Latvian pottery

Pottery of the Narva culture

Neolithic Europe, Pit–Comb Ware culture in purple

The Neolithic Pit–Comb Ware culture (AKA Comb Ceramic culture) that spanned the entire territory of modern-day Latvia derives its name from the pottery characteristic of the time – wares decorated with impressions of a comb-like object. Narva culture spanning the entire territory of modern-day Estonia and Latvia, as well as parts of Lithuania and Western Russia, is a subset of the larger Pit–Comb Ware culture.

Pit–Comb Ware culture is usually thought to have used an early form of what are today known as the Uralic languages, a competing view is that they may have been speakers of a Paleo-European language.[1]

Some of the types of wares characteristic to Latgale pottery are vāraunieks (a pot for cooking), medaunieks (a pot for honey storage), sloinīks (a pot for storing fruit preserves), ķērne (a pot for storing sour cream), ļaks (a vessel for storage of oil), piena pods (a pot for storing cow's milk), kazelnieks (a pot for goat milk storage), pārosis (lit. "over-handle", a vessel for bringing food to the field), bļoda (bowl), krūze (a jug or a mug, most often for beer or milk).[2]

Some Latgale pottery wares are not food-related, these include human, animal, folk figure shaped ocarinas (sviļpaunīki), candlesticks (svečturi) and decorative plates and possibly other items meeting more contemporary demands, for example, ashtrays.