tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22290217107681075012024-03-19T04:47:51.874-04:00The SAS Bulletin OnlineThe Society for Archaeological Sciences (SAS) is a non-profit organization for students and professionals working with physical and natural science applications in archaeology, paleoanthropology, and museum conservation, and for anyone who supports such research. Formerly this blog was a standalone online product of SAS. Since 2019, the blog and traditional Bulletin have merged and now Bulletin content is published here first and then summarized in quarterly digests received by SAS members.Andrew Zipkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496364396058592465noreply@blogger.comBlogger385125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-6131764456387141422024-02-09T11:43:00.003-05:002024-02-09T11:43:22.874-05:00SAS Research Support Award - John Murray<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>How did Middle Stone Age humans heat-treat silcrete over time in South Africa?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">John Murray, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University</span></p><p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I received an SAS Student and ECR Research Support Award to support my dissertation research
that focuses on better understanding the emergence of lithic heat treatment technology during the
Middle Stone Age (MSA) of South Africa. Specifically, my research aims to address the question:
<span style="font-style: italic;">how did MSA humans heat-treat silcrete on the south coast of South Africa over time? </span>Currently,
the heat treatment of silcrete at Pinnacle Point 13B (PP13B) in South Africa ~162,000 years ago
(ka) represents the earliest evidence for humans using fire to improve the quality of lithic tool-
stone. Researchers have argued that heat treatment requires analogical reasoning, which is a feature
of complex cognition, but this is debated. The relevance of heat treatment to arguments of
cognition are dependent on which method of heat treatment was utilized by MSA humans,
however, we currently lack well-established approaches to identify this in the archaeological
record.
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are multiple working hypotheses surrounding the method used to heat-treat silcrete in the
MSA which include: (1) the direct method where silcrete nodules are directly placed in the fire;
(2) the ember method where the nodule is placed near the fire under a pile of coals, and (3) the
sand-bath method in which silcrete nodules are buried underneath the fire and heated indirectly
through the sand. To test these hypotheses, I have experimentally heat-treated silcrete using the
sand bath, ember, and direct heating method to create experimental reference assemblages for each
method of heating (Figure 1). These experimental assemblages have been used to establish a multi-
proxy approach that includes attribute criteria and novel quantitative methods with empirical
support for identifying each method of heat treatment in the archaeological record. The novel
quantitative methods include the application of two non-destructive methods that I developed to
detect heat-treated silcrete in the archaeological record – the surface roughness method and the
quantitative color method. These methods have been expanded to not only determine if a silcrete
artifact was heated, but also how it was heated. The attribute criteria and methods developed with
the experimental assemblage are now being used to analyze three MSA archaeological sites –
PP13B, PP 5-6, and Boomplaas Cave – to determine how the method of heat treatment varied from
~165 ka to 30 ka and across diverse paleoenvironmental, paleoecological, and technology contexts.
</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt87iopghvYzQnvYxvFsqYm-mj-WxDyZXAVNi93eQpsCKVWme22IZaIRsy0hdsaSPjW3yWAU6UHoOqjA7RC2XG8dJ52SHdAqnmOjOM7vs1oMa1mdY1wOMrLcy_i2RGMNyQ9jtkqSO4rs6kSH14OWp5VtuMmf9hZ1f3lzBcs1euaWCE2fuH_FpqAB1cns5/s562/Murray_Fig.1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="489" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt87iopghvYzQnvYxvFsqYm-mj-WxDyZXAVNi93eQpsCKVWme22IZaIRsy0hdsaSPjW3yWAU6UHoOqjA7RC2XG8dJ52SHdAqnmOjOM7vs1oMa1mdY1wOMrLcy_i2RGMNyQ9jtkqSO4rs6kSH14OWp5VtuMmf9hZ1f3lzBcs1euaWCE2fuH_FpqAB1cns5/w556-h640/Murray_Fig.1.png" width="556" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Figure 1. Experiments demonstrating the three methods of lithic heat treatment technology being tested (Photo courtesy of John Murray).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This award supported the analysis of silcrete artifacts from PP13B and PP5-6 during the 2023 field
season (Figure 2). It allowed me to purchase silicone peeling compound to replicate the surface
roughness of lithic artifacts at 1 nanometer resolution. Although preliminary, the results suggest
that the ember method was primarily used to heat-treat silcrete at Pinnacle Point, but a significant
portion of artifacts were heat-treated using the sand-bath method. This suggests that multiple
strategies of heat treatment were utilized over time, including within the same layers. This research
has implications for understanding when and in what context lithic heat treatment technology arose
which can help shed light on debates regarding the emergence of advanced cognition.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Hj9_2R2GVZBNd_PqqD2WxvlHyTxP-cxCdRV-hbQFYbAEIaKW2TjUpIgkgbpsY8FZPSGGG3gCV5EeeKoGCDE_5vlnL5PbAzd3xx4HIyQXZU4V5yIVlpWgXHrdoSvGBtDSGyxplg3L1qHc5_T3pYesDeyYUp_DluFekZ2SEZOFpLZ0C4q7VwPpw9fSEvnd/s643/Murray_Fig.2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="483" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Hj9_2R2GVZBNd_PqqD2WxvlHyTxP-cxCdRV-hbQFYbAEIaKW2TjUpIgkgbpsY8FZPSGGG3gCV5EeeKoGCDE_5vlnL5PbAzd3xx4HIyQXZU4V5yIVlpWgXHrdoSvGBtDSGyxplg3L1qHc5_T3pYesDeyYUp_DluFekZ2SEZOFpLZ0C4q7VwPpw9fSEvnd/w480-h640/Murray_Fig.2.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Figure 2. The analysis of the silcrete artifacts from Pinnacle Point during the summer of 2023 (Photo courtesy of John Murray).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-12584196660237426422024-02-05T17:19:00.000-05:002024-02-05T17:19:07.054-05:00SAS Research Support Awardee - Sutonuka Bhattacharya<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Multiple dimensions of grinding stones in South India
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sutonuka Bhattacharya, <i>Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
</i></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOS8h1U4UgWcpRr_7WVKel_6xACpwP55mbAOJLE60I1SMVqgY8YdHPdTgLtan-Hqmw4uDaMM1194wlfAORmA74cbB0YigozvTYAI-VZEEg2DQwQ8gDAW4L0eZc8-LK6-57nvK9kAhcsh_fYduuGGNx19pynGBSTFz6Lj4N81sWYDL2HskIcDXRvrMdOP_R/s6250/Fig_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6250" data-original-width="4419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOS8h1U4UgWcpRr_7WVKel_6xACpwP55mbAOJLE60I1SMVqgY8YdHPdTgLtan-Hqmw4uDaMM1194wlfAORmA74cbB0YigozvTYAI-VZEEg2DQwQ8gDAW4L0eZc8-LK6-57nvK9kAhcsh_fYduuGGNx19pynGBSTFz6Lj4N81sWYDL2HskIcDXRvrMdOP_R/w283-h400/Fig_1.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The Indian Neolithic has been a subject of extensive exploration since the 19th century,
primarily focusing on material culture, including representative pottery styles, flaked lithics,
figurines, bone tools, as well as archaeobotanical and archaeozoological studies (Ghosh, 1990;
Korisettar et al., 2003). However, the investigation into grinding stone technologies has been
comparatively limited, often confined to typological considerations, and lacking in-depth
analyses beyond nomenclatures. This study aims to fill this gap by placing Neolithic grinding
stones in a broader context, exploring their significance as indicators of the organization of
agro-pastoral communities across diverse ecological zones, varying subsistence strategies,
settlement patterns, and temporal shifts.
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The exploration of reduction sequences, encompassing raw material sourcing, preliminary
manufacture, transport, uses, breakage, discard, and potential reuse or recycling, represents a
novel contribution to the understanding of the Indian Neolithic. Macroscopic examination of
surfaces and residue analysis of freshly excavated samples further enhances our comprehension
of their uses. Importantly, the continuation of grinding stone use in contemporary Indian
traditions among different communities—sedentary farmers, pastoral nomads, and urban
dwellers—provides an ideal setting for ethnographic work. This work serves to establish a
comprehensive reference collection, not only beneficial for studying grinding stones in the
Indian context but also applicable to analogous environments worldwide.
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ethnographic studies and experimental reconstructions of manufacturing processes, use,
discard, and perceptions of grinding stones contribute to building analogies for understanding
archaeological contexts. Examining aspects such as maintenance, reuse, taphonomy, hand
movements, and the <span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne opératoire </span>of modern grinding stones facilitates the integration of
these processes within the larger socioeconomic fabric of diverse cultures residing in varied
biogeographic zones. This investigation offers insights into knowledge transmission,
socialization, cooperation, and community engagement across generations.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijoRAk-KXwKhwTGsL9kQBm3aGvw785Wm2ZD84RkanqnW_4D3kkVS3u5IfdHRc6U6btaTJnSwCIwjdC83WmTOW5v83bxNgtpmXRmWplR8frhL2EEcinhr7YLZFZFqJXYLFQaAuLy-dY4NZ-ik80_VU_qrhgzzb3Cr0V5B_F1CVRzvzz57742CtTStOP8XHG/s6250/Fig.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6250" data-original-width="4419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijoRAk-KXwKhwTGsL9kQBm3aGvw785Wm2ZD84RkanqnW_4D3kkVS3u5IfdHRc6U6btaTJnSwCIwjdC83WmTOW5v83bxNgtpmXRmWplR8frhL2EEcinhr7YLZFZFqJXYLFQaAuLy-dY4NZ-ik80_VU_qrhgzzb3Cr0V5B_F1CVRzvzz57742CtTStOP8XHG/w283-h400/Fig.2.jpg" width="283" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Simultaneously, the ethnoarchaeological studies undertaken aim to illuminate the social
contexts in which these artifacts are utilized, providing insights into domestic and communal
tool use and its implications for social and economic practices. These studies offer relevance
not only within the Indian context but also as analogies for artifacts and comparisons with
Neolithic sites globally. The significance of this study lies in its multifaceted analysis of
grinding stones and the construction of models that elucidate evolving human interactions with
both 'wild' and 'domesticated' landscapes over time. Furthermore, the research serves as a
comparative baseline for future studies on the development of grinding technology throughout
India, offering a clearer picture of household activities and ritual behaviours during the
Neolithic, thereby contributing to the understanding of social changes during the transition
from foraging to farming.
</span></p>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-83523445207334894872024-02-05T16:59:00.000-05:002024-02-05T16:59:05.998-05:00SAS Research Support Awardee - Melissa Cadet<p>
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<p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Preliminary data for technologies and exchanges of copper-based objects during the
Philippines’ Metal Period
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<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Mélissa Cadet, <i>Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taipei</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Kuan-Wen Wang, I<i>nstitute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taipei</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, <i>Archaeology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Manila</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Camille Ann Valencia, <i>Archaeology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Manila</i></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During the Metal Periods of Southeast Asia, copper was among one of the far-voyaging
mediums involved in complex and long-range exchanges systems along with other types of
goods (ceramics, hard stone ornaments, glass etc.). Metallurgical research in Island
Southeast Asia (ISEA) has for the moment remained little studied, including the Philippines
and Taiwan which are the focus of the current project. Copper/bronze metallurgy most
probably dispersed through the South China Sea via contacts/exchanges with Mainland
Southeast Asia, but we still have limited knowledge of how, when and why this occurred. In
what forms did copper and its alloys arrive on the islands? What was exchanged in return?
Also, Island Southeast Asia is a vast area with a wide variety of cultures and environments.
Certainly, the ways in which metallurgy arrived, the means and the periods differed from
one area to another. A postdoctoral project leads by the lead-author at the Academia Sinica
in Taipei focus on copper metallurgy in Taiwan during the Metal Age and its potential
relations to the Philippines by the application of an archaeometric approach involving
compositional (SEM-EDS), microstructural (Optical Microscopy) and a study of the exchange
networks (Lead isotope analysis). </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaONstbH4G2ilRXZk5iuScLfuv31hxxUYEt9fYc80Ufh3oUeax3MDnyNtHr_4Lgs3ZMTeExoe5zzjCzFOO6Q6KQt8zhT3WnjAszRhfH4uHfooTvZwC-yigXlai3wXQ60dqTD9XpUTxzmwMncdwMcm9zV5ppcs2Mac2SEEjSPPjq-Xll6D2AuKou7OJ9jSy/s1242/Image%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1242" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaONstbH4G2ilRXZk5iuScLfuv31hxxUYEt9fYc80Ufh3oUeax3MDnyNtHr_4Lgs3ZMTeExoe5zzjCzFOO6Q6KQt8zhT3WnjAszRhfH4uHfooTvZwC-yigXlai3wXQ60dqTD9XpUTxzmwMncdwMcm9zV5ppcs2Mac2SEEjSPPjq-Xll6D2AuKou7OJ9jSy/w640-h446/Image%201.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVIMOIH_vOCyteJCBu0t1hm3Kc6CR5UTrmHTmrSh2Onzu44Ccab-Q-3aCmfivTvu1i95h3WFmEm31g2tRP4a1cgggtPd_6FoMjTsELqXQpZBhltKlLh6s0e5GOp_eWYWwfPMbyKc_QBcpxEODwbkLmWe0Wa3MVWljoqwmJVz_H_0SeMDY8bD_xYYAB-iDC/s885/Image%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="885" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVIMOIH_vOCyteJCBu0t1hm3Kc6CR5UTrmHTmrSh2Onzu44Ccab-Q-3aCmfivTvu1i95h3WFmEm31g2tRP4a1cgggtPd_6FoMjTsELqXQpZBhltKlLh6s0e5GOp_eWYWwfPMbyKc_QBcpxEODwbkLmWe0Wa3MVWljoqwmJVz_H_0SeMDY8bD_xYYAB-iDC/w640-h512/Image%202.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;">The comparison between Taiwan and the Philippines
seems appropriate because contacts between these two areas have been known and
studied since the mid-20th century. These exchanges were in place from the Neolithic period
and may certainly involve the circulation of populations, raw materials and objects,
witnessed particularly by the presence of Taiwanese nephrite, similar styles of reddish
pottery and glass beads between Taiwan and northern Philippines. However, these
interactions are seldom attested through detailed material analysis on artefacts, apart from
nephrite objects which have been the focus of several studies. Supported by the SAS
research support award, a collaboration with the National Museum of the Philippines in
Manilla has been established to observed archaeological objects for comparison and
obtained scientific samples. Because copper alloyed objects were not systematically studied
before in the Philippines, our work consisted first in recording objects that might be of
interest for comparison with the Taiwanese artefacts. A total of 14 artefacts with different
typologies (mostly bangles and wires, gong, vessels, and some fragments) have been chosen
to be sampled for scientific analysis. The artefacts come from four locations in central
Philippines: Kay Thomas in Batangas, Mobo in Masbate, Butuan and Lubang island. Most of
the artefacts comes from old surveys and excavations, also donations, the context
information is for consequently poor due also to reorganization of the museum's collections.
Despite the lack of contextual information and the need to deal with the reality of the
collections, the scientific analysis can still give us some data on the objects studied, revealing
a majority of brass alloys among the corpus, which mean that they pertain to the late Metal
Age period or even the historical Period in the Philippines. Bronze, leaded bronze, high-tin </span><span style="text-align: justify;">bronze, unalloyed copper and one matte fragment had also been identified. Matte is
interesting because it represents an intermediate product of the copper production process,
usually re-used to obtained raw copper. The ongoing lead isotope analysis will permit a
comparison with the Taiwanese objects to discuss the potential exchange networks. The
corpus should also be extended next year with artefacts from northern Philippines, at
Nagsabaran and from Palawan Island.</span></span></div></div><p></p></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-69542009345920397852023-08-14T13:28:00.004-04:002023-08-14T13:29:24.030-04:00Interview with Tina Roushannafas, Winner of the JAS-SAS Emerging Investigator Award<p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUo-UDSIj-6t_umy9Dg5GkR2dkq8rwh0FutZCC_-KMTTeCPf2THFbXOUtNzmtuejpXarzWYz4rkVO87mc_480-h9gk2Rxx1CezNAR-3iMwrcr3SbHFaOeiS5SwpKYf2UlQNWmq5flljz43DJQ--Gz93DaRy37zolFR6Gddi61RhYzSmW3cO7aF-jYL7CR/s802/Tina_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="802" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUo-UDSIj-6t_umy9Dg5GkR2dkq8rwh0FutZCC_-KMTTeCPf2THFbXOUtNzmtuejpXarzWYz4rkVO87mc_480-h9gk2Rxx1CezNAR-3iMwrcr3SbHFaOeiS5SwpKYf2UlQNWmq5flljz43DJQ--Gz93DaRy37zolFR6Gddi61RhYzSmW3cO7aF-jYL7CR/w640-h560/Tina_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">1. How did you get into archaeological research, specifically botany?</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">I came to archaeology rather indirectly, starting my undergraduate degree in Anglo- Saxon, Norse and Celtic studies. I loved studying early medieval literature, but I </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">eventually became disheartened with the historical focus on ‘bishops and kings’, </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">gravitating towards archaeology as I felt it could provide more insight into the everyday lives of ordinary people. After graduating, I worked in developer-funded archaeology and began to develop more of an environmental interest, stemming partly from having volunteered in conservation and a growing love of gardening and horticulture. Around this time I started going out with field guides, teaching myself to identify wild flowers </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">and foraging for edible plants. Eventually I applied for a master’s in Environmental </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">Archaeology and was keen to specialise in archaeobotany.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">2. Could you tell us more about the background/ context of the research featured in your award winning paper?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">During my master’s degree I analysed charred plant remains spanning the late Roman </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">and early Anglo-Saxon periods at a site in Oxfordshire and encountered some unusually shaped wheat grains, which both my supervisor and I found difficult to classify. Looking at the literature I noticed that similar morphological variation had varyingly been attributed to environmental stress, disease or different crop varieties. </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">Having read papers on geometric morphometrics during my master’s degree I was </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">excited about the potential of this methodology, and what it might be able to tell us about crop diversity and environmental conditions in the past.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9e7eIevaXXxK81pmDL_kfWF0d21tGUzes68BjpfSrNss4p7fg5MXmxnphJI0SZICbm_Goc7Ohn5aVBkYOn2n3kcO3VjEjpvhDj-R4vfyYS7p076xBwQrLUVAknlaJ3Lu8a2AaMCxmvtW4yoZ4_9-JpCskmd8u40xxJia4CUp3mdnSJMaIcBNlu1SWd58T/s1169/Tina_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1169" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9e7eIevaXXxK81pmDL_kfWF0d21tGUzes68BjpfSrNss4p7fg5MXmxnphJI0SZICbm_Goc7Ohn5aVBkYOn2n3kcO3VjEjpvhDj-R4vfyYS7p076xBwQrLUVAknlaJ3Lu8a2AaMCxmvtW4yoZ4_9-JpCskmd8u40xxJia4CUp3mdnSJMaIcBNlu1SWd58T/w640-h452/Tina_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">3. What are the challenges you encountered in your research? How did you overcome them?</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">We went into the first COVID lockdown just a few months into my PhD, and I found working mostly in isolation without the support of a lab community very difficult. Several months without lab access also meant that I had to reorganise my workflow, </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 16px;">focusing on the material I had to hand already and seeing what I could do at home. This involved a lot of playing around with R, which was certainly useful in the long-run!</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">4. How do you think your research, or more generally archaeological research, can help address social issues nowadays, given your participation in the rewilding project?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">I’m really excited to be working on the ‘Rewilding Later Prehistory’ project </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">(https://rewilding.oxfordarchaeology.com/), as it combines an area of archaeological research for which is there is the potential for so much more insight </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">– </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">i.e. human interaction with wildlife in a period in which we tend to focus on the transition to farming and nucleated settlement </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">– </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">with contemporary environmental debates. I believe that </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">by shifting our archaeological perspective from narratives in which humans ‘claim’ or </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">impose order on landscapes to one in which humans co-inhabit and negotiate spaces </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 16px;">with nature in diverse ways, can help to shape contemporary responses to environmental change.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrDVdf_1jX6JZrtIkAJyBUYxuCxJ3HhpEww0DQuju17h2_B1TUxzwMiMs0yjrcCWqYzToYnoEyRHD2j9Cm0sZt236RvdT7VdYG0NdlJ5cq6YBB7Phk3YTy_bFb46ySJEkiJ8amXQ2SvxAewFt_kSU4bsb-l-Qm3CTXPlfifITEAwCcCawI7t4FLlmdvCh/s7020/Tina_3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7020" data-original-width="5100" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrDVdf_1jX6JZrtIkAJyBUYxuCxJ3HhpEww0DQuju17h2_B1TUxzwMiMs0yjrcCWqYzToYnoEyRHD2j9Cm0sZt236RvdT7VdYG0NdlJ5cq6YBB7Phk3YTy_bFb46ySJEkiJ8amXQ2SvxAewFt_kSU4bsb-l-Qm3CTXPlfifITEAwCcCawI7t4FLlmdvCh/w464-h640/Tina_3.jpeg" width="464" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">5. What do you think are the challenges faced by early career researchers?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t think I will be treading new ground by referring to shor</span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">t-term contracts, job insecurity, pay and significant competition for longer-term or permanent academic. </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 16px;">There is also the pressure for publication, which can be challenging in the context of certain projects, as well as at a time when it seems to be increasingly difficult for journals to find suitable reviewers who can spare time in their schedules. From a </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 16px;">UK-perspective there is the added challenge of Brexit which adds considerable admin, cost and other barriers to taking up post-doctoral positions elsewhere in Europe, particularly if they are short-term ones. </span></p><div class="page" style="background-color: white;" title="Page 2"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: solid; border-width: 0pt 0pt 0.01pt;"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">6. What is your next research plan?</span></p><p><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">I will be working on the Rewilding project for the next 3+ years and I would love to keep working at the interface between archaeology and the promotion of biodiversity and nature regeneration. We are currently working to collate plant and vertebrate remains data from Bronze and Iron Age Britain and this should lead to some interesting studies combining these categories of evidence in different archaeological contexts, whether these be ritualised or everyday interactions with wildlife. Working on the </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">Rewilding project database, as well as a related initiative to improve routine logging, and access to, the substantial volumes of zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">data recovered by archaeological ‘rescue’ excavations in Britain, I am increasingly </span><span style="color: #242424; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">becoming interested in the principles of good data management and the openness, accessibility and interoperability of archaeological data.</span></p></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-62509501236402708842023-08-14T13:01:00.006-04:002023-08-14T13:01:55.483-04:00Interview with Katherine Larson on 'Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop' at the Corning Museum of Glass<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">By Artemios Oikonomou, <i>Associate Editor for Archaeological Glass</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">I had the opportunity to interview Dr Katherine Larson, Curator of Ancient Glass at The
Corning Museum of Glass. She curated the temporary exhibition entitled </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Dig Deeper:
Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">. The exhibition opened on May 13, 2023 and
will run through January 7, 2024. If you have the chance to be in New York the next few
months, and especially if you are working on glass, do not miss this fascinating exhibition
in Corning.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDL0nPk9hQ_iWOBHeIzo_pwmX8f64kV9uCARRDtvGtpDJIck67QNxjI1wHhTu5EkzproOL5eP2n6glRAtqKNApPK62hVxZkX7I204ax6MiAPVTJJWiUmO2hIQjic8FRI--N7rQlRvustZVoG8_VCsnZzyCaQ-aqOChAT8ZTMYkPP83OC8EtegvB-YJlzU/s629/Oikonomou_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="629" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDL0nPk9hQ_iWOBHeIzo_pwmX8f64kV9uCARRDtvGtpDJIck67QNxjI1wHhTu5EkzproOL5eP2n6glRAtqKNApPK62hVxZkX7I204ax6MiAPVTJJWiUmO2hIQjic8FRI--N7rQlRvustZVoG8_VCsnZzyCaQ-aqOChAT8ZTMYkPP83OC8EtegvB-YJlzU/w640-h478/Oikonomou_1.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">KL: Katherine Larson, AO: Artemios Oikonomou</span></p></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">AO</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: Can you tell us more about the excavation of the glass workshop in Jalame and its
significance in glass studies?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">KL</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: Jalame was the first ancient glass workshop deliberately excavated by glass
specialists. Petrie had found glass workshops in Egypt, and Gladys Weinberg had studied
the medieval workshop at Corinth, but the Corning Museum and University of Missouri
team that excavated Jalame in the 1960s had very specific questions they hoped to
answer about how glass was made in the ancient world. Robert Brill’s work on Jalame
glass was the first to establish that sand from the Belus River and natron from Wadi
Natrun in Egypt were in fact the raw ingredients of Roman glass. Weinberg – working with
Jennifer Price and Dominick Labino – identified moils archaeologically as an indication of
glass workshop waste. She was also the first to note the lack of shear marks on ancient
blown glass. The list of what we owe in knowledge to the Jalame project goes on.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">AO</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: What are some of the unique artifacts from Jalame that will be on display in the
exhibition, and what can visitors learn from them about the glassmaking process during
that time period? What was your basic approach?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">KL</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: We really wanted to focus on the actual “stuff” that came out of the ground and display
it in ways that helped visitors understand what they were looking at. One example is
pairing vessel fragments found at Jalame with intact, unprovenanced objects from the
Corning Museum collection and related vessels found in other excavations in the region.
