Why was pottery adopted by Late Mesolithic societies in the northwestern parts of Eurasia? This paper investigates new insights and results from recent studies in Finland. In this region, pottery was initially adopted by hunter-gatherer-fisher communities ca. 5300–5100 BCE, which in local terminology marks the beginning of the Neolithic era, even though other aspects of the Neolithic (e.g., agriculture, animal husbandry) were not yet adopted. Though the introduction of pottery in a non-agricultural sphere has recently been the subject of intense discussion, the motives behind mobile hunter-gatherer-fisher communities adopting pottery remain unsubstantiated. The earliest pottery has commonly been thought to have had a highly specialized function, in particular in the processing of aquatic food resources. To test whether the function of the earliest pottery in Finland was linked to subsistence, or diversified beyond economic necessities, we compared the results of pottery lipid analyses with animal osteological records across inland and coastal sites in the Late Mesolithic (ca. 6200–5300 BCE) and Early Neolithic (ca. 5300–3900 BCE). The zooarchaeological evidence, which remained consistent throughout the period studied, shows a versatile use of animal resources. It did not, however, converge with the inferred pottery function. Organic residues analyzed from ceramic cooking ware point to a non-specialized use of pottery that does not track the overall diet or subsistence among Finnish Stone Age cultures. We hence argue that the uptake of pottery in Finland was not a result of change in economies, but that pottery—a new and useful cooking and storage utensil at the time—was taken into household use in various environments and subsistence strategies. The reason why pottery was not in use in some areas and periods of time may thus be sought elsewhere, e.g., among communities with distinct sociocultural and even ethnic backgrounds.

This thesis aims to provide an understanding of the dynamics underlying the adoption of pottery by pre-agrarian hunter-gatherer cultural groups around the Baltic Sea. The focus is on three approximately contemporaneous early pottery traditions of the region (ca. 5200–3900 cal BC); the Ertebølle (EBK) of southern Scandinavia (southern Sweden, Denmark) and northern Germany, the Narva of the eastern Baltic, and the Early Comb Ware (ECW) of north-eastern Fennoscandia. To develop knowledge about what ceramics in these traditions were used for, and whether intra- and/or inter-cultural variations occurred, EBK pottery material from Scania (southern Sweden) and Lolland (eastern Denmark), as well as material from ECW pottery sub-styles (Säräisniemi 1, Sperrings 1, and 2, Jäkärlä) from mainland Finland were selected from museum collections in the corresponding countries to be analyzed by means of lipid residue analysis. The use of the EBK pottery was compared to that of the contemporaneous Narva, to assess whether the typological similarities characterizing the two pottery traditions corresponded also to common functions. The comparison was conducted statistically by using the lipid residue data obtained by the author along with that previously published from Narva pottery assemblages in Estonia, and from EBK pottery assemblages from Denmark and northern Germany. The Finnish ECW pottery sub-styles were separately analyzed to assess spatio-temporal use variation.

Pottery use determinations were based on characterizations of food and non-food residues preserved in the ceramic matrix of the analyzed vessels, assisted by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The technique provided molecular separation and identification of the residues’ lipid (fatty) components. For determinations of higher resolution, molecular analysis was complemented with stable carbon isotope (δ¹³C) analysis of specific fatty acid compounds, using gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-c-IRMS). Lipid residues were extracted from the ceramic matrix by using a one-step acid-methanol extraction and derivatization protocol, whose high lipid recovery efficiency was, in this study, first proven on very high-age and very small pottery samples of the Japanese Incipient Jõmon culture (ca. 13,900–13,300 cal. BP).

The origin of the contamination detected in EBK samples from various sites in Scania, consisting of aromatic hydrocarbons that interfered with the extracted lipids during chromatographic analysis, and created problems with their quantification and isotopic determination, was investigated with multi-proxy compositional analysis of the samples’ clay fraction to identify any possible association with it. The analysis also revealed technological and social aspects of pottery production and use in the local EBK societies, corroborating and complementing knowledge from previous investigations on EBK ceramics of the same region.

The research results showed inter-cultural pottery-use variation, while on an intra-cultural scale pottery uses were rather homogeneous. Differences in the ranges of foodstuffs with the processing of which pottery use was associated cross-culturally suggest different food cultures among the hunter-gatherer cultural groups studied, which could further indicate different processes and motives for the uptake of pottery.

