PETROGRAPHIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR LONG-STANDING SUPPLY OF RAW MATERIALS IN NEOLITHIC POTTERY (MENDANDIA SITE, SPAIN)* L. A. ORTEGA,† M. C. ZULUAGA and A. ALONSO-OLAZABAL Departamento de Mineralogía y Petrología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, E-48940 Leioa (Vizcaya), Spain X. MURELAGA Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, E-48940 Leioa (Vizcaya), Spain and A. ALDAY Departamento de Geografía, Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Filología y Geografía e Historia, UPV/EHU, C/ Tomás y Valiente s/n, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain Pottery from the Neolithic Mendandia site has been studied. The radiocarbon dating of the site corresponds to a range of dates from 7488–7546 cal BC to 5283–5437 cal BC: the first occurrence of pottery is dated at 5968–6040 cal BC for the lower level III, and up to 5386– 5560 cal BC for level II. The antiquity of the potsherds places them within the oldest pottery production sequences in the Iberian Peninsula, which adds to the interest of this study. Ten potsherds from level II and five from level III are analysed for their petrographic and chemical characterization. The petrographic data show two different methods of raw materials manufacture—intentionally tempered pottery (ITP), using calcite and/or limestone and grog, and naturally or non-intentionally tempered pottery (NTP). According to the matrix paste features, on the basis of the amount, shape, and average or size range of the mineral inclusions, clayed (type A) and sandy (type B) paste types were established and related to two different source areas. The chemical features also indicate two raw material sources and are in agreement with the petrographic paste types. The absence of significant chemical and mineralogical differences between the pottery from levels II and III suggests two contrasting areas for raw materials supply that lasted for at least 600 years. KEYWORDS: POTTERY, PETROGRAPHY, TEMPERS, GROG, X-RAY DIFFRACTION, GEOCHEMISTRY, NEOLITHIC, IBERIAN PENINSULA INTRODUCTION The Mesolithic hunter–gatherer populations that developed prior to the Neolithic period intro- duced agriculture and domestication, and a sedentary lifestyle. The occurrence of ceramic pottery is one of the defining characteristics of the Neolithic period. Ceramic diffusion displays two main paths from the Near East: one along the Danube–Rhine corridor and a second from the Medi- terranean coastline (D’Anna et al. 2003; Davison et al. 2006). In the Iberian Peninsula, it is *Received 20 July 2009; accepted 16 November 2009 †Corresponding author: email luis.ortega@ehu.es Archaeometry 52, 6 (2010) 987–1001 doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2010.00523.x © University of Oxford, 2010