Another example is a display that shows the various waste products found at the site,
paired with a series of short videos showing how that debris is generated during
glassblowing.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">AO</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: The exhibition includes approximately 75 objects on loan from the Israel Antiquities
Authority (IAA). Could you highlight a few specific objects that are particularly fascinating
or rare, and how they contribute to the narrative of the exhibition?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">KL</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: My favorite object in the entire exhibition is the very end of an iron pontil rod with
adhered glass (published in Weinberg 1988, fig. 3-9). It was graciously lent to us by the
Israel Museum, where it had been on display, with the loan facilitated by the Israel
Antiquities Authority. Because glass workshop tools were largely wood or metal, they
rarely survive. This pontil rod probably escaped remelting because of the glass stuck on
the end.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">AO</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: I have seen that in this exhibition visitors engage with the artefacts/exhibits. How
does the exhibition provide a hands-on experience for visitors?
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">KL</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: To help the exhibition be accessible to a wide audience in terms of age and ability,
we created a multisensory experience. The glass from Jalame is abundant, so we were
able to have it mouted in a way that allows visitors to touch it, making a physical
connection to the past. Sound effects of excavation and glassblowing can be heard in the
gallery, along with largescale video. We also developed a digital game that replicates the
process of excavation and investigation that archaeologists undertake when they find
artifacts; visitors can earn badges as they learn more about the object they ‘found’ by
talking to different experts.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">AO</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: The exhibition, apart from the archaeological finds, features artwork by Palestinian
artist and designer Dima Srouji. Could you elaborate on the collaboration between Srouji
and glassblowers in Jaba’, Palestine, and how their work enhances the exhibition?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">KL</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: We were able to acquire several works from Dima Srouji’s </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Ghosts </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">series, a set of
replicas of late antique glass perfume vessels made in ancient Syro-Palestine. They were
made by the Twam family, glass artisans who are working to keep their craft alive in Jaba’,
in the occupied West Bank. The work is a commentary on the displacement of the glass
heritage and people of Palestine. Srouji’s work is often very archaeologically informed,
and its themes align with many of those I consider as both an archaeologist and a curator.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">AO</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: The accompanying 36-page comic book about the Jalame glass workshop is an
interesting addition. Could you share more about the collaboration between you and
comic illustrator John Swogger, and how the comic book enriches the visitor experience? </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">KL</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">: Swogger is an archaeological illustrator who has successfully pivoted his illustration
skills into creating narrative comics. Typical archaeological illustration, such as appears
in final excavation reports, is highly technical and encoded, as well as decontextualized.
Swogger and I wanted to bring the ancient workshop, and the archaeologists who studied
it, to life, by creating not just up-to-date illustrations of what glass furnaces in the 4</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 8.000000pt; vertical-align: 4.000000pt;">th
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">century looked like, but also the people who used them. John’s illustrations are so
evocative and colorful, as well as instructional, that it was a natural choice to deploy them
in the exhibition space. I’m most pleased that the comic has been recognized for the
scholarly work that it represents by glass specialists, while also introducing members of
the general public to basic concepts of archaeology and – hopefully! – sparking an
appreciation for ancient glass.
</span></p>
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</div><br /><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-76286080265877538472023-08-14T12:55:00.000-04:002023-08-14T12:55:24.975-04:00Agent-based Modelling for Studying Shipwreck Site Formation Processes
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By Rodrigo Vega-Sanchez, <i>National School of Anthropology and History (Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia - ENAH), Mexico</i>, vegarodrig@gmail.com </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Shipwreck site formation processes (SSFP) have long interested maritime archaeologists as a
means to understand how a sailing vessel transforms into a wreck site. Two of the most
influential works in this area have been those of maritime archaeologists Keith Muckelroy in the
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1970s and Martin Gibbs in the early 2000s. Muckelroy’s SSFP model focused mainly on the
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">natural factors that modify a shipwreck (Muckelroy, 1978)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, while Gibbs’ proposal built on
Muckelroy’s model concentrating on the cultural factors involved in the process, i.e., the
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">decisions and actions that people make in different moments and how these may alter the
contents and disposition of a wreck site (Gibbs, 2006).
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We conceive SSFP as complex adaptive systems, where the non-linear interactions of both
natural and cultural factors give rise to the observed distribution of elements in a shipwreck site.
From this standpoint, agent-based modelling (ABM) may prove to be useful for studying the
complex dynamics of SSFP.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As part of the </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Project Maritime Archaeology of the Mexican-American War 1846-1848 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(PAMGI
in Spanish)</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">*</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, currently being carried out at the </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">Institute for Anthropological Research, National
Autonomous University </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in Mexico City, we developed an ABM for studying SSFP taking as a
case study that of the USS </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Somers</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, a brig-of-war built in the United States in 1842 out of wood,
propelled only by sail, and armed with 32-pdr carronades. The </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Somers </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">sank in December 1846
while blocking the port of Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican-American War; its
shipwreck rests since then in a sandy seabed, 30 meters deep.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Our ABM of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Somers</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’ SSFP is based on the conceptual models of Muckelroy and Gibbs and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">integrates a wide variety of historical and contemporary data about the shipwreck. These
include nautical characteristics taken from the original construction plans; details about its
operation, wrecking event, and salvage operations obtained from historical documents; as well
as modern environmental data including ocean currents and sediments; and also experimental
data about the degradation of different types of woods and metals (Vega-Sánchez and Herrera,
2022).
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Integrating all of these data, we constructed a simulation platform using a video game engine
and a 3D model of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Somers </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">created from the ship</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’s original blueprints </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">figure 1</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">). Details of
their development can be found in this </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">online publication</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, and the ABM can be downloaded
from the </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">project’s repository</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-0T6bKRrUsXvcPetzgDgYE_SKyQPQIeusw1J6xEYsrO50x6isRZZ0cQpLX1O2KGc0wNkJT2fBGvyZUKURvRlnfWI14VGUr9v53ZNP0SGCFFNDEmxQybKltTdc4PscSp85EKrkwYr53Ag1FWJbhtFdNER-EVOOrOUwxk6eMCZOSvRjNLP0jo6NqSq61XV/s1037/Vega-Sanchez_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="1037" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-0T6bKRrUsXvcPetzgDgYE_SKyQPQIeusw1J6xEYsrO50x6isRZZ0cQpLX1O2KGc0wNkJT2fBGvyZUKURvRlnfWI14VGUr9v53ZNP0SGCFFNDEmxQybKltTdc4PscSp85EKrkwYr53Ag1FWJbhtFdNER-EVOOrOUwxk6eMCZOSvRjNLP0jo6NqSq61XV/w640-h174/Vega-Sanchez_1.png" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">Figure 1</b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small; text-align: left;"><b>.</b> A conceptual model and ABM simulation platform for studying SSFP. The conceptual
model behind the ABM can be found in Vega-Sánchez & Herrera (2022), while the process of
developing the ABM can be found in Vega-Sánchez (2022). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the ABM, we can alter the parameters of several natural and cultural variables involved in
the SSFP to explore how this would modify the archaeological context. We used this platform
to run a series of simulations where initial conditions were varied and the resulting simulated
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">context compared to the real archaeological context, which was recorded during PAMGI’s 2018
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">field season.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Simulation scenarios allowed exploring specific research questions about different aspects of
the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Somers</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">' SSFP, including equipment (dimensions of the hull metallic sheathing), wreck
conditions (degrees of starboard listing), and post-depositional events (opportunistic salvage
operations). Additionally, ABM provided a detailed sequence of degradation and deposition of
all the elements within the shipwreck, mirroring a traditional stratigraphic analysis (</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">figure 2</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">).
Thus, by integrating historical data with the conceptual model and ABM simulations, we were
able to postulate a sustained interpretation of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Somers</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’ SSFP.
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QjBUQxJnISHiYdA7zYXwT24zNfNriB9wHEA0DOacckkvY5fC_9jiVf0r2YBWJsFgGftBjLnZscMhdw60ofH6Gs1IB7Z_RzkLuXh43KbKqqEKySka4blyGrCm0slHo5o3zkkDJmhJvJfOwfOARpg3CkuYs0RUD1k60ZNr_O8J3R2Gtq9q5AGcVSEK7U_d/s1037/Vega-Sanchez_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="1037" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QjBUQxJnISHiYdA7zYXwT24zNfNriB9wHEA0DOacckkvY5fC_9jiVf0r2YBWJsFgGftBjLnZscMhdw60ofH6Gs1IB7Z_RzkLuXh43KbKqqEKySka4blyGrCm0slHo5o3zkkDJmhJvJfOwfOARpg3CkuYs0RUD1k60ZNr_O8J3R2Gtq9q5AGcVSEK7U_d/w640-h314/Vega-Sanchez_2.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div class="page" title="Page 2">
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<p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Figure 2</span>. Simulation scenarios showing a degradation and deposition sequence of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Somers</span>’
SSFP. The figure shows screen captures of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Somers </span>SSFP simulation scenario that most
resembled the actual shipwreck site during the 2018 archaeological recording by PAMGI. </span></p>
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</div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">ABM and simulation contribute to archaeology by opening the possibility to raise a wide variety
of hypotheses and carrying out controlled and repeatable experiments where it was previously
not possible. This directly impacts our ability to analyze and interpret the archaeological context
and answer questions about the past. In maritime archaeology, ABM could constitute a valuable
methodological tool that, by integrating conceptual models, historical sources, and
archaeological data, allows for generating sustained interpretations of shipwrecks and their site
formation process.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">*PAMGI was supported by the British Academy (Newton Advanced Fellowships Programme,
AF160206); the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) through its PAPIIT program
(IA400818) and its Laboratory of Oceanographic Vessels and the Coordination of
Oceanographic Platforms (Campaña Guerra de Intervención 01 2018 aboard the
Oceanographic Vessel Justo Sierra); and the National Science and Technology Council
(CONACYT-Mexico, Frontier Science Program CF 2019 / 1327714).
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">References</span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gibbs, M., 2006. Cultural Site Formation Processes in Maritime Archaeology: Disaster
Response, Salvage and Muckelroy 30 Years on. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">35, 4</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">19.</span></span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Muckelroy, K., 1978. Maritime archaeology. Cambridge University Press, London.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Vega-Sánchez, R. (2022). Developing an agent-based model for studying shipwreck site
formation processes. Visualizing Objects, Places, and Spaces: A Digital Project Handbook.
Retrieved from: </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">https://handbook.pubpub.org/pub/case-somers-abm
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Vega-Sánchez, R., Herrera, J.M., 2022. Agent-based modelling for the study of shipwreck site
formation processes: a theoretical framework and conceptual model. </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;">F1000Research New
Digital Archaeologies Collection</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.
</span></span></p>
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</div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-38834886664834058912023-08-14T12:42:00.003-04:002023-08-14T12:42:48.345-04:00A Veritable Smorgasbord of Archaeological Network Books
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">By Mark Golitko, <i>Associate Editor for Lithic Studies and Network Analysis</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">This is a big time for network science and relational thinking in archaeology (at least if
you like to read</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhljVJ-z2rrPwLIvTIozBfIuwlalRbF9Og7DIiOv94vcfTLFD4Uataz9FO7NN3Yha5r1FTAu4fbYdkAaqGjGJ4VOKYwUe0i77ftuv0i5ykM4aOkMNxuBpmsIf7h_JsY42qFP8h4gFBL3oMNf68LR3xvuoMJAGkzNRVnATJhVo-25HwARJPpKqmR68a6fLW/s395/Golitko_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhljVJ-z2rrPwLIvTIozBfIuwlalRbF9Og7DIiOv94vcfTLFD4Uataz9FO7NN3Yha5r1FTAu4fbYdkAaqGjGJ4VOKYwUe0i77ftuv0i5ykM4aOkMNxuBpmsIf7h_JsY42qFP8h4gFBL3oMNf68LR3xvuoMJAGkzNRVnATJhVo-25HwARJPpKqmR68a6fLW/w226-h320/Golitko_1.png" width="226" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">—</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">if not, you might want to skip the rest of this post), with three major
books published or due to be published </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">by year’s end</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">. Among these is </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Network Science
in Archaeology </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
</span><span style="color: rgb(1.960000%, 38.800000%, 75.700000%); font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/network-science-in-
archaeology/842306360FBC7A114E207E2955FD3372</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">) by Tom Brughmans and Matt
Peeples. This book is part of the </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">series, and
represents the first book length treatment of network science as applied to archaeology,
focusing on the details of how to collect data and conduct network analysis using said
data. Given the rapid growth in this field in the last fifteen years or so, such a volume is
overdue at this point. Most books dealing with network analysis and archaeology have
been edited volumes with individual case studies. The only book length treatment that I
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">am aware of is Carl Knappett’s </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">An Archaeology of Interaction </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">(2011, Oxford University
Press), which is now more than a decade old, and while highly influential, was much
more of a conceptual rather than methodological treatment. For anyone that has tried or
plans to teach network analysis in the context of archaeology, this book will be a
welcome addition</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">—</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">in my own experience, I have had to rely on a combination of
articles and books largely targeted towards sociologists. Peeples and Brughmans are
probably already familiar to anyone who has even dabbled in archaeological network
research, and as a citation network analysis in their book shows, are among the most
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">“central” practitioners of network science in archaeology</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">. They are certainly the ones to
write a book like this. <br /></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br />The book includes eight substantive chapters</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">—</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">the first two review the basics of network
analysis and the history of network analysis in archaeology, as well as laying out basic
strategies for incorporating network analysis into archaeological problem oriented
research. The third chapter examines how to compile archaeological data for use in
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">network analysis, and introduces examples drawn from the author’s own work—</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">for
instance, the SW Social Networks project that Peeples is most associated with, and
work on Roman period transport and visibility networks that Brughmans has worked on.
The authors employ these examples to illustrate concepts and methods throughout the
book. Chapters 4-7 are oriented towards the practical application of network methods.
Chapter 4 reviews basic network metrics (centrality, density, and so forth) as applied to
exploratory analysis of archaeological data. Chapter 5 deals with how to address
uncertainty and incomplete data in network analysis. Chapter 6 explores different
methods of network visualization, while chapter 7 deals specifically with analysis of
networks in real geographic space. The final chapter examines how network theory and
archaeological theory can work together, as well as exploring future directions for
network analysis in archaeology. The book also contains a glossary of basic terms, a
section detailing commonly employed network analysis software, as well as answers to
the study questions provided at the end of each chapter. There is also a link to online R
code used in the analyses presented in the book. This online supplement may be one of
the most useful elements of the book for those that are already versed in the basics of
network analysis.
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIs025lI4PR5a2TEQ3w76l9wD5xIcEHyyF0ZCC7DoaSnp-g9X_brrk8jakkA1zirLkn0_SWSr7h8M_Y6R6An0TqVo1YefqFR0igPbtUwWpsUD5y1kpnK3QpRrwjTosrJiZgaQhkt8rgv0My7Jjwtl2sF1JkjL87d3gxE777aSAd5FdbyEhu17VNfEDGNBl/s408/Golitko_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIs025lI4PR5a2TEQ3w76l9wD5xIcEHyyF0ZCC7DoaSnp-g9X_brrk8jakkA1zirLkn0_SWSr7h8M_Y6R6An0TqVo1YefqFR0igPbtUwWpsUD5y1kpnK3QpRrwjTosrJiZgaQhkt8rgv0My7Jjwtl2sF1JkjL87d3gxE777aSAd5FdbyEhu17VNfEDGNBl/w219-h320/Golitko_2.png" width="219" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">I hesitate to review my own work, but should also note the publication earlier this year of
</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Modeling the Past: Archaeology, History, and Dynamic Networks </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">(Berghahn Books,
New York, </span><span style="color: rgb(1.960000%, 38.800000%, 75.700000%); font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/TerrellModeling</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">), a book I co-authored
with John Edward Terrell, Helen Dawson, and Marc </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Kissel. Rather than a “methods”
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">primer, the book is an exploration of how to develop strategies for relational thinking in
research design in order to construct archaeological models. The book is also intended
for students of archaeology but may be useful for more advanced practitioners as well.
While SNA features as a method for doing this, it is not the central focus of the book,
which examines how to build plausible hypotheses about the past and use
archaeological data (and other kinds of data) to decide which models are worth further
exploration, and which should themselves be consigned to the past.
</span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2HVRP1q8JEEFk1pnUhl2_rOOMjRHG2qcKBx_YgCbLRsQWeqvLggDlgMGUlcgMndZBt_uv7-G84d-DSDjOI0_DUlsg-qTp1lu5ylS-0PyE9VeWzX_O5pYjNQ7UtFG8njBfIxHdQQWKtbSCyImGyzJKP7SgdSuBUn-phnkwD-__ej2KAAG0XDWd2hyqK76h/s406/Golitko_3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2HVRP1q8JEEFk1pnUhl2_rOOMjRHG2qcKBx_YgCbLRsQWeqvLggDlgMGUlcgMndZBt_uv7-G84d-DSDjOI0_DUlsg-qTp1lu5ylS-0PyE9VeWzX_O5pYjNQ7UtFG8njBfIxHdQQWKtbSCyImGyzJKP7SgdSuBUn-phnkwD-__ej2KAAG0XDWd2hyqK76h/s320/Golitko_3.png" width="220" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">In October, the </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Network Research</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">, edited by
Brughmans, Barbara Mills, Jessica Munson and Peeples (Oxford University Press,
Oxford, </span><span style="color: rgb(1.960000%, 38.800000%, 75.700000%); font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-
archaeological-network-research-9780198854265?cc=us&lang=en&</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">) is due to hit
shelves (perhaps mostly virtual ones). The volume has 42 chapters that detail different
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">issues in network application and interpretation. My own chapter (“Geochemical
Networks”) explores how sourced archaeological materials can be used in net</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">work
analysis, drawing on the work I have done with colleagues in Mesoamerica (the main
reason why I occupy my joint lithics-networks editorial role here on the SAS Bulletin!).
As with any of the multitude of books in the Oxford Handbook line, the chapters are
intended to both review significant issues, but also offer up reflections on the state of
play in the particular field covered in each volume. I will offer up more on this volume
here once it has been published and I have been able to peruse it in more detail.<br />
</span><p></p>
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</div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-86379315162202418802023-07-30T17:46:00.003-04:002023-07-30T17:46:31.279-04:00Exploring Archaeological Ceramics with AI<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Carlotta Gardner</b>, <i>Associate Editor for Archaeological Ceramics</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoLRoK4_d5sw-_xv02452eDQGPv2qcndA4Tdwjs0vB11o00G6lllcu5O7qnXZW1Kfphw0PTkaiWvOPBe7ElmCES3Xxhy8N5FK-jdx44zhNOeCFEt48Md3_RdvXZzkCx18nL61jLIixJlGCxd5Egax5UIkuU9EBia3OmcWs-dRsys8REXrjCWudR_cJj5A/s640/ai-in-microscopy-opportunities-challenges-and-the-future-350861-640x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoLRoK4_d5sw-_xv02452eDQGPv2qcndA4Tdwjs0vB11o00G6lllcu5O7qnXZW1Kfphw0PTkaiWvOPBe7ElmCES3Xxhy8N5FK-jdx44zhNOeCFEt48Md3_RdvXZzkCx18nL61jLIixJlGCxd5Egax5UIkuU9EBia3OmcWs-dRsys8REXrjCWudR_cJj5A/w400-h225/ai-in-microscopy-opportunities-challenges-and-the-future-350861-640x360.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Conversations about the possibilities and limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have
become common place since November 2022 when ChatGPT was released to the
world. In archaeology different components of AI have been used in a variety of ways
for a relatively long time now. AI has been used to analyse ceramic typologies and to
reconstruct forms, for pattern recognition of macroscopic and microscopic
observations and for data analysis.</span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There have been a number of projects that use AI to analyse images to assist
archaeologists in the classification and interpretation of ceramic objects. One of the
best-known is <span style="color: #0563c1;">ArchAide </span>which started in 2016 and founded within the <span style="background-color: white;">European
Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. </span>The platform utilizes AI
algorithms trained on vast datasets of pottery to automatically recognise and classify
different ceramic types, styles, and attributes. Described as the ‘<span style="color: #0563c1;">Archaeologists dream
</span><span style="color: #0563c1;">tool’ </span>it can accurately identify archaeological pottery and save vast amounts of time.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Beyond typological classification, AI can aid in the extraction of detailed features from
ceramics. Advanced computer vision techniques enable the identification and analysis
of minute details, such as surface textures, colour variations, and glaze patterns, which
are crucial for understanding the manufacturing techniques and cultural significance
of these artefacts. AI algorithms can detect and quantify these features, making it
possible to compare them across different pottery assemblages, regions, or time
periods. An example of this work is the ARCADIA project, which used Convolutional
Neural Network models to classify engraved pottery from Saran, France (Chetouani
et al. 2020). This automated approach allows researchers to identify subtle changes
in ceramic production and trade networks, providing valuable insights into cultural
interactions and technological advancements.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Most applications of AI in archaeology are in the analysis of images and recognising
pattern, as demonstrated above. It is less common for AI to be used to analyse
numerical data in archaeology, such as results from elemental analysis. However,
machine learning algorithms can be trained on databases of known ceramic sources,
enabling researchers to identify the geological and chemical signatures unique to
particular regions.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are some pioneering studies that have used machine learning to explore issues
of provenance with a variety of materials, from soil (Oonk & Spiker 2015) to obsidian
(Lopez-Garcia et al. 2020). Data from the elemental analysis of archaeological
ceramics have also been explored in a number of papers and the results are
promising. Anglisano et al. (2022) use supervised modelling for to investigate a data
set acquired through ED-XRF analysis of 208 samples from the Barcelona area. The
case study was used to explore the application of the method and how successful it
was. The paper also provides all the code and details of how to use it in R. Over all
the results are encouraging, the authors note that for this approach to be successful it
is essential to obtain large numbers and reliable reference samples covering the likely
areas of provenance.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The integration of AI into archaeological research has opened new doors in the study
of ceramics. Through automated typological classification, feature extraction, and pattern recognition, AI algorithms facilitate the analysis of large quantities of
archaeological ceramics, allowing for faster and more accurate interpretations.
Furthermore, AI's assistance in provenance determination contributes to a
comprehensive understanding of ancient societies and their cultural interactions.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anglisano, A.; Casas, L.; Queralt, I.; Di Febo, R. 2022. Supervised Machine Learning
Algorithms to Predict Provenance of Archaeological Pottery Fragments. <span style="font-style: italic;">Sustainability</span>,
<span style="font-style: italic;">14</span>,11214.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chetouani, A.; Treuillet, S.; Exbrayat, M.; Jesset, S. 2020. Classification of engraved
pottery sherds mixing deep-learning features by compact bilinear pooling. <span style="font-style: italic;">Pattern
Recogniton Letters</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">131</span>, 1–7.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Oonk, S.; Spijker, J. 2015 A supervised machine-learning approach towards
geochemical predictive modelling in archaeology. <span style="font-style: italic;">Journal of Archaeological Science</span>,
<span style="font-style: italic;">59</span>, 80–88.