Η παρούσα διατριβή έχει ως στόχο να συνεισφέρει στην κατανόηση των διεργασιών που συνετέλεσαν στην υιοθέτηση της κεραμικής από προ-αγροτικές ομάδες κυνηγών-τροφοσυλλεκτών γύρω από τη Βαλτική. Η εστίαση είναι σε τρεις, περίπου σύγχρονες, πρώιμες κεραμικές παραδόσεις της περιοχής (περ. 5200–3900 π.Χ.), συγκεκριμένα της Ertebølle (ΕΒΚ) της νότιας Σκανδιναβίας (νοτια Σουηδία, Δανία) και βόρειας Γερμανίας, της Narva της ανατολικής Βαλτικής, και της Πρώιμης Comb-Ware (ECW) της βορειο-ανατολικής Φεννοσκάνδιας. Για τη διεύρυνση της γνώσης σχετικά με το σκοπό της χρήσης των κεραμικών αυτών παραδόσεων, και για το εάν υπήρξαν ενδο- και δια-πολιτισμικές διαφοροποιήσεις, υλικό κεραμικής απο την ΕΒΚ της Skåne (νότια Σουηδία) και του Lolland (ανατολική Δανία), και από διάφορα ECW κεραμικά στυλ (Säräisniemi 1, Sperrings 1 και 2, Jäkärlä) της ηπειρωτικής Φιλανδίας, συλλέχθηκε από μουσεία των χωρών για ανάλυση καταλοίπων λιπιδίων από περιεχόμενα οργανικής προέλευσης. Η χρήση της ΕΒΚ κεραμικής συγκρίθηκε με αυτή της σύγχρονής της Narva για να εκτιμηθεί εάν οι τυπολογικές ομοιότητες των δύο παραδόσεων σχετίζονταν με κοινή λειτουργία. Η σύγκριση πραγματοποιήθηκε μέσω στατιστικής ανάλυσης των δεδομένων καταλοίπων λιπιδίων που ελήφθησαν από το συγγραφέα μαζί με δεδομένα προηγουμένως δημοσιευμένα από κεραμικές συλλογές της Narva από την Εσθονία, και της ΕΒΚ από τη Δανία και τη βόρεια Γερμανία. Τα κεραμικά στυλ της ECW της Φινλανδίας αναλύθηκαν χωριστά, ώστε να διερευνηθεί τυχόν χωρο-χρονική διαφοροποίηση στη χρήση.  

Η χρήση της κεραμικής αξιολογήθηκε βάσει χαρακτηρισμών υπολειμμάτων τροφίμων και άλλων οργανικών υλικών διατηρημένων εντός της κεραμικής μάζας των αναλυθέντων αγγείων, μέσω αέριας χρωματογραφίας-φασματομετρίας μαζών (GC-MS). Η τεχνική προσφέρει μοριακό διαχωρισμό και ταυτοποίηση των λιπαρών συστατικών των υπολειμμάτων. Για υψηλότερης ανάλυσης προσδιορισμούς, η μοριακή ανάλυση συμπληρώθηκε με ανάλυση σταθερών ισοτόπων άνθρακα (δ¹³C) επιλεγμένων λιπαρών οξέων, χρησιμοποιώντας αέρια χρωματογραφία με καύση και φασματομετρία μάζας λόγου ισοτόπων (GC-c-IRMS). Τα λιπαρά κατάλοιπα εκχυλίσθηκαν από την κεραμική μήτρα μέσω ενός πρωτοκόλλου άμεσης εκχύλισης και παραγωγοποίησης οξέος-μεθανόλης, του οποίου η υψηλή απόδοση ανάκτησης λιπιδίων αποδείχθηκε πρώτα σε πολύ μικρά και υψηλής αρχαιότητας κεραμικά δείγματα της Αρχικής Ιαπωνικής Jõmon παράδοσης (περ. 13,900–13,300 πριν από σήμερα).

Η προέλευση της επιμόλυνσης ΕΒΚ δειγμάτων διαφόρων οικισμών της Skåne με αρωματικούς υδρογονάνθρακες, που κατά τη χρωματογραφική ανάλυση δημιούργησε προβλήματα με την ποσοτικοποίηση και ισοτοπική αξιολόγηση των εκχυλισθέντων λιπιδίων, διερευνήθηκε μέσω αναλύσεων σύστασης του κλάσματος αργίλου των δειγμάτων με πολλαπλές μεθόδους, ώστε να αναγνωριστεί τυχόν συσχέτισή της με αυτό. Οι αναλύσεις αποκάλυψαν επίσης τεχνολογικές και κοινωνικές πτυχές της παραγωγής κεραμικής στις τοπικές κοινωνίες ενισχύοντας και συμπληρώνοντας δεδομένα προηγούμενων ερευνών.

Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι, ενώ εντός των κεραμικών παραδόσεων η χρήση ήταν αρκετά ομοιογενής, μεταξύ των παραδόσεων υπήρχε διαφοροποίηση. Οι διαφορές στο εύρος των τροφίμων, με την κατεργασία των οποίων η χρήση της κεραμικής φάνηκε να συσχετίζεται δια-πολιτισμικά, συνιστούν διαφορά στη διατροφική κουλτούρα μεταξύ των αναλυθέντων ομάδων κυνηγών-τροφοσυλλεκτών, που μπορεί επιπλέον να υποδεικνύει διαφορές στη διαδικασία πρόσληψης κεραμικής.

