Vol. 3 No. 13 (2025)
Articles

Pottery technological analysis of the Copper Age Transdanubia (Western Hungary)

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  • Eszter Solnay,
  • Zita Hrabák,
  • Péter Hornok,
  • Péter Kiss,
  • Zsuzsanna M. Virág,
  • Zsuzsanna Siklósi
Eszter Solnay
Institute of Archaeological Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, MTA–ELTE Lendület “Momentum” Innovation Research Group, Budapest, Hungary ED 112 École doctorale d’archéologie, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France UMR 8215 Trajectoires, Paris, France
Zita Hrabák
Hungarian National Museum Public Collection Centre, Hungarian National Museum, National Institute of Archaeology, Budapest, Hungary University of Szeged, Doctoral School of History, Szeged, Hungary
Péter Hornok
Vas County Government Office Department of Construction and Heritage Protection, Szombathely, Hungary
Péter Kiss
Savaria Museum, Szombathely, Hungary
Zsuzsanna M. Virág
Aquincum Museum, Budapest History Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Zsuzsanna Siklósi
Institute of Archaeological Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, MTA–ELTE Lendület “Momentum” Innovation Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17204/dissarch.2025.353

Published 2026-01-30

Keywords

  • Early and Middle Copper Age,
  • Carpathian Basin,
  • pottery forming,
  • surface treatment,
  • technical tradition

How to Cite

Solnay, E., Hrabák, Z., Hornok, P., Kiss, P., M. Virág, Z., & Siklósi, Z. (2026). Pottery technological analysis of the Copper Age Transdanubia (Western Hungary). Dissertationes Archaeologicae, 3(13), 353–380. https://doi.org/10.17204/dissarch.2025.353

Abstract

This article focuses on the technological analysis of the Early and Middle Copper Age (4500–3650 cal BCE) pottery vessels from Transdanubia (Western Hungary), which can reveal the previously unknown social connections based on strong personal interactions in this region. The pottery material of four settlements was studied: Zalavár-Basasziget, Magyar-
egres-Varga-Bonyi-ároktól keletre, Tikos-Nyárfás-dűlő, and Győr-Szabadrétdomb. As a result, several forming methods, coiling processes, and surface treatment techniques were identified. Their techno-stylistic and spatial analysis revealed a principal technical tradition in the region, which was observed on every site, regardless of the period or location. This tradition constitutes a relatively restricted technological repertoire; most of the vessel forms were created with the same forming method. Thus, most potters belonged to the same community of practice. However, other forms of technical knowledge also appear in the region besides the common technical tradition, albeit in low numbers and only at a few sites. Thus, a few potters were probably part of other communities of practice. The certain settlement communities probably responded differently to the appearance of these new technical knowledges. The potters in some settlements strictly followed the same technical tradition; they did not adopt any other methods or techniques. In contrast, the potters in other settlements were presumably more open to other technical knowledges.

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