</span></p>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-19281632707794404602023-07-30T17:38:00.005-04:002023-07-30T17:38:44.403-04:00Book Review: Field Sampling for Laboratory Analysis in Archaeology<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Mahmoud Mardini</b><span style="font-style: italic;">, Associate Editor for Bioarchaeology</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcnejzUYjZr3oekHSDECAqWoo8vAkTzwO9QUY480JN9ULZq23V7HeGp1Idg8_FSzaYtYmUTB7GfJlAkwwByPO9EytH0n660WpN2TSfUQADLD8o5FuROE0E6RRixBx6E6NaB7dBanpca2Z9YP1j3hHqeWVqqU-JWMEyiE9y-HpIc4_i8kgdv6p2CQZ4ZCE/s357/Field_sampling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="281" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcnejzUYjZr3oekHSDECAqWoo8vAkTzwO9QUY480JN9ULZq23V7HeGp1Idg8_FSzaYtYmUTB7GfJlAkwwByPO9EytH0n660WpN2TSfUQADLD8o5FuROE0E6RRixBx6E6NaB7dBanpca2Z9YP1j3hHqeWVqqU-JWMEyiE9y-HpIc4_i8kgdv6p2CQZ4ZCE/w315-h400/Field_sampling.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Field Sampling for Laboratory Analysis in Archaeology </span>aims at promoting better
archaeological practices when sampling finds for laboratory analysis (<span style="font-weight: 700;">Figure 1</span>). The
guide is part of STARC’s strategy to develop the archaeological sciences in the
Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. The creation of this resource was funded by
the European Commission under the H2020 framework – H2020 Twinning
PROMISED project. The guide has been edited by Associate Professor Evi Margaritis
(The Cyprus Institute), Dr Artemios Oikonomou (National Centre For Scientific
Research Demokritos), Associate Professor Efthymia Nikita (The Cyprus Institute),
and Professor Thilo Rehren (The Cyprus Institute). <br /></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This guide offers an overview of sampling practices and protocols, covering a range
of materials including archaeobotany, starches, phytoliths, zooarchaeology, human
osteoarchaeology, geoarchaeology, ceramics, ancient glass, lithics,
archaeometallurgy, stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, proteomics,
micromorphology, and conservation science.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The chapters are written by experts in their respective fields, providing guidelines on
the sampling techniques and protocols used for laboratory analysis. The challenges
and opportunities associated with each type of analysis are also addressed by the
authors, who provide practical advice on how to overcome relevant difficulties.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To researchers or practitioners interested in the application of natural and
environmental science methods, this reference guide will help implement better
research protocols in the archaeological sciences. Please refer to the following link for
a copy of the open-access handbook:</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: arial;">https://www.academia.edu/103088284/Field_Sampling_for_Laboratory_Analysis</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The guide is divided into 23 chapters, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of
field sampling for laboratory analysis, as follows:
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 1. Archaeobotanical remains: sampling and processing in the field – Maltas,
T., Tsirtsi, K. & Margaritis, E.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 2. Anthracology: from the field to the laboratory </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Ntinou, M. & Mavromati, A.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 3. A field guide for collecting archaeological samples for starch grain analysis
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">García-Granero, J. J.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 4. Phytoliths: field and laboratory methods </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Tsartsidou, G. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 5. Zooarchaeology </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Hadjikoumis, A. & Spyrou, A.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 6. Sampling, collecting and sorting microfaunal remains from archaeological
excavations </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Papayianni, K.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 7. Preservation and sampling of fish, shell and other invertebrate remains </span><span style="font-family: arial;">–
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Theodoropoulou, T.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 8. Sampling archaeological remains for isotopic analyses </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Vaiglova, P.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 9. Sampling for ancient biomolecular data: DNA, proteins and lipids from
specific archaeological sample types </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Macleod R., Evans M., Sistiaga A., Jensen T.,
Biers T., Barnes I., & Collins M.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 10. Minimizing data loss when excavating human skeletal remains </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Nikita,
E., Caruso, A., Karligkioti, A., Mardini, M., & Vergidou, C.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 11. Non-skeletal human remains in graves: a primer for dental calculus and
parasites field sampling </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Radini, A.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 12. Micromorphology of archaeological soils and sediments: field and
laboratory methods </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Gkouma, M. & Karkanas, P.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 13. Sampling and in situ chemical analysis of stone raw materials for
provenance </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Moutsiou, T. & Charalambous, A.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 14. Ground stone tools. An integrated approach of use-wear and residue
analysis </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Lucarini, G. & Mutri, G.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 15. Non-invasive procedures in pigment analysis </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Gasanova, S. &
Oikonomou, A.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 16. Portable XRF as a guiding tool for sampling in archaeometallurgy </span><span style="font-family: arial;">–
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Georgakopoulou, M. & Martinón- Torres, M.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 17. Urban micro-metallurgy: from the field to the lab </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Rehren, Th. & Liu, S. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 18. Sampling for ceramic analysis </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Dikomitou Eliadou, M. & Kiriatzi E. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 19. Handling glass: from the field to the lab </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Oikonomou, A. & Rehren, Th. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 20. Sampling guidelines in luminescence dating </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Polymeris, G. S. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 21. Conservation of architectural materials </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Chlouveraki, S.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 22. Squeezing out hard materials </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Mertzani, M.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 23. Sampling inorganic materials for chemical (elemental and isotopic)
analysis </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Degryse, P. & Rademakers, F.</span></p></div></div></div><p></p><p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Note: Stay tuned for the Greek and Arabic version soon!<br />
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><br /><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-76288750202282661842023-07-30T17:28:00.003-04:002023-07-30T17:28:56.857-04:00Review of Druc and Velde's Ceramic Materials in Archaeology 2021 and Comparisons with Other Published Texts on Archaeological Ceramics<p>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Charles Kolb</b>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Honorary Associate Editor for the SAS Bulletin</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Materials in Archaeology </span>by Elisabeth C. Druc and Bruce Velde. Blue Mounds,
Wisconsin: Deep Education Press, 2021</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1XQEGgp83-0aRDMGWgNE8c8fkdWMTPGhuDjoWugV0fDG98qLebQR191MdjwGoXSDQ8QIU89W9nvSVRFS04q3gieH7xiqYz9hEqAT2Eb8bYznkb7Pl-9E01A2pYtmpbVWJY9wp2deYoJm31wj4uHl5pnSk8wP4e6axZxKvEHL_1GY0frDgO_X5JDWqzDd/s1000/Ceramic_materials_in_Arch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1XQEGgp83-0aRDMGWgNE8c8fkdWMTPGhuDjoWugV0fDG98qLebQR191MdjwGoXSDQ8QIU89W9nvSVRFS04q3gieH7xiqYz9hEqAT2Eb8bYznkb7Pl-9E01A2pYtmpbVWJY9wp2deYoJm31wj4uHl5pnSk8wP4e6axZxKvEHL_1GY0frDgO_X5JDWqzDd/w280-h400/Ceramic_materials_in_Arch.jpg" width="280" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Introduction</div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">This volume on archaeological ceramic materials, like many others published over the
past 75 years, is designed as an up-to-date textbook and/or handbook on the subject.
My reviews of books on this subject date from about1988 to 2023 and, unless otherwise
restricted by the journal editors as to length or content, I normally provide a biographical
sketch of the author(s), their backgrounds, affiliations, and citations to prior relevant
publications. In addition, I include information about the volume, such as publisher,
ISBN, and structural information (pagination, chapters, number of
illustrations/figures/images, tables, appendices, etc.. The bulk of the review is devoted
to the individual chapters with a summary of the contents, including pagination so that
the reader can chose to abstract segments for their own research or for syllabi as
course reading assignments. The latter part of my reviews are a constructive critique
and generally ignore grammatical and typographical errors (unless egregious or
inconsistent within the narrative). The review herein is structured in this manner but also
includes a brief essay and table in which I include information about similar previously
published works that are, or attempt to be, textbooks on the subject. Several of these
more recent publications are books that focus on archaeological chemistry that include
some content on ceramics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Ceramic Materials in Archaeology (2021)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dr. Isabelle C. Druc (University of Wisconsin-Madison) received her doctorate in
Archaeology from the Université de Montréal (Quebec, Canada) in 1997, after
completing her initial studies at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), where she was
awarded her Diplome d’Archéologie; she also undertook Post-doctoral Studies at Yale
University’s Peabody Museum. Her doctoral thesis focused on the physicochemical
characterization and provenance of Chavin de Huantar Peruvian ceramics. In her
current research, she specializes in Andean archaeology, ceramic studies,
archaeometry, petrography, and ethnoarchaeology, and has expertise in X-ray
Fluorescence and X-ray Microanalysis. Druc is a native French speaker, also fluent in
English and Spanish, who focuses on sociocultural and economic interactions, ancient
technologies, traditional productions, and communities of practice. She regularly
teaches in la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in Lima, and other universities in
South America, and is involved in archaeological, ethnoarchaeological and ceramic
projects worldwide. She has written more than 40 professional articles and ten books
and has produced 200 documentaries and video interviews related to ceramics,
traditional arts, culture, and language learning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dr. Bruce Velde (École Normale Supérieure, France) earned his doctoral degree from
the University of Montana in 1962 and conducted postgraduate research at the
Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory, Washington, DC. He has served as Directeur de
Recherche, Laboratoire de Geologie de l’Ecole Normale Superieure, CNRS [Centre Nacionale de la Recherche Scientifique], Paris and is a well-known clay mineralogist,
with numerous books and articles to his credit. His research and publications deal
primarily with mineralogy, clay minerals (especially illite), geochemistry and soil water.
His research in mineralogy is multidisciplinary, particularly focused on mica, muscovite,
and analytical chemistry, incorporating techniques from disciplines such as
hydrothermal circulation, mineral and silicate in addition to clay minerals. Velde has
taught and conducted research in both the United States and France, and he has an
interest in ancient ceramics, which has lead him to assist many students within their
studies of ceramics. Among his best known books are:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clay Minerals: A Physico-chemical Explanation of </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">their Occurrence </span>(1985).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Isabelle Druc and Bruce Velde’s book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Materials in Archaeology </span>(Blue Mounds,
WI: Deep Education Press, 2021, 310 pp., ISBN: 978-1-939755-49-0), is an updated
and expanded version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Ceramic Materials: Origin and Utilization </span>by
Velde and Druc (New York: Springer, 1999, xii + 299 pp., and was the initial volume in
Springer’s Natural Science in Archaeology Series). It is now seriously out-of-date and
has been withdrawn from sale but was reviewed by me in <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>23(1):17-
21(Spring 2000). The hardcover Springer edition published in 1999 originally sold for ca.
$109.00 US, the new edition is published in paperback costs about $50.00 US.
Isabelle’s works are not strangers to <span style="font-style: italic;">Bulletin </span>readers, her monograph <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeology and
Clays </span>(Isabelle C. Druc, ed.; British Archaeological Reports International Series BAR S-
942, Oxford: Tempus Repartarum, 2001) was reviewed by me in <span style="font-style: italic;">Old Potter’s Almanack:
</span><span style="font-style: italic;">Joint Newsletter of the Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group and The Ceramic
Petrology Group </span>(British Museum, London) 9(3): 3-4 (November 2001) and <span style="font-style: italic;">La Tinaja: A
Newsletter of Archaeological Ceramics </span>13(2):12-14 (Fall 2001). Nor is she unknown to
readers of the <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin</span>, see <span style="font-style: italic;">Portable Digital Microscope Atlas of Ceramic Pastes:
Components, Texture, and Technology </span>(Isabelle C. Druc (ed.) with the technical
assistance of Bruce Velde and Lisenia Chaves; Blue Mounds, WI: Deep University
Press, 2015) and its Spanish-language version, <span style="font-style: italic;">Pastas cer</span><span style="font-style: italic;">á</span><span style="font-style: italic;">micas en lupa digital:
componentes, textura y tecnolog</span><span style="font-style: italic;">í</span><span style="font-style: italic;">a</span>, Isabelle C. Druc y Lisenia Chavez; Blue Mounds,
WI: Deep University Press, 2014), <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>38(4): 3-6 (Winter 2015). In addition, she
has written <span style="font-style: italic;">Traditional Potters from the Andes to Vietnam </span>(Isabelle C. Druc; Madison,
WI: Deep University Press, 2016) <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>39(2):14-15 (Summer 2017) and was
involved in the organization and writing of a significant book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Integrative Approaches in
Ceramic Petrography </span>(Mary F. Ownby, Isabelle C. Druc, and Maria A. Masucci, eds.;
Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016) <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>40(3): 9-14 (Fall 2017). And
more recently, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Analysis in the Andes </span>(Isabelle C. Druc ed.; Madison, WI: Deep
University Press, 2015). <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>41(1):7-9 (Spring 2018).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Druc and Velde’s new volume is designed specifically as a laboratory textbook with 11
chapters of 310 pages, 136 figures and illustrations (68 in color), five tables, and a 26-
item glossary called “Vocabulary” (pp. 13-17). Each chapter has its own references, with
a total of 548 for the book, including Internet resources. Almost all of the photographs,
images of microscopic thin sections, and graphs are credited to the authors; a few come
with permissions from the late Jim Stoltman (1935-2019), and well-known authority
Mary Ownby. More specifically, the volume is conceived as an introduction to the origin</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;">Soils and Weathered Rocks</span><span style="color: #191919;">, with Alain Meunier (2008); </span><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;">Introduction to Clay Minerals </span><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;">The Origin of Clay Minerals in </span><span style="color: #191919;">(1992); </span><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;">Origins and Mineralogy of Clays </span><span style="color: #191919;">(1995); </span><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;">Origin and Mineralogy of Clays: Clays </span><span style="color: #191919; font-style: italic;">and the Environment </span><span style="color: #191919;">(1995); and </span>of the materials which form ancient ceramics, considering their nature, and function, and
their selection and use by potters. Additionally, clays, mineral and rock formations, and
basic geology principles are covered, as well as the analytical techniques used to study
raw materials, and the processes involved in making pottery. The authors contend that
by studying ceramic pastes, raw materials, and how these have been modified for the
production of ceramics that readers can understand, assess, and explain potters’
selection processes and fabrication through time.</div></span><p></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The authors also write that: “already present since the ceramic ecology movement in
the 70s, but now much more in the forefront of data interpretation, is the need to
consider the potter, her/his work as part of a community of practice, the study of the
<span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne opératoire</span>, and the impact of the potter's choice on every step of the production.
However, our initial focus on 'materials' remains, simply because there are already a
great many books and articles offering this perspective. The understanding of the
materials and their transformation during production is just one part of ceramic studies,
a step, which does not prevail over the complexity of human impact. Data cannot be
interpreted without this in mind” (Druc and Velde 2021:9). These statements mirror the
thoughts of Frederick R. Matson in “Ceramic Ecology: An Approach to the Study of the
Early Cultures of the Near East” (F. R. Matson, ed., <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramics and Man</span>, Wenner-Gren
Foundation for Anthropology Research, Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology 41,
New York: Aldine; London: Methuen) in which he stated that “unless ceramic studies
lead to a better understanding of the cultural context in which ceramic materials were
made and used, they form a sterile record of limited worth” (1965:205).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Druc and Velde’s book begins with a “Foreword” and “Acknowledgements,” followed by
your reviewer’s summary of the chapter-by-chapter contents and a critique. “1.
Introduction” (pp. 11-19, 1 figure, 15 references). Druc and Velde write that this work is
an introduction for students in archaeology and others interested to the materials that
form ancient ceramics. They outline the structure of the book, which focuses on the
nature of these materials, the minerals, rocks, clays, and ways they have been modified
for the production of ceramics. The study of ceramic uses and materials by potters
through the ages allows us to better understand the potter's behavior and influences on
his or her craft. The book details clay, mineral and rock formations, basic geology
principles, types of analyses conducted to study raw materials, and the different
processes involved in making pottery. It also describes the diverse attributes of a
ceramic paste, and the different scales that can be employed to characterize it.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“2. Rocks and Minerals” (pp. 20-40, 3 figures, 27 references). The authors discuss
chemical elements and their chemical affinities, and the major rock types. Minerals,
mineral formulae, and mineral families are also described, including: silicates, the silica
minerals and quartz, feldspars, pyroxenes and amphiboles, olivine, micas and chlorite,
carbonates, and oxides. In addition, they review mineral grain shapes, minerals in
rocks, sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks, metamorphosed carbonates, and
metamorphosed igneous rocks.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“3. Clay Minerals and Their Properties” (pp. 41-62, 14 figures [1 in color], 15
references). Druc and Velde review general concepts of clay minerals, and the chemical
constitution of clay minerals and clay mineral families, mica-like clays (illite, celadonite,
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">and glauconite), smectites, the kaolin minerals, chlorites and related minerals, and the
general chemical identity of the clays. Lastly they focus on the physical properties of
clay minerals: clay-water mixtures and clay shapes; and the thermal stability of clays
and clay-water mixtures: kinetics, grain size, and heating rates.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“4 Origin of Clay Resources” (pp. 63-85, 14 figures [9 in color], 27 references). This
chapter imparts a review of the segregation of the elements by weathering, the
weathering of minerals and increasing stability, followed by a discussion of the
conversion of rocks to soils to sediments. The latter elaborates weathering profiles,
transportation by water flow and grain-size sorting; transport and deposition of clays;
and the burial of sediments. Hydrothermal alteration, sources of materials suitable for
ceramics (clays and non-clay grains); nine factors favorable for clay formation and
concentration; and sediment types of use for ceramic making and their mineral
characteristics.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“5. Physical and Chemical Processes of Making Ceramics” (pp. 86-109, 16 figures [13
in color], 25 references). The chapter begins with a discussion of plasticity and its states
(brittle, plastic, and fluid); and mineral temper grains (natural mineral grains, decantation
and separation of natural mineral temper grains, tempering by mixtures and source
materials, mixture of clays and non-clays grains from different sources, and the mixture
of clay sources). A brief review of decorations and object surfaces includes slips, paints,
and glazes.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“6. Physical and Chemical Processes in Firing Ceramics” (pp. 110-146, 14 figures [4 in
color], 37 references). Druc and Velde’s discussion of firing and material
transformations includes variables of transformation to make a ceramic, particularly the
firing process (time and temperature), stages of transformation in time-temperature
coordinates, paste composition and fusing agents; reduction of iron; firing programs and
surface color; and particle size. Firing practices focus on ground firing (bonfire), pit
firing, and kilns. The authors summarize factors in the formation of a ceramic body
during firing, then proceed to a detailed commentary on structure, porosity, and the
density of ceramics (non-plastics, and clays and pores); differentiating primary and
secondary pores, microporosity, temper materials and firing, thermal properties of
oriented clays, and hardness. The effects of oxidation and reductions are explained
and detailed for both raw and fired materials. Oxidation-reduction cycles are elaborated,
as are mineral reactions during firing, and the authors discuss families of ceramic
products (pottery, terracotta, faience, stoneware, and porcelain).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“7. The Making of Pots” (pp. 147-188, 49 figures [all in color], 26 references). The essay
is divided into seven sections. 1) Temper and tempering; and, 2) Raw materials, clay
materials, tempering materials and methods of tempering, and the identification of
temper. 3) Making a pot: physical and chemical reactions (needs and functions,
plasticity and the role of temper and non-plastics, drying and shrinkage, material
expansion, grain angularity, paste as related to function, form, and manufacturing
requirements; needs as a function of object use, durability and breakage resistance:
strength and hardness, porosity, density, permeability and impermeability, thermal
stress resistance and conductivity). 4) Material preparation. 5) Forming techniques., 6)
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Surface coatings as related to the function of the product. 7) Firing and furnaces (open
fires, pit-kilns, semi-closed structures, open kilns, closed kilns, and paste types and
surface color related to the type of firing).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“8. Optical Observation of Ceramics” (pp. 189-221, 98 figures [9 in color]. 65
references). The authors begin with a question about methods: how can one see a
ceramic sherd? They begin with computer scanning, the binocular microscope, portable
digital USB microscope, the petrographic microscope and thin section preservation,
point counting (to count or not to count: granulometric and modal analysis), reflected
light microscopy, and the scanning electron microscope. A second section focuses on
characteristics observed: what can one see in a ceramic sherd: slip, glaze, or paint;
temper grains and clays; temper grains and size distributions, grain shapes, crystal
shapes, angularity, size distributions of temper grains. Lastly, the identification of
different techniques in paste preparation, and paste texture are detailed .
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“9. Ceramics and Archaeology: Case Studies” (pp. 222-271, 24 figures [7 in color], 4
tables, 24 references). A dozen case studies ( mostly on specimens from France,
England, Italy, and Peru) are discussed. Basic techniques of petrographic analysis,
modal analysis, and chemical analysis (XRF and INAA) are reviewed prior to a lengthy
section focused on modern ceramic production in the Andes. The narrative includes
information on the production setting, petrographic analysis of unprepared black clay,
unprepared yellow temper, and clay-temper mixing; the analysis of fired pot fragments;
and image analysis. The final three sections relate clay characterization by SEM, the
determination of firing temperature, and Mössbauer spectroscopy.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“10. Some Current Analysis Methods” (pp. 271-305, 3 figures [all in color], 59
references). This chapter is divided into nine sections. 1) Ceramics analysis: what for
and how? There are seven subsections: classification, studying pottery technology,
provenance studies, quantitative studies, uses of quantitative and qualitative studies,
sample size (qualitative and quantitative studies versus time and cost investments), and
the use of comparative studies (sampling geological comparative materials:
compositional profiles and petrofacies maps). 2) Physical and chemical methods of
analysis. 3) Visual methods including the use of the binocular microscope, petrographic
microscope, computer scanning and visual systems, electron microscopes (SEM, SEM-
EDXRF, SM-XRF), TEM, and HRTEWM). 4) Mineral identification by non-optical
methods (XRD, QEMSCAN), TGA, DTA, IR and FTIR, EMP, and Raman spectroscopy.
5) The identification of chemical elements (LA-ICP-MS), whole sample analysis, XRF,
pXRF, PIXE, NAA, and Mössbauer analysis). The final sections are: 6) Provenance
based on Zr age and U-Pb isotopes. 7) Age determination by TL. 8) Density, porosity,
and hardness. And 9) Magnetic analysis.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“11. How to Acquire the Knowledge to Do the Job” (pp. 306-311). The authors discuss
eleven courses that are found in most academic institutions and are relevant to the
study of archaeological materials; these include classes in in geology, chemistry, and
physics. They also mention some periodicals (n = 14), books titles, and 18 laboratories
that are active in the field of interest. Among the journals listed are <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeometry </span>(<span style="font-weight: 700;">six
issues </span>per annum rather than three) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Current Anthropology </span>(1959-2023, which has
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">only 26 articles on ceramics, none published since 2018); also listed is the American
Chemical Society’s (ACS) <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Chemistry </span>series (published irregularly, nine
volumes with 41 chapters concerned with ceramics:1974-2013).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Assessment and Comparisons
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In addition to <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeometry</span>, there are nearly a thousand professional journals with
substantive contributions to archaeological ceramics; a tabulation of the primary
journals (based on numbers and archaeometric and social science content) is to be
found in Table 1 of the following article which lists 65 of the most significant journals:
See Charles C. Kolb (2022). “Ceramics” in Alan S. Gilbert, Paul Goldberg, Rolfe D.
Mandel, and Vera Aldeias (eds.) <span style="font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology</span>, Encyclopedia of
Earth Sciences Series, Cham: Springer. <span style="color: blue;">https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44600-0_32-
1</span>. I have selected 21 journals from the 65 to cite for this review, and have updated the
data and statistics through 30 May 2023; the corpus is selected from Kolb’s “Ceramics
Journal Titles” which has a current database of 1,196 periodicals.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Journal Title (Date Range) Volumes (Numbers) Ceramic Articles [bold] n =
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">American Journal of Archaeology </span>(1897-2023) 1(1)-123(1) <span style="font-weight: 700;">305</span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Ancient Mesoamerica (1990-2023) 1(1)-34(1) <span style="font-weight: 700;">88</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The Antiquaries Journal [UK] (1921-2022) 1(1)-102 <span style="font-weight: 700;">315</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Antiquity [UK] (1927-2023) 1(1)-97(392) [includes eSupplements] <span style="font-weight: 700;">128
</span>Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2009-2023) 1(1)-14(6) <span style="font-weight: 700;">119
</span>Ethnoarchaeology: Journal of Archaeological, Ethnographic and</div></span></span><p></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Experimental Studies </span>(2009-2022) 1(1)-14(2) <span style="font-weight: 700;">25</span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Archaeometry [UK] (1957-2023) 1(1)-65(3) S1 <span style="font-weight: 700;">620 </span>+ <span style="font-weight: 700;">64 </span>accepted online.
