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Burnished Wares
Another group of vessels are mostly dark in colour, mottled occasionally with patches of pale brown. In contrast to the pale brown (monochrome) group, these vessels have relatively thin walls and are generally well polished on the outside. In the Caucasus, they appear tentatively at the very end of the Late Chalcolithic period at Berikldeebi (PeriodV), a ceramic horizon dominated by the Chaff-Faced tradition.The few pieces are distinguished by high-shouldered jars with a tall neck that fl ares outward (Figure 5.9(5)). Similar pieces were found in the lowest levels at Sos Höyük. Dzhavakhisvili referred to the grittempered vessels from Berikldeebi as ‘Proto-Kura-Araxes’, and, according to him, they heralded major cultural changes.159 The term ‘Proto-Kura-Araxes’ has been adopted by some, including me, but recently I suggested that perhaps we should be careful about continuing to use it until we accumulate more of a sample.160 A few fragments of portable hearths found scattered on the floors of Berikldeebi PeriodV also foreshadowed things to come.
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By 3300 BC, the quantity of pottery increases and so does the variety.Towards the end of the third millennium, around 3100 BC, red-black burnished pottery came into vogue.This red-black horizon from the Kura-Araxes heartland (the southern Caucasus and easternmost Anatolia) should be distinguished from the Red Black Burnished Wares from the Upper Euphrates, which are sometimes black on the interior and over the lip, continuing in red down to the base.There is merit in the argument that the Red Black Burnished Ware from Arslantepe VII and VIA has a colour scheme that might derive from central Anatolia. Likewise, the ceramic assemblages from the Upper Euphrates Valley and the central plateau are, according to the Arslantepe team, distinct from those that originate from the southern Caucasus, which appear in PeriodVIB1.161
159 Dzhavakishvili excavations, in preparation, pers comm. Dr Ekaterina Gamkrelidze, Editorial Coordinator for Museum Publications, Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi (4 July 2015).The term ‘Proto-Kura-Araxes’ was also used at Sos Höyük (Sagona 2000), but in hindsight (Sagona 2014a) I have cautioned against its use until more evidence of this formative period becomes available.
160Kiguradze and Sagona 2003:39;Sagona 2014a:32–3.Cf Marro et al.2009:54;Bakhshaliyev 2013, who use the term ‘proto’, and Marro et al. 2014: 141 for ‘Late Chalcolithic KuraAraxes’; Rova 2014: table 1.
161On Anatolian red-black wares see, Palumbi 2003a, 2003b, Frangipane and Palumbi 2007. We need to be careful when using the generic term Red Black Burnished Ware, as it has the potential to conflate different horizons and confuse matters.Braidwood and Braidwood (1960) first coined the descriptor to represent the northern Levantine version of Khirbet KerakWare in the Amuq. In more recent years, this colour scheme has been ascribed more widely to pottery from different traditions, such as the early black and red wares from the Upper Euphrates and central Anatolia, as well as Kura-Araxes ceramics (Bolger et al. 2014).
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In 1984, I attempted to define very broad regional ceramic traditions.162 On the whole, despite overlaps, discoveries have substantiated these stylistic or potting traditions.While these ceramic zones are by no means sharply defined, they do represent central areas where certain styles are found in concentration. I will restrict discussion mostly to the Caucasus.
Generally speaking, the trend in pottery is for diversity in the early centuries of the third millennium followed by conformity through the widespread use of incised decoration. We also witness the increase in black vessels with a lustrous burnished exterior often displaying a silvery sheen that is possibly produced with graphite.
The Northern (Shida Kartli) Tradition
Shida Kartli formed a distinctive region especially in the first few centuries of the third millennium BC. Ceramics from key sites such as Kvatskhelebi C and its burials, Khizanaant Gora C–B, Tsikhiagora IB, and the Natsargora cemetery share many similarities. Pottery is predominantly black and red, though a considerable quantity is fired to a red-brown colour (Figure 5.10). In all cases, vessels are burnished, but not to a high lustre. Shapes are limited and comprise the tall, single-handled and three-handled jug, wide-mouthed pots and bowls, S-profiled cups, and the distinctive local scoop.There is a tendency for certain vessels to have a more angular shoulder, whereas more rounded forms often accentuate the juncture with a groove. Household potting techniques were strong, as seen, for instance, in the technique of manufacturing a vessel in two halves in the Kvatskhelebi C horizon.
Incised black-burnished pottery appears towards the end of Kvatskhelebi C and throughout Kvatskhelebi B, and at Tsikiagora.The absence of comparable incised pottery from Khizanaant Gora suggests that it must have come to an end before the beginning of Kvatskhelebi B. Although Shida Kartli potters adopted the fashion for incised decoration, they did so reluctantly if the limited range is any indication.
The Central (Tsalka) Tradition
This tradition is strongest across the Tsalka plateau, in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and north-western Armenia. It is represented by material from Amiranis Gora, Harich, Ozni, Beshtasheni, and now more recently at Chobareti (Figure 5.11). The material found at Didube, on the outskirts of Tbilisi and comparable to finds from Chobareti, can also be placed in the early phase of this tradition. This style resonates strongly beyond the Caucasus, in the Muş
162 Sagona 1984.
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Figure 5.10. Kura-Araxes ceramics, a selection of forms of the northern tradition (after Palumbi 2008; Koridze and Palumbi 2008; Glonti et al. 2008).
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Figure 5.11. Kura-Araxes ceramics, a selection of forms of the central tradition:
(1) Karaz (photograph B. Douglas); (2) Ozni (Sagona 1984); (3–8, 12–15) Chobareti (Kakhiani et al. 2013); (9–11) Didube (Palumbi 2008).