Pottery forming of the Cardial and Epicardial Neolithic wares: Analysis and systematisation of technological traces from the ceramic productions of Cova del Frare (NE Iberian Peninsula, 5200-4800 BCE)

Abstract

The onset and development of the Neolithisation process in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula have been determined by the division between the Cardial and Epicardial chrono-cultural horizons based on the characteristic traits of the ceramic productions. The investigations about these productions have been fundamentally focused on their formal and decorative features, while other research dealing with their production and use have just recently emerged in the last years. This paper focuses on the reconstruction of the forming technologies that were used for manufacturing the Early Neolithic vessels from Cova del Frare (Barcelona, NE Iberian Peninsula) assigned to the Cardial and Epicardial styles. The analysis and systematisation of manufacturing traces reveal that both ceramic wares were produced with the same forming practices, regardless of their decorative techniques: the use of circular juxtaposed patches and the assembly of coils. The evidence of these pot-forming processes, which prevailed during the Early Neolithic occupations of this cave (5217–4796 cal. BCE), provides the first empirical data of the forming practices that were used by the first communities of farmers in NE Iberia. Furthermore, these results enable us to include this area in the discussions on the distribution of these technical traditions and practices during the Early Neolithic in the Western Mediterranean.