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal (1986-2023) 1(1)-38(3) <span style="font-weight: 700;">89</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (1932-
2023)</div></span></span><p></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">1(1)-92(1) <span style="font-weight: 700;">220</span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Historical Archaeology (1967-2022) 1-56(4) <span style="font-weight: 700;">109</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Internet Archaeology [UK] (1996-2023) 1-62 <span style="font-weight: 700;">393</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Journal of Archaeological Science [UK] (1974-2023) 1(1)-154 <span style="font-weight: 700;">449</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports [UK] (2016-2023) 1-49 <span style="font-weight: 700;">330</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Journal of Field Archaeology (1974-2023) 1(1)-48(4) <span style="font-weight: 700;">100</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Journal of Roman Pottery Studies [UK] (1986-2022) 1-19 <span style="font-weight: 700;">171</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Latin American Antiquity (1990-2023) 1(1)-34(1) <span style="font-weight: 700;">93</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Microscopy and Microanalysis (1997-2022) 1(1)-28(6) S1,2 <span style="font-weight: 700;">157</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Nature [UK] (1845-2023) 1(1)-617(--) <span style="font-weight: 700;">910 </span>[ancient/archaeological pottery]
Quaternary International [UK] (1989-2023) 1-631 <span style="font-weight: 700;">549</span></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Science [USA] (1880-2023) 1(1)-380(6647) <span style="font-weight: 700;">141 </span>[ancient/archaeological pottery]
Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology (1974-2022) 1(1)-49(2) <span style="font-weight: 700;">110</span></div></span></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Two other selections from important serials might be included (in spite of diasporas):
American Ceramic Society: <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramics and Civilization </span>series (1985-1998) 8 volumes:
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">101 articles; and Materials Research Society: <span style="font-style: italic;">Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology
</span>(1988-2018) 11 volumes: 122 articles.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By examining the major reference works that archaeologists engaged in ceramic
analyses have used over the past nine decades, one finds that both of the Druc and
Velde 1999 and 2021 volumes are part of the growing and persistent trend toward
collaborative scientist-archaeologist co-authored works and attempts at holistic
coverage of a vast, dynamic topic. For a relevant discussion of this topic through 1988,
see Charles C. Kolb “The Current Status of Ceramic Studies” in <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Ecology, 1988:
Current Research on Ceramic Materials</span>, edited by C. C. Kolb (Oxford: British
Archaeological Reports International Series S513, pp. 377-421). The following table
relates some basic characteristics of most recent English-language volumes designed
as textbooks or handbooks; several volumes on archaeological chemistry are
separately discussed:
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Author and Year
of Publication</span></span></p></div><div class="column">
</div>
<div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">References
</span></span></p>
</div>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">March (1934) 55
Colton (1953)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Shepard (1956) 423
Shepard (1965) 446
Rye (1981) 160
Rice (1987) 583
Sinopoli (1991) 250
Gibson & Woods (1990) 314
Gibson & Woods (1997) 320
Orton, Tyres, &</span></div><p></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Vince (1993)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Velde & Druc (1999) 311
*Pollard, Batt, Stern & </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Young (2007) 420
*Goffer (2007) 645
*Pollard & Heron (2008) 445
*Price & Burton (2011) 343
Orton & Hughes (2013) 357
Rice (2015) 591
Cuomo di Caprio (2017) 664
Roux (2019) 360
Druc & Velde (2021)</span></div><p></p></div></div><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Volumes on archaeological chemistry with some content on ceramics.
</span></p>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Eleven of these books were written during the last millennium and nine since 2000.
Colton’s (1953) slim volume was a handbook oriented to pottery from the North
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">American Southwest, while the Gibson and Woods (1990, 1997) and Orton, Tyres, and
Vince (1993) as well as Orton and Hughes (2013) volumes emphasized European,
particularly United Kingdom, contexts. Gibson and Woods’s volumes were, in the main,
highly illustrated glossaries: 199 of 314 pages (1990) and 203 of 220 pages (1997). Rye
(1981) drew most of his examples from the Asian Subcontinent and Melanesia. Shepard
(1956, 1965), Rice (1987, 2015), and Sinopoli (1991) each have more global
perspectives, while Velde and Druc (1999) emphasize Europe, the Circum-
Mediterranean, and western South America. Both of Rice’s volumes presents a detailed
holistic overview of archaeological ceramics, including the “origins and utilization”
components found in Velde and Druc (1999). Recently retired Prudence Rice (1987,
2015) updated her magnum opus, <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook</span>, but the second
edition (2015 paperback only) is minimally revised and enhanced. Her 2015 edition has
the same basic reference compendium as the 1987 hardback.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Di Caprio 2017
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Cuomo di Caprio (2017) two-volume “manual” with 20 chapters, was designed for
Italian students, and has been translated from the 2007 Italian-language edition,
maintaining the latter’s organizational format, and focus on western and southern
Europe and the Mediterranean seacoast. Part One emphasizes “Ancient
Craftsmanship” (13 chapters). “1. Introducing Part One” (pp. 28-34, 1 text-box, 30
citations) offers a general essay on the transformation of clay to archaeological
ceramics. “2. Clay” (pp. 36-45, 1 text-box, 21 citations), considers geological
perspectives and differentiates primary and secondary clays. “3. Clay Minerals” (pp. 46-
56, 3 text boxes, 46 citations) identifies crystallo-chemical properties, explains the clay-
water system, and identifies the three primary groups of clay and minor groups. “4. Non-
clay Minerals and Incidental Constituents” (pp. 58-81, 3 text- boxes, 33 citations)
documents temper, quartz, flux, high and low temperature feldspar, calcite, iron oxides
and hydroxides, grog, and organic and inorganic additives. “5. Technological Properties
of Clay and Pottery” (pp. 89-96, 2 text-boxes, 68 citations) reviews plasticity, shrinkage,
and thermal and chemical properties. “6. Working the Clay” (98-108, 5 boxes, 58
citations) focuses rather briefly on clay sourcing, processing and refining, while “7.
Forming “(pp. 116-172, 9 text- boxes, 197 citations) elaborates hand-building and
subtypes, wheel-throwing and variants, molding, and experimental archaeology. “8.
Drying” (174-188, 2 text-boxes, 21 citations) provides a brief discussion on the stages of
drying and issues of warping and cracking. “9. Applying Coatings to Vessels before
Firing” (pp. 190-202, 1 text-box, 46 citations) concerns raw materials, coating and
painting, and forms of application (dipping, brushing, wiping, sponging, splashing, and
pouring). “10. Slip and Gloss” (pp. 204-257, 12 text-boxes, 311 citations) differentiates
slip, matte finish, wash, black gloss, and sigillata red slip. “11. Glazing and New
Technologies in Medieval Times” (pp. 258-295, 8 text-boxes, 161 citations) is a well-
documented essay on raw materials, lead glazes, multiple firing techniques, and
maiolica. “12. Decorating Vessels before Firing in Antiquity” (pp. 296-323, 5 text- boxes,
112 citations) reviews decoration by excision or compression (incising, cutting, and
stamping), and by addition (barbotine, sand, applique, and mold-made relief); painting
(geometric and figure painting and polychrome) – the section on painting could be
elaborated. “13. Firing” (pp. 324-382, 9 text-boxes, 237 citations) details fuels, direct
flame firing, firing structures, open firing, clamps for bricks, pit firing, updraft kilns type </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(and examples), stacking procedures, and kiln operations. The illustrations of kiln types
are especially useful.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 9"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Introducing Part Two: Archaeological Ceramics in the Laboratory” (pp. 527-538, 28
references and readings, 3 graphics) focuses on three basic questions of how the
ceramic was made (mineralogical composition and working practices: forming through
firing); when it was made (TL) and where it was made (mineralogical and
physicochemical characterization). Topics considered are clay selection and refining,
sampling limits and ways for obtaining specimens, issues relating to artifact damage,
sample reusability, and time required. Readings emphasize mineralogical, chemical,
and analytical analyses; 13 physicochemical methods and three characterization
methods are introduced which are elaborated in the subsequent chapters. “15. OM,
Optical Mineralogy for Mineralogical Characterization” (pp. 540- 551, 5 readings, text-
box #63) assesses the use of a magnifying glass, stereomicroscopy, and polarized light
microscopy (PLM). Point counting and digital imaging are covered very briefly and
comparison charts are illustrated. The text-box documents heavy mineral analysis. “16.
Thermal Techniques” (pp. 533-557, 3 readings, text-box #64) concerns the analyses of
clays and ancient ceramics using DTA and TGA while the text-box elaborates TMA
analysis measuring thermal expansion. “17. Physicochemical Techniques” (pp 559-590,
text-box #65) covers a variety of methods. Text-box #65 covers the “Traditional
Chemical Analyses”: Volumetric analysis by titration, colorimetric analysis, and
gravimetric analysis (wet and dry methods). Thirteen physicochemical methods are
described (each in a page or two accompanied by line drawing schematics and images
illustrating the processes). Every entry has a summary that includes nine variables:
archaeological issues, damage of the object, sample, focus of the analysis, properties
determined, level of output, approximate cost, and time required for the sample
preparation and the output of results. “18. Characterization Techniques” (pp. 591-597, 8
references, text-box). Text-box # 68, “Relevant New Analyses” describes briefly NMR,
TOF-ND, XAS, XANES, and OSL – some are not quite “new” -- while the remainder of
the chapter emphasizes X-Ray Radiography (p. 592), Porosimetry (p. 593), and TL
Dating (pp. 594- 597). “19. Data Handling and Statistical Processing’ (pp. 599-601, 10
references) describes Cluster Analysis, Principal Components Analysis, and
Discriminant Analysis. In my longer review, I noted that Volume II (Part 2) had been
extensively modified in comparison with the 2007 edition and incorporated materials
through 2011. Content from the articles cited in Volume II from <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeometry </span>and
<span style="font-style: italic;">Journal of Archaeological Science </span>(pp. 609-617) on trends and frequencies in laboratory
techniques are not incorporated into the content of Volume I. The 13 physicochemical
methods and three characterization methods (X-Ray Radiography, Porosimetry, and TL
Dating) are appropriately explained, however, NMR, TOF-ND, XAS, XANES, and OSL
might have been elaborated or more clearly explained.</span></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Roux 2019
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Valentine Roux’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramics and Society: A Technological Approach to Archaeological
Assemblages </span>(2019) contains six chapters, was translated from the 2016 French
edition, and is called a “manual.” In “Chapter 2: Description of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chaînes Opératoires</span>”
(pp. 15-127, 57 figures, 4 tables), she proposes a descriptive system of the ceramic
<span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne opératoire </span>from collection of the raw material (clay) through firing processes.
She explains the main actions that transform clay into a finished product; a subsequent
section describes the <span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne opératoire </span>involves in implementing each of these actions.
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Roux reviews the emic viewpoint (the potter’s discourse) versus the etic perspective
(scientific discourse) and provides numerous relevant citations to the literature in
examining the nature of clay minerals, clay sources, and clay materials and ceramics. In
Collection and Transformation of Clay Materials (pp. 16-40) she considers paste
preparation, while Fashioning (pp. 41-92), Finishing (pp. 92-95) Surface Treatments
(pp. 96-101), Decoration (pp.102-109) – a surprisingly brief discussion, Drying (p. 110) -
- documented in less than half a page, and Firing (pp. 110-121) rather basic information.
Roux does not mention down draft kilns or muffle kilns (generally associated with large-
scale production), or prehistoric types that continued into the historic era, notably
Jingdezhen egg-shaped kiln, Dragon kilns, and Anasazi trench kilns. “References” (pp.
121-127) contains 138 citations. Chapter 3: “Identification of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chaînes Opératoires</span>”
(pp. 129-216, 61 figures, 1 table). Technological Interpretation of Paste (pp. 130-139),
From Fashioning to Firing (pp. 140-212), versus reduction atmospheres.
Reconstruction of the <span style="font-style: italic;">chaînes opératoires </span>utilizes a two page quotation (p. 210-212,
Fig. 3.61) taken from J. P. Hillman’s description of the fabrication of jars from Bronze
Age Tell Arqa during the first half of the third millennium BC (2006). Roux’s
“References” (pp. 212-216) include 72 entries.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapter 4: “Classification of Archaeological Assemblages According to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chaîne
Opératoire </span>Concept: Functional and Sociological Characterization” (pp. 217-258, 9
figures, 2 tables) is divided into . Classification by Technical Groups (pp. 119-124),
Classification by Techno-Petrographic Groups (pp. 218-224) with a discussion of
sampling procedures and two pages of excellent color illustrations, Fig. 4.3; 4.3
Classification by Morpho-Stylistic Groups (pp. 226-230) with an example of a Middle
Bronze Age jar typology developed by French archaeologist Bertille Lyonnett (1997)
and an example of decoration classification by American geologist-archaeologist Anna
O. Shepard (1965); and, lastly, 4.4 Classification by Techno-Stylistic Trees (p. 230).
Roux next reviews 4.5 Classification by Functional <span style="font-style: italic;">Versus </span>Sociological Variables (pp.
230-244) including vessel functions (shapes and functions such as storage, transfer,
culinary, and special activities) and decoration and function. Missing here is any
mention of American anthropologist Dorothy Washburn’s innovative assessments of
pottery design, symmetries of pattern design on material culture both ethnographic and
archaeological, which go well beyond Shepard’s initial work and deserves inclusion in
any volume on ceramic decoration. In Chapter 5: “Technical Skills” (pp. 259-282, 9
figures, 1 table), Roux considers the nature of skills (modeling, molding, wheel throwing,
and wheel coiling) and expertise.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In Chapter 6: “Anthropological Interpretation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Chaînes Opératoires</span>” (pp. 283-324, 4
figures, 1 table), Roux characterizes the organization of production including the
Socioeconomic Complex (pp. 283-293), and Cultural Histories (pp. 293-307), African
work by Gosselain (2008, 2011) and others and Dupont-Delaleuf 2011) in Central Asia.
There is a very interesting section on cultural lineages and evolutionary trajectories and
an essay by Sebastien Manem titled “Modeling the Evolution of Technical Traditions
and Learning Pathways with a Phylogenetic Approach” (pp. 297-301) which includes a
cladistics diagram of taxa. There are commentaries on historical scenarios, innovation,
and diffusion, the latter divided into demic and cultural. Lastly, 6.3 Evolutionary Forces
(pp. 308-315) concerns developmental technique, conditions for technological change,
and the 6.4 “Conclusion” (pp. 315-316) whereby the “potency” of the ceramic <span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne
opératoire </span>lies not only in the ability to explore the functional and sociological variability
</span></p>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">of ceramic assemblages but also show the cultural and historical implications of this
variability. The “References” (pp. 316-324) include 164 items. A double-column “Index”
(pp. 325-329) focuses only on topic entries.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Roux references to a classic work by Orton, Tyers, and Vince, <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery in Archaeology
</span>(1993), which is now dated and has been replaced by a second edition authored by
Orton and Hughes (2013), reviewed by me in <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>37(1):7-9 (Spring 2014);
likewise her citations to Prudence Rice’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook </span>(1987) should
refer to the revised second edition (2015), reviewed in <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>38(3):3-7 (Fall
2015).</span></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chapters 3 and 4: “Classification of Archaeological Assemblages According to the
<span style="font-style: italic;">Chaîne Opératoire </span>Concept: Functional and Sociological Characterization” (pp. 217-258
Simona Scarcella’s edited monograph <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Ceramics: A Review of Current
Research</span>, British Archaeological Reports International Series S-2193, Oxford:
Archaeopress (2011), reviewed in <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>34(2):6-9 (Summer 2011). A majority of
the 14 contributions to Scarcella’s volume characterize or employ the <span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne opératoire
</span>(Roux contributed a chapter entitled “Anthropological interpretation of ceramic
assemblages: foundations and implementations of technological analysis”). Chapters by
Berg, Laneri, Roux, De La Fuente, Jeffra, Gheorghiu, and Deal explicitly use <span style="font-style: italic;">chaîne
opératoire</span>. In the introductory essay, “<span style="font-style: italic;">Chaîne opératoire </span>and ceramics: classifications
and typology, archaeometry, experimental archaeology, and ethnoarchaeology,” Kolb
(2011:5-19) discussed the ceramic production sequence from finding raw materials
(clays and tempers)through fabrication, dispersal and final disposition of vessels and
sherds, and related it to the methodology of Ceramic Ecology. A number of minor
errors appear in the texts and bibliographies: p. 12: Gosselain and Smith (2005) should
be Gosselain and Livingstone Smith; p. 251: Bowser J. B. (2008) should be B[renda]. J.;
p. 306 and 320: Marro et al. (2014) the Kuro-Araxe culture [French designation] would
be Kura-Araxas in the English-language version; p. 321: Olesen, Asta (1994) the
reference to Copenhaguen should be Copenhagen; and p. 323: Stark, M. T. (ed.)
(1993) Washington, WA/London should be Washington, DC/London; all of these are
verified in WorldCat. English-language editorial proof readers should have dealt with
these nuances. Physicochemical analyses are not an element of ceramic assessment in
this volume (see Rice 2015 and Hunt (ed.) 2017), and what happens to the finished
products (use and discard) is understated in her manual.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Archaeological Chemistry: Four Volumes
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Four volumes on archaeological chemistry generally include relevant material on
ceramics, pottery, and analytical methods. Goffer’s second edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological
Chemistry </span>(2007) contains 18 chapters and three appendices; two chapters and one
appendix are relevant: “Chapter 1: Minerals: Rock and Stone: Pigments, Abrasives, and
Gemstones” (pp. 1-91, 17 figs., 22
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">tables, 23 textboxes); “Chapter 7: Clay: Pottery and Other Ceramic Materials” (pp. 231-
260, 9 figs., 7 tables, 1 textbox); and “Appendix II: Chronometric Dating Methods:
Selection Criteria” (pp. 449-451, 1 fig.). The volume is intended primarily for
archaeologists, conservators, curators, and art historians. Pollard and Heron’s second
edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Chemistry </span>(2007) has 12 chapters, one of which deals with
ceramics: “Chapter 4: The Geochemistry of Clays and the Provenance of Ceramics”
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(pp. 98-143, 15 figs, 2 tables, 72 references). This book was designed as a text for
students in archaeological science and chemistry, and professionals in archaeology.
Pollard, Batt, Stern and Young’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Analytical Chemistry in Archaeology </span>(2007) with 13
chapters has scattered ceramics content: “Part II: The Application of Analytical
Chemistry to Archaeology” (pp. 45-214) has seven chapters: “Chapter 3: Elemental
Analysis by Absorption and Emission Spectroscopies in the Visible and Ultraviolet” (pp.
47-69, 5 figs.); “Chapter 4:
</span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Molecular Analysis by Absorption and Raman Spectroscopy” (pp. 70-92, 9 figs.);
“Chapter 5: X-ray Techniques and Electron Beam Microanalysis” (pp. 93-122, 8 figs.);
“Chapter 6: Neutron</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Activation Analysis” (pp. 123- 136, 1 fig.), “Chapter 7: Chromatography” (pp. 137-159,
12 figs., 2 tables); “Chapter 8: Mass Spectrometry (pp.160-194, 11 figs., 2 tables); and
“Chapter 9: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)” (pp. 195-214, 9
figs., 1 table). “Part III: Some Basic Chemistry for Archaeologists” (pp. 215-321) has
three chapters: “Chapter 10: Atoms, Isotopes, Electron Orbitals, and the Periodic Table”
(pp. 217-248, 6 figs., 1 table); “Chapter 11: Valency, Bonding, and Molecules” (pp. 249-
274, 22 figs., 3 tables); “Chapter 12: The Electromagnetic Spectrum” (pp. 275-294, 8
figs., 2 tables); and “Chapter 13: Practical Issues in Analytical Chemistry” (pp. 294-321,
2 figs., 2 tables).</span></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Price and Burton in <span style="font-style: italic;">An Introduction to Archaeological Chemistry </span>(2011) comment that
archaeological chemistry is a subfield of archaeometry (p. 2) and that it sits at the
juncture of these two branches of the tree of knowledge, providing an interface‖
between them. There are nine chapters, three of which are especially relevant:
“Chapter 3: Archaeological Materials” (pp. 41-72, 16 figures [3 in color], 3 tables, 11
suggested readings) provides an overview of the kinds of materials (rock, pottery, bone,
and metals) than can be analyzed. Rock types and rock-forming minerals are reviewed.
The discussion on pottery (pp. 47-49) considers clay, temper, and compositional paste
reference units (CPU), and discusses the MURR facility and provenience postulate.
Sediments and soils, categories of sediments and sizes criteria, and a sediment triangle
are also considered. The authors remind us that ―ceramics are the products of diverse
human technologies, not geological materials, and their compositions reflect human
choices rather than simply that of geographic provenience‖ (p. 49). There are no
suggested readings on pottery. “Chapter 4: Methods of Analysis” (pp. 73-126, 45 figures
[6 in color], 6 tables, 8 suggested readings; typo p. 97: pounds = pounds) Price and
Burton provide an overview of five different kinds of elemental or molecular analyses
and the instruments used in archaeological chemistry. 1) Magnification (pp. 74-78) and
levels of magnification: binocular microscopy, optical microscopy, and petrographic and
metallographic microscopy; SEM (25 to 25,000 x). 2) Elemental Analysis (pp. 78-90)
measuring presence and amount of various elements: spectroscopy (absorbed vs.
emitted, absorption vs. emersion); ICP-OES (commonly used today); XRF
(nondestructive, portable equipment), an example is mineral grains in pottery (p. 88);
CN analysis; and very brief summary of NAA or INAA and a ceramic example. 3)
Isotopic Analysis (pp. 90-102): Oxygen isotopes, Carbon and Nitrogen isotopes,
Strontium isotopes, and the use of Mass spectrometers and ICP-MS. 4) Organic
Analysis (pp. 102-114): the focus is on the methods of biomolecular archaeology,
notably residues in potsherds (p. 102, 106-109, 109), lipids, and LC-MS, and GC-MS (p.
</span></p>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">110 has a pottery example). 5) Mineral and Inorganic Compounds (pp. 115-122):
microscopy (thin-section petrographic studies and optical mineralogy), X-ray methods
(XRD), and molecular spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy and Raman scattering). The
limitations of IR and XRD are noted and SEM and X-ray detection are emphasized.
Tables 4.5 and 4.6 provide useful summaries of 11 instruments and their sensitivity,
sample sizes, and cost analysis. “Chapter 5: Identification and Authentication” (pp. 127-
154, 17 figures [4 in color], 4 suggested readings and 17 key references) documents
what archaeological chemistry can and cannot do. For authentication, NAA, XRD, and
XRF studies on a Getty Museum <span style="font-style: italic;">kouros </span>are reported.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some Conclusions
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Materials in Archaeology </span>(2021) is obviously the most current, up-to-date
volume devoted to the study of archaeological ceramics, especially in its coverage of
physicochemical techniques employed for chronology and provenance. Designed as a
textbook for teaching in the ceramics laboratory, this book provides an appropriate
introduction to the origin of the materials which form ancient pottery, considers their
nature and function, and how potters select raw materials and produce material culture.
Druc and Velde contend that by studying ceramic pastes, raw materials, and create
these have been modified for the production of ceramics that readers can understand,
assess, and explain potters’ selection processes and fabrication through time. I believe
that they have met these goals.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another benefit is the number of color illustrations where color is a significant advantage
for the reader. Alas, most volumes that depict color thin sections, photomicrographs, or
cross-sections of sherds lack of color bars to indicate chromatic fidelity, or provide
Munsell designations. A few others neglect to provide measurement data or metric
scales. Art historians especially require color and metric scales when photographing
museum objects. Lastly, the book is well-written, has an appropriately strong binding for
a paperback, and is priced at less than half of the costs of competitors’ works.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Readers likely discern that I have some background in archival collections and
librarianship. I served as a special assistant to my high school librarian (thanks Miss
Powell) and later worked as assistant director of a small university library after 24 years
of research and teaching archaeology (mostly at Penn State). During the following 23
years at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), I attended numerous
classes and workshops focusing on the preservation of archival, library, photographic,
and museum collections to stay abreast of the shift from analog to digital procedures to
preserve and make intellectually accessible a variety of compendia.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During my undergraduate and graduate student career at Penn State – ten years, I had
the good fortune to work as a research and teaching assistant for Fred Matson (who
taught me about ceramics) and Bill Sanders (who taught me about archaeology). While
I was finishing my doctorate, one of the other grad students who worked with both Fred
and Bill was Pru Rice. Sadly, so was the late Deb Nichols (1952-2022).
</span></p>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Bibliographic References for Table </span>(<span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>Reviews are noted)
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Colton, Harold S. (1953) <span style="font-style: italic;">Potsherds: An Introduction to the Study of Prehistoric
Southwestern Ceramics and their Use in Historic Reconstruction</span>. Bulletin 25. Flagstaff:
Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, Museum of Northern Arizona.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Cuomo di Caprio, Ninina (2017) <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramics in Archaeology: From Prehistoric to Medieval
Times in Europe and the Mediterranean: Ancient Craftsmanship and Modern Laboratory
Techniques</span>, 2 vols. Manuali L'ERMA 2. Roma: L'Erma di Bretschneider. <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin
</span>41(4): 20-23 (Winter 2018).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Gibson, Alex and Ann Woods (1990) <span style="font-style: italic;">Prehistoric Pottery for the Archaeologist</span>. Leicester
and New York: Leicester University Press.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Gibson, Alex and Ann Woods (1997) <span style="font-style: italic;">Prehistoric Pottery for the Archaeologist</span>, 2<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;">nd </span>ed.
Leicester and Washington, DC: Leicester University Press.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Goffer, Zvi (2007) <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Chemistry</span>, 2<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;">nd </span>ed. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Interscience,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Volume 170 in Chemical Analysis, 2007). <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>32(1):
22-25 (Spring 2009).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">March, Benjamin (1934) <span style="font-style: italic;">Standards of Pottery Description</span>. Occasional Contributions 3.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Orton, Clive, Paul Tyers, and Alan Vince (1993) <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery in Archaeology</span>. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
</span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Orton, Clive and Michael Hughes (2013) <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery in Archaeology</span>, 2<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;">nd </span>ed. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>37(1): 7-9 (Spring 2014).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pollard, Mark, Catherine Batt, Ben Stern, and Suzanne M. M. Young (2007) <span style="font-style: italic;">Analytical
Chemistry in Archaeology</span>. New York: Cambridge University Press. <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>32(1):
22-23 (Fall 2007).</span></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pollard, A. M. and C. Heron (2008) <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Chemistry</span>, 2<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;">nd </span>ed. Cambridge, UK:
RSC Publishing [The Royal Society of Chemistry]. <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>32(1): 22-25 (Spring
2009).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Price, T. Douglas and James H. Burton (2011) <span style="font-style: italic;">An Introduction to Archaeological
Chemistry</span>. New York: Springer. <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>34(1): 2-4 (Spring 2011).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rice, Prudence M. (1987) <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook</span>. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rice, Prudence M. (2015) <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook</span>, 2nd ed. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press. <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>38(3): 3-7 (Fall 2015).
