Case Study: Pikunda The study area is of special importance as it represents a north to south transect from the savannas in the southern Central African Republic into the heart of the rainforest in the south (Seidensticker 2016) (Fig. 1). The initial phase of pottery production in the southern half of the study area, the western parts of the Congo Basin, is represented by the Imbonga style, which is only attested for in isolated finds. The oldest well- established pottery style is named after the sites of Pikunda and Munda and dates into the 2nd c. BC to 3rd c. AD (Fig. 2). During the Late Iron Age, the Ngoko style-tradition establishes at the western fringes of the study area. In the northern part, south of the Ubangi bend, the regional sequence starts with the contemporaneous Batalimo-Maluba style. References: CAU, M.-A. at al. 2004. Exploring automatic grouping procedures in ceramic petrology. J. Arch. Sci. 31: 1325–38. ; PERSITS, F. et al. 1997. Maps showing geology, oil and gas fields and geological provinces of Africa. Open-File Report 97-470- A. USGS. ; QUINN, P.S. 2013. Ceramic Petrography: The Interpretation of Archaeological pottery & Related Artefacts in Thin Section. Oxford: Archaeopress. ; SEIDENSTICKER, D. 2016. Archaeology and History in Iron Age Settlements in the Congo Basin, in K. Sadr et al. (ed.) African Archaeology Without Frontiers: 114–26. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. ; WOTZKA, H.-P. 1995. Studien zur Archäologie des zentralafrikanischen Regenwaldes: Die Keramik des inneren Zaïre-Beckens und ihre Stellung im Kontext der Bantu-Expansion. Africa Praehistorica 6. Köln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut. ZAM 85/101:14 ITN 87/101:11 SUN 87/101:87 PIK 87/1-9:7 MTB 85/101:65,101 MLD 87/103:12 MBN 85/101:30 SUN 87/101:72 APPROACHING TRANS-GENERATIONAL TRAINING NETWORKS IN CENTRAL AFRICA Using ceramic petrography to retrace provenance and technology throughout two millennia Dirk Seidensticker Potters’ traditions within the Congo Basin Rainforest are still vibrant today and the result of a supposedly more than two millennia-long transfer of knowledge. While for the past decades' pottery finds were used to establish sequences of stylistically interrelated pottery groups and to derive regional chrono-historical frameworks, the way these communities of practice transmitted their approaches and expertise throughout generations is still unknown. The first study focusing on petrographic characterizations of ceramics from the north-western parts of the Congo Basin showed distinct phases of similar clay procurement and processing. Of special interest is the site of Pikunda (PIK). In the late 1980s, multiple archaeological features were excavated and ethnographic observations on potters’ production showed a particular chaîne opératoire, comprised of coiling, internal scraping, and external beating. Clay procurement and preparation were not recorded though. Department of Archaeology dirk.seidensticker@ugent.be Acknowledgments: The Faculty Research Fund (CWO) of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Ghent University funded the preparation of thin-sections as well as the participation in the course on Scientific Approaches to Archaeological Ceramic Analysis (13-18 July 2020) by P. Quinn. Thanks go to Dimitri Teetaert (UGent) for aiding with the initial identification. Figure 1: Geological Map (Persits et al. 1997) of the study area with archaeological sites (black dots). Sites selected for petrographic and geochemical analysis are highlighted. Colored circles correspond to grouped thin-sections (Fig. 3-4). Figure 2: Chronology of pottery styles. Bars with grey gradient represent radiocarbon dated (little dots show median ages) and dashed bars relatively dated styles. Colored circles correspond to grouped thin-sections (Fig. 3-4). Figure 4: Grouping of characteristics observed within the studied thin-sections. Figure 5: Pit features from trench PIK 87/1 (Excavation and 14C-dates, examples of pottery, macro- and microscopic fabri