Textile-impressed pottery from the Bronze Age settlement in Szczepidło, Poland

Abstract

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.