Consensus holds that pottery technology came to Central Europe from the Northern Balkans with independent pottery traditions existing concurrently in Eastern Europe. An unusual grass-tempered pottery dating back to around 5800 cal BC found in lake sediments at Santovka, Slovakia, predated the earliest known Neolithic pottery in the region (~ 5500 cal BC), suggesting unexplored narratives of pottery introduction. Analyses of the pottery's technology, origin, and grass temper shedding light on ceramic traditions' spread can unveil mobility patterns and community lifestyles. Our findings indicate a non-local provenance, low temperature firing, Festugc sp. grass temper and unique rectangular or cylindrical vessel shapes which align with Eastern European hunter-gatherer practices. Moreover, the pottery style and technology have no analogies in the contemporary Danubian pottery traditions and have more similarities to those of the Eastern traditions. The pottery's raw materials likely originated from distant areas, indicating extensive territorial access for its creators. Our findings imply late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers as the probable artisans and with implications for the site's significance in the late Mesolithic landscape.

CEITEC ‑ Central European Institute of Technology Brno University of Technology Purkyňova 123 612 00 Brno Czechia

Department of Archaeology and Museology Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Arna Nováka 1 602 00 Brno Czechia

Department of Archaeology University of York The King's Manor York YO1 7EP UK

Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 611 37 Brno Czechia

Department of Geological Sciences Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 611 37 Brno Czechia

Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Brno Čechyňská 363 19 602 00 Brno Czechia

Institute of Archaeology Slovak Academy of Sciences Akademická 2 949 21 Nitra Slovakia

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Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 24;14(1):25242. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75402-4. PubMed

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