A combination of Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and portable X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (PXRF) was used on the clay fraction of Ertebølle ceramics from several Late Mesolithic sites in Scania, southern Sweden. The aim was to provide up‐to‐date information about clay types used during that period within the Scanian Ertebølle cultural unit, and to elucidate social aspects relevant to the organization of pottery production and the role of ceramics in the local societies. The results suggest similar clay preferences across the sites, site‐based pottery production using local clays and zero mobility of ceramics between the sites. The chemical separation of the ceramics from the site of Soldattorpet into two compositional groups suggests possible multigroup occupation. The origins of aromatic hydrocarbons, extracted previously from the ceramic matrix of the vessels during a lipid residue study, were also investigated, and a discussion is provided.

The Late Mesolithic Ertebølle and Narva cultures (6th – 5th/4th millennium BC) in the southwest and eastern Baltic, respectively, shared similar vessel types, namely pointed-based pots and oval bowls. As a consequence, this phenomenon raised questions about inter-cultural connections across the Baltic and possible influence for the production of pottery from the Narva to the Ertebølle hunter-gatherers. Whereas the two pottery traditions were shown to be different with regards to raw materials and manufacture, in this study we further attempt a comparison on the basis of function using a lipid residue analysis approach. The aim is to examine whether typological analogies were based on common functional requirements. This paper presents new evidence for the use of Ertebølle ceramics in the southwest Baltic from the analysis of pottery samples from a number of coastal sites in southern Sweden (Scania) and eastern Denmark (Lolland). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-c-IRMS) analysis were performed on the absorbed lipid residues to determine their structural characteristics and the stable carbon isotopic composition of selected fatty acids. Results are discussed and compared with analogous published data of Narva ceramics from Estonia. Data from other coastal sites in Denmark and northern Germany are also included for wider comparison. Based on our findings, we conclude that despite little variability in the isotope values of residues, Ertebølle and Narva pots did not serve the same functional demands, and different motives led to their production. Whilst the Narva ceramics appear to have had a specialized role in processing aquatic products, the Ertebølle were more multi-purpose vessels, used also for terrestrial animal and plant resources.

The adoption of pottery technology by hunter-gatherers in the Baltic region has mainly been placed within the concept of resource intensification, as a cultural choice that assisted an increased economic focus on aquatic resources. In Finland, a non-specialized pottery use has earlier been suggested on the basis of lipid residue analysis data for Early Neolithic ceramics from a number of sites on the south-west coast that involve processing of both aquatic and terrestrial animal products. Our study is an attempt to further explore the relationship between the early pottery use, diet and environment in this particular region. For this purpose, we expanded the range of early pottery traditions and localities to be analyzed, and applied gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis on the absorbed lipid residues. The study material comprises ceramics of the Säräisniemi 1 (Sär 1), Sperrings 1 (Ka I:1) and Sperrings 2 (Ka I:2) pottery traditions, as well as of the Jäkärlä Ware group, from coastal and inland sites spanning a period from ca. 5100 to 4000 cal BC. Our results strengthen the above observation for Early Neolithic Finland and further suggest that both aquatic and terrestrial animal resources were processed in vessels belonging to most of the analyzed groups, irrespective of coastal/inland site division and pottery ware culture. This additionally indicates a variability of motives behind the introduction of pottery within the Baltic Sea region, considering pottery use evidence in the neighbouring Estonia, where the earliest local and contemporaneous Narva pottery culture had a more specialized use focused on the processing of aquatic resources.

Lipid residue analysis has become a common technique for the identification of the organic residues remaining from resources processed in archaeological ceramic vessels. However, recovery of lipids from the vessels can be problematic in cases of high age and/or very small sample amounts. Here we show that acid-catalyzed direct extraction and methylation offers an efficient way to obtain enough fatty acids for quantification and stable carbon isotope analysis. We compared this technique with the more conventional technique of ultrasonically aided solvent extraction followed by silylation, which gave no measurable yields. Both techniques were applied on the absorbed residues of six extremely small sample amounts of less than 0.1 g of ceramic powder each from the Sankakuyama I site, Kyushu, South Japan (~13,900-13,300 cal BP). They belong to one of the oldest so far reported pottery traditions in the world, the Japanese Incipient Jōmon. δ¹³C analysis of the identified target C_16:0 and C_18:0 fatty acids indicated that the examined vessels were used for food-processing purposes, pointing to a significant contribution of terrestrial animal sources in the residues.

The advancement of techniques to characterise organic matter associated with pottery vessels offers a new approach for directly addressing archaeological enquiries concerning functional aspects. This paper summarises work to date in the field of organic residue analysis, as well as contributions of other associated techniques. The focus is on pottery used by late foragers around the Baltic, looking also at possible changes in use at the threshold to the Neolithic and at foraging choices within it. Readers are referred to studies on pottery from Northern German and Danish sites, including material from submerged and shell midden sites, as well as investigations of hunter-gatherer pottery from Swedish and Finnish sites. Future potential is also highlighted.