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XII/2/2021
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
A Case for Coexistence of Diferent Potting Practices – Baltic Ware in Latvia
Alise Gunnarssone
1*
, Baiba Dumpe
1
, Vanda Visocka
1
, Artūrs Brēķis
2
1
National History Museum of Latvia, Pulka 8, Rīga, Latvia
2
Institute of Physics of the University of Latvia, Miera street 32, Salaspils, Latvia
1. Introduction
It is a well-established belief in the current scholarship
that Baltic ware pottery was made primarily by using
the methods of handmade pottery production with the
assistance of a turntable surface (Roslund, 2007, pp.160
and 171). Although many archaeologists have opposed
a separation of “slow” and “fast” potters’ wheels (Berg,
2020 pre-print, pp.4–6; Rice, 2005, pp.133–134; Eiteljorg,
1980, pp.447–449; Rückl and Jacobs, 2016, p.298), it still
plays a major role in how we discuss pottery (Roux and de
Miroschedji, 2009, p.155) and is used as a defning feature of
this pottery type without much further discussion. However,
the general technical features of the local Baltic ware
display a great variation between two regional production
techniques, showing it as a more complex and multifaceted
group of pottery.
Ethnographic material already shows us that wheel
coiled Baltic ware pots were not a monogamous group but
contained variation both in the tools and methods used by the
potter. This paper aims to understand Baltic ware production
in two regions that display a surprising diference in the
fnished product. The paper looks to: do a primary review
of the technological features of the pots (pot dimensions,
wall thickness, coiling technique); examine the production
traces in more detail than has been done previously; compare
and contrast the production traces found on Daugava and
Courland Baltic ware; correlate the production traces with
applicable wheel-coiled pottery production techniques
known in ethnography; and attempt to clarify the underlying
reasons for the diferent pottery production modes, based on
applicable ethnographic material.
2. Material, methodology and theoretical bases
2.1 Material selection
To compare the Baltic ware pottery of Courland and that of
the lower reaches of the River Daugava we chose material
from Talsi hillfort and the Salaspils Laukskola cemetery.
During the Late Iron Age, the lower reaches of Daugava
were inhabited by the Livs. Beginning with the 11
th
century,
Volume XII ● Issue 2/2021 ● Pages 235–246
*Corresponding author. E-mail: alise.gunnarssone@gmail.com
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 15
th
January 2021
Accepted: 5
th
August 2021
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2021.2.9
Key words:
Baltic ware
wheel-coiled pottery
potter’s wheel
ceramic manufacturing technique
Late Iron Age
the Baltics
Refectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)
ABSTRACT
Latvia in the 11
th
–13
th
century poses a curious case for the coexistence of two diferent practices of
Baltic ware production. The Baltic ware pots from lower reaches of the River Daugava and from
the Courland region look not just stylistically, but also technologically diferent. Our paper assessed
the production traces by using macro-observations, Refectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and
extensive ethnographic material of Slavic pottery production of the 1900s, as well as using modern
replicas as visual aids to assist in the identifcation of the principal coil attachment methods.
The results showed that potters from the lower reaches of Daugava used the wheel’s rotation
extensively during the shaping process of Baltic ware. The production of the pots required the potter
to possess a level of technical skill which implied a level of professionalisation. Baltic ware from
Courland was less technically complicated and used comparatively more of the methods of handmade
pottery production.
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they adopted the Slavic pottery tradition,
i.e.
Baltic ware.
By the end of the 13
th
century, it had become the dominant
household and burial pottery (Šulte
et al.
, 2017, p.14;
Gunnarssone
et al.
, 2020, p.58).
Out of the 610 burials excavated at Salaspils Laukskola
cemetery (11
th
–13
th
century), 302 contained pottery, 167 of
these being Baltic ware (Zariņa, 2006, pp.307 and 463; Šulte
et al.
2017, p.13). As this has been shown to be a secondary
use of household pottery (Gunnarssone
et al.
, 2020, pp.58
and 64), it is representative of the general tradition.
