Cultural transmission of ceramic technology during the consolidation of agriculture in Valencia, Spain

This dissertation explores the role of ceramic technology and its practice during the transition to and consolidation of agriculture in the Alcoi Basin, Valencia, Spain (ca. 7500–3500 BP). Using a broad theoretical framework that includes approaches from evolutionary archaeology, practice theory, and behavioral archaeology, this study aims to integrate diverse theoretical paradigms to address questions of prehistoric technological practice. Cultural inheritance theory is found to be particularly useful for understanding changes in technological practice and illuminating implications for greater social, economic, and ideological shifts during this period.;Methodologically, this dissertation focuses a chaîne opératoire approach using data gathered from macro-visual, petrographic, and elemental analyses of Neolithic pottery from seven sites in and around the Alcoi Basin, Valencia. Macro-visual analysis consists of identifying pottery forming marks, surface treatments, and other characteristics of the production sequence visible to the naked eye. Petrographic analysis of thin sections identified inclusion types in the ceramic pastes, resulting in the characterization of recipe types used by prehistoric potters in this region. Finally, the chemical characterization of Neolithic pottery was attained through Neutron Activation Analysis. Different clay types were identified and compared to their distributions on the landscape.;By testing hypotheses from cultural inheritance theory, behavioral archaeology, and practice theory, this study found that the manner in which potting techniques were passed on through the generations shifted from a household tradition of vertical transmission in the Early Neolithic to a village tradition of oblique transmission in the Late Neolithic. The most striking technological shifts occurred during the Middle Neolithic with the change from greater diversity in paste types (including grog, quartz, and calcite recipes) to exclusively calcite-based recipes. The greater homogenization of technological practices is also visible in forming techniques and firing practices. In concert, time and labor investment in pottery manufacture decreased. It is suggested that by the Late Neolithic a smaller number of potters were producing ceramic vessels, and that the ideological and ritual aspects of some pottery types was expressed through different media later in time.