Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning

Scientific interest in the painted pottery of the Starčevo culture in Serbia dates back to the very beginnings of research and the first works on the relative-chronological systematization of the Early and Middle Neolithic of the central Balkans. This paper presents the deconstruction of our establi...

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Autor principal:	Olga Bajčev
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN FR SR
Publicado:	University of Belgrade 2021
Materias:	painted pottery Starčevo culture Starčevo-Grad biography of things archaeological practice relations between people and things Anthropology GN1-890
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/07e737783dcf434aa214291ad1b20429
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:07e737783dcf434aa214291ad1b204292021-12-02T18:16:55ZBiography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning0353-15892334-8801https://doaj.org/article/07e737783dcf434aa214291ad1b204292021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.eap-iea.org/index.php/eap/article/view/53https://doaj.org/toc/0353-1589https://doaj.org/toc/2334-8801Scientific interest in the painted pottery of the Starčevo culture in Serbia dates back to the very beginnings of research and the first works on the relative-chronological systematization of the Early and Middle Neolithic of the central Balkans. This paper presents the deconstruction of our established notion of painted ceramics as the ultimate parameter of relative-chronological dating, the most representative material reflection of the cultural identity of the people of Starčevo culture and the highest achievements of Starčevo culture. The paper discusses circumstances and archaeological practices through which this ingrained view and knowledge of painted pottery was formed. The research is based on the analysis of the biography of a painted vessel from the Starčevo-Grad site, having in mind that a detailed life history of an object can shed light on wider phenomena in the archaeological discipline. The aim of this paper is to remind that objects do not have a single essential meaning, but that their meaning shifts and builds through changes in the historical and social context, as well as through changes of actors gathered around certain practices in which the objects are used. The biography of the painted vessel is therefore viewed as a series of assemblages of relations in two planes, through which its identity and layers of meaning were built. The first plane is the Neolithic, in which the focus is on the practices of painting and use, and the second is her life in the role of an archaeological artifact, during which she moves from the sphere of scientific research and musealization to the sphere of negotiating contemporary cultural identities. By applying a new analytical approach, we discovered that this vessel was not very skilfully and carefully painted, and that as such it does not testify to the highest achievements of Starčevo culture, but to a social practice, learning, apprentices and mastering the skill of pottery painting. Therefore, I believe that by reducing painted pottery to relative-chronological parameters and luxury objects, we lose sight of the possibilities through which we can build much more diverse interpretations of the past. Olga BajčevUniversity of Belgradearticlepainted potteryStarčevo cultureStarčevo-Gradbiography of thingsarchaeological practicerelations between people and thingsAnthropologyGN1-890ENFRSREtnoantropološki Problemi, Vol 15, Iss 3 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN FR SR
topic	painted pottery Starčevo culture Starčevo-Grad biography of things archaeological practice relations between people and things Anthropology GN1-890
spellingShingle	painted pottery Starčevo culture Starčevo-Grad biography of things archaeological practice relations between people and things Anthropology GN1-890 Olga Bajčev Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning
description	Scientific interest in the painted pottery of the Starčevo culture in Serbia dates back to the very beginnings of research and the first works on the relative-chronological systematization of the Early and Middle Neolithic of the central Balkans. This paper presents the deconstruction of our established notion of painted ceramics as the ultimate parameter of relative-chronological dating, the most representative material reflection of the cultural identity of the people of Starčevo culture and the highest achievements of Starčevo culture. The paper discusses circumstances and archaeological practices through which this ingrained view and knowledge of painted pottery was formed. The research is based on the analysis of the biography of a painted vessel from the Starčevo-Grad site, having in mind that a detailed life history of an object can shed light on wider phenomena in the archaeological discipline. The aim of this paper is to remind that objects do not have a single essential meaning, but that their meaning shifts and builds through changes in the historical and social context, as well as through changes of actors gathered around certain practices in which the objects are used. The biography of the painted vessel is therefore viewed as a series of assemblages of relations in two planes, through which its identity and layers of meaning were built. The first plane is the Neolithic, in which the focus is on the practices of painting and use, and the second is her life in the role of an archaeological artifact, during which she moves from the sphere of scientific research and musealization to the sphere of negotiating contemporary cultural identities. By applying a new analytical approach, we discovered that this vessel was not very skilfully and carefully painted, and that as such it does not testify to the highest achievements of Starčevo culture, but to a social practice, learning, apprentices and mastering the skill of pottery painting. Therefore, I believe that by reducing painted pottery to relative-chronological parameters and luxury objects, we lose sight of the possibilities through which we can build much more diverse interpretations of the past.
format	article
author	Olga Bajčev
author_facet	Olga Bajčev
author_sort	Olga Bajčev
title	Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning
title_short	Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning
title_full	Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning
title_fullStr	Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning
title_full_unstemmed	Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning
title_sort	biography of a painted vessel from starčevo: discovering layers of meaning
publisher	University of Belgrade
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/07e737783dcf434aa214291ad1b20429
work_keys_str_mv	AT olgabajcev biographyofapaintedvesselfromstarcevodiscoveringlayersofmeaning
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Biography of a Painted Vessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning

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