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Minerals
Volume 15
Issue 11
10.3390/min15111173
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Article

From Clay to Pottery: Microanalytical Insights into Raw Materials, Paste Recipes, and Ceramic Traditions in Neolithic West Lithuania

by
Eglė Šatavičė
1,*,
Gražina Skridlaitė
2,
Lukas Gaižauskas
3,
Laurynas Šiliauskas
2,
Olga Demina
2 and
Adomas Butrimas
1
1
Institute of Art Research, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Maironio 6, LT-01124 Vilnius, Lithuania
2
State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius, Lithuania
3
Lithuanian Institute of History, Tilto 17, LT-01101 Vilnius, Lithuania
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Minerals 2025, 15(11), 1173; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15111173 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 26 September 2025 / Revised: 2 November 2025 / Accepted: 5 November 2025 / Published: 7 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Clay Minerals to Ceramics: Progress and Challenges)
Versions Notes

Abstract

This study analyzes clay sources, ceramic paste recipes, and technological choices in Neolithic pottery from west Lithuania, where local hunter–fisher–gatherer groups encountered incoming communities of the Globular Amphora (GAC) and Corded Ware cultures (CWC) during the fourth to third millennium BCE. Thirty sherds from coastal Šventoji and the inland Biržulis region were analyzed by optical microscopy and SEM–EDS, revealing that most ceramic pastes comprise variegated hydromicaceous clay with quartz and feldspar. In Narva Culture pottery, vessels from the Biržulis region (Daktariškė 5) are dominated by fine-grained clay, whereas Šventoji examples are more variegated and diatom-bearing; both assemblages show organic inclusions (mussel shell, bone, charred plant material) and very low firing temperatures (<650 °C). GAC exhibits cross-site coherence, characterized by crushed, deformed, cataclastic muscovite granite in fine lacustrine clay and low firing temperatures (~650–750 °C). CWC from Daktariškė 5 geochemically clusters with Narva and hybrid-type pottery, while CWC at Šventoji aligns with GAC; both show low firing temperatures (~650–750 °C). Ceramic pastes contain argillaceous clasts partly diffused or intertwined with the main matrix; only a few show traits typical of grog. All pottery was made from local Quaternary glacial sediments, with cultural traditions and environmental context shaping clay selection and manipulation.
Keywords: ceramic paste; SEM–EDS; petrographic analysis; clay matrix; hunter–fisher–gatherer Narva Culture; Corded Ware Culture; Globular Amphora Culture; Šventoji; Biržulis ceramic paste; SEM–EDS; petrographic analysis; clay matrix; hunter–fisher–gatherer Narva Culture; Corded Ware Culture; Globular Amphora Culture; Šventoji; Biržulis

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MDPI and ACS Style

Šatavičė, E.; Skridlaitė, G.; Gaižauskas, L.; Šiliauskas, L.; Demina, O.; Butrimas, A. From Clay to Pottery: Microanalytical Insights into Raw Materials, Paste Recipes, and Ceramic Traditions in Neolithic West Lithuania. Minerals 2025, 15, 1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15111173

AMA Style

Šatavičė E, Skridlaitė G, Gaižauskas L, Šiliauskas L, Demina O, Butrimas A. From Clay to Pottery: Microanalytical Insights into Raw Materials, Paste Recipes, and Ceramic Traditions in Neolithic West Lithuania. Minerals. 2025; 15(11):1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15111173

Chicago/Turabian Style

Šatavičė, Eglė, Gražina Skridlaitė, Lukas Gaižauskas, Laurynas Šiliauskas, Olga Demina, and Adomas Butrimas. 2025. "From Clay to Pottery: Microanalytical Insights into Raw Materials, Paste Recipes, and Ceramic Traditions in Neolithic West Lithuania" Minerals 15, no. 11: 1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15111173

APA Style

Šatavičė, E., Skridlaitė, G., Gaižauskas, L., Šiliauskas, L., Demina, O., & Butrimas, A. (2025). From Clay to Pottery: Microanalytical Insights into Raw Materials, Paste Recipes, and Ceramic Traditions in Neolithic West Lithuania. Minerals, 15(11), 1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15111173

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