Research data: Cultural Interactions through the Lens of Pottery: Analysis of the Late La Tène Assemblage from Northwestern Bohemia

Data used in the research presented in the article entitled "Cultural Interactions through the Lens of Pottery: Analysis of the Late La Tène Assemblage from Northwestern Bohemia", submitted to Archeologické rozhledy on 1 July 2026. The dataset contains all figures from the article (Figs. 1–7), supplementary materials (Online Supplementary Materials 1–10), and tables (Tables 1–5), including a catalogue of all ceramic fragments examined during the macroscopic observation phase of the research (Online Supplementary Material 1). Based on the macroscopic observations, 30 representative samples were selected for chemical composition analysis. The analytical results (Online Supplementary Material 6) were evaluated using principal component analysis (Online Supplementary Material 7) and served as the basis for selecting 13 samples for thin-section analysis (Table 4; Fig. 7). In addition, the results of the macroscopic observations were used for the statistical evaluation of pottery of different cultural attribution and chemical composition using chi-square tests and Cramér’s V (Tables 2–3). Link to the preprint: https://zenodo.org/records/21098059 Abstract of the article: During the first century BC, significant social, economic, and cultural changes took place in Bohemia and other parts of Central Europe, culminating in the second half of the century. This transformation is traditionally interpreted as the result of population movements. Assemblages dated to the first half of the first century BC from Northwestern Bohemia, including Lužice, occupy a specific position in this interpretation, as they contain pottery attributable to both the local La Tène and the Przeworsk cultures. Previous studies linked these assemblages with the first wave of incoming communities preceding later, larger-scale migrations. However, these assemblages have so far been studied primarily through stylistic analysis. To better understand the relationships between pottery attributable to distinct archaeological cultures, we analysed pottery from Lužice using macroscopic observation, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and thin-section analysis. Results showed that pottery of both cultures was made from similar materials, with no material group being exclusive to Przeworsk pottery. Greater differences were observed in manufacturing techniques and visual attributes. The use of comparable ceramic materials does not contradict the possibility of contemporaneous production. However, producers of La Tène and Przeworsk pottery preserved their respective pottery styles, which may have served as markers of social identity. List of the files: Fig. 1. Location of the Lužice archaeological site in Northwestern Bohemia. Fig. 2. Distribution of La Tène settlements and solitary finds in the vicinity of Lužice: 1: Lužice, 2: Soběsuky, 3: Březno u Chomutova. Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of the ceramic attributes recorded during macroscopic observation. Fig. 4. Pottery fragments (ID 601–1104) selected for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. Fig. 5. Pottery fragments (ID 1105–2274) selected for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. Fig. 6. Relationship between the context within the feature from which pottery fragments were recovered and their fragmentation level (Index of fragmentation), grouped according to their cultural affiliation (LT D1, A2, and NA). Fig. 7. Basic characteristics of the fabrics shown in photomicrographs. The upper half of each image is in plane-polarised light (PPL), and the lower half is in cross-polarised light (XPL): A, B – Heterogeneous character of Fabric A, showing variable grain size but comparable petrographic characteristics, namely the predominance of metaquartzite and granitoid lithoclasts and the dominance of muscovite over biotite. C – Fabric B, generally finer-grained and more clay-rich than Fabric A; unburnt plant tissue is visible in the centre of the image. D – Representative example of Fabric C, defined by granitoid clasts and the predominance of biotite over muscovite. E – Pronounced bimodality of grain-size distribution in Fabric D; the groundmass is clay-rich, while angular to subrounded granitoid clasts were used as temper. F – Optically inactive, silt-rich groundmass of Fabric E, tempered with grog. G – Graphite-tempered Fabric F. H – Specific sample classified as an outlier; dark Fe-rich material fills intergranular spaces and fractures within alkali feldspar grains; a metamorphic rock fragment with aligned micas is visible in the upper right part of the image. Online Supplementary Material 1. Catalogue of all ceramic fragments from the Lužice assemblage recorded during macroscopic analysis, used as the basis for the selection of samples for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and thin-section analyses. Online Supplementary Material 2. Drawings of La Tène pottery from feature 9/81 selected for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, with corresponding IDs. Drawings reproduced from Salač 1993. Online Supplementary Material 3. Drawings of Przeworsk pottery from feature 9/81 selected for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, with corresponding IDs. Drawings reproduced from Salač 1993. Online Supplementary Material 4. Categories and definitions of pottery attributes recorded during macroscopic analysis. Online Supplementary Material 5. Schematic classification of rim attributes, illustrating the different variants of rim direction (Op), thickening of the rim (Oz), and trimming of the lip (Os). Online Supplementary Material 6. Chemical composition of 30 selected pottery samples determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), including the concentrations of major oxides (wt.%) and trace elements (ppm) used for statistical analyses. Online Supplementary Material 7. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the XRF dataset, including the scree plot showing the eigenvalues of the principal components, PCA biplots (PC1–PC2 and PC1–PC3), and hierarchical clustering (dendrogram) used to select samples for thin-section analysis. Online Supplementary Material 8. Petrographic composition of the analysed samples. Semi-quantitative abundances of minerals and lithoclasts are expressed using the following scale: 5 = dominant, 4 = abundant, 3 = frequent, 2 = common, 1 = occasional, 0.5 = rare, and 0.1 = trace. Online Supplementary Material 9. Contingency table comparing the distribution of attributes among pottery attributed to different cultural groups, used as the basis for the chi-square test and Cramér’s V. Online Supplementary Material 10. Contingency table comparing the distribution of attributes among pottery assigned to different chemical groups, used as the basis for the chi-square test and Cramér’s V. Tab. 1. Number of ceramic fragments recovered from different parts of the feature and their cultural attribution. Tab. 2. Results of chi-square tests and Cramér’s V showing the associations between the cultural attribution of pottery and other attributes recorded during macroscopic observation. Tab. 3. Results of chi-square tests and Cramér’s V showing the associations between the chemical groups of pottery and ceramic attributes recorded during macroscopic observation. Tab. 4. Cultural attribution of pottery samples selected for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and thin-section analyses, and their classification into chemical and fabric groups. Tab. 5. Number of pottery samples with different cultural attribution within the identified chemical groups.