Charles C. Kolb, associate editor, archaeological ceramics
The Joint Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) (formerly known as the American Philological Association) took place in Washington, D.C., 2-5 January 2020. Ceramics were represented at this year’s meeting by 34 oral presentations and 4 posters; three full sessions were devoted to pottery: an Open Session: “Connecting Sherds to Big Questions in the Mediterranean,” a second Open Session: “Prehistoric Cretan Ceramics,” and a Colloquium: “Ancient Pottery: Shapes and Contexts.” The summary of these ceramic-related sessions is presented below:
The AIA Public Lecture. “Conversations with a Pot Whisperer: Archaeological Ceramics and the Stories they Tell,” was presented by Kathleen Lynch, Professor of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, a specialist in Greek pottery, particularly vase-painting and the social aspects of pottery, and has completed fieldwork in Albania, Greece, and Turkey. Her presentation began with the kinds of information pottery presents which is otherwise difficult to get and that archaeologists need to “look at a lot of pottery to understand it,” and “there is meaning in chronology.” Ceramics from the Athenian Agora and Troy provided examples. A single decorated sherd from Troy, depicting an event from the Battle of Marathon, was helpful for redating the Hephaisteion to 490-480 BC rather than 450 BC. A church built over the site protected the original stratigraphy even after individuals were interred under its floor. Well J in the Persian Destruction Debris Deposit provided evidence of pottery made specifically for a symposium (a drinking party) and kylixes depicted jokes about getting drunk and illustrated drinkers wearing cattle horns, and even the ransoming of Hector. She also explained why Etruscans purchased Greek pottery and why they preferred “Greek-y” ceramics so that Greek artisans fabricated vessels for the Etruscan market and why Persians continued to use imported Greek pottery. Lesson learned were “don’t try to be too myopic and miss the real meaning” and “all pottery carries meaning but none by itself, Meaning is the relationship between all pottery” (apologies to Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood, 1979). The lecture demonstrated why Lynch has won numerous teaching awards and why she was an excellent choice to deliver this AIA Public Lecture.
Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology Professor Heather Lechtman. She is a materials scientist and archaeologist and Director at the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1977. Lechtman graduated from Vassar College with a BA Physics, worked at the Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research (1956-1960), the American Institute of Physics (1960-1962), and Brookhaven National Laboratory (1963-1964). In 1966 she received an MA in Fine Arts and Archaeology M.A. and a diploma in art and archaeological conservation (1966) from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She then became a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967, and a professor in Materials Science and Engineering there in 1973. Her research has demonstrated the development and spread of metallurgical technologies, especially pre-Hispanic metallurgy flourished in two regions of South America: the north coast of Peru, and the high plateau extending from the Bolivia-Chile-Peru border to northwestern Argentina. She determined from her field and laboratory studies that Andean metallurgy is distinct from the early metallurgies of western Asia, Europe, and Africa, in the Andean region, and in particular the use of bronze alloys as arsenic bronze. She was a MacArthur Fellow in 1984.
I was able to attend about half of the talks on ceramics over the three days and I viewed the four posters. I’ll highlight those that have some significance to the readership. In addition, I’ll report on a workshop “Examining Ancient Color through the Lens of Materials Analysis” featuring archaeometric studies on a variety of material culture (but only one on pottery).
Open Session: Connecting Sherds to Big Questions in the Mediterranean (5 papers).
“Putting My Best Leg Forward: Ritual Vessels, Neolithic Exchange Networks, and Prehistoric Corinth” by Carolin “Katy” Fine Garcia (Florida State University) focused on Middle Neolithic anthropomorphic four-legged rhytons decorated by painting or incision and known since 1937. She discussed distribution in southeastern Europe (45 sites mostly circum-Adriatic) and associations with obsidian and Spondylus shell at Corinth, residue analysis, and relations to Danilo Ware. “Sherd by Sherd: A Quantitative Analysis of the Miniature Pottery from the SE Ramp Deposits at Ancient Eleon, Boeotia” by Charlie J. Kocurek, (University of Cincinnati). Charlie Jeanne Frances Kocurek is a first-year doctoral student in Classical Archaeology. She focused on two phases of ramp construction associated with painted miniatures of Kylix Ware, bronze philae, and terracotta figurines. New motifs and vessel shape were examined and related to a tentative Classical phase with an increasing frequency of fineware miniatures through four phases. “Through Thick and Thin: Identifying Multiculturalism and Personhood through the Evolution of Cooking Wares at Prepalatial Mochlos” by Luke Kaiser (University of Arizona). His ultimate goal is to determine how society was structured during the Early Minoan phase at this site by examining kitchenware and the stratigraphy of platters and plates through EM I, IIA, and IIB. Changes in technology suggested multiculturalism. “Why Use the Wheel-Throwing Technique at Middle Minoan II (1800-1700 BC) Phaistos, Crete? Combining Experimental Archaeology with Macroscopic Analysis and Contextual Information” by Ilaria IC Caloi (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice). Ilaria studied MM IB Kamares Ware from the north coast and the central south coast of Crete. Wheel-throwing (coil-built and finished on a wheel) is characteristic only on the north coast (MM IB to MM IIA) and related to cultural changes in architecture. “Work feasts” were held during MM IIA building projects and cup-like ”ration bowls” discarded by the workers. There was likely mass production and standardization of bridge-spouted jars and simple cups in the north. Experimental archaeology employed a Minoan-type potter’s wheel, five different forming techniques, and pit kilns. The final paper included archaeometry: “Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer Analysis of the Pylos Linear B Tablets” by Billy B. Wilemon, Jr. (Independent Scholar), Michael L. Galaty (University of Michigan), and Dimitri Nakassis (University of Colorado, Boulder). The team reported preliminary results of work on the incised texts on the tablets, initially outlining how pXRF was used and the importance of being a non-destructive methodology. The site was discussed, locations of the specimens reported; there were clusters of tablets mainly in one room, a patio, and three other rooms in an archives complex. Cluster analysis was reported for 33 elements on 176 tablets producing five groupings on page-shaped specimens, 22 groupings on leaf-shaped tablets, and 14 groupings of tablet sealing’s. Different hands inscribed the tablets and different types of clays were utilized which helped to suggest hypothetical boundaries for Pylian territory. Stay tuned for future assessments.