The sample selection was restricted to 38 samples, based
on the preservation of the material traces. We concentrated
on pots with fully preserved bottoms but missing shoulder
and rim parts. This allowed for quality pictures of production
traces using RTI. We also included pots that had broken
vertically in half. Fully preserved pots were used to assess
height and general shape of this pottery type.
In Courland, the available material was less abundant. The
amount of ceramic material from settlements in Courland
has always been smaller than any comparative site of other
regions (Vasks
et al.
, 2011, p.92.; Šulte, 2011, pp.47–51). In
addition, handmade pottery was still in use (Kraukle, 2011,
p.69). The restricted material base forced a smaller sample
size. Luckily, production traces, such as draglines, imprints
from shaping,
etc.
, were well identifable on the sherds
analysed.
During the 11
th
–13
th
century, Courland was home for two
populations – the Vends and the Couronians (Asaris
et al.
,
2008, p.138). Talsi hillfort (10
th
–13
th
century, to a lesser
extent till the 15
th
century) was part of their relations (Asaris,
2001, p.70; Asaris and Tora, 1994, pp.19–22; Kraukle, 2011,
pp.74–77). The pottery of Talsi contained both sherds from
Baltic ware types generally common in Latvia, but also
sherds unique to Courland. This article focuses on the local
variants. It should be noted that, although the ornamentation
of the Talsi Baltic ware pots was unique, the general shaping
technique and proportions seem consistent with the rest of
Courland (Šulte, 2011, p.35).
For a detailed examination, we chose four samples of
Baltic ware sherds, containing both the base and the walls.
Sherds from the upper parts of pots we examined in detail
when they could be related to a specifc bottom sherd.
2.2 Methods
In this study the general proportions of the pots were
assessed in the typical measurements of height, diameter of
rim, and base and wall thickness. To make the identifcation
of the coil attachment methods used in our material more
convenient, we created a visual aid – three sample pots made
with three principal coil attachment methods. The samples
represent coil attachments from either side of the vessel and
from the top. These attachment methods are well known both
in handmade pottery (see Piličauskas, 2018, p.123; Dumpe,
2007, pp.36–37) and in the Baltic ware of other regions
(see Griežienė, ed., 2011, pp.22–24). The bases of the
vessels were made as a fat disc. These visual aides were not
intended for an in-depth comparative analysis of the surface
production traces noted in our archaeological material, but
only to aid in the correct identifcation of the coil attachment
principle used, taking into account the distortions introduced
by the latter shaping process.
Although previously we have made Baltic ware replica pots
on a hand-driven potter’s wheel, these pots were shaped on
a foot-driven potter’s wheel. The diameter of the fywheel was
the same as the head – 24 cm. The weight of the rotating part
was 14 kg. For comparison, the diameter of the hand-driven
wheel’s head was 33 cm, weight 9 kg. As is traditional for the
region, both fywheels were solid wood (Figure 10). In this
case the inertia (J = m x R
2
) available to the potter on this foot-
driven potter’s wheel was less than would be for the hand-
driven potter’s wheel. The shaping was done by a professional
potter/archaeologist with the help of a potter’s rib.
To produce these replicas, two diferent commercial clays
(local Quaternary and white clay from Germany) were used.
Using this type of clay allowed us to use diferent colours
(red and white) to make the connections of clay coils more
visible. Typically, as for Baltic ware, the clays were mixed
with small to medium fragments of burned and crushed
granite (Dumpe, 2021, p.503). In our case, these inclusions
reached up to 2 mm. No other specifc clay preparation has
been noted so far in the archaeological research of local
pottery.
Notably, clay is the most common material in the territory
of Latvia; therefore, it was and is easily accessible (see
Kuršs and Stinkule, 1972; Stinkule, 2014). In the territory
of lower Daugava, where Laukskola was located, Devonian
and moraine clay is common (Kuršs and Stinkule, 1972,
pp.27–44; Visocka
et al.
, 2021, p.12). Whereas in Courland,
various Quaternary clay deposits and moraine clay is
common, Devonian clay in this region being only common
on the South shore of Courland, for example, Jūrkalne and
Labrags (Kuršs and Stinkule, 1972, pp.48–75; Visocka
et al.
