Management systems of adhesive materials throughout the Neolithic in the North-West Mediterranean

Abstract

Plant resins, tars and organic fossil substances provide valuable insights into the ecological, environmental and cultural contexts of ancient societies. Their study offers evidence of past knowhow, production systems, socio-economic networks and mobility. In this paper, we present new data from 16 sites located in the North-West Mediterranean that provide new insights into the exploitation of these substances for their adhesive and hydrophobic properties throughout the Neolithic (6000-2500 cal BCE). The substances investigated are discussed in the light of their molecular composition, their uses and manufacturing processes. Spatial analyses were also performed to elucidate raw material procurement strategies. This study considerably increases the body of data available from the Mediterranean and tells a diachronic story of adhesive production and use throughout the Neolithic, highlighting the variability and complexity of production systems and supply networks at different spatial scales. While most adhesive and hydrophobic substances were probably collected locally, birch bark tar was very likely transported across long distances to reach Mediterranean coastal sites. Birch bark tar exploitation intensified in South-Eastern France during the Middle Neolithic, while the Late Neolithic is characterised by a diversification of the substances employed and their range of uses: bitumen, birch bark tar (pure or mixed with Pinaceae resin, beeswax and possibly fat/oil) were important materials that were used for a variety of purposes. Pure Pinaceae exudates were exclusively employed for waterproofing pottery. We also highlight the standardisation of birch bark tar production for adhesive manufacture observed in Provence during the first part of the 4 th millennium cal. BCE.

Classification of archaeological adhesives from Eastern Europe and Urals by ATR‐FT‐IR spectroscopy and chemometric analysis

“…Similar results are also known from Fenoscandia, central and western Europe (e.g. Aveling & Heron, 1998;Kashuba et al, 2019;Pesonen, 1999), though a wider selection of substances has been noted in the Mediterranean region (Rageot et al, 2021). Although the sampled composite tools represent rather similar lithic and bone processing techniques and objects across the whole region (e.g.…”

“…Archaeological adhesives can be either pure resin/tar or mixtures of tar, resin, and/or some other materials in order to enhance the adhesive strength (Kozowyk et al, 2016;Regert & Rolando, 2002). Such prehistoric adhesive samples are known worldwide (Burdukiewicz, 2005;David, 2018;Koller et al, 2001;Larsson & Sjöström, 2013;Larsson et al, 2016;Morandi et al, 2018;Rageot et al, 2021;Valde-Nowak et al, 2016;Zhilin, 2001Zhilin, , 2015.…”

Multiproxy study of 7500-year-old wooden sickles from the Lakeshore Village of La Marmotta, Italy

“…This local supply strategy for adhesive materials seems to confirm practices previously documented in Central Italy in the eighth millennium cal BP. Indeed, local bitumen was used for the same function in the region between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains 97 , 98 . Nevertheless, and although rarely documented, the use of exogenous materials to produce adhesives has recently been identified for the Mediterranean Neolithic.…”

“…Nevertheless, and although rarely documented, the use of exogenous materials to produce adhesives has recently been identified for the Mediterranean Neolithic. This is the case of birch bark, whose use is documented over a large area from Catalonia to the Apennines 43 , 98 , 99 .…”

Archaeological Adhesives

“…This historic case study and other well-known examples, such as Mesopotamian bitumen and East African "copal" (Crowther 2012;Schwartz and Hollander 2016), emphasize the importance of natural polymers in the past. It is not unthinkable that similar large networks and politics were involved in the Neolithic trade of birch tar in the Mediterranean (Rageot et al 2021), the Olmec bitumen trade in Mesoamerica (Wendt and Cyphers 2008;Wendt and Lu 2006), and also in deeper prehistory.…”