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Science 24 November 1989:
Vol. 246. no. 4933, pp. 1002 - 1008
DOI: 10.1126/science.246.4933.1002
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Articles

The Origins of Ceramic Technology at Dolni Vecaronstonice, Czechoslovakia

PAMELA B. VANDIVER 1, OLGA SOFFER 2, BOHUSLAV KLIMA 3, and JIRcaronI SVOBODA 3

1 Senior research scientist in ceramics at the Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560.
2 Professor of archeology at the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 60801.
3 Researcher at the Archeologicky Ustav, Brno, Czechoslovakia.

A typology was established for more than 5000 ceramic artifacts at Dolni Vestonice, Czechoslovakia. Conjectured methods of manufacture were confirmed by radiography. The compositions and mineralogy of the artifacts were identical to those of the local soil, loess. A firing temperature range of 500° to 800° C was measured and compared with those of hearths and kilns. The mechanism of sintering was impurity-initiated, liquid-phase sintering. Many fracture sections show evidence of thermal shock, although thermal expansion of the loess is low. The making, firing, and sometimes exploding of the figurines may have been the prime function of the ceramics at this site rather than being manufactured as permanent, portable objects.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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E. Trinkaus (1997)
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