,
2021, p.12). There is no detailed research of how clay quality
could have afected the quality of the pots in the two study
regions; however, it is known that there are qualitative clay
beds in the surroundings of the sites analysed.
After a week of drying, we fred the pots in approximately
750
°
C in a 11
th
–12
th
century replica kiln (Dumpe, 2009,
pp.73–74). When the pots sufciently cooled down, we
broke them vertically in half (Figure 1).
To assess the technological aspects of the coiling and
shaping of the archaeological pottery in detail we looked at
the production traces visible on the surface. For determining
the production traces on the vessel surface, we used
Refectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). It allowed us to
create topographic models of these aspects. RTI was applied
to eight vessels from Laukskola cemetery and four from
Talsi hillfort.
RTI is a photographic method that captures surface
features by photographing a fxed artefact and illuminating
it from diferent angles. This results in creating a three-
dimensional virtual surface topography of the artefact
from multiple combined photographs. This study used the
highlight RTI method. The visualizations of the samples
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we made following the Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI)
guidelines of RTI highlight image capture (CHI, 2020).
Each sample was manually illuminated from angles of 15°
to 65°, with additional specifc angles for individual features.
We took an average of 50 photos of each sample. All
illumination angles were with an average distance of 40 cm
from the object. Photos were taken in RAW and processed
in JPEG image format. For processing of the images, we
used RTIBuilder – and for viewing the results, RTIViewer,
provided by CHI.
To interpret the production traces revealed by the RTI we
put a large emphasis on the previously gathered and analysed
ethnographic material. Often for analyses of western wheel-
coiled pottery this is done using the outline of the four methods
of wheel-fashioning by Roux and Courty (Roux and Courty,
1998, pp.748–750). In this study, we chose to use ethnographic
research by A. A. Bobrinsky on the stepwise adoption of the
potter’s wheel in the Slavic regions (Bobrinsky, 1978, p.27).
For this material it was more applicable, as it dealt with
this particular pottery type. Based on archaeological and
ethnographic material, Bobrinsky has separated seven stages
of the use of the potter’s wheel in Slavic pottery:
1. potter’s wheel was used as a rotating table to assist in
the hand shaping of pots;
2. potter’s wheel was used to smooth out the surface of
an already-constructed, hand-made pot;
3. in addition to smoothing out the surface, the potter’s
wheel was used for partial profling of the rim, while
the rest of the pot was made by hand;
4. potter’s wheel was used for partial or full shaping of
the pot (neck, shoulders, body) after a clay cylinder
was constructed by hand;
5. potter’s wheel was used to smooth out, shape, and also
to partially pull up the pot from a clay cylinder that
was constructed by hand;
6. potter’s wheel was partially used to shape a base
cylinder and to pull a pot up. However, the pot was
still attached to the wheel’s surface by hand or other
hand techniques were used in the process;
7. potter’s wheel was used to pull a pot from one lump of
clay. (Bobrinsky, 1978, p.27)
The ethnographic material was further used to not only
clarify the production methods, but also examine other
questions about the craft and pottery specialisation in the
discussed regions. The ethnographic research undertaken
primarily by Bobrinsky systemised not only the diferent
production methods for this pottery type, but showed how it
statistically linked with the tools used, the professionalisation
of the potter, his/her productivity, and much more (see
Table 3; see Bobrinsky, 1978). This basis allowed hypotheses
to be formed on the possible level of crafts development in
the given regions.
3. Results
3.1 Daugava Baltic ware
The height of Baltic ware pots from Daugava was generally
between 10–15 cm. Outliers ranged from 6 cm to 20.5 cm
height (Figure 2). The thickness of a pot wall varied in the
range 0.4–0.8 cm (Table 1). The largest vessel (height of
20.5 cm) had a wall thickness of 0.6–0.7 cm (measured at
the shoulder).
Although the outside surface of all the pots was always
fully smoothed out, the inside could display a variety of
production traces. The inside surface of the top two-thirds of
the pots was typically fully smoothed out – only rare traces
of coils could be distinguished. However, 20 pots had visible
fnger impressions from pressing these coils together on the