UDC 903

W. A. Parkinson ¹, I. Peacock ², R. A. Palmer ³, Yunzhu Xia ³, B. Karlok ², A. Deuha ⁴, R. V. Yerkes ⁵, M. L. Galati ⁶

¹ Museum of Natural History named after him. Field, Chicago, USA

Field Museum of Natural History, MOOS. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA

E-mail: wparkinson@fieldmuseum.org

² Institute of Archeology named after V. I. Shishkin. Cobb University of Mississippi, Starkville, USA

Cobb Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39759, USA

E-mails: peacock@anthro.msstate.edu

jbc94@msstate.edu

³ Clean Energy Technology Institute, Mississippi State University, Starkville, USA

Institute for Clean Energy Technology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39759, USA

E-mails: palmer@icet.msstate.edu

xia@icet.msstate.edu

⁴ Cultural Heritage Field Office, Szeged, Hungary

Field Service for Cultural Heritage, Szeged, 6720, Hungary

E-mail: gyuchaa@gmail.com

⁵ Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

E-mail: yerkes.1@osu.edu

⁶ Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Millsaps College, Jackson, USA

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, 39201, USA

E-mail: galatml@millsaps.edu

One of the most important debatable issues of European history is whether the carriers of the yamnaya kurgan culture really invaded the territory of the Carpathian basin during the transition from the Eneolithic to the Bronze Age. This article presents the results of elemental analysis of white matter, which is inlaid with Early Neolithic ceramics found on monuments of the Hungarian Lowland. They indicate that the material for decorative inlay was crushed bone, and not crushed snail shells. A recent analysis of ceramics from Bronze Age sites in the eastern Carpathian basin also showed that bone was used for inlay. Consequently, the monuments belonging to the epochs before and after the alleged invasion of the kurgan culture bearers are connected by cultural continuity.

Key words: Carpathian basin, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS), incrustation, mounds.

Introduction

This article presents the results of a study by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) of the white inlay mass of ceramic samples from the Tisapolgar Eneolithic sites (calibrated dates-ca. 4500-3800 BC) on the territory of Nagy Alfeld (Bolshaya Plain. Hungary) in the eastern part of the Carpathian basin

Figure 1. Location of the main monuments mentioned in the article in the Great Hungarian Plain.

1 - Baradla Cave; 2 - Vesto - 20; 3-Ermenkut - 13; 4-Endred - 108; 5-Versh - Mariasonsiget; 6 - Balatonfuzfo; 7-Papkesi; 8-Bonhad; 9-Ordachehi; 10-Muchfa A and B; 11-Lendjel-Schantz-3, -8, -06; 12-Kaposvar-61; 13-Menfechanak; 14-Cup.

Table 1. Analyzed Early Neolithic samples

1, 2; Table 1). The data obtained contradict the opinion that this mass consisted mainly of crushed snail shells, and indicate that it contains burnt bones (mainly of mammals). The mass was attached to the outer surface of the vessels with mastic (glue) and applied by pressing into the incisions or depressions. The results indicate that the custom of decorating ceramics in this way either existed continuously for about 2.5 thousand years (from the beginning of the Eneolithic to the Middle Bronze Age), or arose repeatedly.

Fig. 2. Dish on a stand with white inlay from Vesto Magor tell. Eneolithic culture of Tisapolgar. Medje Bekesh, Hungary. It is kept in the Vesto-Magor Museum, Vesto.

Although examples of long-term (over thousands of years) traditions of pottery production are known in different regions of the world, this case is of particular interest, since the custom existed both before and after burials of the pit mound culture appeared in the Carpathian basin at the end of the Eneolithic (Ecsedy, 1979). The appearance of this culture is often considered evidence of Indo-European penetration from the Southern Russian steppes [Gimbutas, 1979, 1980] (see also [Anthony, 2007]). This fact is important for understanding the degree of its impact on the culture of the studied area.

In recent years, the Keresh Regional Archaeological Project has focused on studying the prehistoric epoch of the Great Plain in the eastern Carpathian Basin (Hungary) [Parkinson, Gyucha, Yerkes, 2002; Parkinson et al., 2004; Gyucha, Parkinson, Yerkes, 2004; Sarris et al., 2004; Gyucha et al., 2007; Yerkes et al., 2007]. The study examines the cultural changes that took place in this region at the end of the Neolithic period, when some of the telles were abandoned and replaced by smaller, less permanent settlements. The structure of connections between settlements in the Great Plain has also changed. In the eastern part of the Carpathian basin, three Late Neolithic cultural groups can be traced quite clearly, each with its own type of monuments, ceramic traditions, and life support strategy (Parkinson, 2002, 2006a; Parkinson and Gyucha, 2007). In the Eneolithic period, the relative isolation was replaced by a different picture, indicating more intense contacts that covered the entire Great Plain.

