Comb Ceramic culture

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Not to be confused with Pitted Ware culture in Scandinavia.
Comb Ceramic culture
Mesolithic Europe, Neolithic Europe
Datesc. 4200 – 2000 BCE
Preceded byNarva culture
Followed byVolosovo culture, Corded Ware culture

The Comb Ceramic culture or Pit-Comb Ware culture, often abbreviated as CCC or PCW, was a northeast European culture characterised by its

Pit–Comb Ware. It existed from around 4200 BCE to around 2000 BCE.[1] The bearers of the Comb Ceramic culture are thought to have still mostly followed the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer (Eastern Hunter-Gatherer) lifestyle, with traces of early agriculture
.

Distribution

The distribution of the artifacts found includes Finnmark (Norway) in the north, the Kalix River (Sweden) and the Gulf of Bothnia (Finland) in the west and the Vistula River (Poland) in the south. It would include the Narva culture of Estonia and the Sperrings culture in Finland, among others. They are thought to have been essentially hunter-gatherers, though e.g. the Narva culture in Estonia shows some evidence of agriculture. Some of this region was absorbed by the later Corded Ware horizon.

Ceramics

Comb Ceramic pottery from Finland

The Pit–Comb Ware culture is one of the few exceptions to the rule that pottery and farming coexist in Europe. In the Near East farming appeared before pottery, then when farming spread into Europe from the Near East, pottery-making came with it. However, in Asia, where the oldest pottery has been found, pottery was made long before farming. It appears that the Comb Ceramic Culture reflects influences from Siberia and distant China.[2]

The ceramics consist of large pots that are rounded or pointed below, with a capacity from 40 to 60 litres. The forms of the vessels remained unchanged but the decoration varied.

By dating according to the elevation of land, the ceramics have traditionally (Äyräpää 1930) been divided into the following periods: early (Ka I, c. 4200 BC – 3300 BC), typical (Ka II, c. 3300 BC – 2700 BC) and late Comb Ceramic (Ka III, c. 2800 BC – 2000 BC).

However, calibrated radiocarbon dates for the comb-ware fragments found (e.g., in the Karelian isthmus), give a total interval of 5600 BC – 2300 BC (Geochronometria Vol. 23, pp 93–99, 2004).

Among the many styles of comb ware there is one which makes use of the characteristics of

Asbestos ware. In this tradition, which persisted through different cultures into the Iron Age, asbestos was used to temper the ceramic clay.[3]
Other styles are Pyheensilta, Jäkärlä, Kierikki, Pöljä and Säräisniemi pottery with their respective subdivisions. Sperrings ceramics is the original name given for the younger early Comb ware (Ka I:2) found in Finland.

Habitations

Reconstructions of Stone Age dwellings in Kierikki, Finland
A so-called Giant's Church at Rajakangas, Oulu, Finland. The purpose of these large, rectangular stone structures is unclear.[4]

The settlements were located at sea shores or beside lakes and the economy was based on hunting, fishing and the gathering of plants. In

red ochre. The typical Comb Ceramic age shows an extensive use of objects made of flint and amber
as grave offerings.

Tools

The stone tools changed very little over time. They were made of local materials such as

Lake Saimaa, green slate from Lake Onega, amber from the southern shores of the Baltic Sea and flint from the Valdai
area in northwestern Russia.

Art

Comb ceramic pottery from Estonia, 4000-2000 BCE.

The culture was characterised by small figurines of burnt clay and animal heads made of stone. The animal heads usually depict moose and bears and were derived from the art of the

rock paintings
.

There are sources noting that the typical comb ceramic pottery had a sense of luxury and that its makers knew how to wear precious amber pendants.[5]

Language

In earlier times, it was often suggested that the spread of the Comb Ware people was correlated with the diffusion of the

Urals. The great westward dispersal of the Uralic languages is suggested to have happened long after the demise of the Comb Ceramic culture, perhaps in the 1st millennium BC.[6]

Genetics

Saag et al. (2017) analyzed three CCC individuals buried at

U2e1.[1]

Mittnik (2018) analyzed two CCC individuals. The male carried

U5a1d2b. Generally, the CCC individuals were mostly of Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG) descent, with even more EHG than people of the Narva culture.[8]

Lamnidis et al. (2018) found 15%

Western Steppe Herder (WSH).[9]

Dugout canoes, reconstruction

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Saag 2017.
  2. ^ Zvelebil 2004, pp. 431–435.
  3. ISBN 0-521-47299-7
    .
  4. ^ "Arvoitukselliset jätinkirkot". Keskipohjalaisia museoita ja kulttuuriympäristöjä (in Finnish). Keski-pohjanmaan liitto. 26 January 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  5. ISBN 978-3-030-00970-0
    .
  6. ^ a b Mallory & Adams 1997, pp. 439–430.
  7. ISBN 978-0813311999
    .
  8. ^ Mittnik 2018.
  9. ^ Lamnidis 2018.

Sources

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