Grooved ware

Grooved ware

Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people.

Early in the 3rd millennium BC, Grooved ware began to appear all over the British Isles. The diagnostic shape for the style is a flat bottomed pot with straight sides sloping outwards and grooved decoration around the top. Beyond this the pottery comes in many different varieties, some with complex geometric decorations others with applique bands added. The latter has led some archaeologists to argue that the style is a skeuomorph and is derived from wicker basketry.

Grooved ware pots excavated at Balfarg in Fife have been chemically analysed to determine their contents. It appears that some of the vessels there may have been used to hold black henbane ("Hyoscyamus niger") which is a poison but also a powerful hallucinogen.

Since many Grooved ware pots have been found at henge sites and in burials it is possible that they may have had a ritual purpose as well as a functional one. Grooved ware comes in many sizes, some vessels are extremely large, c.30gallons, and would be suitable for fermentation. The majority are smaller, ranging from jug to cup size, and could be used for serving and drinking. The theory that the first British farmers ( c.4000 BC)had the knowledge and ability to make Ale from their crops with their pottery appears to be controversial and not yet wideley discussed by the archaeological community.

The earliest examples have been found in Orkney and may have evolved from earlier Unstan ware bowls. The recent excavations at nearby Ness of Brodgar have revealed many sherds of finely decorated Grooved ware pottery, some of it representing very large pots. A large number of drinking vessels have also been identified. The style soon spread and it was used by the builders of the first phase of Stonehenge. Grooved Ware pottery has been found in abundance in recent excavations at Durrington Walls in Wiltshire. Here, the feasting would have involved drinking ale and eating pork. Smaller quantities of Grooved ware have also been found at the nearby site of Figsbury Ring.

Grooved ware was previously referred to as Rinyo-Clacton ware, first identified by Stuart Piggott in the 1950s and named after sites where it was found. Rinyo is a neolithic settlement on the island of Rousay, Orkney. The site at Clacton now lies under the sea.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Grooved Ware — (geriefte oder gekerbte Ware) ist eine mittelneolithische Keramiktradition Großbritanniens und Irlands (dort vor allem im Boyne Tal). Auf Orkney liegen die frühesten Daten um 3400 v. Chr., ab 3100 liegen eine Anzahl gesicherter Daten vor[1]. Ab… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Grooved ware — (geriefte oder gekerbte Ware) ist eine mittelneolithische Keramiktradition Großbritanniens und Irlands (dort vor allem im Boyne Tal). Sie wurde durch Ian Kinnes in die vier Lokalgruppen Rinyo (Schottland und Orkneys), Clacton, Woodlands und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Grooved ware people — Most Neolithic cultures in Britain are best identified by the pottery remains which they left. A large number of apparently unrelated cultures seem to have produced urns which have characteristic grooves near the top rim, hence the name grooved… …   Wikipedia

  • Ware (disambiguation) — Ware can refer to:People* Andre Ware, American football quarterback * Charles Pickard Ware (1849–1921), American educator and folk music transcriber * Charles R. Ware, American naval officer * Caroline F. Ware, American historian and social… …   Wikipedia

  • Unstan ware — Die so genannte Unstan ware ist eine neolithische Keramiktradition, die Ende des 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr. in Schottland aufkam. Sie ist benannt nach der Megalithanlage von Unstan auf dem Mainland von Orkney, wo bei einer Grabung im späten 19.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Unstan ware — is the name used by archaeologists for a type of finely made and decorated Neolithic pottery from the 4th millennium BC. Typical are elegant, round based bowls with a band of grooved patterning below the rim.It is named after Unstan chambered… …   Wikipedia

  • Peterborough ware — ist eine mittelneolithische Keramik Großbritanniens. Sie wurde von Abbott nach dem namengebenden Fundort Peterborough benannt. Sie wurde durch Isobell Smith in die Stile Ebbsfleet, Mortlake und Fengate unterteilt, die sie als chronologische… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Corded Ware culture — Approximate extent of the Corded Ware horizon with adjacent 3rd millennium cultures (after EIEC). The Corded Ware culture (ca. 2900–2450/2350 cal. BCE),[1] alternatively characterized as the Battle Axe culture or Single Grave culture, is an… …   Wikipedia

  • Unstan Ware — Fragment einer Unstan Ware Schale Die Unstan Ware ist eine neolithische Keramiktradition, die Ende des 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr. in Schottland aufkam. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Definition …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Peterborough Ware — ist eine mittelneolithische Keramik Großbritanniens. Sie wurde von Abbott nach dem namengebenden Fundort Peterborough benannt. Sie wurde durch Isobell Smith in die Stile Ebbsfleet, Mortlake und Fengate unterteilt, die sie als chronologische… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”