ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the implications for the reconstruction of specialization and division of labour in Trypillian settlements. The Trypillia culture, which is famous for its high-quality ceramic vessels, also provides evidence for complex pottery kilns, as revealed by excavations on Trypillian sites more than fifty years ago. Until recently, the Trypillian pottery kilns which were known were more or less randomly found during settlement excavations. Pottery kilns are an indicator of intensified pottery production, a certain degree of division of labour, and craft specialization: special knowledge and experience would have been necessary to handle the process of firing properly. Furthermore, the maintenance of pottery kilns had to be managed, requiring labour and capital investment, and for their preservation and repair. Based on archaeological evidence and the increasing quality of the finished products, several authors argue that pottery production became more specialized in Southeastern and Eastern Europe possibly from the early Neolithic and certainly from the late Neolithic and Copper Age.
