Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38 (2) 2010

Annotation:  Human Environment in the Nakhichevan Region during the Mousterian (Based on the Gazma Cave Site, Az The Earliest Evidence of Human Occupation in Southeastern Europe: A Processed Camel Bone Fragment f Holocene Dwellings in the Russian Far East: A Functional and Planigraphic Analysis Koshkino Bone and Horn Artifacts from Mergen-6 Glass Beads from Russian Villages in the Middle Irtysh Area with Reference to the Trade Links of Ru Radiocarbon Dating of Oglakhty Grave Using a Wiggle Matching Method Plant Remains from Noin Ula Burial Mounds 20 and 31 (Northern Mongolia) Elemental Analysis of Ceramic Incrustation Indicates Long-Term Cultural Continuity in the Prehistor “Staffs with Elk Heads” in the Culture of the Ancient Population of the Eastern Urals, Northern and Objects with “Animal and Rider Imagery on the Base” in the Medieval Culture of Northern Eurasia Khar Chuluu: A New Rock Art Site in the Mongolian Altai Genealogy of the Siberian Bukharians: The Imyaminov Clan Clothing in Yakut Traditional Wedding Rituals (19th–20th Centuries) The Yzykh in the Context of Traditional Khakassian Beliefs Daurs and Barguts: Issues of Ethnic History Komi-Permyak Traditional Culture: Photographic Collection by A.F. Teploukhov on Early 20th-century U The Population History of the Korean Peninsula: Dental Evidence Growth and Development of Russian and Tatar Children and Adolescents in Naberezhnye Chelny   

Elemental Analysis of Ceramic Incrustation Indicates Long-Term Cultural Continuity in the Prehistoric Carpathian Basin

W.A. Parkinson, E. Peacock, R.A. Palmer, Y. Xia, B. Carlock, A. Gyucha, R.W. Yerkes, and M.L. Galaty.

An important debate in European prehistory centers on whether so-called Kurgan groups migrated into the Carpathian Basin from the south Russian Steppes sometime before the beginning of the Bronze Age. This article summarizes the results of elemental analyses on samples of white incrustation that was used to decorate Copper Age vessels from the Great Hungarian Plain. Our results indicate that crushed bone, not snail shell, was used to create the decorative paste. A recent study of incrusted pottery from the Bronze Age in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin also identifi ed the use of crushed bone in the creation of the paste, suggesting continuity in ceramic traditions before and after the Kurgan ‘invasion.’

Keywords: Carpathian Basin, LA-ICP-MS, incrustation, kurgans.