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Roux, Valentine (2019) <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramics and Society: A Technological Approach to
Archaeological Assemblage</span>s. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
SAS Bulletin 42(2):4-9 (Summer 2019).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rye, Owen S. (1981) <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery Technology: Principles and Reconstruction</span>. Manuals on
Archeology 4. Washington, DC: Taraxacum.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Shepard, Anna O. (1956) <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramics for the Archaeologist</span>. Publication 609. Washington,
DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington. Forward “Ceramic Studies 1954-1964” added
to 1965 and later printings.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sinopoli, Carla (1991) <span style="font-style: italic;">Approaches to Archaeological Ceramics</span>. New York: Plenum.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Velde, Bruce and Elizabeth C. Druc (1999) <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeological Ceramic Materials: Origin
and Utilization</span>. New York: Springer.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
See also Kolb (2009) Comparative Review of Three Books on Archaeological
Chemistry: <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>32(1): 22-25 (Spring).
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-76220765989745800562023-03-09T21:45:00.002-05:002023-03-09T21:45:21.404-05:00Human Bioarchaeology and Public Outreach in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) - How to Approach It?<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By <i>Mahmoud Mardini, Associate Editor for Bioarchaeology</i></span></p><p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Human bioarchaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) has played a
key role in understanding the past human populations of this highly complex region. This field
of study combines the methods of archaeology and physical anthropology to analyze human
bones and teeth to reconstruct information about past health, diet, mobility, and occupation.
This information in turn is critical for decoding the social, economic, and political dynamics
of past societies. In this context, public outreach plays a crucial role in bioarchaeological
research as it helps to foster a deeper understanding of the past, often with regard to topics of
high contemporary relevance (e.g. migration, structural violence, human responses to climate
change). Bioarchaeologists in the EMME have followed the example of their colleagues in
other parts of the world and employed various strategies to connect with the public, such as
giving public lectures, creating museum exhibitions (e.g. upcoming exhibition on the
osteobiography of selected ancient Cypriots in the context of the <span style="color: #0563c1; font-style: italic;">Face to Face: Meet an Ancient
Cypriot </span>project), organizing workshops, and participating with hands-on activities in Europe-
wide outreach initiatives (e.g. <span style="color: #0563c1;">European Researchers’ Night</span>, Festival of Ideas).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, human remains in public outreach events can raise a number of ethical concerns that
must be considered by bioarchaeologists. Relevant discussions have been taking place
systematically over the past few years, not only in the EMME but worldwide. One key concern
is that the display of human remains can be seen as disrespectful by some individuals or groups.
This is particularly true when the remains are displayed in a way that is not in line with cultural
or religious beliefs. For example, some cultures may consider it disrespectful to display remains
in a public setting or to display remains that have been excavated from specific burial contexts
(e.g. Christian). Some individuals may feel that the display of human remains is exploitative,
as it may be perceived as using the remains for commercial or entertainment purposes, rather
than for educational or scientific purposes. Another ethical concern is the long-term
preservation of human remains. Human remains can deteriorate over time if they are not
properly cared for, and this can be a significant concern when they are displayed in a public
setting. The remains may be exposed to elements such as light, heat, and humidity, which can
cause damage and deterioration. The remains may be subject to vandalism or theft, which can
further compromise their preservation. Bioarchaeologists must take into consideration the
preservation of the remains, as well as their proper treatment, to ensure that they are not used
or displayed in a manner that is disrespectful or exploitative.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some bioarchaeologists in the EMME, as in other parts of the world, have started substituting
3D printed casts for actual human remains in public outreach activities to address these ethical
issues. The advantages of using 3D printed casts include the ability to accurately replicate the
remains in their original form, as well as the ability to replicate the remains in multiple copies
for multiple exhibitions and events without requiring the original remains to be moved.
Furthermore, the use of 3D printed casts allows for greater display and interpretation flexibility.
3D printed casts, for example, can be manipulated to show different angles or features of the
remains, making for a more engaging and informative display for the public. The casts can also </span><span style="font-family: arial;">be used to create virtual reality experiences that allow visitors to interact with the remains in a
more immersive manner. Finally, the use of 3D printed casts as a substitute for real human
remains allows more hands-on activities in public outreach events (</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;">Figure 1</span><span style="font-family: arial;">).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtWKIVleJbXC_u_2CA2rhhcwlPTx_o9xCS21etuHCFE1nEjmvKKhdJ2ggzIAzGOyx0KA-RCWKWM5PlNfH5GywgrDkYOzgmFMLuNk4AoO2ovQLIMCZTLFKy3inDET7oifudA1oRW1LAtEsJvmxsYZSguwWOyph21DGrKEFKWsftQsg58PwNxILp7TiJg/s1544/Screenshot%202023-03-10%20at%202.38.19%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1544" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtWKIVleJbXC_u_2CA2rhhcwlPTx_o9xCS21etuHCFE1nEjmvKKhdJ2ggzIAzGOyx0KA-RCWKWM5PlNfH5GywgrDkYOzgmFMLuNk4AoO2ovQLIMCZTLFKy3inDET7oifudA1oRW1LAtEsJvmxsYZSguwWOyph21DGrKEFKWsftQsg58PwNxILp7TiJg/w640-h400/Screenshot%202023-03-10%20at%202.38.19%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>Figure 1. Dr Efthymia Nikita at an outreach event using printed casts of human bones to demonstrate key information bioarchaeologists extract from the skeleton (left) and real animal bones of domestic animals are being used to teach children about zooarchaeology (right).</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A more regional-specific challenge in the EMME is the impact of financial and political crises
on public interest in (bio)archaeology. Financial crises divert funds away from archaeological
heritage initiatives, whereas political instability and conflict can cause the destruction of
archaeological sites. Under such circumstances, people are reasonably concerned with meeting
their basic needs than with preserving or learning about their past. Additionally, access to
information about archaeology and cultural heritage may be restricted in circumstances of
political oppression or censorship, and people may not be able to learn about or take part in
research about their past. Within these constraints, bioarchaeologists must work in order to
communicate the significance of their work and make it relevant to people’s lives; as mentioned
above, this field can offer critical insights to the history of (structural) violence and inequality.
In addition, bioarchaeological research can shed light on the region’s history of migration,
disease, and health, which may be relevant to current public health issues.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although archaeology has been the subject of several educational and community-building
initiatives in the EMME, bioarchaeology has somewhat lagged behind, despite its great interest
and potential to shed light on crucial and very timely aspects of past life. In part this is due to
ethical concerns regarding the display and handling of human remains, and in part because
human bones were not considered an important part of the archaeological record until a few
decades ago when the material culture was all that mattered. This attitude has drastically
changed and the role of human remains in enhancing understanding of the past is now well-
established. Digital methods are also helping overcome various ethical issues (though it is
creating new ones pertaining to the ownership and open sharing of the digital archives).
Bioarchaeologists are increasingly collaborating with local and regional institutions, such as
museums and universities, to create exhibitions and educational programs that highlight the
potential of relevant research in addressing critical issues such as human health, migration,
violence, and sustainability. In the future, we anticipate such initiatives to develop even further.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Suggested Readings</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Almansa-</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Sánchez, J., 2021. Paper, Perception and... Facts? Exploring Archaeological
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Heritage Management in the Mediterranean and the Weight of Public Archaeology. Ex Novo:
Journal of Archaeology, 6, pp.7-25.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Elefanti, P., 2021. The Unfamiliar Past: The Outreach of Palaeolithic Archaeology in Greek
Archaeological Museums. Ex Novo: Journal of Archaeology, 6, pp.65-85.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Huffer, D., 2018. The living and the dead entwined in virtual space:# bioarchaeology and being
a bioarchaeologist on Instagram. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 6(3), pp.267-273.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mamo, A.R., Ibraheem, I.M., Al Kassem, A., Al-Khalil, A. and Hopper, K., 2022. The impact
of the Syrian conflict on archaeological sites in Al-Hasakah province. Journal of
Archaeological Science: Reports, 43, p.103486.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Papadaki, A. and Dakouri-Hild, A., 2017. A Past for/by the Public: Outreach and Reception of
Antiquity in Boeotia, Greece. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage
Studies, 5(3-4), pp.393-410.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sakellariadi, A., 2021. Public Archaeology in Greece: A Review of the Current State of the
Field. Ex Novo: Journal of Archaeology, 6, pp.45-65.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Schug, G.R., 2020. 3D Dead: Ethical Considerations in Digital Human Osteology.
Bioarchaeology International, 4(3-4), p.217.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Stojanowski, C.M. and Duncan, W.N., 2015. Engaging bodies in the public imagination:
Bioarchaeology as social science, science, and humanities. American Journal of Human
Biology, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">27(1), pp.51-60.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;">
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Video lecture
</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">https://publications.acorjordan.org/2016/05/30/a-recipe-for-public-archaeology-in-cyprus-an-
acor-video-lecture-by-dr-andrew-mccarthy/
</span></span></p>
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</div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-58498653490640682102023-03-09T21:28:00.004-05:002023-03-10T08:14:01.809-05:00Respiratory Diseases and Their Contribution to Understand the Human Past<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By <i>Maia Casna</i> and <i>Sarah A. Schrader</i></span></p><p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Over the past fifty years, the study of archaeological human remains has become an integral part of
archaeology, as it provides empirical evidence of past individuals and communities. Within
bioarchaeology, paleopathology developed as an important subfield focusing on disease as a means to
understand how people's life experiences impacted their health in the past. Disease, in fact, has
affected and will continue to affect everybody globally: it can not only cause our death, but also affect
the way we function, as well as our relationships and our role within society. Therefore, exploring the
health challenges our ancestors faced offers us a unique window not only into the lives of individuals,
but also the development of past societies as whole.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this framework, the study of respiratory disease (i.e., sinusitis, pulmonary infections) is of primary
importance in the reconstruction of past lives. As the air we breathe can affect our health in many
ways, studying respiratory disorders in archaeological contexts offers unique insights in how human
living conditions, working environments, and behavioral patterns, such as smoking, influenced our
wellbeing across time. Traces of respiratory infections on the human skeleton include inflammatory
new bone formation or resorption within the paranasal sinuses (i.e., air-filled spaces that surround the
nasal cavity) and on the visceral surfaces of the ribs (Figure 1).
</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhirbCWRQH66XWdEWfZU95Va2eDh-MaEgz0kbL2uIV-Ez3tp_-vZ7R8Ok3u_3ql1NsAZFNwuF5BAjWX4hrfOxxBQE_W_wM_nVCq-XuU5WCxGWuvFvhgbU8ciTt4p96tWbgtJ1e0zHM-07vxkW_MfEyD1MBpyHTCqOkTaJfpEaL2nB4x1_v7-Ts7jeep9g/s831/Picture1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="831" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhirbCWRQH66XWdEWfZU95Va2eDh-MaEgz0kbL2uIV-Ez3tp_-vZ7R8Ok3u_3ql1NsAZFNwuF5BAjWX4hrfOxxBQE_W_wM_nVCq-XuU5WCxGWuvFvhgbU8ciTt4p96tWbgtJ1e0zHM-07vxkW_MfEyD1MBpyHTCqOkTaJfpEaL2nB4x1_v7-Ts7jeep9g/w640-h336/Picture1.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Figure 1. Lesions on the ribs (A-B) and within the maxillary sinuses (C-D) linked to respiratory infections.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As pointed out by Roberts (2016), bone changes linked to respiratory disease are often subtle and
therefore difficult to recognize either macroscopically or radiographically. This, together with the
variegated etiology of respiratory disorders, has caused such conditions to be long ignored in
bioarchaeology, despite their importance in the study of human disease. However, in recent years
several studies have attempted to address such limitations and have generated appreciable results
that not only attested to the incidence of respiratory conditions throughout human history, but also
demonstrated their importance in dismantling common beliefs about past environments and their
influence on human health.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For example, it was long believed that urbanization had negatively impacted human respiratory health
as early cities have been commonly associated not only with air pollution, but also with negative
factors such as overcrowding, poor hygienic conditions, and malnutrition. However, recent studies on
sinusitis in post-medieval Europe have highlighted similar occurrence rates of sinusitis between urban
and rural societies, suggesting that, while cities surely challenged respiratory health, adverse weather
conditions associated with allergies and limited access to healthcare resulted in similar challenges for
human respiratory health in rural environments as well (e.g., Bernofsky, 2010; Casna et al., 2021).
Other recent bioarchaeological studies on respiratory disease have addressed the impact that climate
change had on past societies, bringing up evidence of how processes such as aridification and
desertification may impact our wellbeing and long-term health (Binder, 2014; Davies-Barrett et al.,
2021).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although bioarchaeologists have often been hesitant to include respiratory disease in their
investigations, in the past three years many studies have started to focus on such conditions, exploring
new ways of diagnosis as well as new interpretation of results. Alongside new methods being
suggested (e.g., Davies-Barrett et al., 2019), new methodologies of analysis such as Computed
Tomography (CT) and Air Quality Monitoring (AQM) stations in reconstructed environments are being </span><span style="font-family: arial;">introduced in the study of past respiratory health (e.g., Shillito et al., 2022; Zubova et al., 2020). New
methods and data are not only demonstrating the complexity of respiratory disorders and their
significant impact on human wellbeing, but are also enabling researchers to draw a number of
transformative conclusions about the human past. Ongoing studies of respiratory disease will continue
to expand upon what we have already learned, yielding important results that are applicable not only
to the study of past populations, but also to other disciplines such as biology and clinical medicine.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Bibliography
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Bernofsky, K. S. (2010). <span style="font-style: italic;">Respiratory health in the past: a bioarchaeological study of chronic maxillary
sinusitis and rib periostitis from the Iron Age to the Post Medieval Period in Southern England</span>.
Unpublished PhD dissertation (Durham: Durham University).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Binder, M. (2014). <span style="font-style: italic;">Health and Diet in Upper Nubia through Climate and Political Change - A
bioarchaeological investigation of health and living conditions at ancient Amara West between
1300 and 800BC</span>. Unpublished PhD dissertation (Durham: Durham University).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Casna, M., Burrell, C. L., Schats, R., Hoogland, M. L. P., & Schrader, S. A. (2021). Urbanization and
respiratory stress in the Northern Low Countries: A comparative study of chronic maxillary
sinusitis in two early modern sites from the Netherlands (AD 1626–1866). <span style="font-style: italic;">International Journal
of Osteoarchaeology</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">31</span>(5), 891–901. DOI:10.1002/oa.3006
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Davies-Barrett, A. M., Antoine, D., & Roberts, C. A. (2019). Inflammatory periosteal reaction on ribs
associated with lower respiratory tract disease: A method for recording prevalence from sites
with differing preservation. <span style="font-style: italic;">American Journal of Physical Anthropology</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">168</span>(3), 530–542.
DOI:10.1002/ajpa.23769
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Davies-Barrett, A. M., Roberts, C. A., & Antoine, D. (2021). Time to be nosy: Evaluating the impact of
environmental and sociocultural changes on maxillary sinusitis in the Middle Nile Valley
(Neolithic to Medieval periods). <span style="font-style: italic;">International Journal of Paleopathology</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">34</span>, 182–196.
DOI:10.1016/J.IJPP.2021.07.004
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Roberts, C. A. (2016). Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today:
The impact of the environment on health, past and present. <span style="font-style: italic;">Anthropological Review</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">79</span>(1), 1–
16. DOI:10.1515/anre-2016-0001
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Shillito, L. M., Namdeo, A., Bapat, A. V., Mackay, H., & Haddow, S. D. (2022). Analysis of fine
particulates from fuel burning in a reconstructed building at Çatalhöyük World Heritage Site,
Turkey: assessing air pollution in prehistoric settled communities. <span style="font-style: italic;">Environmental Geochemistry
and Health</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">44</span>(3), 1033–1048. DOI:10.1007/S10653-021-01000-2/FIGURES/9
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Zubova, A. v., Ananyeva, N. I., Moiseyev, V. G., Stulov, I. K., Dmitrenko, L. M., Obodovskiy, A. v.,
Potrakhov, N. N., Kulkov, A. M., & Andreev, E. v. (2020). The use of computed tomography for
the study of chronic maxillary sinusitis: Based on Crania from the Pucará De Tilcara Fortress,
Argentina. <span style="font-style: italic;">Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">48</span>(3), 143–153.
DOI:10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.3.143-153
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><br /><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-28283652510716612322023-03-09T21:22:00.001-05:002023-03-09T21:22:39.383-05:00Book Review: Searching for Structure in Pottery Analysis: Applying Multiple Scales and Instruments to Production<span style="font-family: arial;">By <i>Charles Kolb</i>, <i>Honorary Associate Editor</i></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCmbApcPV3OAYUOLL9a84SI9qdzJFM9JsQHdE910MoaHq0Hsx0wR2J1P8LsMaiUv5VhQUU6veQIEYJetgBMLiZlnUzfQd50Qw-fvOSrCp2RmEHMuXkqP0iTXaFOrP9bKS1Qx0EX6PwlB-PxobtTZ7yL9udTqRTy0AhIpdjGuTJakwqgw9j0Xl8h6CoQ/s1000/61VvNmctAWL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="735" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCmbApcPV3OAYUOLL9a84SI9qdzJFM9JsQHdE910MoaHq0Hsx0wR2J1P8LsMaiUv5VhQUU6veQIEYJetgBMLiZlnUzfQd50Qw-fvOSrCp2RmEHMuXkqP0iTXaFOrP9bKS1Qx0EX6PwlB-PxobtTZ7yL9udTqRTy0AhIpdjGuTJakwqgw9j0Xl8h6CoQ/w294-h400/61VvNmctAWL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="294" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Searching for Structure in Pottery Analysis: Applying Multiple Scales and Instruments to
Productio</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">n</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Alan F. Greene and Charles W. Hartley (eds.). Series: New Directions in
Anthropological Archaeology. Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK: Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2022.
256 pp., 75 figures. ISBN-13 (Hardback) 9781781790533 Price (Hardback) £85.00 / $110.00
ISBN (eBook) 9781800500013 Price (eBook) rrp [</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">recommended retail price]</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Individual £85.00
/ $110.00 ePub ISBN 9781800500419.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This is a long, somewhat detailed, 7,300+ word review of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Searching for Structure in Pottery
Analysis </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">which derives its title from the work of a pioneering materials scientist, Cyril Stanley
Smith 4 October 1903 - 25 August 1992) author of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Search for Structure</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, Cambridge, MA:
The MIT Press, 1981), a British metallurgist and historian of science who worked on the
Manhattan Project, founded the Institute for the Study of Metals at the University of Chicago,
and moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961. At MIT he focused on the
structural analysis of a variety of archaeological materials, including some work on the
compositional analysis of ceramics and influenced several generations of students at MIT.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The original title for the Greene and Harley edited book, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Renewing the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">“Search for Structure”:
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">New Techniques and New Frameworks in Instrumental Ceramics Analysis </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">stemmed from a paper
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of the same title, “Renewing the ‘Search for Structure”: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">New Techniques and New Frameworks
in Instrumental </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ceramics Analysis,” coa</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">uthored by Greene and Hartley, and presented at the
Society for American Archaeology</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’s 74</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">annual meeting in April 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia, and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">two other presentations: “T</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">he Structure of Ceramic Analysis: Multiple Scales and Instruments in
the Analysis of Production,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">coauthored by Greene and Hartley, and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“From Structure to
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Composition and Back: Digital Radiography and Computed Tomography</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">,” written by Hartley,
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Greene, and Paula N. Doumani (since then Doumani Dupuy). Both presentations were at the 75</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in St. Louis, Missouri in April 2010. The
2010 oral papers have the same titles and authorships as the chapters in the 2022 volume.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Having attended almost all of the oral presentations at these SAA meeting, I wanted to review
the Greene and Hartley compendium for some time (actually more than a decade) for the readers
of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and have been in pursuit of a published copy, but the tome has had a long and
complex </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">publication history.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t has been listed as “published,” then “delayed,” “backlisted,”
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and later </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“delisted” by a number of booksellers including Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ecommerce pioneer used book dealer AbeBooks.com located in Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada (a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. since December 2008), and ISD, Distributor of
Scholarly Books. UK bookseller WHSmith </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">listed it as “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">available: dispatched within 1-2 weeks</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”
but then listed the book as “out of stock.” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The publication was initially listed as due on
06/01/2015, then 01/09/2019, but changed to 01/01/2021, redated to 02/01/2021 preordered on
4/27/2021, then 11/01/2021, but delisted on 11/14/2021 by B&N after taking pre-orders
beginning in 2015 and recently as 2020: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“We don't know when or if this item will be back in
stock.” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Table of Contents has been available </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">on the publisher’s website </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">since 2017
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/renewing search-structure. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Not to be denied and unsure of
its real status with the publisher, in 2016 (and again in 2018) I emailed the publisher, both
editors, and each of the authors listed in the publication prospectus and received replies from one
editor (the book was </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">still in an “editing state”), none from the publisher, and more than half of
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the authors who variously r</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">eported: “did not know,” “disappointed about delays,” “unsure,” and
</span></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">considered his/he</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">r manuscript a “wasted effort.”; I’ll not share </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">their confidential remarks about
trials and tribulations. Three of the authors, who happen to also be my long-time friends,
candidly wrote lengthy, detailed responses. Since my inquiries, the book title has reverted to
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Searching for Structure in Pottery Analysis: Applying Multiple Scales and Instruments to
Production</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Equinox Publishing Ltd is an independent academic publisher founded in London in
2003 by Janet Joyce, an experienced publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich> Blackwell
Publishing> Pinter Publishers> Continuum > Equinox, and, since mid-2011, based in Sheffield,
South Yorkshire. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/about/</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. In early December 2022,
Amazon.com listed the book and I acquired a copy within a week.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Given the hiatus between oral presentation and publication, I wanted to learn if any (or most or
all) of the individual contributions had been refreshed or updated with new material since the
oral presentations a dozen years ago and if editing had been suggested and followed or not. This
required some sleuthing by your reviewer with varying degrees of success. One of the original
contributors had been withdrawn and the editors substituted </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">their own “Conclusion.” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In
examining the published resumes or CVs of the two editors, I saw several issues likely related to
the delays in editing and publishing the volume that were out of the hands of the publisher.
Employment records of the editors showed some discontinuities and in one instance it appeared
that employment and/or finances may have interrupted an earlier completion of a doctoral
degree.
