Cooking over fire: Intended and actual function of third-millennium cooking pots, Eastern Croatia

Intended (suitability of vessel’s attributes for different functions as a result of potter’s technical choices) and actual (use-alterations) function are two aspects related to modes of use of ceramic vessels. Both aspects will be examined in the case of S-profiled pots with a polished upper part and textured lower part, and usually with two tunnel handles from the site of Prisunjača, typical forms belonging to the Late Copper Age Vučedol culture of Eastern Croatia (2880-2450 BC). Technological traits: intentional blackening of their upper parts and textured surfaces of the lower body suggest that preferable performance characteristics could be related to thermal food processing. Use-alteration traces: abrasion on the handles as the consequence of suspending the vessel over the fire, and carbon deposits on vessels’ interiors were identified by macroscopic examination and observation under a stereoscopic microscope. They also suggest the function of cooking with the presence of water. Analysis of the spatial distribution of the pots revealed that the majority of the specimens were found inside the house. Together with already conducted organic residue analyses from other neighboring contemporary sites, it can be stated that their function of cooking meals on a daily basis is not questionable.