Styles céramiques et limites culturelles dans la culture Rhin-Suisse-France orientale

There are sufficient data available in France for the Late Bronze Age IIb-IIIa (c.1150-950 BC) to examine questions of identity, in particular with the decorated pottery grouped under the label “Rhin-Suisse-France orientale” (RSFO). A structural analysis of the variability of ceramic assemblages was undertaken in order to define regional identities in the RSFO culture. The assemblages either show a strong RSFO identity or simply include one of this culture’s components. It is therefore possible not only to delimit and characterize the culture area, but also to discuss the validity of stylistic zones within which ceramic assemblages share technical traditions and to a lesser extent decoration motifs. Using different scales of study (zones and regions), the aim here is thus to use RSFO ceramics to address the issue of cultural “boundaries”.