One of the problems associated with modeling cultural interactions on the Great Plain is that this area is geologically and geomorphologically homogeneous [Pecsi, 1970; Pecsi and Sarfalvi, 1964; Gyucha and Duffy, in press]. The entire eastern half of the Carpathian basin is filled with loess, redeposited as a result of river activity. This circumstance complicates petrographic and elemental analysis of ceramic complexes, prevents the identification of clay sources, and does not allow us to recreate the picture of production and distribution of ceramics, and, consequently, to reconstruct the system of social interactions on this basis. Stylistic variability of the Early Neolithic ceramics of the Keresh River valley indicates the erasure of intergroup differences in some features of ornamentation, including the occurrence of inset and inlaid patterns. Obviously, social boundaries that were clear in the Late Neolithic became more permeable in the Eneolithic (Parkinson, 2006b). However, it was difficult to link the patterns of stylistic variability with the traditions of ceramic production due to the geological homogeneity of the region.

Research method

In the process of modeling the practice of manufacturing and distributing ceramics within the Great Plain, we tried to use a method developed to create similar models for ceramics found in the southeastern United States. I. Peacock and colleagues [Peacock et al., 2007] used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and laser ablation to analyze particles shells in ceramic samples. They identified groups of samples of ceramics from the Mississippian period that significantly differ in chemical composition, namely, simple undecorated products and decorated ones with a more complex multicomponent composition. Analysis of freshwater mollusk shells using this method also showed the presence of several chemically different groups, which makes it possible to attribute the origin of shells to certain sections of the river or its tributaries*.

Peacock and his colleagues from the University of Mississippi analyzed eight ceramic samples from three sites in the Keresh area, based on data obtained by the method they previously used to analyze the chemical composition of freshwater mollusk shells in the eastern United States. The advantage of this method is a high level of accuracy (millionths), as well as the ability to study individual components that make up ceramics, i.e. particles of additives for hardening, slip or mineral inclusions. If the ceramic products found in Hungary were inlaid with crushed shells, then theoretically, based on the chemical composition of the latter, the place of manufacture of these products (or at least the source of the initial materials used for inlaying) could be determined. Unlike the method of X-ray diffraction or electron microassay, which requires preliminary separation of the inlaid parts-

* Peacock E., Palmer R.A., Xia Y., Carlock B., Bacon-Schulte W. Establishing an Elemental Database for Sourcing Shell-Tempered Pottery via Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry: Paper presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2008.

3. Micrograph of a ceramic sample from Vesto-20 (480-fold magnification).

A-white inlay mass; B-dark mastic; C-ceramic matrix.

tic from ceramics, laser ablation allows you to analyze individual components without separating them from the test sample.

Results

At high magnification, it turned out that the white substance used for inlay was firmly attached to a greenish or yellowish-gray (in several cases darker) substance that was different from the ceramic matrix itself, probably mastic. These three components were studied by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and laser ablation (Figure 3). Initially, data were obtained for 46 elements, in accordance with the method developed by I. Peacock and his colleagues [Peacock et al, 2007]: Li 7, Na 23, Mg 24, Al 27, Si 30, K 39, Ca 44, Sc 45, Ti 47, V 51, Cr 52, Mn 55, Fe 57, Co 59, Ni 60, Cu 65, Zn 66, As 75, Rb 85, Sr 88, Y 89, Zr 90, Nb 93, Sn 120, Sb 121, Cs 133, Ba 138, La 139, Ce 140, Pr 141, Nd 142, Sm 152, Eu 153, Gd 158, Tb 159, Dy 164, Ho 165, Er 166, Tm 169, Yb 174, Lu 175, Hf 180, Ta 181, Pb 208 The calibration standards were National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SRM 679 clay, Glass Butts obsidian, and SRM 610, 612, and 614 glasses, as well as those designated B, C, and D (Brill, 1999); calcium was used as the internal standard. According to the method proposed by R. J. Spickman and G. According to Neff [Laser Ablation-YCP-MS..., 2005], the initial data were converted to millionths of a second.

The laser frequency was 20 Hz. The diameter of the laser beam was 40 microns at a laser speed of 70 microns/min. For the gas plasma flow, the velocity was set to 17 l/min, for the atomized gas - 1.4 l/min, and for the auxiliary gas - 1.2 l / min. The value of the power radio frequency was 1400 V. The analysis time was 1 min, the delay time was 10 ms for each point, and the mass determination time was 3 s. The analysis was performed in full peak scanning mode.

