Ceramic chronology in view of 14C datings

Abstract

The chronology of the Pitted Ware Culture along the Swedish Baltic coast has earlier mainly been determined by land uplift data and classifications based upon pottery styles. No direct dating of the pottery itself has previously been possible and only an indirect chronology built on associated material exists. The present investigation presents a direct radiocarbon dating of four sherds from
the reference sites Sater and Fagervik at the bay of Braviken in Ostergotland, representing the Sater/Fagervik II and III phases. The re-cently developed accelerator dating technique has enabled measurements on small a-mounts of carbonised material ("food crust") on the inside of the potsherds. Different chemical pretreatment procedures in order to extract the most relevant organic fraction have been studied and possibilities for future improvements are discussed. The analysis shows that the organic material is of terrestrial origin. The ages of the four investigated sherds are not possible to differentiate chronologically. They fall within the time interval 4400-4600 BP (3100-3350 cal BC) which is in accordance with expected ages for the phase II, but older than expected for phase III.