EARLY NEOLITHIC MAT IMPRESSIONS

Mat impressions found on the bases of clay vessels provide some of the earliest evidence for the knowledge of the techniques necessary for weaving. Presumably pieces of matting would have been used under the wet clay from which a pot was being formed by hand so that it could be turned around readily to shape it. (The potters' wheel was not discovered until several thousand years had passed after the first use of pottery). In other cases the impression is fainter and the finished vessel was placed on matting to dry.

MIDDLE NEOLITHIC MAT IMPRESSION

This impression was left on a lump of wet clay stored or carried in a basket and left to dry out. The pattern of the 2x2 twill shows clearly with enough detail to recognise that the basket was made from reeds or rushes.

Cf account by Jill Carington Smith in Servia I 240-248