Hunter-gatherer social ties spread pottery-making throughout the world.

Analysis of over 1,200 vessels from hunter-gatherer sites revealed that pottery-making processes spread vast distances in a short period of time due to the transfer of social traditions.

Hunter-gatherer social ties spread pottery-making throughout the worldCredit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The team, which included researchers from the University of York and the British Museum, examined the remains of 1,226 pottery vessels from 156 hunter-gatherer sites in nine Northern and Eastern European countries. They combined radiocarbon dating with information on the production and decorating of ceramic vessels, as well as analyses of food remains found inside the pots.

Their findings, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, show that pottery-making moved rapidly westwards from around 5,900 BCE and took only 300-400 years to advance over 3,000 km, or 250 km in a single generation.

Professor Oliver Craig of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York stated, “Our analysis of the ways pots were designed and decorated as well as new radiocarbon dates suggests that knowledge of pottery spread through a process of cultural transmission.

“By this we mean that the activity spread by the exchange of ideas between groups of hunter-gatherers living nearby, rather than through migration of people or an expanding population as we see for other key changes in human history such as the introduction of agriculture.”

“That methods of pottery-making spread so far and so fast through the pᴀssing on of ideas is quite surprising. Specific knowledge may have been shared through marriages or at centers of aggregation, specific points in the landscape where groups of hunter-gatherers came together perhaps at certain times of the year.”

The team demonstrated that the pottery was used for cooking by analyzing traces of organic materials left in the pots, implying that pottery-making ideas may have spread through shared culinary traditions.

Carl Heron, from the British Museum, said, “We found evidence that the vessels were used for cooking a wide range of animals, fish and plants, and this variety suggests that the drivers for making the pottery were not in response to a particular need, such as detoxifying plants or processing fish, as has previously been suggested.

Hunter-gatherer social ties spread pottery-making throughout the worldStudy area, site locations and examples of reconstructed forms for the pottery styles included in this study. Credit: Rowan McLaughlin/Nature Human Behaviour

“We also found patterns suggesting that pottery use was transmitted along with knowledge of their manufacture and decoration. These can be seen as culinary traditions that were rapidly transmitted with the artifacts themselves.”

The world’s earliest pottery containers come from East Asia and spread rapidly eastward through Siberia before being adopted by hunter-gatherer societies across Northern Europe long before farming. —University of York

More information: Rowan McLaughlin, (2022). The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers, Nature Human Behaviour. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01491-8.

Related Posts

Ancient DNA reveals rare leprosy strain in the Americas thousands of years before European contact

Ancient DNA reveals rare leprosy strain in the Americas thousands of years before European contact

In a discovery that overturns old suppositions about the origin of leprosy, researchers have recovered two extremely well-preserved genomes of Mycobacterium lepromatosis—a rare and severe form of…

Early humans used ochre for advanced toolmaking at Blombos Cave, study finds

Early humans used ochre for advanced toolmaking at Blombos Cave, study finds

A recent study led by researchers at SapienCE has revealed that ochre—previously considered primarily a symbolic pigment—played a crucial role in the production of sophisticated stone tools…

Intact 7th century Etruscan tomb discovered in San Giuliano necropolis near Rome

Intact 7th century Etruscan tomb discovered in San Giuliano necropolis near Rome

An astonishing archaeological discovery has been made in the San Giuliano Necropolis, located in the Marturanum Regional Park near Barbarano Romano, central Italy. The Baylor University team,…

British archaeologists uncover lost Egyptian city of Imet with rare tower houses and temple to cobra goddess Wadjet

British archaeologists uncover lost Egyptian city of Imet with rare tower houses and temple to cobra goddess Wadjet

Archaeologists from the University of Manchester and the University of Sadat City, Egypt, uncovered the ancient Egyptian city of Imet, buried under Tell el-Fara’in—also known as Tell…

DNA reveals female-centered society in 9,000-year-old Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük

DNA reveals female-centered society in 9,000-year-old Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük

Recent genetic research has shed light on the social structure of Çatalhöyük, a large Neolithic settlement in the center of Turkey that flourished over 9,000 years ago….

Rare 1,800-year-old Roman soldier’s wrist purse unearthed in Czech Republic reveals life on the empire’s frontier

Rare 1,800-year-old Roman soldier’s wrist purse unearthed in Czech Republic reveals life on the empire’s frontier

Archaeologists in South Moravia in the Czech Republic uncovered a rare Roman military discovery—a fragment of a bronze wrist purse that is the oldest such discovery ever…