2016 Volume 59 Issue 1 Pages 57-73
Pottery with cord decoration was spread throughout the Balkan Peninsula in the 4th and the 3rd millennia cal. BC. Researchers have considered that this reflects the spread over Europe of herders who supposedly belonged to the Proto-Indo-European group. Previous studies have focused on the Kurgans (mound tumuli) to tackle the issue of how the people spread. However, this paper looks at the issue by exploring whether and how the cord decoration was diffused from the northern Pontic area into the upper Thracian plain. In order to test the diffusion model mentioned by N. Merpert and G. Georgiev, I analyzed the pottery with cord decoration in the eastern Balkans, ranging from Southern Bulgaria (Upper Thrace) to Eastern Romania (the Moldova plain), focusing on decorating technique, vessel form and stylistic pattern. In particular I looked at the small bowls with a straight open rim, decorated with a fine geometric motif using a thin (less than 2 mm in width) Z-plied cord, which first appeared in Upper Thrace at around 3,000 cal. BC. The absence of this small bowl in the Balkans except in Upper Thrace suggests that the bowl was not imported from the north. My comparative analysis also showed that besides these bowls in Upper Thrace, thin Z-plied cord was used to decorate pottery only in the western Moldova plain during the 4th and the earlier 3rd millennia cal. BC. Therefore, the similarity in cord impression technique between the two regions demonstrates that this technique was presumably brought into Upper Thrace from the north when the northern groups moved southwards and had contacts with indigenous groups in Upper Thrace. It is highly probable that this technique was not diffused directly from the western Moldova plain to Upper Thrace. It must derive from the north Pontic area. It is clear that more research is needed on this subject.
