Areni-1 Cave

Society’s transition from the nomadic lifestyle of hunters and gatherers to a sedentary way of life— which included the development of agriculture and cattle husbandry—required diverse, durable ware that could be produced quickly and easily. Together with the development of ceramic shapes, which varied according to their functional purposes, symbolic patterns were routinely used to decorate this pottery. These decorations symbolized a certain culture bearer’s way of thinking, and served as an expression of his aesthetic interpretation of natural phenomena. The symbols also represented real objects, such as the objects of worship for example.

The methods used to apply these artistic treatments to ancient farmers’ ceramics were quite variable. The pottery surface could be left untreated or slipped, burnished, painted, and otherwise decorated. All these various treatments were popular in the Neolithic-Chalcolithic period, but the most interesting and informative pottery is the painted and decorated ware. The painted pottery of the southern Caucasus could be monochrome, bichrome, and polychrome. It was mainly imported from the Near East, but there is also evidence of the existence of locally made painted ware.
The pottery decorations can be divided into the following groups, according to their techno-morphological characteristics:
Relief knobs and ellipsoids, ledges, buttons, rings, dots, horseshoe-like applications, ropes, strips, waves and zigzags, and anthropomorphic and zoomorphic applications were moulded from clay pieces, and then attached to the ware surfaces, or pulled out of it;
Impressed notches, nail impressions, oval imprints, round imprints, punctuated impressions, relief impressions, cord impressions, grain patterns, and pinched-out rims, etc. were made with fi ngers, or by using special tools, which were pressed into the wet surfaces;
Incised lines, waves, zigzags, and chevrons were designs made on damp surfaces with sharp objects;
Perforated openings were created by making through-holes and blind holes, and by pressing soft surfaces with an awl; and
Combed surfaceswere a specifi c decorative treatment made by smoothing a wet surface with a comb.
The rare or frequent usage of specific kinds of decorations depended on the particular period and traditions of the time and the functional peculiarities of the vessels bearing specific decorations were of great importance. Some types of decorations - the favourites of the early potters—were used for a relatively long time, compared with other decorations. Among these were relief knobs and ellipsoids, anthropomorphic applications, impressed notches, and perforations.