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UDC: 903.23"636/637"(497.11) https://doi.org/10.2298/STA2070041P 903:738"636/637"(497.11) Original research article WAYNE POWELL, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Brooklyn College LINA PACIFICO, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Brooklyn College TERRENCE MITCHELL, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Brooklyn College STEFFANIE CRUSE, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Brooklyn College H. ARTHUR BANKOFF, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brooklyn College LOCAL PROVENANCE OF RAW MATERIALS FOR PREHISTORIC POTTERY PRODUCTION AT THE SPASOVINE TIN PLACER SITE (WESTERN SERBIA) e­mail: [email protected] Abstract. – Archaeological finds at Spasovine, on the south flank of Mt Cer, near the town of Milina, indicate that it was settled in the Eneolithic and seasonally inhabited for tin placer mining in the Late Bronze Age. The site is highly disturbed and abraded domestic pottery is the most common material found. An analysis of the mineralogical assemblages that comprise the temper sand in a subset of the prehistoric pottery sherds from the site indicate that the sand was obtained from the adjacent Milinska River. Key minerals that link the pottery to on­site production from local materials include almandine­spessartine series garnets, the tin­bearing mineral cassiterite (SnO2) and a microlite group mineral ([Ca,Sn,U]2[Ta,Nb]2O6(OH,F]). The unusually common occurrence of cassiterite within the pottery sherds relative to the abundance in the Milinska today suggests that the tin ore grade in the Milinska River may have been significantly higher in prehistory. Key words. – Eneolithic, Bronze Age, Pottery, Provenance, Temper, Mt Cer he archaeological survey1 identified four ar­ tery of varying ages, fragments of burnt daub, and a chaeological sites south of Mt. Cer that contain stone mould for casting pins or needles, and crucibles, TBronze Age material, all of which are situated suggesting metallurgical activity on site.3 on river terraces adjacent to the tin­bearing Milinska, The field surveys provided many surface finds Lešnica and Cernica rivers.2 All sites have dominantly from the metal periods (Eneolithic, Bronze and Iron Late Bronze Age material on the surface, mixed with ages), as well as from the Late Roman period.4 Local earlier and/or later material. The Spasovine site museums house copper and bronze objects found in (44°34’31.8”N, 19°27’44.9”E) is located 82 km the area immediately surrounding Spasovine, possibly east­southeast of Belgrade (Fig. 1). It yielded the even Spasovine itself (reported locations: Detinji potok highest quantity of archaeological material, including and Staro selo). These objects verify the chronological ceramics that securely date site occupancy to the Eneo­ lithic, Late Bronze Age and Roman period, and show characteristics related to other known sites from the 1 The joint multidisciplinary international project Archaeo­ region. The five hectare site lies on top of a gently logical Investigations of the Settlement Systems, Burial Customs, sloping plateau overlooking the valley of the Milinska and Mining Resources in the Bronze Age of North­western Serbia River, at the confluence of the Milinska and Lešnica is realised by the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade and the Brooklyn College CUNY. rivers, and coincides with the highest concentrations 2 Huska et al. 2014. 2 of placer cassiterite at Mt Cer (Fig. 1). A thorough 3 Huska et al. 2014, 487, fig. 8. pedestrian survey of the site at Spasovine resulted in 4 Bankoff et al. 2013, 63; Huska et al. 2014; Bulatović et al. finds of stone hammers and abraders, prehistoric pot­ 2017, 213. 41 Manuscript received 26th November 2019, accepted 13th October 2020 Wayne POWELL, Lina PACIFICO, Terrence MITCHELL, Steffanie CRUSE, H. Arthur BANKOFF Local Provenance of Raw Materials for Prehistoric Pottery Production at the Spasovine Tin Placer Site (Western Serbia) (41–50) Fig. 1. Location and geology of Mt Cer and the Spasovine site. Pegmatite and aplite bodies are not illustrated due to their small size (Intrusive phases are based on Filipović et al. 1971 and Mojsilović et al. 1975) Сл. 1. Положај и геологија планине Цер и локалитета Спасовине. Формације пегматита и аплита нису приказане услед њихове мале величине (Интрузивне фазе су преузете из Filipović et al. 1971 and Mojsilović et al. 1975) span from the Late Eneolithic, via Late Bronze to the Age tin mining is further supported by the proximity of Early Iron Age.5 Small exploratory trenches were exca­ Spasovine to the Paulje necropolis, 10 km to the south­ vated at Spasovine, which yielded additional artefacts, west, which contains some of the most varied Late and evidence for stratigraphy. One Late Eneolithic burnt Bronze Age bronze finds in Serbia. These include 13 wattle and daub house discovered by geomagne tic bronze pins up to a metre in length, which are unique