ANT312H5 Lecture 8: ANT312 Lec 8
14 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
ANT312 Archaeological analysis
Ceramic analysis
Many objects made of clay/ceramics
-Examples: cuneiform, porcelain doll, figurines, marbles, bricks, clay pipe, weights for
-Most common: vessels and containers; colour and shape can vary based on culture. Different
decorations and techniques
Why Study Ceramics?
- Have been around for a long time
- Once people became sedentary, more common-associated with sedentary populations. First
containers associated with Jomon
- Frequently found: Cheap and Durable
- Clues in artifacts on how, where, and when artifacts were made
Integrated in many aspects of life
- Subsistence and foodways
- Storage and economy
- Social organization
- Trade networks
- Craft specialization
- Social status and hierarchy
- Ideology, religion, art, writing
We find shards
1.raw Material
Fabric/Paste”clay + inclusions
- clay: fine-grained, silica-rich sediment
- inclusions: any non-clay particles
- not primary contexts, found in floodplains, can collect as mud or as a dry material. Paste includes
inclusions.
-can put clay in water, organic material will float and collect fine clay
Temper- materials intentionally added to clay to change physical properties, reduce shrinkage and
prevent cracking- (wheat chaff, sand, shell, old pottery)
-sand:vessels will be more tolerant to heat- for cooking
-chaff- resistant to cracking
Pigments- minerals that are crushed- add colour to
-when record colour of ceramic, it may not have been the colour it was before
-brickworks: it was a quarry, all filled. All this was clay coming from Dunn river
Temper
- Added to reduce shrinkage
- Increase strength and workability
- Increase heat resistance
- Alter firing temperature
Analysis of fabric:
- Macroscopic (temper % chart)
- Microscopic (thin section)
- Chemical (neutron activation analysis)
We can learn about:
- Raw material sources
- Intended characteristics of product
2. Manufacture
-transformative process
2.1 Vessel Construction
2.1.1 Modeling
-mould shape into whatever you want
Analysis
- Uneven thickness- some people press harder in some places
- Random organization of inclusion
2.1.2 Coiling
Analysis:
- Step fracture- fracture will follow the paste
- Linear organization of inclusions
2.1.3 Slab building
Analysis:
- random organization of inclusions