</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Alan F. Greene earned a double BA in Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies from Johns
Hopkins University (2001), and received his Master of Arts (2005) and Ph.D. in Anthropology
from University of Chicago (2013). He was a Graduate Researcher (2005-2014) at Argonne
National Laboratory, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University (2013-2016), and an affiliate
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">researcher at New York University’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Institute for the Study of the Ancient World for more than </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">six years. As an anthropological archaeologist, his research focuses on the relationship between everyday aspects of the material economy, such as ceramic containers, and the macro-scale political-economic parameters of emergent complex polities in the Bronze Age South Caucasus. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Greene specializes in the “sociobiographical anthropology of craft goods,” as wel</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">l as compositional and structural methods of materials analysis, tracing artifacts through habitual production regimes, spheres of exchange and consumption trends in ancient societies. His research focuses on the relationship between everyday aspects of the material economy such as ceramic containers, and the macro-scale political-economic parameters of emergent complex polities in the Bronze Age South Caucasus. Greene has been involved with a number of projects, </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Alan-Greene-2038288384 </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">among them The Joint Armenian-American Project for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Transcaucasian Societies (ArAGATS) (2003-present); The Recursive-Relational Archaeological Database (ReArch) (2010-present); and The Communal Archaeological Databank of the South Caucasus (CADSoC) Communal Archaeological Databank of the South Caucasus (CADSoC) (2014-present). He served as a co-director of the Making of Ancient Eurasia</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">(MAE) Project (2012-2016), </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">http://mae.uchicago.edu </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">and Twitter MAE Project @MAEarchaeometry, an interdisciplinary research collaboration of anthropologists from the University of Chicago, </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">Washington University in Saint Louis, Cornell University, Idaho State University, and materials scientists at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the Australian Synchrotron investigating early ceramic and metal technologies in the Eurasian steppes, the Caucasus, and Central China. This project offers opportunities for new archaeometric analytical techniques, such as digital </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">radiography (DR), X-ray computed tomography (XCT), and small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), to be developed and applied in direct conjunction with anthropological problems. He has published his research in the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Journal of Archaeological Science </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">and </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Journal of Anthropological Archaeology</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">. Green also Was New York University Manager, Heritage Resources at ESI, Environmental Solutions & Innovations, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio; he is currently listed as Adjunct Professor of Social Studies and Anthropology, Bard High School Early College, Queens, NY (October 2022-present) and has posted his Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) listing on LinkedIn: </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanfgreene/</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Greene is also the author of “Synchrotron Radiation</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">,</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">a chapter </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">in Alice Hunt’s edited </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Ceramic Analysis </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">(Oxford Handbooks, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 447-466. SR is a non- destructive tool for analyzing archaeological pottery whereby accelerated particle energies, dominantly hard X-ray beams, are used to investigate a wide variety of pottery features, traditions, and technologies.</span></p><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Charles W. Hartley received his BA in anthropology from New Mexico State University; an AM from the University of Chicago in 2006, and a doctorate from Chicago expected in 2014 and received in 2020. His </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">anthropological archaeology dissertation “Community, Pottery, and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Political Culture: Crafting the State in the Luoyang Basin, North China, 3000</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">–1500 BCE” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">examines the role pottery, as a class of political/material culture, plays in the development of solidarity and identity amongst communities in and around the Luoyang Basin with the florescence of the Erlitou polity that marks the end of the Neolithic in China. He is particularly interested in the role of techniques as markers, often unintentionally, of communal or factional </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">affiliations, and the role such “everyday” objects play in building political coalitions and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">consensus. Hartley conducted field work in Belize, Oregon, China, and California; presented oral papers and posters at professional meetings, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://chicago.academia.edu/CharlesHartley</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; since 2005 he has taught at DePaul University, University of Chicago-The College, University of Illinois at Chicago, California State University-East Bay, and Elon University. In addition, he has served as Chinese translation editor for the Henan Province Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics, and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Charles W. Hartley, G. Bike Yazicioğlu, and Adam T. Smith, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">eds.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Notably, Hartley was Guest Graduate Student Appointment, Argonne National Laboratory, Nuclear Engineering Division (2005-2012) and served as co- </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">organizer with Alan Greene of the SAA symposium “Searching for Structure in Ceramic </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Analysis: Frameworks and Techniques in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Investigation of Pottery” in 2010, as well as a co</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- director of the Making of Ancient Eurasia (MAE) Project (2012-2016), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">http://mae.uchicago.edu </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and Twitter MAE Project @MAEarchaeometry. See his last published CV (2014) for other details: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://chicago.academia.edu/CharlesHartley/CurriculumVitae</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Searching for Structure in Pottery Analysis </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">addresses the theoretical and methodological imperatives involved in (re)integrating descriptive, structural, and compositional analytical methods in a series of contributions from a diverse group of experts in archaeological pottery. The contributors focus on those forms of analysis which investigate structural characteristics of ceramics and the methodologies that link such structural characteristics with the typological and compositional data that compose the majority of evidence in contemporary ceramic analyses. The volume contains </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a “Table of Contents,” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Foreword” by Heather Lechtman, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">eleven stand- alone chapters (each with Acknowledgments, an About the Author statement, and a list of</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 4"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">References), a “List of Figures and Tables,” and an “Index.” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The chapter contents range geographically from the Americas eastward to East Asia and temporally from the Old World Neolithic and Bronze Age to Post-Contact North America. The chapters</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’ essays are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">organized into two sections: the first focuses on how the practices of ceramic production and the structures they generate enable inferences about the social relations between producers and consumers of pottery; while the second focuses on the role structure plays in the refraction and maintenance of different forms of social grouping and identity. These two themes serve as orienting foci for a broad set of heuristic and technical tools that have the potential to alter how archaeologists extract and identify the social information captured in the multifarious properties of pottery and transform contemporary understandings of the different roles ceramics played in past societies. The analytical tools range from binocular and petrographic microscopic to NAA, SEM, EDS/WDS, XRF, and PIXE. The integrated employed by the contributors feature multimodality, microscopy and quantification, and mineral identification and qualification; a schematic of data iterations appears in Chapter 1, Figure 1.3.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Foreword</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">to the volume (pp. xi-xiii, 3 references) is by Heather Lechtman, an American materials scientist and archaeologist, who is also the Director, Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her BA from Vassar College (1956) and her MA and diploma in art and archeological conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (1966). Lechtman became a professor at MIT in 1974, Director of the Center in 1977, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1988. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lechtman’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">specialty is prehistoric Andean metallurgy. Her 2022 comments are revised from the previous manuscript </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and focus on Cyril Stanley Smith’s life</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. She cites </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Smith’s significant</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1968 article in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Science</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, his 1980 book, and mentions </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Search for Structure </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981). Smith was a pioneering materials scientist who brought an important focus on structure to studies of a variety of archaeological materials, the contributors emphasize those forms of analysis which investigate structural characteristics of ceramics and the methodologies that link such structural characteristics with the typological and compositional data that compose the majority of evidence in contemporary ceramic analyses.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 1 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Structure of Ceramic Analysis: Multiple Scales and Instruments in the Analysis of Production</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">pp. 1-23, 3 figures, 1 table, 102 references) by Alan F. Greene and Charles W. Hartley. Greene is listed as an affiliate </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">researcher at New York University’s Institute for the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Study of the Ancient World; Hartley as University of Chicago. Both are mentioned as co- directors of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Making of Ancient Eurasia</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(MAE) Project. The contributors to this thought- provoking volume, inspired by the work of Cyril Stanley Smith, assess the relevance, neglect, and/or resurgence of visual and instrumental pottery analyses by examining multi-scalar, nested sets of physical parameters and their relationships made permanent by firing. The assessments focus on fabrics, aplastics, inclusions, slips, matrices, and arrangements of macro-molecules as </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">well as vessel walls, appendages, and orifices. They make the distinction between “structural” and “compositional” and trace the co</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-development of these approaches and their related analytical instrumentations in the early to mid-twentieth century, as well as gradually diverging trajectories from the latter part of the century to today. The recent trend toward compositional, and especially geochemical, study is evaluated critically in light of important developments in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the “anthropology of technology and the accumulated archaeological research on craft</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 5"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">production and potting practices.” This introduction outlines an integrated approach that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">combines elemental data with information pertaining to paste preparation, formation, decoration, and firing techniques in an anthropological effort to delineate the socioeconomic, learning, and political aspects of specific pottery industries. Drawing on their work with the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Making of Ancient Eurasia</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” Project, the authors contend that the inclusion of “structural” data is </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">indispensable to forming a systematic understanding of ceramic production globally across geographies, political economies, and craft traditions. Multi-scalar digital radiographic analysis has influenced their thinking about both ceramic structure and composition, and they demonstrate how the macro- and micro-scale variation revealed in ceramic fabrics and formation techniques has led them to call into question the treatment of structure and composition as two discrete domains of analytical characterization. The most recent citation is a publication from 2017.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 2 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">From Texture to Temper: A Multi-scalar Approach to Identifying Variation in Clay Preparation Strategies</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” (pp. 24</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-40, 5 figures, 2 tables, 37 references) by MaryFran Heinsch, who was at the University of Chicago in anthropology 2000-2015, and is currently </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Senior Analyst at Concentrix in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has worked in North America, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and is interested in employing materials science perspectives in investigations of social patterns in Bronze and Iron Age ceramic production. Kura-Araxes pottery from Early Bronze Age (EBA) sites in the eastern Caucasus and eastern Anatolia have been previously assessed from aesthetic and morphological rather than technical perspectives. This chapter provides a case study assessing Kura-Araxes fine ware and fine ware from the Velikent site in order to determine the movement of people versus the importation of pottery. Variations in clay preparation techniques can indicate diversity in social relations of craft learning and labor, or adaptation to inconsistencies in raw materials. The finished and fired structure of pottery can mask or even destroy evidence for clay preparation techniques, while conventional petrographic or other textural analyses of ceramic fabrics can provide useful information on only a fraction of the original paste components. A sample of 382 sherds from seven sites was imaged using xeroradiography to evaluate textural contrasts. These differences were further examined using microscopy, SEM-EDS, and INAA. Clay samples from each site were also evaluated in terms of texture, mechanical properties and composition using similar analyses. The use of these combined and multi-scalar analyses reveals significant diversity in clay preparation strategies between the sites in the study. In addition, the findings suggest greater diversity in clay preparation within widely distributed Kura-Araxes ware. The author assesses structure and the interpretation of social and material interactions in her study of raw clay plasticity, trace element distinctions, and elutriation techniques in clay preparation. She discusses the implications for production and social and material interactions and the movement of people between the sides and concludes that both types of pottery could have been produced together at the sites where they were found. Her most recent bibliographic citations date to 2012.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 3 “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Producing Structure: The Role of Ceramic Production in Understanding Chaco- period Communities in the American Southwest</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” (pp. 41</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-58, 5 figures, 1 table, 53 references) by Andrew I. Duff holds a doctorate from Arizona State University and is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University. Duff has directed research projects in the North American Southwest for two decades, Chaco period great houses and community organization in west-central New Mexico for 13 years, and recently research in</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 6"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ethiopia and Thailand on megaliths. Pottery assemblages from two neighboring Chaco-period (AD 1050-1130) communities located in west-central New Mexico, USA were selected to examine different components of community organization. The communities are located at the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">interface of two of the American Southwest’s primary archaeol</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ogical culture areas -- Mogollon and Pueblo; the pottery assemblages include vessels attributed to both. Duff discusses the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">theoretical background of his work and asks the question: what is “style” and what does it reveal </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">about social phenomena that are unobservable in the archaeological record? He notes that there are large behavioral and ideational components in pottery production. His research focuses on the Chaco era and residential settlement increases using the case study of Cox Ranch Pueblo, a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“typical” Chaco great house community with 15 rooms and the Cerro Pomo great house with 40 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">rooms. The primary research questions asked of these assemblages include whether they were locally produced by co-residing groups of people who came from different regions, and whether those peoples continued to reproduce vessels using the conventions of their homelands. Painted utilitarian pottery is used to assess the contemporaneity and attributes of the unpainted pottery assemblage, and coil thickness and indentation frequency are used to assess if manufacturing traditions differ by wares attributed to each culture area. Coil size, sherd thickness, and apparent porosity measures are used to explore vessel function, and oxidation analyses are used to assess clays used in vessel manufacture. A total of 1,224 specimens and 101 raw clay sources were studied with oxidation levels determined by refiring that exceeded original firing temperatures; Munsell color groups were identified. Brown and Grey ware jars served the same function but were constructed using different clays. Combined, these analyses suggest that groups from two distinct manufacturing traditions co-resided within these communities, that they manufactured unpainted jars using the conventions of their areas of origin, and that they continued to do so throughout the histories of these communities. These long-lasting traditions of manufacture served to reproduce an element of difference in items used daily, while larger scales of social action signal greater communal unity; both processes are argued to be accurate reflections and embodiments of social relations. The most recent citation in this chapter dates to 2014.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 4 “Ceramic Production and Society </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in the Late Majiayao Culture of Northwest China</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(pp. 59-74, 5 figures, 42 references) by Michele L. Koons and Jade </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">d’A</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">lpoim Guedes. Koons received her doctorate from Harvard University in 2012 and currently is Curator of Archaeology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, specializing in Andean archaeology, ancient complex societies, archaeology of desert environments, geophysical/remote sensing archaeology, and ceramic analysis. Jade </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">D’Alpoim </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Guedes earned a Ph.D. in anthropological archaeology from Harvard University in 2013 and is a tenured Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She is a paleoethnobotanist and human osteologist who studies how humans adapted their foraging practices and agricultural strategies to new and changing environments. Her primary region of focus is the Tibetan Plateau, especially China, but also Nepal, Thailand, and Pakistan The authors discuss the preliminary results from their analyses of manufacturing techniques used to fabricate Majiayao culture </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Hu </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">storage vessels, an important feature in Neolithic burials in Northwest China. Previous research is summarized, and the characteristics of the graves and grave goods are detailed and the geometrically painted, flat-bottomed </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Hu </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">storage jars are described and illustrated in color. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Hu </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">vessels were used in life and in death by both elites and commoners. Radiographic studies indicated distinctions between Banshan phase vessels (lighter in weight, more easily handled fabricated in three phases of coiling) and the later Machang phase</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 7"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">vessels (coiled in a single event with varied significantly in quality and more manufacturing defects). Analyses also included production technologies assessed through experimental archaeology. The increase in the number of vessels between the Banshan and Machang phases of the Majiayao culture demonstrates a change in the value and production processes used to manufacture these vessels. By the Machang phase, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Hu </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">vessels were hoarded as prestige items and used only for funerary purposes by less skilled persons. The latest bibliographic citation dates to 2007.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 5 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">From Structure to Composition and Back: Digital Radiography and Computed Tomography -- Some Cases for Anthropological Contemplation</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” (pp. 75</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-90, 5 figures, 1 table, 47 references) by Charles W. Hartley, Alan F. Greene, and Paula N. Doumani Dupuy. The latter received her Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014 is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan. The most recent citation dates to 2014. Among her research publications in Russian and English languages (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://www.doumanidupuy.com/#publications</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">), is Greene, A. F., Hartley, C. W., Doumani Dupuy, P. N., Chinander, M. (2017) The Digital Radiography of Archaeological Pottery: Programs and Protocols for the Analysis of Production, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Journal of Archaeological Science </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">78:120-133 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.00 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The authors state that radiography is a powerful tool for assessing fabrication techniques, paste preparation, raw material, voids, and the internal structures of vessels. They discuss the elaboration of radiographic pottery analysis as a structure-oriented technique with an emphasis on its newer iterations in two-dimensional image digital radiography (DR) and X-ray computed tomography (XCT). XCT has been little used in archaeological analysis. The benefits of digital radiography include set up time, and the storage and preservation of images. The authors present several important alterations to their initial thinking about </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“structural” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“compositional” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">data in archaeometric and archaeological theory that have been provoked by our interaction with DR and XCT analysis over the last ten years. In so doing, they hope to show how a renewed focus on ceramic structure can bring equal weight to structure and composition in pottery analysis, and facilitate a program of research that emphasizes the social import of the vessel as product, tool, and technology. Initially, they briefly review methods of DR and XCT analysis, as well as their common applications and requirements in the study of archaeological pottery, and provide a few specific examples of the secondary data produced by radiographic and tomographic imaging. The authors have worked with assemblages from three distinct Eurasian locales incorporating diverse research questions. The case studies include: 1) Tsaghkahovit Plain in Armenia: three production types of Late Bronze Age pottery; 2) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Semirech’ye </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Region in Kazakhstan: Late and Final Bronze Age fine ware jars, thick walled globular cooking jars used by pastoralists, and a coarse ware; and 3) Luoyang Basin, China: Longshan period Neolithic vessels. Lastly, they provide insights from their radiographic research in order to contribute to the more general discussion about structure and composition discussed in this volume. The most recent citation dates to 2014.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 6 “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Coiling on the Wheel: The Sociopolitical Implications of a Particular Formation Technique in Bronze Age Crete</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(pp. 91-111, 4 figures, 3 tables, 66 references) by Ina Berg, Senior Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Manchester. Berg was educated at the Universities of Heidelberg (Classical Archaeology, Ancient History and Ancient Greek) and Cambridge (M.A. in Classics, 1994, Ph.D. in Archaeology, 2000). She has written</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 8"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">four books and 24 papers (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://manchester.academia.edu/InaBerg</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">) and her research focuses on the Cyclades in the Middle and Late Bronze Age research focus has been on the application of scientific techniques to ceramics. Berg is also the author of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“The Potter’s Wheel” (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, 2</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">nd </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ed., Cham: Switzerland: Springer, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319- 51726-1_3443-1</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. In her research on the Minoan culture area, 7000-1470 BC, she notes that little is known about the social organization of the Minoan Bronze Age. Berg points out that clay vessels can be made with a wide variety of distinct forming techniques or combinations of two or more techniques. The most common ways of making pots during the Cretan Bronze Age were wheel-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">throwing and coiling. And she reviews data on the reconstruction of the potters’ wheel </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and the development of wheel heads, notably on the characteristics of three common handmade and two wheel-made forming techniques (pp. 95-98, Table 6.2). Thanks to X-ray studies, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">macroscopic inspection, and experimental archaeology, “wheel</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">coiling”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-- a technique that combines hand-building and wheel-throwing techniques at different stages of the forming process -- has recently been recognized as an additional popular forming technique in the Aegean (Berg 2009). Berg reviews (Table 6.3) the time needed to produce coiled vessels among the Shipibo-Conibo (taken from Dean Arnold 1985: Tables 8.2 and 8.2); and vessel dimensions and time throwing, and height range of handmade and wheel-thrown vessels from Crete. Tracing the emergence and continuity of these different techniques allows us to suggest hypotheses about their relationship to each other, their socio-political meaning, and the organization of pottery production more generally. She demonstrates that wheel-coiling is a technique that emerged at the same time as wheel-throwing and continued to be utilized throughout the Bronze Age. Unlike wheel-throwing, wheel-coiling was employed for the full range of vessels and was uniquely </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">adapted to gain the greatest possible advantage from the slowly revolving potter’s wheel. Although new potting techniques can be the “makers of social change,” she doubts that there </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">were Near Eastern antecedents and also questions that the palace served as innovators and prime movers because palaces were the primary consumers and not in control of production. Wheel- based techniques have often been linked to the emergence of the Cretan palaces and the desire of elites to enhance their social standing through provision of specialized craft products, the existence of highly specialized, independent pottery production since the Final Neolithic undermines this popular assumption. Her most recent bibliographic citation in this contribution dates to 2012.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 7 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Ceramic) Structure and (Communities of) Practice in the Bronze Age Black Sea</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(pp. 112-129, 3 figures, 1 table, 122 references) by Alexander A. Bauer. He received his Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, and is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Bauer co-directs, with Owen Doonan, the Sinop Region Archaeological Project (SRAP) on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and since 2005 he has been the editor of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">International Journal of Cultural Property</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Bauer writes that the neglect of structure-oriented approaches to ceramic analysis and recent emphasis on compositional data has left archaeologists without a full range of analytical tools to investigate the practice of pottery making. He notes that multi-dimensional and multi-scalar analyses of ceramic structure can yield important information about the manufacturing processes employed in their production. The identification of such practices have allowed archaeologists to make inferences about the technological and social choices people in the past may have made in producing material culture, and how those choices may have acted as statements of both individual and group identity. Within such analysis, the concept of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“communities </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of practice,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 9"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">originally developed as a theory of social learning, may be particularly helpful for understanding the formation of community identities through craft production. Using a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">chaîne opértoire </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">approach informed by the concept of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“communities </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">practice,” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">he presents the results of analytical studies of prehistoric pottery-making practices from several communities along the Black Sea coast in order to interpret the emergence of shared pottery traditions across the region. He details the geographical and chronological parameters of the region and discusses the problem of materiality and agency in archaeological studies, notably the Early Bronze Age pottery technology in three communities: 1) Sinope, Turkey; 2) Dniester River Valley, and Caucasian Coast. His analysis, in conjunction with Pamela </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Vandiver’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">work when she was Still at the Smithsonian Laboratory (2002-2003), included macro- and microscopic examinations plus Xeroradiography and SEM/EDS analyses of Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, Middle-Late Bronze Age pottery making practices in the Black Sea regions. Bauer suggests that from the end of the 4</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">to the early 3</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">rd </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">millennium BC a distinct and shared </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Black </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sea </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">culture” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">developed across the region as a result of increased social interaction and in response to larger, interregional dynamics. This case study illustrates how the integration of multi-scalar technological practice analysis with theories of craft production can identify patterns of social relations and identity in the past. The latest bibliographic citation dates to 2012.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 8 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Laterality and Directionality in Pottery Painting and Coiling</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(pp. 130-146, 4 figures, 4 tables, 32 references) by Kathryn A. MacFarland, who received her doctorate from the University of Arizona in 2017. She currently is the Manager at Arizona State Museum and her research interests, derived from her </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Master’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">thesis and dissertation, include the complex and dynamic roles of religion and ritual behavior as a contributing binding force in the differentiated nomadic Iron Age (ca. 1,000 - 100 BCE) landscape spanning from modern-day Ukraine to Mongolia. This chapter focuses on her research in the American Southwest. Experimental archaeology and open learning frameworks (see the related publications of Patricia Crown, Kelley Ann Hays-Gilpin, Barbara Mills, Hélène Wallaert-Pêtre, and Maria Nieves Zedeño, among others) show the great variability in the way a specific task can be completed, while a closed learning framework allows little variation. Ethnographic observations indicate that there is a high degree of variability in the execution of tasks within the process of pottery manufacture, and that learning construction techniques requires more structure than learning decoration techniques. In </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">MacFarland’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">project, the consistency of the directionality (clockwise versus counterclockwise) of painted lines on polychrome vessels and coiled bases of corrugated pottery were studied to determine tolerance within an open or closed cultural learning framework, and the degree of openness. An experiment was carried out which linked directionality on pots with the laterality of the potter in an open system. These results were then compared with data from archaeological pots from sites in the Point of Pines area, east-central Arizona. Maverick Mountain, Point of Pines Polychrome, McDonald, and Point of Pines Corrugated ceramics were used to extrapolate artistic tolerance with degrees of variation within and between types. She determined that it was more useful to analyze the structure of the pot itself (coiling) than the decoration (framing lines) and that there was less variability among left-handed rather than right- handed persons. There was no profound variation in directionality in the Maverick Mountain and Point of Pines vessels. Her most recent citation dates to 2006.</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 10"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 9 </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">What a Difference Structure Makes: Material Styles of Syrian Caliciform Ware Identified through Ceramic Petrography</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">” (pp. 147</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">-165, 5 figures, 3 tables, 57 references) by Sarah R. Graff, who received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2006. Currently,</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She is a Senior Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, The Honors College within Arizona State University, where she is also affiliated with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and with the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict. Ceramic petrography makes it possible to investigate the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">chaîne opértoire</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, or series of actions and choices made during the production process of ceramic artifacts. Such structural analysis can help identify different material styles in ceramic groups that may have previously been seen as homogeneous. Using a case study from Orates River Valley of northwestern Syria, she explored how ceramic petrography can move beyond typologies and provenience and begin to answer questions about specific economic practices, such as state control over the production of ceramic containers. The analysis is based on previous petrographic research of Early Bronze Age IVB (2300-2000 BC) ceramics which produced paste recipes via 20 thin sections and also employed studies of raw materials (clays, marls, and aplastics) overall using INAA, XRF, and ICP-MSR. During the late third millennium BC in northwestern Syria, the state of Ebla was powerful and had connections to other political and economic centers in the region. One type of ceramic container that is a marker for this period, and is directly associated with the city-state of Ebla, is the Calciform Ware cup/goblet which has five recipes. Many archaeologists characterize this ware as standardized and mass produced across the extent of the Ebla state. Ceramic petrography of painted Caliciform Ware from the Ghab, located within the territory of the Ebla state, indicates non-standardized production, despite the homogenous forms and decorative patterns. Examining structured elements, construction practices, and choices made by the potters provided sociocultural information that complements the compositional data. The study emphasizes the need to study ceramic structures across the political landscape in detail to fully understand processes of production and what that means for questions of state control. The most recent citation dates to 2014.