Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology

What a handle can handle? (Some examples of ergonomic principles in pottery production at Vinča - Belo Brdo)

Nenad Tasić

The basic rules of ergonomics had been laid probably much earlier than it is currently documented in tool making and work-place design of the classical Greek period. This paper is aiming to investigate some ergonomic principles as demonstrated on certain pottery and lug and handle types discovered during the excavations at the Vinča - Belo Brdo site. The site, which treasures the entire chronological span of the Vinča culture, has been excavated thoroughly since the beginning of the 20th century. The collection of pottery is ample, well documented and also has fine-tuned absolute chronology attached, which enables us to explore the apparent tendency towards ergonomic design in pottery, its development and acceptance. Looking at pottery from this perspective could bring new data on the regional scale too. Well established relationships between Vinča – Belo Brdo and other contemporaneous sites across the board are of great help when attempting to understand interactions such as transfer-of-knowledge, ideas and technological innovations among populations in much wider area.