Added January 2, 2000. Updated December 19, 2008, 06:47 -5 hours GMT.
This page will be updated occasionally
to add and revise information.
Retz/Bajč Pottery
Version 3.11
By
Maximilian O. Baldia
(Copyright © January 2, 2000 - December 19,
2008. All rights reserved)
Introduction
The purpose of this text is to
provide a general overview of the culture and is intended as a resource for
students and teachers of European Archaeology.
List of Figures and
Tables
Map of North and part of Central Europe
The TRB culture area and adjacent cultures
Central and North German Chronological
Table
Photo of
Retz-Bajč pottery from Austria (Dimitrijević 1981 Plate 15)
Photo of pottery
from Moravia, Czech Republic (Dimitrijević 1981 Plate 16).
Photo of pottery
from Bajč, Slovakia (Dimitrijević 1981 Plate 16).
Relative chronology of Moravia and
adjacent regions
Location
Relatively isolated pottery finds have been grouped together as Retz-Bajč after the type sites Retz (Austria) and Bajč (Slovak Republic) (e.g. Dimitrijević 1981). The incised pottery is centered in the Czech and Slovak Republics and adjacent countries to the south.
Dating
A thermoluminescence date yielded (Lab No. By-2318) 4070±220 BC. The small number of radiocarbon dates come mostly from questionable context. They seem to suggest a connection with (late) Lengyel or the Early Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) South Group’s Baalberge Phase. Nonetheless, a later connection with the Early TRB II/Baden overlap period cannot be fully ruled out. In fact, a date of 3600/3500 cal BC is associated with “Retz-Gajary” pottery from a “lake-dwelling” in the Ljubljana Moor (Velušček 1999)
The relative chronology appears to have been the result of analogy, rather than solid stratigraphic observations and dating. However, on typological grounds some Moravian researchers distinguish an older and a younger phase (Podborský et al. 1993).
Pottery
Retz pottery occurs in Lower Austria. In Moravia the Křepice style is found west of the Morava River. East of the Morava the Slovakian Bajč style is recognized, which also occurs in parts of Austria and Hungary (Dimitrijević 1981, Podborský et al. 1993). The Moravian the pottery often occurs together with Baalberge ceramics in (hilltop) settlements of Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) culture’s South Group. The pottery distribution is thought to coincide with the main centers of early copper production and is sometimes seen as ritual ware.
Retz-Bajč pottery is characterized by the deeply incised “stab and drag” (German: Furchenstich) technique used in executing the its design. This technique is used in the TRB of Central Europe and southern Scandinavia, the Austrian Mondsee culture, and the Tisza River area of Hungary, etc. The designs are known to have been filled with white paste.
References and Credits
Dimitrijević, S.
1981 Zur Frage der
Retz-Gajary-Kultur in Nordjugoslawien und ihre Stelleng im pannonischen Raum. Bericht
der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 61. 1980:15-91.
Velušček, A.
1999 Neolithic and Eneolithic
Investigations in Slovania. Arheoloski
vesnik 50, 1999:59-79.
Podborský, Vladimír, et al.
1993 Praveké Dejiny Moravy.
Vlastiveda Moravská Zeme a Lid, Nová Rada 3. Muzejní a vlastivedna spolecnost,
Brno.
List of Figures and
Tables
Map
of North and part of Central Europe
The TRB culture area and adjacent cultures
Central and North German Chronological
Table
Photo of
Retz-Bajč pottery from Austria (Dimitrijević 1981 Plate 15)
Photo of pottery
from Moravia, Czech Republic (Dimitrijević 1981 Plate 16).
Photo of pottery
from Bajč, Slovakia (Dimitrijević 1981 Plate 16).
Relative chronology of Moravia and
adjacent regions
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.