A closer look at wound cord

Abstract

Wound cord (whipped cord, cord stamp) decoration on pottery from the late 4th to early 3rd millennium BC in Latvia has been subject to detailed stereomicroscope study, incorporating reflectance transformation imaging, which proved an invaluable tool for documenting impressions. While this kind of ceramic ornamentation constitutes a European-scale phenomenon, considerable local variation in the methods of making pottery stamps emerges, most significantly in the kinds of support used for winding the cord, which indicates the importance of vertical transmission for this component of pottery technology. Further, the similarity of the cordage to that used for fishing nets implies a close link between pottery-making and fisheries.