel bottoms are often bilayered or exhibit wavy fractures, the latter can be interpreted as the formation of such bases by spiral coiling of clay coild, the two-layeredness can be explained by careful integration of the vessel body with the base.
Although the collection of pottery from the Bondarykha II settlement shows some variation in paste recipes, even within the same dwelling, on the one hand. On the other hand, the methods of vessel formation remain fairly consistent and probably reflect a single, yet flexible, ceramic tradition. The variation in recipes for pastes may indicate that pottery with different pastes was likely made by different artisans, who had different specific requirements for paste properties. The presence of samples with atypical ceramic production methods and unusual additives or paste recipes may indicate imported ceramics (used either as containers for traded goods or as trade items themselves) between the inhabitants of the settlement and other populations that may have had different ceramic traditions or may be locally produced vessels with specialized functions.