Essai d'une chronologie de la céramique préhistorique des environs de Genève

The stations which gave pottery in the country of Geneva can be attributed to the Neolithic, to the Bronze and Iron age and the Roman period. No pottery was found in the Magdalenian. But in some „mesolithic (tardenoiso-sauveterrain)" levels a rough pottery coexists with microlithic flint implements. The author demonstrates that these „mesolithic" levels are to be attributed to more recent periods, probably to a period extending from the end of the Neolithic to the Iron age, inclusively. The prehistoric pottery of the region of Geneva can be correctly dated by the whole of the documents, according the stratigraphical method; there are two main types of vessels: l.those which have been well made by craftsmen (craftsman' pottery), and 2. those which have been rapidly made on the spot (domestic pottery). Both types persist together from the Neolithic to the Roman period, so that confusion is possible. The author opposes stratigraphical method to typological method. The first one is very more trustworthy but it does not allow to state details precisely. For the country of Geneva it does not yet seem possible to divide the Neolithic period into several levels; the same for the Bronze age.