Preliminary results indicated a significant similarity in the chemical composition of most of the samples studied. In all cases, a high content of calcium was recorded in the white matter (Fig. 4). This indicates the presence of bones, shells, or other materials containing calcium carbonate. Two samples from Vesto-20 were found to have particularly high strontium content, which may reflect an unusual chemical composition or be the result of some diagenetic processes.

At high magnification, fine crystalline structures similar to the "grains of sand" described by G. Sziki (2003) as "presumably bone"became visible in the white matter. Similar structures identified by the authors as hydroxyapatite or bone were also detected in the images of the inlay material obtained by S. Roberts and his colleagues (Roberts, Sofaer, Kiss, 2008) using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

To determine whether the white matter in our samples is bone, it was analyzed

4. Graph of the ratio of calcium and strontium content, indicating the difference in the compositions of the ceramic matrix of the Ermenkut-13 sample and the white inlay mass of all the samples studied.

5. Graph of the ratio of calcium and phosphorus content indicating the difference in the compositions of the ceramic matrix of the Ermenkut-13 sample, the dark mastic of the Endred-108 sample, and the white inlay mass of the Vesto-20 and Ermenkut-13 samples.

The high concentration of calcium and phosphorus in the sample is characteristic of bone (Fig. 5). For this purpose, individual crystal structures were subjected to ablation. The Ca / P ratio in the white matter of two samples (Ermenkut-13 and Vesto-20) is 2.19 and 2.45, respectively, which is in the range of values characteristic of bone (Goodwin et al., 2007; Elliott, 2002).

The clay matrix of the Ermenkut-13 sample was found to contain a low content of calcium and phosphorus (Ca/P ratio - 34.57). The mastic of an inlaid ceramic sample from En-dred-108 was also analyzed. The grayish-green substance had a high content of calcium, but low phosphorus (Ca/P ratio - 51.16), which indicates the presence of calcium carbonate, i.e. lime, in the mastic.

The white inlay mass in all the ceramic samples studied by us has a similar chemical composition, corresponding to the samples uniquely identified as bone. Although there is no doubt that further in-depth analytical studies are needed, we are convinced that in most cases the inlay was made using bone that was probably previously burned.

Discussion

Initially, the goal of our project was to study the processes of manufacturing and distribution of ceramics based on the difference in the chemical composition of clam shells used for inlay. Since mammalian bones do not show similar patterns related to the dependence of their composition on the region of origin, we were somewhat disappointed with the results obtained. However, the use of bone for inlay has been described previously for the Carpathian basin only in the context of the Bronze Age, and as far as we know, no one has yet reported the use of this method in the Eneolithic period.

In recent studies of pottery from the Middle Bronze Age inlaid pottery culture (2000-1500). Roberts and his colleagues (Roberts, Sofaer, and Kiss, 2008) used X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the composition of the white inlay material. They analyzed 14 samples from five settlements and one burial site in the western Carpathian basin. It was found that in most cases the incrustation mass contains bone ashes (Table 1). 2), apparently, mammals. Earlier studies [Sziki et al., 2003; Gherdan et al., 2003] used the proton-excited X-ray method (micro-PIXE) and electron-probe microanalysis to study the inlaid substance containing bone in Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age samples from other Trans-Danubian collections and the petrographic method by G. Sziki [Sziki et al., 2003] described a ceramic sample of the Middle Neolithic Buk culture from the Baradla Cave in northeastern Hungary, inlaid not with bone, but with white clay.

The result of this experimental project was the recording of the earliest examples of the use of burnt bone for decorative inlay in the Carpathian basin (Table 2). More importantly, the data obtained demonstrated continuity in the methods of decorating ceramics from the Eneolithic to the end of the Bronze Age. It follows that the so-called invasion of the yamnaya kurgan culture in the late Eneolithic did not affect the specific aspects of the traditions of decorating ceramic products. Unfortunately, research on Bronze Age inlaid ceramics has been limited to materials from the western Carpathian Basin only. Analysis of samples from Eastern Hungary

Table 2. Composition of the inlay mass from ceramic samples from Neolithic, Eneolithic and Bronze age monuments in the Carpathian basin

Note: PIXE - proton-excited X-ray method; LA-ICP-MS-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and laser ablation; Petr. - petrographic method; XRD - X-ray diffraction; EM-electron probe microanalysis; FT-IR-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; SEM-scanning electron microscopy.

It will help to determine whether the stability of this tradition is not characteristic only for the territories west of the Danube, where the influence of the yamnaya kurgan culture was less noticeable.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 25.07.09.

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