Colloquium: Ancient Pottery: Shapes and Contexts (7 papers). Organizers: Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell (University of St. Thomas) and David Saunders (Getty Museum). “Athenian Black-figure and Red-figure Pointed Amphoras: New Considerations on their Shape, Decoration, and Context” by
Cristiana Zaccagnino (Queen’s University). Decorated amphora, pot stands, and neck decorations (mythological scenes) from museum specimens were detailed. Provenience studies determined that the vessels were acquired in Roman markets; graffito and inscriptions suggested that the amphora were part of gift-giving. “Lidded Kraters” by Jasper Gaunt (Independent Scholar). Most Etruscan and Chaladian kraters had no lids but he determined primary and secondary uses of these vessels, and the use of removable strainers. Monster cups and dinoi were also discussed. “Athenian Hydriai in Etruscan Vulci: Shape, Image, Assemblage” by Sheramy D. Bundrick (University of South Florida St. Petersburg). She discussed the shoulder-decorated of specimens “excavated” during the 19th century (hence, no provenience) and two excavated since the 1980s as grave goods from tombs with excellent provenience. All 40 vessels came from Boeotia and had similar decorative themes involving chariots. “Bacchic Buckets: Situlae in Magna Graecia” by Keely Elizabeth Heuer (State University of New York at New Paltz). Ceramic wine buckets derived from bronze and silver prototypes (skeumorph isn’t used as a descriptor). The corpus for analysis included Apulian (n = 79), Lucanian (3), Campanian (2) and Pastean (1) specimens which she divided into three types with four kinds of decoration (Dionysian scenes and Italia figures). These were “prestige vessels” used as funerary offerings and celebrated victories, love, or apotheosis. “The Body Eclectic: Nikosthenes and Attic Shape Novelty in Etruria” by Jennifer S. Tafe (Boston University). Nikosthenes was both a potter and painter but employed up to 37 workers in his workshop producing eclectic novelties depicted on amphorae and kyanthos 545-510 BC. Tafe interprets the forms and ponders: who had a taste for these objects? Apparently a mix of Athenians and Etruscans. “Athenian Images for Whom? A View from the Iberian Peninsula” by Diana Rodríguez Pérez (Wolfson College, University of Oxford). Rodriguez examined Athenian pottery in Iberia before the Cartheginian conquest ca. 300 BC excavated from necropolis. Black-figure and Red-figure kraters having out-turned rims from four sites were analyzed and the distributions examined at four sites. There were no clear distribution patterns in three of the sites. Black was not a “cheap” alternative to Red-figures vessels, but Athenian images on Red-figured specimens were reserved for Iberian princes. Lastly, “The Red or the Black? The Deposition of Lekythoi in Athens and Abroad” by Amy C. Smith (Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, University of Reading) and Katerina Volioti (University of Roehampton). Distributions of lekythoi in Athens, the Aegean islands, and westward to the Italian Peninsula were examined.
Open Session: Prehistoric Cretan Ceramics. “Knossos, Phaistos, and the Neolithics of Crete: New Light on Chronology, Connectivity and Cultural Divergence before the Bronze Age” by Simona V. Todaro (Catania University) and Peter D. Tomkins (University of Sheffield). “From Coarse to Fine and all through Time: Trickle Pattern Ware from the Early to Late Bronze Age on Crete” by Lauren Oberlin (University of Michigan). “A View from the Center: Ceramic Consumption in Middle Minoan IIB Sector Pi at Malia” by Georgios Doudalis (Ruprecht-Karls Universitat Heidelberg). “Small but Mighty: Miniature Ceramic Vessels in MM IB-LM IB Minoan Settlements on Crete” by Rachel Dewan (University of Toronto). “New Evidence from Late Minoan I Pottery Deposits at Gournia” by Robert Angus K. Smith (Brock University). “Cretan Overseas Connections In Late Minoan IIIC: The Contribution of Transport Stirrup Jars” by Halford W. Haskell (Southwestern University).
In terms of content on ceramics topics, this was certainly one of the best AIA meetings I’ve attended since 1970 (out of 25 or so).
Comments
Post a Comment