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Different temper, different function: clay pastes for Lasinja culture pottery from two site sin Central Croatia

Lasinja culture spread from westernmost part of Vojvodina, throughout continental Croatia and northern Bosnia, Slovenia, Austria and western Hungary in the middle Copper age (4300 – 3900 BC). Although it occupied rather large area, pottery was shaped and decorated in a similar way. This paper aims to show the clay composition of various pottery types and explain how different clay pastes depend on vessel function. In addition, pottery from two regions in continental Croatia will be compared in order to see the difference in the mineralogical composition of clay. One of the sites (Črečan) is situated in the Međimurje region (northernmost part of Croatia) and the other one (Barilović) in the Kordun region (central Croatia). There are two main functional vessel types. Vessels made to be exposed to higher temperature during the cooking and vessels with storage or decorative function. Vessels intentionally made to be used as a cooking ware have coarse texture with significant addition of coarse sand and fine gravel. Fine textured pottery is mainly made from very pure or purified clay material, or with small addition of fine sand and silt. On both sites the base technology of ceramic production is essentially the same. There is no difference in the base clay material composition between the sites or functional vessel groups. The difference between two sites can be found in the coarser (grit) material added to the base clay material in the cooking ware vessel group. The grit mineral composition consistently reflects local geological composition. Pottery from Barilović contains significant amount of carbonates in the form of crushed limestone or sparite calcite crystals. This area is situated on the carbonate base, such material was locally available and hence the logical choice. Pottery from Črečan contains large amount of sand and fine gravel reflecting petrologic and mineral composition of the area. The grit fraction is composed from grains of quartz (more than 90 percent) and grains of metamorphic or magmatic rocks (gneiss, granitoids). This sand and gravel material is alluvial and could be taken from the river or creek bank or from the old Pleistocene and Holocene deposits.

Lasinja culture, Copper age, northwestern Croatia, clay paste, clay temper

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