</span></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 10 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">X-ray Fluoroscopy in Your Own Backyard: A Method for Analyzing Ceramic Formation Techniques</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” (pp. 166</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-184, 5 figures, 2 tales, 83 references) by Erin N. Hegberg and Philip H. Heinz. Hegberg received her doctorate from the University of New Mexico in 2022 (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1223&context=anth_etds</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">), specializing in 19</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">century historical archaeology focused on New Mexican Hispanic and Pueblo ceramics and their relationships between learning lineages, motor skills, and the production of social identity. Her interests include relationships between material culture and identity, between local and regional identities, and between producers and consumers. Heintz is a professor emeritus in the department of diagnostic radiology at the University of New Mexico where he was the program director for the medical physics program and, hence, has particular interest in radiographic image processing.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hegberg writes that petrography, INAA, and ICP-MS provide valuable information about material culture and ceramic trade but need to be paired with structural analyses for a more comprehensive assessment of the ceramic production sequence. Her research problem focuses on 19</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">century trends in the formation of New Mexican Hispanic and Pueblo ceramics to analyze the relationship between learning lineages, motor skills, and the production of social identity. Professor Heintz provided the medical digital X-ray fluoroscopy. The authors provide the theoretical context, relevant background on Territorial New Mexican history from 1821 to 1912,</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 11"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and the research design and analytical methods, and project goals </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">– </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the latter is to determine the utility and limitations of digital X-ray imaging of coil and scrape, paddle and anvil, and other possible techniques. Hispanic pottery types have traditionally been treated as distinct from Pueblo wares, but current understandings of the social basis of that distinction remain poor. The analytical sample consists of 112 sherds from four sites. Drawing on previous research showing that formation techniques such as coiling, slab building, or molding are directly related to learning lineages and motor skills, they use medical X-ray fluoroscopy to compare the formation techniques of Hispanic and Pueblo ceramics as part of a more general analysis of social groupings and identities in Territorial New Mexico. The results suggest that variations in Hispanic and Pueblo potting may lie at production foci other than the formation stage. Multiple plain ware formation traditions were active at the sites in the sample and comparisons with Owen </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rye’s (1977) estimates underscored the importance of structural analysis on ceramic studies. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The chapter bibliographic references are through 2012.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 11 “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Conclusion: A New Se</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">arch for Research” (pp. 185</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-191, 7 references, the most recent is dates to 2018) by editors/authors Greene and Hartley. The editors review and summarize the salient points of the contr</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ibutors’ chapters and assert that including structural analyses in ceramic studies can “renew” pottery studies</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, contending that assessment is greater than the sum of their parts. They also discuss data parallax and two-dimensional radiographs and conflicting and conflated data sets as well as future directions in structural analysis. In addition they note that the utilization of optical microscopy, petrography, ICP-MS, and ICP-AES can </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">benefit from a refocus on structural analysis. They write that: “This vo</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">lume is not the end of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">discussion on structural analysis, but the beginning.” Hence, t</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">he inclusion of structural data </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">within “traditional” studies and studies that utilize archaeometric data but restrict themselves </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">can dramatically improve the descriptive and interpretive power of ceramic research. The original discussant for the conference papers apparently declined to have his/her conclusions published.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Searching for Structure in Pottery Analysis: Applying Multiple Scales and Instruments to Production </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is the fourth addition to the New Directions in Anthropological Archaeology series, edited by Thomas E. Levy, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Judaic Studies at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The distinguished Editorial Board includes Guillermo Algaze, University of California, San Diego; Geoffrey E. Braswell, University of California, San Diego; Paul S. Goldstein, University of California, San Diego; Joyce Marcus, University of Michigan; and Charles Stanish, University of South Florida.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As noted, this Greene and Hartley edited volume on ceramic analysis focuses on those forms of analysis which investigate structural characteristics of ceramics and the methodologies that link such structural characteristics with the typological and compositional data that compose the majority of evidence in contemporary ceramic analyses. The contributions illustrate varied levels of ceramic analysis and generally make </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the distinction between “structural” and “compositional</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">sometimes featuring both or emphasizing the structural. While featuring the treatment of structure and composition as discrete domains of analytical characterization, some authors demonstrate that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the inclusion of “structural” da</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ta is </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">indispensable </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">to understanding of ceramic production globally across geographies, political economies, and craft traditions (Bauer Chapter 7). The contributors often call into question the treatment of structure and composition as discrete domains of analytical characterization rather than complementary analyses.</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 12"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The editors (Chapter 1) and Bauer (Chapter 7) emphasize that the neglect of structure-oriented approaches to ceramic analysis and recent emphasis on compositional data has left archaeologists without a full range of analytical tools to investigate the practice of pottery making.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A few of the authors delve into clay preparation strategies and ceramic vessel formation techniques by means of including xeroradiography or digital X-ray fluoroscopy (Heinsch Chapter 2; Hartley, Greene, and Doumani Dupuy Chapter 5; Hegberg and Heinz Chapter 10). Multiple scales and instruments (Greene and Hartley Chapter 1), notably digital radiography (DR) and the lesser used X-ray computed tomography (XCT), are employed to evaluate textural contrasts (Heinsch Chapter 2). Petrographic data is subsequently used and supplemented by SEM-EDS, INAA, XRF, or ICP-MSR (Heinsch Chapter 2; Bauer Chapter 7; Graff Chapter 9). Other contributors focus on fabrication techniques and/or </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">chaîne opértoi</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">re (Koons and Guedes Chapter 4; Berg Chapter 6) such as wheel-forming and coiling using </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the potter’s wheel and o</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ther rotary or stationary forms, or a variety of distinct forming techniques or combinations of two or more techniques and evidenced by </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“communities of practice” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Bauer Chapter 7). There are also examples of ceramic ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology involving clays and forming techniques (Koons and Guedes Chapter 4; Berg Chapter 6) and ethnographic observations on teaching and learning strategies (MacFarland Chapter 8) as well as determining sociocultural and socioeconomic strategies and practices (Duff Chapter 3). In sum, the authors provide varied levels and examples demonstrating that structural analyses in ceramic studies can </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“renew” pottery studies, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and contend that the assessment is greater than the sum of their parts.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It is difficult to ascertain how many of the contributions have been updated or revised given the publication delays, but examining the bibliographies provides some general indicators.</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">1 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The most recent citation entries in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Foreword” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and the eleven stand-alone chapters suggest that seven were submitted soon after the oral presentations in 2010; last entries date to 2006 (one), 2007 (two), and 2012 (four). For 2014 (two chapters), one each by Duff and Graff and 2017 and 2018 (one each), the introductory and concluding chapters by the editors. The data suggests that no or minimal alterations had been made by the contributors, whereas Greene and Hartley </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">updated their contributions and change the volume’s title.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">1</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I thank a long-time science book senior editor for suggesting this exercise.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are some interesting omissions that might have been corrected since much has been </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">published about “structure” and ‘composition” during the past decade. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The practice of mixing two or more clays in order to create desired fabricating material with desired plasticity or including aplastics for desired thermal properties is not considered by any of the authors. While two authors (Greene and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">have published articles for Alice Hunt’s edit</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ed </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Ceramic Analysis </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Oxford Handbooks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017) no authors cite any of the 36 articles from this significant compendium</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">: “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">10 Provenance Studies: Productions and Compositional Groups</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” by </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yona Waksman or any from </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Part IV Evaluating Ceramic Provenance </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">15 Petrography: Optical Microscopy</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Patrick Degryse and Dennis Braekmans; </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">17 Electron Microprobe Analysis (EMPA</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">)” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Corina Ionescu and Volker Höck</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">18 Isotope Analysis</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bettina Wiegand</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">19 X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Robert Heimann</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">20 X-Ray Fluorescence-Energy Dispersive (ED-XRF) and Wavelength Dispersive (WD-XRF) Spectrometry</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mark Hall</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">21 Handheld Portable Energy-Dispersive X-Ray</span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 13"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">)” Elizabeth Holmqvist; “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">22 Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Its Applications for Ceramic Analysis</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Marcia Rizzutto and Manfredo Tabacniks; </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“ </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">23 Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mark Golitko and Laure Dussubieux</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">24 Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) in the Study of Archaeological Ceramics</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Leah D. Minc and Johannes Sterba</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; or even “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">25 Synchrotron Radiation</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Alan F. Greene.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Likewise no relevant articles are cited from the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, 2</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">nd </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ed. (Claire Smith (ed.-in-chief; Cham, Switzerland, 2018) and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Alan S. Gilbert, ed.). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2017) -- the 2022 second edition of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is of course, excluded (Alan S. Gilbert, Paul Goldberg, Rolfe D. Mandel and Vera Aldeias, eds.; Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG) and Eleanora A. Reber (2018) Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS): Applications in Archaeology (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726- 1_340-2</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">).</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I mention these publications because a number of the chapters in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Searching for Structure in Pottery Analysis </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">would have benefitted from updating because there had been only minimal alteration since the oral presentations a decade ago. Some might also have profited by considering Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) a method of digital documentation which consists of capturing multiple digital images (typically between 40 and 64) of a stationary object from a fixed camera position or Close-range Photogrammetry (CRP), a faster technique improving 3D Scanning for data capture, processing and generating models.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nonetheless, I am thankful to see that the presentations from the original conference have been well-edited and published and that two authors completed their dissertations while another married, a few moved to new employment, and most continue their research involving a combination of structural and compositional factors. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One can certainly say that “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">concluding chapter provides historical and conceptual perspective on the frameworks, techniques, and sociocultural interpretation discussed in the preceding contributions. It offers an important contextualizing statement, situating ceramic analysis within the wider breadth of archaeological research and providing an understanding of what balanced structural and compositional ceramics analysis adds to the general sub-disciplinary debate. In closing the volume, it stresses what increased focus on structure brings to contemporary ceramic studies and directs future researchers to the most potentially productive research topics.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” The volume is a fine achievement </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and the </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">New Directions in Anthropological Archaeology</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Series Editor, Thomas E. Levy, the Editorial Board (Guillermo Algaze, Geoffrey E. Braswell, Paul S. Goldstein, Joyce Marcus, and Charles Stanish), Managing Editor Janet Joyce, and others at Equinox Publishing can take pride in making this volume available in this growing book series.</span></span></p><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-79091069331182398892023-03-09T12:19:00.003-05:002023-03-09T12:19:29.992-05:00SAS Sponsored Session at the annual meeting of Society for American Archaeology 2023: Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By <i>Charles Kolb, Honorary Associate Editor</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjqFNIgFNwDJFfRPdHdu03CH_lmMexNktuJzxZW6Af6d3DPV4Hp1IzFINvpfbn2OObtyeEDjneBYgVoENcfcVfTtHlrUQTt30yUKjl8Ov9bcV0AGhPaVBbBts17py4JlN1ItYTlNUP1I5Cy2KofC6BLxSiZhUdasHmPOUfNss7xIhl2MLOGKQ1n6rGw/s1195/saa-annual-meeting-website10d2e103e018c14ca495bb0b181af07959.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="1195" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjqFNIgFNwDJFfRPdHdu03CH_lmMexNktuJzxZW6Af6d3DPV4Hp1IzFINvpfbn2OObtyeEDjneBYgVoENcfcVfTtHlrUQTt30yUKjl8Ov9bcV0AGhPaVBbBts17py4JlN1ItYTlNUP1I5Cy2KofC6BLxSiZhUdasHmPOUfNss7xIhl2MLOGKQ1n6rGw/w640-h138/saa-annual-meeting-website10d2e103e018c14ca495bb0b181af07959.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The SAS is sponsoring a session entitled 'Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences' at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Portland (29 March to 2 April 2023). This is a continuation of the decades-long tradition of the Ceramic Ecology session that many of you might have attended and presented at the American Anthropological Association. The Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences session is organised by Kostalena Michelaki, Charles Kolb and Sandra Lopez Varela, with the latter two also acting as the chair of the session. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">1. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences: An introduction to the creation and
sustenance of an international research network</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Charles C. Kolb, Sandra L. López Varela and Kostalena Michelaki</span></p><div class="section" style="background-color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%);"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In any academic discipline, the sociology of knowledge, involving the creation and
sustenance of networks, is often as important as the knowledge itself to discover and
disseminate scientific information. This session celebrates and reveals the critical role of
Frederick R. Matson (†), Charles C. Kolb, and Louana Lackey (†) in creating and
sustaining the knowledge of ceramic studies for three and a half decades. Through their
work in writing, reviewing, and fostering an international and interdisciplinary climate of
interaction Kolb and Lackey initially, then Kolb on his own, and finally with the help of
López Varela and Michelaki, have brought together more than 300 scholars,
practitioners, and students from at least fifteen nations in annual meetings at the
American Anthropological Association. In 2023, Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences
is looking forward to continuing this long tradition at the SAA by presenting research
from around the world, at various scales, using various methods and theoretical
approaches that remain true to potters and their pots. The Society for Archaeological
Sciences, a vibrant association, supports this new future-looking venture standing up
strongly for applying science and technology to serve humankind through
archaeological practice.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">2. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">The Mesoamerican Ceramic Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) Database at
MURR: History, Current Status, and Future Directions</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Whitney A. Goodwin, Hector Neff, Daniel E. Pierce, and Michael D. Glascock</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the nearly 35 years since the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri
Research Reactor (MURR) was founded, the Mesoamerican Ceramic NAA database
has grown to almost 30,000 entries spanning Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, and beyond. This paper presents the history of how the database
came together, highlighting key contributions, remarkable findings, and significant
debates. The scope and breadth of the current database will be discussed with
particular attention to areas that provide ample opportunities for future collaborative
research.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">3. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Compositional and Stylistic Analysis of Texcoco-Molded Censers and Molds from the Gulf Lowland Frontier of the Aztec Empire</span></p></div><div class="column"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Matthew Meyer, Marci Venter, and Christopher Pool</span></div><div class="page" title="Page 2">
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Over the past 20 years a growing assemblage of Aztec-style ceramics, specifically
Texcoco Molded censers and molds, has been recovered from sites throughout the
northeastern Tochtepec province of the Triple Alliance Empire. In this presentation, we
examine the chemical compositions, paste recipes, and decorative attributes and
configurations of these censers, as well as the molds for their production. We compare
imperial-style materials found within the western Tuxtla Mountains and the Eastern
Lower Papaloapan Basin with undecorated ceramics made using long-enduring paste
traditions. The point of this analysis is to determine the degree of affinity with existing
ceramic resources and the products of ceramic communities of practice, as well as the
potential modes of exchange and adoption of this non-local imperial style. We will
consider a variety of models for incorporation, including the movement of pots, people,
and ideas.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">4. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Salt and Plumbate: Late Classic Multi-crafting in Eastern Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexico </span></p></div><div class="column" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hector Neff</span></span></div><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Archaeological mounds within the mangrove zone west of the Rio Cahuacan, in far-
southern Chiapas, Mexico, have dense surface remains of broken Plumbate pottery,
solid ceramic cylinders, and various other kinds of pyro-technological evidence. Clays
from the region match Tohil Plumbate chemical composition, thus solidifying the
inference that the mounds are Tohil Plumbate production centers. But if so, the
Plumbate potters must have been poor ceramic artisans who broke huge numbers of
vessels during production. Alternatively, Plumbate may have been made to be used on
site. With a history of salt production stretching back to Early Formative times, one
possibility is that Plumbate vessels were used for brine boiling in the production of salt. I
discuss this possibility in the light of both earlier and later salt-production assemblages
of the Eastern Soconusco mangrove zone. I conclude that a multi-crafting perspective
provides the best fit to archaeological evidence recovered from these sites.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">5. Ceramic Production in Epiclassic Central Mexico: Strategies for Assessing
Regional Variation with INAA, Paste Recipes, and Stylistic Choices</span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Destiny Crider, Samuel Nelson, and </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">Ian Gonzalez</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">Epiclassic Central Mexico (ca. 550-850 A.D.) is characterized by competing city-states
in which ceramic distribution aligns with a series of neighboring solar market
economies. INAA compositional study provides key evidence for assessing multiscalar
patterns of production of diagnostic and decorated ceramic wares in the Basin of
Mexico and Tula regions. And when combined with stylistic and technological
attributes, a more nuanced understanding of potting community practices provides
insights into strategies for participation in the production and consumption of shared
ceramic suites, notably the Coyotlatelco red-on-buff traditions. In addition, ceramic
wares that are locally significant can begin to signal more specific pathways of
interaction among individual settlements, such as Xajay tripods and the Epiclassic </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">composite silhouette bowls. This presentation highlights a selection of examples to
demonstrate ways in which compositional analysis, stylistic variation, and technological
choices are documented within and between Epiclassic ceramic wares in order to signal
patterns of significant interpretive value. Datasets are derived from survey and
excavation from sites and projects across Central Mexico as part of Crider’s ongoing
research in the Basin of Mexico and Tula regions.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">6. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Challenges in the Identification of Fresh Volcanic Glass Shards in Ancient
Maya Pottery Sherds</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Anabel Ford and Frank Spera</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">The major components of ceramics consist of clay and temper. It is assumed that these
components are local. The Maya lowlands are dominated by limestone, and its use as
temper is ubiquitous. Therefore, the distinct presence of fresh volcanic ash in the Late
Classic Period pottery is noteworthy. Efforts to identify a local volcanic source closer
than 300km away have failed. In the course of our inquiry, we have made important
discoveries. We had assumed that we could type the ash based on a suite of major and
minor minerals, as the glass had experienced the greatest heat exposure in the
eruption. While our first assessments showed distinctions, later investigation of
time/temperature firing gradients demonstrated that there was alteration in the context
of firing. Experiments focused on high silica ash that matched the archaeological
samples include the rhyolitic California Bishop Tuff and the Ipopango THJ. Our report
here is of the changes consistent with time and temperature firing experiments. Silica
(Si) proves a stable element, while others, especially Sodium (Na) and Calcium, are
volatile. We identify consistent changes and argue for caution when evaluating volcanic
components of pottery; the process of firing is metamorphic.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">7. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">The Diaspora of 18 th Century Mexican Figurines: the intersection of Spain,
Mexico, and La Florida</span></p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Cynthia L. Otis Charlton, Danielle Dadiego and Judith A. Bense</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">In Spanish West Florida, a military presidio was established in 1698 to try to protect
Spanish shipping and interests in the naturally deepwater port of the Pensacola Bay
from constantly encroaching British and French pressure. Over the next 65 years the
presidio was moved four times, enduring British-led Indian raids, French occupations,
and eight hurricanes. The presidio was completely abandoned in 1763 when Florida
was awarded to the British in the Treaty of Paris. All four locations have been relocated
and extensively archaeologically and historically investigated. One result of this
expansive study was the finding of 142 figurine fragments that come exclusively from
the final two presidio locations, and are seemingly associated with the arrival of families
and several groups of 100 young women brought from “central Mexico” to become
wives of soldiers and tradesmen as the former Spanish garrisons transitioned into
permanent settlements. We hope to present identification of a source area for these
figurines, and others encountered in other eighteenth-century Florida shipwrecks, using
PIXE, pXRF, and NAA analyses among others, thus providing a window into figurine </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">production, export, and use for a time period for which we currently have no such
information from Mexico itself.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">8. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">ROBERT TYKOT – DISCUSSANT</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">9. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Fine-scale Investigation of Changes in the Ceramic Production Using Sherd
Temper in the Mt. Trumbull Area of the Grand Canyon Parashant National
Monument, Arizona.</span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sachiko Sakai</span></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">This study is a part of an investigation into the adaptation patterns among the small-
scale farmers who lived in a very marginal environment in the American Southwest. The
examination of the changes in the ceramic production and distribution in the Mt.
Trumbull and adjacent areas was conducted using LA-ICP-MS and optically stimulated
luminescence (OSL) dating. This study suggested that the use of an optimal clay (i.e., a
clay with a better performance) dominated the production of ceramics during the later
time. This clay procurement pattern may correspond to a shift in dependence on more
agriculture at a later time which may allow some individual to devote more time on the
ceramic production to make more durable pottery, while some other focused on the
agriculture. The temper type used for the ceramic production at Mt. Trumbull was
predominately olivine as there is a source for it in this area. A closer examination
suggests that some of the olivine- and sand-tempered ceramics also include sherd
temper. In this paper, I would like to investigate if the changes in the use of sherd
temper had any relation to the changes in the environmental conditions that may have
impacted the local area’s agricultural productivity.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">10. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Establishing Ceramic Source Groups in Florida Using a Multi-Method Approach</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Robert H. Tykot, McKenna Douglass, Michael D. Glascock, Whitney Goodwin, Zachary Atlas</span></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">More than 500 ceramic artifacts from four prehistoric sites in Pinellas County, Florida
were analyzed non-destructively using a portable XRF spectrometer to address
research questions about local production and potential movement or exchange over
significant distances. All dating to the Safety Harbor Period (ca. 900-1500 AD), at least
100 diagnostic rim sherds from each of the four sites (Bayshore Homes, Maximo Point,
Weeden Island, and Yat Kitischee) were analyzed for seven trace elements using a
Bruker Tracer V</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">g</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">, with results calibrated using known standards. The vast majority of
the sherds tested have broadly similar compositions, indicating use of clay within this
region, while there were a modest number of outliers suggesting some coming from
further away.
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">In addition, subsets of 10 sherds from each site were also analyzed by neutron
activation analysis (INAA) at MURR and by ICP mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) at USF.
This multi-method approach was taken to test the performance of each and to
determine the potential utility for sourcing/exchange studies of obtaining results for
many more elements by using destructive methods. Furthermore, the ability to cross-</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">calibrate data from these three methods allows direct comparison with results from
other studies that have been conducted in Florida.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">11.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Urbanization and Ceramic Consumption at the late Neolithic settlement of
Liangchengzhen</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 5"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ann Underhill, Fengshi Luan, and Fen Wang</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">Excavations at the Longshan period settlement of Liangchengzhen in southeastern
Shandong have uncovered large quantities and diverse forms of ceramic vessels from
contexts representing each phase of occupation. This paper explores consumption
patterns for ceramic vessels in one neighborhood during eight phases of occupation
estimated to represent approximately 200 years. It compares consumption patterns for
fine and coarse wares, discussing potential evidence for especially valued kinds of
vessels recovered from different depositional contexts. Possible methods of ceramic
distribution are discussed in relation to varieties of vessel form, surface treatment, and
size over time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">12.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">New Insights into Bronze Age ceramic production in northwestern China:
Petrographic analysis of Qijia and Shajing materials from the Andersson
collections</span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Andrew Womack, Anke Hein, and Ole Stilborg</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">The late Neolithic to late Bronze Age periods (ca. 2300-400BCE) in what is now
northwestern China was a time of significant technological and social change. Based on
limited excavation and survey, it has been suggested that major changes took place in
subsistence technologies, including a potential shift from sedentary farming to mobile
herding, as well as increasing use of metal items. Ceramics are also thought to reflect
these transitions based on major changes in vessel form and surface treatment,
however only preliminary analyses of ceramic technology from this time period have
taken place. Here we use petrographic analysis of long-dormant collections of ceramics
from the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, Sweden, to assess changes
in ceramic technology and circulation between the Qijia cultural period (2300-1500BCE)
and Shajing cultural period (1000-400BCE) in northwestern China. Our focus is on
exploring whether paste recipes and other aspects of production shift alongside
changes in ceramic form and surface treatment between the Qijia and Shajing periods,
or whether there is long-term continuity in production practices.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">13.Ceramic technology beyond the rim: Reconstruction (and firing) a late
Neolithic Chinese kiln</b></p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Camila Strum, Liam Hayes, and Anna Campbell</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The past several decades have seen a shift in the focus of ceramic studies in Neolithic
China from ceramic products toward ceramic production, as scholars have pushed
beyond typological analyses to investigate the people who made, handled, and used
these wares. Despite this turn toward process, comparatively little attention is given to
the many technologies that make the production of pottery possible: the paddles and </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">anvils, tournettes or kick-wheels, decorative tools like rope and stamps, and kilns that
Neolithic potters relied on for their craft. In this presentation, we explore the labor and
logic of one such “supporting” technology through experimental archaeology. Using
excavation reports as a guide, our multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, professional
potters, and kiln builders attempted to reconstruct and fire a Neolithic kiln. Our
results—both successes and failures—provide a deeper understanding of the complex
material technology of these kilns, and offer new insights to the social, environmental,
and economic entanglements of Neolithic ceramic production.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">14. Micro-CT scanning with 3D image analysis of pore systems in sherds as a tool to understand performance characteristics of archaeological ceramics</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 6"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Chandra L. Reedy</i></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Characterizing a ceramic pore system reveals information about use properties and
functionality. Pores making up the system include some that are isolated and others
with connections to other pores, some connected to the ceramic surface and others
interior-only, and variation exists in pore size and shape and connection size and
directness. The structure of this pore system impacts functional aspects of the ceramic
such as permeability, liquid diffusion, thermal conductivity, and mechanical strength.
Desktop high-resolution micro-CT systems generate images from sherd samples non-
destructively with spatial resolution sufficient to measure many pore variables. Using the
3D image analysis software program Dragonfly, segmentation of pores from particles
and matrix is improved with models from machine learning and deep learning with
convolutional neural networks. A multi-stage image analysis protocol can then examine
variables related to ceramic function such as total volume porosity, percentage of pores
accessible to the surface versus isolated interior ones, statistical properties of pores
related to size and shape, percentage of unconnected pores, average number of
connections between pores, and the length, diameter, and directness of those
connections; a porous microstructure analysis can also study the permeability and
thermal conductivity of the ceramic system as a whole.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">15.Pan-American Ceramics Project: Increasing the accessibility and
interoperability of ceramic data in the digital age</span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Kostalena Michelaki, Andrea Torvinen, and Andrea Berlin</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Pottery is a powerful tool for understanding past societies. The timing and function of a
site, the nature and rhythms of daily life, the social relations of site inhabitants with each
other and with people from far away regions are questions archaeologists ask of
ceramic data regularly. The power of such data can be greatly enhanced when they are
digitized and aggregated into a common framework that expands their temporal and
spatial breadth.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">As an open-access, digital repository, the Pan-American Ceramics Project seeks to
increase the accessibility and interoperability of ceramic data spanning from Canada to
Argentina, and dating to all time periods, revolutionizing the breadth of research across
international borders. Accomplishing this goal requires the formation of a collaborative
network of experts in both ceramic analysis and the regional and temporal trends of </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt;">pottery manufacture in ancient America. Such experts must include Native, descendent,
locals, and other archaeologists, potters, and educators alike.</span></p>
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This presentation will illustrate the current functions of our web application, outline
future capabilities in development, and serve as an invitation to those interested in
joining our community by contributing their insights and data and advancing the practice
of digital archaeology.
