Provenance, technology and possible function of Gáta–Wieselburg vessels from the Trieste Karst (northeastern Italy)

Abstract

A few scattered vessels, typologically attributed to the Gáta–Wieselburg culture, are known from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy. This culture spread during the Early Bronze Age (Reinecke Br A1b and A2, 2100–1700/1600 bc) in present-day eastern Austria, western Hungary and southwestern Slovakia. Rare ceramic artefacts, typically biconical double-handled jugs with well-burnished surfaces, have been discovered in caves of the Trieste Karst (Ciclami, Tartaruga, Teresiana and Ossa) and the Natisone Valley (Velika jama). This study aims to outline the technology, provenance and probable use of these rare jugs from the Trieste Karst. Two of these vessels from the Ciclami and Tartaruga caves have been investigated using various destructive and non-destructive techniques, including optical microscopy, X-ray computed microtomography and prompt-gamma activation analysis, and chemically compared to contemporaneous vessels from the core region of the Gáta–Wieselburg culture in Hungary (10 vessels specifically analysed for this project) and earlier Neolithic and Copper Age vessels, likely produced locally in the Karst, Slovenia and Hungary. Based on the obtained results, the investigated Karst vessels were imported. Tentative identification of plant and animal lipids using organic residue analysis (i.e., gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) sheds light on their possible function.