surveying in 2018 indicated that the site was settled at to the region.8 that time.6 However, no Late Bronze Age architectural A similar pattern has been noted in the tin­rich features have been discovered, despite the presence of Erz gebirge of Bohemia/Saxony. Regions rich in tin artefacts from this time. placers lack evidence of permanent habitation during Both coarse and fine ceramic wares at Spasovine the Bronze Age. However, stray finds and pottery in occur as small (<50 mm), abraded, and rounded frag­ proximity to tin placer deposits suggest the temporary ments. Their condition is consistent with surface ma­ presence of people for the purpose of tin mining.9 Re­ terial from later Bronze Age sites and single­period cently, geoarchaeological evidence has confirmed that Eneolithic sites in the area south of the Danube. Such placer tin mining occurred in the western Erzgebirge sites are shallow, usually consisting of a single cultural between 1900 and 1400 BC,10 coeval with the Únětice layer covered by active humus. They are easily destro­ culture and their princely graves. Thus, temporary, yed by ploughing, especially under modern machine-­ likely seasonal, occupation of tin placer sites appears to aided agriculture. The worn and rolled condition of have been the norm in the Bronze Age across Central the pottery at Spasovine is consistent with having been Europe and the Balkans. destroyed by ploughing and erosion. For this study, small pottery pieces with medium and coarse temper 5 were examined. Bulatović et al. 2017, 214–215. 6 Mladenović et al., in press. South of Mt Cer, Late Bronze Age pottery is only 7 Huska et al. 2014. found on river terraces adjacent to cassiterite­bearing 8 Vasić 2003, 47–49. streams, suggesting that these sites were occupied for 9 Bartelheim et al. 1998; Bouzek et al. 1989. the purpose of placer tin mining.7 Local Late Bronze 10 Tolksdorf et al. 2019. 42 СТАРИНАР LXX/2020 Wayne POWELL, Lina PACIFICO, Terrence MITCHELL, Steffanie CRUSE, H. Arthur BANKOFF Local Provenance of Raw Materials for Prehistoric Pottery Production at the Spasovine Tin Placer Site (Western Serbia) (41–50) Fig. 2. Representative examples of coarse-ware pottery fragments analysed 0 5 cm Сл. 2. Примерци анализираних грубих фрагмената керамике With a lack of architectural features and the pau­ (Hitachi TM3030Plus scanning electron microscope city of artefacts found at placer mining sites across at 15kV and an Oxford Instruments AZtec energy dis­ Europe, little is known about the complexity and longe­ persive spectrometer with an AZtecOne software plat­ vity of these camps. Given that pottery fragments are form) to identify all heavy mineral grains observed. by far the predominant artefact at Spasovine, they These semi­quantitative analyses were used to define provide the most opportune means by which to dis­ the major element components of each mineral grain cover aspects of life in these mining camps, specifi­ so that mineral formulae/identities could be deduced cally, regarding the complexity and longevity of habi­ stoichiometrically, in conjunction with the physical tation. Analysis of the pottery can reveal whether it was features observable under the scanning electron micro­ imported to the site during seasonal mining acti vi ties, scope (form, cleavage) and binocular microscope or produced on site from local materials. The latter (colour, lustre). would imply longer periods of habitation and/or a Twenty­five of the remaining sherds that dis­ more complex social structure with division of labour. played only a quartz and feldspar temper on their sur­ Here we report on the mineral composition of the tem­ faces were crushed to <2mm, and sieved into coarse per sand in Spasovine coarse­tempered pottery sherds (>1mm), medium (0.4–1.0 mm), and fine (<0.4mm) from the metal ages, and potential river sand sources fractions. Heavy minerals were extracted from the me­ for the purpose of determining the location of ceramic dium fraction using flotation separation with a solu­ production and its implications for the nature of the tion of sodium polytungstate (3Na2WO4•9WO3•H2O) Spasovine tin mining habitation. having a density of 2.9 g/cm³. For each crushed sherd, all heavy minerals (i.e., those denser than 2.9g/cm³) Materials and Methods were analyzed and identified using the SEM­EDS, as A representative set of 40 small sherds (<50 mm) described above. In addition, a minimum of five of coarse­temper Late Eneolithic and/or Late Bronze grains of the ceramic body were analyzed using the Age ceramics lacking ornamentation (Fig. 2) were se­ SEM­EDS to determine the major element chemical lected for analysis under the supervision of project ar­ composition of the clay component. chaeologists. For most of the fragments it is not possi­ Representative samples of sand from the Milinska ble to determine a precise chronology, but all were River adjacent to Spasovine were obtained using a por­ from prehistory.

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