Ochre decor and cinnabar residues in Neolithic pottery from Vinča, Serbia

Abstract The prehistoric site of Vinča, on the right bank of the River Danube, the territory of the City of Belgrade, first excavated by M. Vasić in 1931–34, provides Neolithic pottery dating back to 5200–4200 BC . Shards excavated in 1998 (Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts) have a yellow coating on the external (convex) and red deposit on the internal (concave) side. Raman, IR and x‐ray identification proved that the yellow‐to‐red decor deposited on the external faces of pottery is made of ochre, a mixture of hematite, quartz and phyllosilicates. The red deposit found on some internal surfaces of the pottery consists of cinnabar (HgS) with some quartz and phyllosilicates. This indicates that cinnabar was not used for decor but for other purposes than and prepared or stored in ceramic utensils. A comparison is made with mercury ore from the Šuplja Stena mine located ∼20 km from Vinča village. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.