Insights into the raw materials and technology used to produce Copper Age ceramics in the Southern Carpathians (Romania)

The Copper Age Coţofeni culture occupied a large territory which covers present day W Romania, NE Serbia, and NW Bulgaria. The Coțofeni people lived in settlements located on hill slopes and river terraces, as well as in caves. Their hand-modeled ceramic pottery is richly ornamented by incisions, incrustations, and “lentil bean” appliques. Potsherds found in the “Pestera Mare de la Cerisor” (i.e., the “Great Cave of Cerisor”) located in Paleozoic crystalline limestones and dolomites (Southern Carpathians, Romania) were studied in terms of mineralogy and petrography by OM, XRD, and EMPA. The sherds consist of an Fe-rich illitic matrix embedding quartz, K-feldspar, muscovite, plagioclase, biotite, chlorite, various heavy minerals, metamorphic, magmatic and sedimentary lithoclasts, as well as soil concretions and chamotte. Within a temperature interval, spanning between ∼800 and ∼900 °C, three firing groups were roughly separated, based on the optical characteristics of the matrix and the intensity of the illite/muscovite diffraction peaks. Quaternary and Miocene rocks from the area were analyzed by XRD in order to determine the provenance of the raw materials.