- Cardium Pottery
Cardium Pottery, Printed-Cardium Pottery or Cardial Ware is a
Neolithic decorative style that gets its name from the imprinting of the clay with the shell of the "Cardium edulis ", a marinemollusk . The alternative names of Printed-Cardium Pottery (imprinted rather than inked) and Impressed Ware are given by some archaeologists because impressions with Cardium are not the only technique. [cite web|title=Impressed Ware Culture|work=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology|url=http://www.enotes.com/arch-encyclopedia/impressed-ware-culture|format=html|accessdate=2008-05-11] As the culture evolved, it tended to practice other methods of impression, while keeping the general cultural traits and also the general aspect of the pottery (unelaborated, imprinted - never painted).This
pottery style gives its name to the main culture of theMediterranean Neolithic: Cardium Pottery Culture or Cardial Culture, or some similar variation, which eventually extended from the western Balkan regions and Levantine coasts, such as atByblos , to the eastern coasts of Spain, bringing an influence even as far as the Atlantic coast.The Cardial Culture of the Mediterranean Neolithic
It is difficult to determine the ultimate origins of the Cardium Pottery Culture, or Cardial Culture, as possible predecessors have been found in the Neolithic people of
Thessaly (pre-Sesklo ) andLebanon (Byblos ), where true Cardium Pottery is also found. The first known members of this important culture were located in the eastern coasts of theAdriatic , in the first centuries of the 6th millennium BCE, dwelling in caves and using, out of all Neolithic technologies, exclusively pottery. This is characteristic ofsub-Neolithic peoples: hunter-gatherers in contact with agriculturalist cultures, but reluctant to abandon their way of life.Only later would these Adriatic peoples adopt the Neolithic way of life fully, building villages, growing
cereals and herdinggoat s,sheep andcow s. It was in this second phase that Cardium Pottery proper (printed with shells of "C. edulis") made its appearance. In the last centuries of the millennium the ceramic technique degenerated and pivotal decoration began.The most notable characteristic of this culture was their great
navigation capabilities, demonstrated by finds of remains of species that can only be fished in the open seas. This seafaring nature would be essential in their ability to colonize large regions of the Mediterranean coasts.The first advance was made towards southern
Italy , settling first inApulia and later in other areas of the south of the peninsula andSicily , dwelling almost always in caves. Gradually the colonization advanced towardsLatium ,Tuscany ,Sardinia ,Corsica andLiguria , and they established some isolated outposts in the coasts ofProvence .Already in the 5th millennium BCE, this culture had expanded to SE France and eastern Spain. With some exceptions, archaeological evidence shows that this was mostly a process of aculturization of the native peoples of these areas than a massive migration. Beyond the coastal region, the culture expanded northwards along the Rhone valley and westward following the Ebro river. Further west, nevertheless, its influence is limited, though it undoubtedly plays a role in the (generally slow) development of the first Neolithic cultures of the Atlantic regions.
Long barrows and other Megalith monuments in Northwestern Europe have frequently archaeological remains of pottery and other artifacts of this Culture.At this time, Northern Italy was also colonized by peoples of this culture that came directly from the Balkans by land.
Once this expansion had ended, Mediterranean cultures evolved locally. In the west they are generally tagged as epi-Cardial Pottery cultures, while in northern Italy it evolved into the culture of
Bocca Quadratta . In the Adriatic Balkans, three related cultures, (Hvar ,Lisicici andButmir ), divided the territory.Demographics
It is likely that the peoples resulting from this process of colonization, assimilation and admixture are in the origins of some historical peoples or Cultures such as the
Iberians and Ligurians and maybe theEtruscans . Genetic links to the "Mediterranean" male Y gene, in the haplotypeE3b , which is much more common in the Mediterranean since theNeolithic , is found in small percents in the areas reached by this "sea-borne" culture. AmongBasques andPasiegos as far to the Atlantic, respectively, a significant 10% and 40% rate of their population are still of this genetic pattern.Gallery
Notes
ee also
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Prehistory of Corsica External links
* [http://history-world.org/stone_age2.htm Stone Age]
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