Painted pottery and culinary practices: Use-alteration analysis of painted pottery from the site of Starčevo-Grad

Abstract

This paper presents a study designed to test the assumptions that painted pottery was stationary and non-utilitarian, or used only as tableware. Following the object biographical approach, I investigated how the biographies of these vessels can inform us about use activities and whether these activities are linked to food practices. The archaeological contexts of painted pottery from sites in the Central Balkans most often do not reflect the use of painted pottery, but rather the way it was discarded. The only way to investigate its actual function was to look at the vessels themselves. Based on this recognition, use-alteration analysis was performed on painted pottery from the site of Starčevo-Grad, Serbia. This case study allowed me to investigate the ‘life-experiences’ of individual vessels and obtain the first direct evidence of how painted vessels were used at this particular site.