Ceramic Petrography

This paper aims to shed light on the mechanisms behind the transmission of the potter’s wheel in the Aegean and to explore the contexts of apprenticeship and practice that emerged in mainland Greece during the late 3rd millennium BC. Four ceramic assemblages from central Greece and the north-eastern Peloponnese have been examined through an inter-disciplinary approach combining different analytical methods to explore the underlying craft knowledge and technological traditions.
The results of this study revealed multiple phenomena of technical transfers over time and space. The appropriation of the potter’s wheel, which introduced a new specialised gestuality into the forming process, reflects a culturally determined technological phenomenon. The wheel, rejected by the majority of producers, was actually performed as a marginal craft practice specific to small communities that shared common traditions and constructed a distinct socio-cultural identity through a unique conception of pottery manufacture.

L’ objectif de cet article est d’élucider les mécanismes sous-jacents à la transmission du tour de potier dans le monde égéen et d’explorer les contextes d’apprentissage et de pratique, qui émergent dans le continent grec pendant les derniers siècles du 3e millénaire. Les poteries de quatre sites de la Grèce centrale et du nord-est du Péloponnèse ont été examinées à travers une approche interdisciplinaire
qui a combiné différents procédés d’analyse afin d’aborder les pots sous l’angle des savoirs et des traditions technologiques. Les résultats obtenus ont fait ressorti plusieurs phénomènes de transfert technique dans le temps et l’espace. Toutefois, l’appropriation du tour de potier, qui introduit un nouveau type de gestualité spécialisée dans le façonnage, s’avère être un phénomène technologique d’ordre culturel. Le tour, rejeté par la majorité des producteurs, se performait comme une pratique technique minoritaire, spécifique à des petites communautés qui partagent des traditions communes en construisant, à travers une conception du façonnage unique, une identité socio-culturelle distincte.

As part of the Topical Collection on the archaeometric study of ceramics, this paper focuses on terra sigillata ware. The main aims are to provide a review on the state of the art of the studies and to provide a guide to the most suitable analytical techniques. The text is divided into four main parts: (1) a brief archaeological introduction on the ancient production of terra sigillata; (2) a summary of the archaeometric studies carried out to date; (3) a reasoned list of the most suitable techniques for the investigation of the ceramic body and (4) an in-depth discussion on the most effective techniques for the study of the coating. The application of both destructive and non-destructive techniques is critically evaluated as well as the advantages and disadvantages provided by the different instrumentation, in terms of sample preparations and expected results.

En este aporte se presentan resultados de estudios experimentales, petrográficos y de difracción de rayos X (DRX) tendientes a determinar el origen de las materias primas utilizadas por los alfareros de El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán) durante el primer milenio de la Era. Para ello, se ha identificado la ubicación de probables fuentes de aprovisionamiento en el valle, evaluando la factibilidad de utilización y calidad de distintas vetas mediante la realización de muestras experimentales. Las briquetas resultantes de la experimentación se compararon con las pastas arqueológicas de los grupos tecnológicos principales, a partir de la observación petrográfica de veintidós cortes delgados, y de DRX de siete fragmentos. Los resultados obtenidos permitirían plantear la proveniencia local de las materias primas utilizadas. Abstract This contribution presents results of experimental, petrographic and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies aimed at determining social practices linked to obtaining raw materials used by potters of El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán) during the first millennium A.D. For these purposes, the location of probable sources of supply in the valley has been identified, evaluating the feasibility of use and quality from the realization of experimental samples. The briquettes resulting from the experimentation were compared with the archaeological pastes of the main technological groups, based on the petrographic observation of twenty-two thin cuts, and seven fragment XRD. The results obtained would allow us to state the local origin of the raw materials used.

Over the last two decades, ceramic petrography has played an integral role in deciphering the social networks associated with past pottery production and exchange. Pots themselves are the outcome of individual or collaborative practices governed by larger social bodies. While the burgeoning literature on communities of practice and technological style has made use of pottery analyses, we argue that the benefits of ceramic petrography to this kind of research have not been fully realized. Point-counting specifically provides information on tempering and forming techniques that were often mediated by kinship, marriage, and identity. Provenance data serve as evidence of object exchange that followed the contours of political and religious movements. At root, these insights share common ground; they tell us how pottery making was informed by specific kinds of relationships that existed between potters and larger social networks. The case studies presented here use a variety of techniques within ceramic petrography to decipher these relationships. Our goal is to showcase through diachronic, cross-cultural analyses the utility of using all aspects of petrographic analysis to better characterize past potting networks. We ultimately use these case studies to demonstrate how social archaeology can benefit by employing a multi-faceted petrographic approach.

