The practice of using textiles during the process of pottery manufacturing provides a unique insight into the technological aspect of prehistoric craft, the actual products of which are very rarely preserved to our times. In this study, microscopic analysis of ceramics fragments with textile or textile-like imprints was carried out in order to determine the type and structural features of textile products that were used by the inhabitants of the Bronze Age settlement in Szczepidło, Central Poland. In addition, issues related to the function of textile patterns on ceramics were discussed. Measurements made during the research were used to prepare a dataset of technical parameters of identified impressions, which, apart from being itself a valuable source of information, could be implemented in future comparative studies.
During rescue excavations at Site 1 in Kotowo in 1958, a ceramic tube was discovered in a feature of the Funnel Beaker culture. Currently, XRF analysis suggests that it is a ceramic tuyère associated with copper processing. The feature, radiocarbon dated to 3911–3714 BC (68.3% probability), most likely housed a metalworking workshop. The artefact from Kotowo has several analogues in the Polish lands, mainly from sites of the Lengyel-Polgár culture. With a clear and well-documented cultural context, it testifies to the existence of the oldest metallurgical workshop so far known in the Funnel Beaker culture.
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