Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (3) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.3.040-046

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Identification of Adhesives for Repairing Ancient Ceramics: The Case of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of Far Northeast Europe

V.N. Karmanov¹, D.A. Bushnev², and O.V. Valyaeva²

¹Institute of Language, Literature, and History, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kommunisticheskaya 26, Syktyvkar, 167982, Russia

²Institute of Geology, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pervomaiskaya 54, Syktyvkar, 167982, Russia

This study focuses on the composition of the adhesives used to repair clay vessels, and on the technique of their preparation in the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic (late 4th to early 3rd millennia BC) sites of Far Northeast Europe (the Republic of Komi and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug). Remains of adhesives were detected on 70 of171 repaired pots. To date, five samples of ceramics from dwellings of the Chuzhyael culture have been analyzed. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed no markers of coniferous trees or bitumen; but did reveal markers of birch, suggesting that fractures and cracks on broken pots were plastered with birch tar. The composition of organic compounds in samples indicates the use of two vessels in the technological process: in one of them, birch bark was subjected to pyrolysis, while the other was a receptacle for tar. This comparatively complex technology reveals one more specialization in the domestic manufacture of the taiga hunter-gatherers, including the use of special furnaces. Analytic procedures employed by us open up new prospects for the study of the material culture of Far Northeast Europe, extend our knowledge of domestic manufacture, and offer new material for AMS dating.

Keywords: Ancient ceramics, repair, birch tar, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Neolithic, Chalcolithic