This paper concerns Sasanian to Early Islamic period transport containers, usually lined with bitumen, known as Torpedo jars. Widely distributed throughout the western Indian Ocean, with outliers as far west as Egypt and to the east in Indonesia, they are an important marker of maritime exchange. Their area of production is thought to be central/southern Iraq or southwestern Iran, the latter in keeping with proposed bitumen sources in the region of Ilam/Khuzestan. Here thirteen Torpedo jar samples from Siraf (southern Iran), belonging to two class categories defined by form and macroscopic fabric, were analysed. The technology of manufacture and potential source areas were examined in thin section by polarising, digital and scanning electron microscopy. These same techniques were used to examine the bitumen layer, providing insight into the vessel lining process. Analysis generally validated the distinction between the two classes; fabric variation within the classes identified eight petro-fabrics, suggestive of at least five workshops. These results point to regionally related workshops for each class category, exploiting distinct clay resources, rather than two single production sites. Suitable clay resources are widely available throughout central/southern Iraq and southwestern Iran, including Ilam/Khuzestan.

Pages 166–188 in “Up to the Gates of Ekron”: Essays on the Archaeology and History of the Eastern Mediterranean in Honor of Seymour Gitin, ed. S. White Crawford, A. Ben-Tor, J. P. Dessel, W. G. Dever, A. Mazar, and J. Aviram. Jerusalem: W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research: Israel Exploration Society.

This book is about the Maya who inhabited northern Yucatán, México, during the centuries around the European arrival,
the Late Postclassic (AD c. 1100-1500). The Europeans arrived only decades after the abandonment of Mayapán, the last
Maya capital in this region. The nature of Late Postclassic (LP) society is not well understood, primarily because its socioeconomic
nature eludes researchers. To gain a better understanding of the Late Postclassic social and economic
environment in northern Yucatán, this study focuses on ceramic production, a crucial socio-economic aspect of the ancient
Maya society.
Through a combination of analytical methods that include petrographic, chemical, and surface features analyses, this
research reconstructs ceramic production technology and examines regional patterns in this technology for vessels from
Mayapán, minor north-central sites, and eastern sites. The research questions can be summarised as follows. Were there
patterns in raw material selection and ceramic technology reflecting zones of production, groups of potters, technological
traditions, or other social divisions? What might such patterns tell us about the organisation of production and the nature
of interactions, including networks of ceramic exchange and technological traditions that may reflect social divisions or
integration?
The results of this study have provided new insights into the technology involved in the manufacture of Late Postclassic
ceramics. The potters who produced these ceramics had a deep working knowledge of the very challenging raw materials
available for pottery making in northern Yucatán.
This study shows that raw material selection is not random and follows patterns determined by overarching technological
traditions dictating the appropriate materials for different types of vessels at different geographical locations. These
traditions can be traced back to, at least, the northern Terminal Classic, and continue up to the present. Furthermore,
cultural divisions between Mayapán and minor north-central sites may be reflected in the data. Divisions are also observed
between eastern fabrics in utilitarian vessels and fabrics in north-central vessels. At least two orientations to production
are emerging because the association between raw materials and types of vessels at Mayapán differs from minor northcentral
sites. This study found that many potters’ groups may have supplied the minor north-central centres, while the
compositionally and technologically homogeneity of Mayapán pottery points to few raw materials sources.
New perspectives have been gained on long-standing questions about the location of zones of productions, the extent of
the export and import of Mayapán vessels, and the mechanisms of exchange that may have been involved in this
movement of vessels. Mayapán imported few vessels and exported many. However, vessels with Mayapán fabric style
are found only at sites less than two days’ march from this major site. A ritual context or a limited sub-regional market
context may explain this movement. These findings have informed current views about Late Postclassic ceramic
production, exchange, and advanced our understanding of the socio-economic nature of this period.