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Very fertile soil, the relative proximity of the maritime coast, and multiple sources of potable water in the Bale area allowed human communities of the Neolithic period to settle here and utilise the natural resources for their subsistence and development. Two minor locations used during different Neolithic periods have thus far been identified in the surrounding area and the immediate proximity of Bale: the Sveti Mihovil hill and the Mušego elevation. Archaeological excavation has been performed at the Sveti Mihovil site on three occasions: in 1992/93, 2006, and in 2007. On this hill, which dominates the area from Vodnjan to Rovinj, we find the remains of a Bronze Age hillfort settlement and the medieval ruins of a Benedictine
monastery.

Recorded among the excavated archaeological material were multiple
Neolithic period potsherds. Of interest here are potsherds exhibiting the typical incised and impressed motifs characteristic of the early Neolithic Impressed Ware culture period of the eastern Adriatic coast. These recovered potsherds are from the classical phase that is significant in the terminal period of the Adriatic Impressed Ware culture. The potsherds from the Sveti Mihovil site indicate that this location likely constituted a small outlying settlement of Neolithic livestock breeders that was connected with a central settlement located in the fertile flatlands of the Bale area. This catalogue analyses and presents some of the early Neolithic potsherds of the Impressed Ware culture on the Istrian peninsula recovered at the Sveti Mihovil site near Bale during the archaeological investigative work of 2006 and 2007.

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Sites in open areas
Sub-hillfort sites
Cave sites Early
Neolithic cultural strata discovered in the foundations of Bronze Age tumuli

1) Sveti Mihovil (San Michele); 2) Mušego (Monsego); 3) Stancija Cecilija (Stanzia Cecilia); 4) Vrčin (Monte Orsino); 5) Vižula (Isola del Vescovo); 6) Kargadur (Carigador/Lisignano); 7) Vrčevan (Vercivan); 8) Debeljak; 9) Ribarska koliba (Capanna del Pescatore); 10) Šandalja (San Daniele); 11) Veli vrh (Montegrande), 12) Ljubićeva pećina; 13) Vela gromača; 14) Pradišelski rt (Punta Pradisel); 15) Nezakcij (Nesazio / Nesactium); 16) Šeraja (Serraio); 17) Jačmica

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Firing methods, surface colour, and firing atmosphere of early Neolithic pottery

The surfaces of the potsherds exhibit for the most part a coarse texture, with evident signs that the potter further worked the surface of the vessel to achieve a degree of smoothing. Only on three of the sherds do we see further partial rubbing of the surface of ceramic vessels prior to drying and decoration. The surface of the vessels following firing largely varies from dark brown to light brown to reddish colour, largely contingent on the firing method, atmosphere, and temperature. In the Neolithic period most ceramic ware was fired in simple fires or fire pits in the open, or directly on a hearth set on an earthen surface (Fig. 4b), as a consequence of which the potter had no further impact on the firing process and atmosphere. The only partial intervention of the potter in the firing process and temperature was to add wood fuel during firing. The process of firing ware in simple fires or fire pits may have lasted about ten to twelve hours, with the cooling of the vessels taking from a few hours to two to three days. Depending on the length of the cooling period or the process of smoke firing, and the reduction of exposure to air, ceramic ware that remained covered by ash experienced a change in surface colour, which transitioned to a darker shade. During firing the temperature in a fire pit ranged from 450 to 750 °C (in some extreme conditions, when a fire is open to wind, it may reach 850 ºC). Various firing atmospheres form in these conditions, which can be identified by the core colour (when viewing the section) and the surface of potsherds. Thus, the sherds of early Neolithic pottery from the Sveti Mihovil site for the most part exhibit incomplete oxidation firing, reduction firing, uncontrolled firing, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, oxidation firing.

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The uses of early Neolithic ceramic ware

Biomolecular lipid analysis has not yet been performed for the early Neolithic period potsherds recovered on the Istrian peninsula, but we do find the nearest analogues in the Dalmatia region, where the results of biomolecular analyses of the inside surfaces of some early Neolithic potsherds identified traces of soup cooking and residues of milk proteins and cheese. Based on these results we can posit that the early Neolithic ceramic ware from the Sveti Mihovil site, and from other sites in Istria, may have been used for a variety of purposes depending on their form and size. Early Neolithic ware of small dimensions—small bowls and pots, may have been used when eating and to drink various liquids (water, animal meat broths, milk, dairy products, honey), and for use in ritual and magical and health purposes (the production of medicinal preparations, and the fats or oils of various plants). Mid-sized and large ceramic vessels (pots and bowls) may have been used for cooking vegetable and meat-based soups and broths, to hold water or milk, for the production of dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt, and to store gathered seasonal berries, semi-wild cereals, and later cultivated cereals.

Conclusion

We can postulate the presence of an early Neolithic community at the site on the Sveti Mihovil elevation near Bale that kept small ruminants (sheep and, to a lesser extent, goats) during pasturing. This settlement was likely closely connected to a possible central settlement in the fertile lowland part of the area surrounding what is now Bale. The early Neolithic potters at the Sveti Mihovil site manufactured small quantities of ceramic ware largely satisfying the needs of their community. To make the ware they used for the most part raw materials from their immediate vicinity, such as natural clay sediment or broken and crushed limestone and water, of which there were sufficient sources in the area surrounding the Sveti Mihovil site.

The production technology, shaping, decoration, and the firing method and firing atmosphere are consistent with the ceramic material recovered at other sites on the Istrian peninsula and elsewhere along the eastern Adriatic seaboard. There are also similarities in the use of the ware, which has been well established by the results of biomolecular analyses of the inside surfaces of early Neolithic ware from some of the sites in the Dalmatia region, which identified traces of milk and cheese proteins, fats of animal origin, and residues of various plants, resin, or honey on individual potsherds.

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CATALOGUE

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Potsherds and the Production Technology of
Early Neolithic Pottery from the Sveti Mihovil Site near Bale

Exhibition
Carrarina 4,
Window to the Past
23.01. – 21. 05. 2024.


                     Exhibition and text author: Romuald Zlatunić

Organizer and publisher: Archaeological Museum of Istria

For the organizer and publisher: Darko Komšo

Editorial Board: Darko Komšo, Adriana Gri Štorga, Katarina Zenzerović

Set up & graphic design: Vjeran Juhas

Drawings: Ivo Juričić, Romuald Zlatunić

Photographs: Vjeran Juhas

Translation in Italian: Elis Barbalich-Geromella

English translation: Neven Ferenčić

Croatian language editor: Milena Špigić

Proofs: Giulia Codacci-Terlević, Adriana Gri Štorga, Milena Špigić

Print: MPS Pula

Print run: 500

Pula, 2024.