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">16</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">DAVE KILLICK - DISCUSSANT </span></p>
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</div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-30317228065415377142023-03-09T10:45:00.005-05:002023-03-09T10:45:49.226-05:00In Memory of Dr Lisa Lodwick (1988 - 2022)<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By <i>Erica Rowan</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Lisa Lodwick had an energy and a passion many of us can only dream of having. As a result, despite </span><span style="font-family: arial;">her short career, she managed to achieve an incredible amount both personally, and for </span><span style="font-family: arial;">archaeobotany and women in archaeology. Lisa had a very well-established career and it was about </span><span style="font-family: arial;">to reach incredible new heights when she passed. Less than a year before her death Lisa received </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the happy news that she had been offered a permanent lectureship in Environmental Archaeology </span><span style="font-family: arial;">role at the University of Cambridge. She could not wait to get started. She was excited about the lab </span><span style="font-family: arial;">facilities and the opportunity to create a new community of archaeobotanists through the training of </span><span style="font-family: arial;">MA and PhD students. There is an insufficient number of archaeobotanists, and in particular those </span><span style="font-family: arial;">who work on Greek and Roman period sites, and her contribution would have made a significant </span><span style="font-family: arial;">difference to Classical Archaeology.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">At the time of the offer, she was already in possession of one of the prestigious post-doctoral </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">fellowships at All Souls College in Oxford. While at All Souls Lisa worked on an enormous range of </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">projects and collaborations, looking at archaeobotanical material from the UK, Italy and Egypt, and </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">publishing over 20 articles and book chapters. She also continued her work on Silchester and made </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">significant contributions to our understanding of diet in Roman Britain. Lisa was one of the co- </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">authors of </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">Life and Death in the Countryside of Roman Britain, </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">which won Current Archaeology’s </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">2020 book of the year award. At the time of her death she was in the process of finishing a
monograph on corn dryers in Roman Britain, which will be completed by a close colleague.</span></p></div></div></div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In addition to all her more standard academic activities, Lisa dedicated herself to her other passions; </span><span style="font-family: arial;">creating a more open, gender balanced and inclusive archaeological community. During the brief </span><span style="font-family: arial;">train journeys between Reading and Oxford Lisa would write Wikipedia entries for female </span><span style="font-family: arial;">academics. In 2021, she organized an AEA conference on open science practices in Environmental </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Archaeology. She was also one of the co-founders and the editor-in-chief of the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Theoretical Roman </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Archaeology Journal, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">whose articles were all open access and whose fair and open editorial policies I </span><span style="font-family: arial;">used as a template when setting up my own co-edited journal. Within the field of archaebotany Lisa </span><span style="font-family: arial;">also strived to achieve gender equality and fought fiercely for the rights of postdoctoral researchers, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">many of whom live perilously contract to contract. At the most recent International Work Group for </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Paleoethnobotany (IWGP) conference in Czechia, Lisa’s campaigning for better representation for all </span><span style="font-family: arial;">career levels has led to permanent changes within the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">group’s </span><span style="font-family: arial;">organizing committee. The IWGP </span><span style="font-family: arial;">committee now has rotating membership for early career researchers.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Finally, Lisa not only cared about archaeobotany and archaeology, but she cared a lot about people. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The overwhelming number of responses and positive messages on Twitter (a platform she loved) </span><span style="font-family: arial;">following the announcement of her death attests to the number of lives she touched during her brief </span><span style="font-family: arial;">time with us. She was an excellent networker and as many of us have discovered since November, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Lisa was often the one who first introduced us to colleagues and future friends at conferences and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">seminars, and over coffees and drinks. A close community of archaeologists and archaeobotanists </span><span style="font-family: arial;">now exists because of Lisa. In addition, she always made time to help and provide guidance to both </span><span style="font-family: arial;">established and younger academics alike. She was happy to share her skills, knowledge and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">experience. It made her a great collaborator and an even better friend, and she is very much missed.</span></p></div></div></div>
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-38635935566466191962023-03-09T10:29:00.004-05:002023-03-09T10:41:29.491-05:00In Memory of Dr Myrto Georgakopoulou (1976 - 2022)<p><span style="font-family: arial;">By <i>Evangelia Kiriatzi</i>, <i>Marcos </i></span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><i>Martinón</i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>-Torres</i> and <i>Thilo Rehren</i></span></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLL4gHJLDqxBAEVt3ePRslCwdtk792ZXdjGWOxrtXefhFEhkswNT9FkaEkRNeO3Vm7r6I7tKiDKcVtNSYLKLN5Hysq_YfR0iDEcTgYcgz2rKR2a5U_5wKtpjFcanDvZgAbS_deGCDIrgIrA7byFV3_lBDoiqKCpxizEWnotRIori6ZcMMULInPXRdTw/s604/1930497_36438985379_9066_n_36438985379.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="604" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLL4gHJLDqxBAEVt3ePRslCwdtk792ZXdjGWOxrtXefhFEhkswNT9FkaEkRNeO3Vm7r6I7tKiDKcVtNSYLKLN5Hysq_YfR0iDEcTgYcgz2rKR2a5U_5wKtpjFcanDvZgAbS_deGCDIrgIrA7byFV3_lBDoiqKCpxizEWnotRIori6ZcMMULInPXRdTw/w640-h424/1930497_36438985379_9066_n_36438985379.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p style="text-align: justify;">It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts that we note the untimely passing of our dear colleague, valued
collaborator and beloved friend, Myrto Georgakopoulou, on December 15, 2022.</p></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Myrto received her BSc in Chemistry from Imperial College, London, before moving to the UCL Institute of
Archaeology for a Masters and PhD in Archaeological Science, specialising in archaeometallurgy. Her PhD
focused on Early Cycladic metallurgy, a subject that remained central throughout her research career. She
was supervised by Thilo Rehren, Cyprian Broodbank and Yannis Bassiakos, who remained life-long mentors
and collaborators. While early Aegean metallurgy was her great love throughout the course of her career,
she developed an impressive breadth of expertise spanning multiple materials, periods and regions.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl7A8A2d1S7z_BEZMumEb3R8ze62Vm71HdNsHWXOCrWSWs0XVqKhpultTm-GdEADZgKSdJm3iMfIra5gkpPYm72Hg1akPgDiQGJ-CZdxl_1Fwk_oJaGcjxXZ0-9WBhAK6qZBynw7-t17Q5eRu8-pWS_2Xx2IKVKWDUWuim_OO87Y12Ozv520POXP8qQ/s1920/_MG_9837.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl7A8A2d1S7z_BEZMumEb3R8ze62Vm71HdNsHWXOCrWSWs0XVqKhpultTm-GdEADZgKSdJm3iMfIra5gkpPYm72Hg1akPgDiQGJ-CZdxl_1Fwk_oJaGcjxXZ0-9WBhAK6qZBynw7-t17Q5eRu8-pWS_2Xx2IKVKWDUWuim_OO87Y12Ozv520POXP8qQ/w320-h213/_MG_9837.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Her academic career was mainly split between the British School at Athens (2005-2013), UCL Qatar (2013-
2019), and, most recently, the Cyprus Institute. She also held short-term research posts at the NCSR
Demokritos and the University of Cyprus. In all of these institutions, she led laboratories with exceptional
rigour, developed pioneer research, and selflessly taught and mentored countless students. At the BSA she
developed a long-term partnership with Vangelio Kiriatzi that transformed the Fitch Laboratory and Aegean
archaeological sciences more generally. Among many others, a particularly memorable contribution was a
new WD-XRF calibration for ce</span><span style="font-family: arial;">ramics that, in her own words, “kicked ass”, and which enabled countless
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">projects on pottery from Aegina, Kythera and beyond </span><span style="font-family: arial;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial;">indeed still used by many international visitors to
the Fitch Laboratory. Myrto also joined fieldwork projects on Chios, Kythera and Keros. Beyond the Aegean,
throughout her career she built a huge network of collaborations and projects across the globe, from India
to North America and from Britain to Nigeria.</span></div><div class="column" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="column" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwr2aHrK13YMFqnlq5LRU3OSF0pzmrvE4l1YRVF2sjfj_XMMw2tTH4_luFWmt6rjjL_zY3GRaJC08ZU3rfFVv8KWBCW71-hgRxkHL3U8IGyEzjanptdQIswcXRkElfwtbqvMIQT5LC8dV5dwlDqLgl8ueoFjz2zDXF7vXXnkKk2Bq7TKLhtpFwT2e37A/s3872/_IGP2128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3872" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwr2aHrK13YMFqnlq5LRU3OSF0pzmrvE4l1YRVF2sjfj_XMMw2tTH4_luFWmt6rjjL_zY3GRaJC08ZU3rfFVv8KWBCW71-hgRxkHL3U8IGyEzjanptdQIswcXRkElfwtbqvMIQT5LC8dV5dwlDqLgl8ueoFjz2zDXF7vXXnkKk2Bq7TKLhtpFwT2e37A/s320/_IGP2128.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">Myrto’s </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">unique combination of skills, values and qualities are rarely found in the same individual.
Exceptionally sharp and perceptive, generous with her time and knowledge, and a master of balancing
excellence with slight self-deprecation, Myrto was a true role model. Her very strong scientific background
was very successfully complemented by a critical, anthropocentric approach to material culture and
technology. She had an infinite breadth of interests on scientific matters, society, politics and environment,
and was the most intuitive and inspiring discussant on any subject. Myrto had a sharp mind and keen
intellect, a strong sense of responsibility, and above all an enormously engaging and easy-going personality.
She cared deeply and had affection for all creatures on this planet.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Archaeological scientists such as Marcos Martinón-Torres and Mike Charlton, among many others, started
their careers and early networks working together in B53, the PhD student room at the basement of the
UCL Institute of Archaeology. All of them, and the many more who crossed paths with Myrto in Britain,
Qatar, Greece, Cyprus and beyond, remember fondly Myrto’s ingenuity, academic breadth and work ethic,
as much as her incomparable spontaneity and charm. Decades later, they kept going back to her for
scientific clarity, reality checks, friendly advice, and good humour. She always had the courage to say things
as they were, and the humanity to help those in need.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To acknowledge Myrto’s contribution to the fields of Archaeological Science and Archaeometallurgy, the
British School at Athens has established a programme of ‘Myrto Georgakopoulou Scholarships’ to support
early career researchers. Donations can be made through the BSA’s website: <a href="https://www.bsa.ac.uk/donate/">https://www.bsa.ac.uk/donate/</a>, mentioning ‘Myrto Georgakopoulou’ in the Additional Comments box.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Myrto’s untimely passing is a great loss for the archaeological sciences, but we will miss most acutely an
irreplaceable friend. Her charisma, sense of justice, and personal warmth will remain an inspiration. </span></div>
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</div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-69087094516684233122023-03-09T10:15:00.007-05:002023-03-09T10:15:46.755-05:00Interview with the winner of the Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology 2023: Professor Julia Lee-Thorp<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology is a prestigious award granted by the the Archaeological Institute of America. I had the pleasure of interviewing the winner of the 2023 award: Professor Julia Lee-Thorp. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugKjaGmc2IRgjxJpg6gKz1FsqvZS5cMtSomRRX1yap_Wc0Y1XF_91AIxPW8gQWZk7Lv0Fshv86J07dFQp-kb7TBkPSkWAxzif0eIplsFeswF_W55Q5tAUGYRFoSRsogK05gD2pJTAyhOw-a0JHcTf9EvrV6fAwr43LGqs2sQe3h729Hqe0LFz8lt1_w/s687/Julia%20Lee-Thorp%20H&S.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="516" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugKjaGmc2IRgjxJpg6gKz1FsqvZS5cMtSomRRX1yap_Wc0Y1XF_91AIxPW8gQWZk7Lv0Fshv86J07dFQp-kb7TBkPSkWAxzif0eIplsFeswF_W55Q5tAUGYRFoSRsogK05gD2pJTAyhOw-a0JHcTf9EvrV6fAwr43LGqs2sQe3h729Hqe0LFz8lt1_w/w300-h400/Julia%20Lee-Thorp%20H&S.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>How did you get into archaeology, more specifically archaeological science?</b></span></i></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was educated in South Africa, at the University of Cape Town where u/g degrees were quite broad (a huge advantage). My first degree was a BSc in science, specifically a major in chemistry, but it included physics, maths, zoology and even astronomy. <span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then came another undergraduate degree in archaeology and humanities topics. I immediately knew that archaeology was my passion, it just gelled, and it was soon apparent that my scientific training esp. chemistry was a significant advantage. The UCT archaeology department was a pioneer in several archaeological endeavours that required chemistry or physics understanding - stable light isotopes and Iron Age metallurgy. Also there was close collaboration with geochemists, environmentalists, oceanographers, social scientists. To cut a long story short, I had the right background and interests, and the department was the right place. </span> </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>What are the future directions of archaeological science?</b></span></i></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Difficult one to answer! In general I think that archaeological scientists need to keep being highly collaborative and open to ideas an concepts from outside the discipline, but also need to hew close to archaeological concepts and concerns. Sometimes I see practitioners doing complicated analytical projects that don't necessarily address sound questions. A good question is key.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are multiple expanding avenues right now that are very promising - just some:</span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">- Increasingly intricate </span>DNA investigations aimed at human and faunal ancestry and relationships; intensive work on plant and animal biology/physiology; </span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- Proteomics and ZooMs analyses for previously irresolvable species identifications on recent and very old materials</span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- Biomarker & lipid residue analysis has made great strides in tackling previously irresolvable issues; </span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- Chronological research continues to make rapid strides in precision (radiocarbon dating) and calibration;</span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- New methods emerging to tackle ages of previously undateable old crystalline materials - such as IRSL of Ma-old sediments and AAR of amino acid remnants in fossil enamel and ostrich eggshell;</span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- Stable isotope field is expanding into metal isotopes, and becoming more sophisticated;</span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Applying concepts from modern biology and ecology to handle complex data<span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>and address problems of ancient ecology with <span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">statistical rigour. </span> </span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>What were the obstacles you had to overcome when you were working to establish yourself as a scholar/researcher?</b></span></i></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Early in my career, archaeological science was not widely recognised <span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">as an important and integral part of the discipline of archaeology,<span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> in comparison to say, traditional archaeology. And the latter was pretty male dominated. So it was regarded as a bit "niche" and it was difficult to make a career.</span></span> It's no longer the case that archaeological science is a spare part, but it's still difficult to find one's niche and occupy it with confidence.</span></span><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>What challenges do you see the female students and early career researchers you work with struggle with the most these days?</b></span></i></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A large number of my students have been female so I have some experience here (aside from being one myself). All students and ECR researchers need lots of support and guidance but the former tend to have different issues to the latter. One thing female students in particular need is confidence boosting, and ECR researchers tend to need morale boosting as it's a critical career stage. </span><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you think these challenges are similar to those you experienced yourself? If this is the case, why do you think things have not improved over the years?</span><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></b></span></i></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes and no. I struggled with self-doubt, sense of self-worth and uncertainty about my 'place' in the system, as do many students still, and its undoubtedly more of an issue for female students. But this is a universal problem and part of the student growing experience. Female students often need more encouragement about their sense of self-worth.</span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the other hand, archaeological science is far more valued as a sub-discipline so that particular issue has evaporated. It's also now a discipline in which there have been many women leaders. </span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br aria-hidden="true" /></b></span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>What more do you think we can do, as individuals and institutions, to help promote the role of female researchers in the field of archaeological science?</i></span><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Female researchers are doing pretty well in archaeological science, and also in bioarchaeology or bioanthropology! Once in a post, employing institutions need to ensure that female staff are given enough space to do their research and not become totally bogged down in excessive teaching and administration. That is probably the best thing that should be done, it's a problem in many institutions and it applies to all disciplines. </span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>If you can give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?</b></span></i></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh gosh. Perhaps, "believe that you have what it takes to succeed in the profession". Also "you've made some important advances, now seize the opportunity and run with it". </span></span></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>What advice would you give to other female researchers out there who would like to pursue a career in archaeological science?</i></span><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></b></span><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Follow your heart, follow the big questions.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'd like to add this: there will always be researchers who decide that academia is not worth it for them, personally. This is completely fine, their degrees in archaeological science will have equipped them very well for multiple other satisfying careers. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;">One thing I definitely should have mentioned is the necessity for role models in encouraging female students. Archaeological Science and especially my own area, stable isotopes applied in bio-archaeology and palaeoanthropology definitely has many. I remember Tamsin O'Connell pointing this out to me when she joined us for my retirement party!</span></span></div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-87352231061818535162022-11-25T17:52:00.000-05:002022-11-25T17:52:11.321-05:00CLASMAC: Congreso Latinoamericano de Arqueometría (CLA) y del Simposio Latinoamericano sobre Métodos Físicos y Químicos en Arqueología, Arte y Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (LASMAC)<p>
</p><div class="page" title="Page 1"></div><p></p><div class="gmail-page" title="Page 1"><p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Caracterización e Imágenes
de la Degradación uv del Carmín de Cochinilla</span></b></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Caue Fereira - Instituto de Física, Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brasil - <span lang="ES-CL"><a href="mailto:caue.ferreira@usp.br" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">caue.ferreira@usp.br</span></a></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="ES-CL"><span style="font-family: arial;">A system (0.5 x 0,5 cm) formed by Canvas, Carmine Red and White
Titanium (TiO2) + Linseed Oil (CCT) was degraded with the base being canvas,
carmine red throughout the surface, and only half TiO2 + Oil.After drying,
measurements were made in Atomic Force Microcospy(AFM) - Tapping Mode on both
parts (Carmine and Ti), after approx. 18 days in the degradation chamber, the
sample received approx 0.8 MegaJoule of UV radiation, and again measured in AFM
- QNM Mode.We see that after degradation, the average height of the pigments
(Titanium crystal and Carmine cluster) decreased by half of their height (124
nm to 77 nm for Ti and 20 nm to 6nm for Carmine), the surface became less
rough, including revealing the fabric fibers. Something to note in carmine was
also the formation of possible spherical clusters.This can show us, without
damage to small samples, the potential of atomic force microscopy imaging and
how the morphology since changes in the process, future investigations with
other techniques being necessary , like SEM, SERS, etc.</span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span lang="ES-CL"> </span></b><b><span lang="ES-CL"> </span></b></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="ES-CL"><span style="font-family: arial;">Wood on Fire. Identification and analysis
of particles adhering to archaeological charcoal through scanning electron
microscopy</span></span></b></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="ES-CL">Maia
del Rosario Rodriguez -CONICET - ARQAND -
</span><span lang="ES-CL"><a href="mailto:maiadelrosario@hotmail.com">maiadelrosario@hotmail.com</a></span><span lang="ES-CL"></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="ES-CL">María Gabriela
Aguirre - </span><span lang="ES-CL"><a href="mailto:mgbaguirre@hotmail.com">mgbaguirre@hotmail.com</a></span><span lang="ES-CL"></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="ES-CL">Pilar
Babot - CONICET - ARQAND - </span><span lang="ES-CL"><a href="mailto:pilarbabot@csnat.unt.edu.ar">pilarbabot@csnat.unt.edu.ar</a></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="ES-CL"><span style="font-family: arial;">In
Archaeobotany, optical microscopy -transmitted and reflected light, and
scanning electron microscopy have become essential tools when carrying out the
taxonomic identification of archaeobotanical remains and detecting features of
a taphonomic nature. In the study of ancient charcoal that comes from archaeological
sites, Anthracology, the use of microscopes has a long history, being initially
an expensive and laborious tool (Badal García 1987-88) and currently,
indispensable (Marguerie & Hunot 2007; McParland et al. 2010). In the
1970s, Vernet began to study charcoal by direct observations of carbonized
material through the optical reflection microscope. This was a very important
change in the methology for analysing anthracological remains (Badal García
1987-88), which was completed with the current use of the scanning electron
microscope and the formation of experimental charcoal reference collections.
The use of EDXS is less common in the study of archaeological charcoal (Vidal
Matutano et al. 2019; Courty et al. 2020).</span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In our
study area, which corresponds to Antofagasta de la Sierra in the Salty Puna of
Argentina, the relationship between people and firewood is important due to the
need to heat the living spaces in an extreme natural environment, to provide
light and to allow food to be cooked. The wood fuel used has traditionally been
supplied by plant species present in the low-sized shrubby flora typical of the
high desert, while the lesser use of exotic firewood -at least from 150 km
away, is still under study. Morphological traits of charcoal allowed to
establish the collection of dead firewood from bushes that grow in the vicinity
of the residential places and also the collection of fresh plants to be burnt
for specific purposes –e.g. rituals, that grow in more distant places
-approximately 10 km away.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="ES-CL">In this
work we present the results obtained on a series of elements detected in
selected samples of ancient charcoal
which corresponnd to 9 plant taxa from several archaeological sites (6th
to 20th centuries) through the use of SEM-EDXS Supra55VP (CIME, CONICET/UNT).
The implementation of both techniques allowed the morphological and elemental
characterization of the material studied, beyond the analysis of characters
–structural and ultrastructural, that guide the precise taxonomic
identification of the plants that were burned, and that allow the observation
of the structural modification of wood due to the heat –e.g. vitrification
process, Inclusions and particles adhering to the charcoal specimens were also
identified. They include mainly hyphae and other fungal elements, followed in
abundance by biomineralized particles -phytoliths and crystals, bacteria, ashes
and other particles. We consider that the observation, registration and
detailed compositional characterization of these types of elements present in
the charcoal are useful to differentiate between the management of green or
dead firewood, and to recognize residues of the processes and practices that
were carried out in the combustion structures, as well as postdepositional
aspects that affect the archaeological material –biodeterioration and others.</span><b></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="ES-CL"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p></div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-64135900488429160882022-11-25T17:40:00.000-05:002022-11-25T17:40:05.320-05:00Myc-MVP: A Novel Approach in the Study of Mycenaean Glassy Materials<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Artemios Oikonomou</b>, <i>Associate Editor for Archaeological Glass</i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I know I haven’t been around for quite some time, but there’s a good reason</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Nice things are
due to be aired shortly regarding vitreous materials and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’m sure going to let you know. So,
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the current news is a brand new project, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Myc-MVP, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">with myself being the Principal
Investigator. The project is in its infancy, only launched just some weeks ago on 26 September
2022.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Myc-MVP </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">stands for </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Mycenaean Vitreous Production: A novel interdisciplinary
approach towards resolving critical taxonomy issues </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and is funded by the Hellenic Institute
for Research and Innovation within the framework of the 3</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">rd </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Call for Postdoctoral Researches.
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH15eQnzRHxJcVPCNxCqIYLLl8JnwIevIGob-r1AmZg-psWdC253HA0lwuvqg8sRc9zZs58v5B7Jjfo9cfLVbXxIdDUBAQAOLY4GdAbbgQufd8f5CJgJiF23FMWpVK8KU_8XzEEyvE3sXfkj4xYLulN6yFfsFfPTWcmuqrgWyXE7uIKwdHgzTRSG-3-g/s939/Oikonomou_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="939" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH15eQnzRHxJcVPCNxCqIYLLl8JnwIevIGob-r1AmZg-psWdC253HA0lwuvqg8sRc9zZs58v5B7Jjfo9cfLVbXxIdDUBAQAOLY4GdAbbgQufd8f5CJgJiF23FMWpVK8KU_8XzEEyvE3sXfkj4xYLulN6yFfsFfPTWcmuqrgWyXE7uIKwdHgzTRSG-3-g/w640-h288/Oikonomou_1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><i>Maria and I were loading and discussing the results of fresh analysis. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">A few words over the project to draw your attention and hopefully keep you tuned. This
project will investigate both faience and glass objects from various Mycenaean sites in the
Peloponnese and mainland Greece. You may know that faience has been the focus of research
in early vitreous materials for almost 40 years. We also do know that glass constituted an
integral element of the Mycenaean material culture. Research over the last decades has
greatly enhanced our understanding of the production and distribution of glass and faience
across time and space, resulting in a complex, yet fascinating picture of the socio-economic
and cultural aspects underlying vitreous production.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The main problem with both materials is that they do suffer a great degree of degradation,
with the smaller objects, such as beads and relief plaques, which constitute the largest set of
artefacts retrieved, being particularly vulnerable. The degree, extent and nature of this
degradation -critically distorting the visual characteristics of the artefacts- affect the way in
which the material can be studied and interpreted by archaeologists, conservation scientists
and archaeometrists. Practically, the final corrosion state of the artifact imposes constraints
on its taxonomy, since it has lost the glassy state/glaze and with degradation yielding similar
optical effects telling glass apart from faience can prove challenging.
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qB6qXEMyepWRaNOu9U0kGIgB4JLWzZTsZhH-GcxEvinOXKDM_uiyd-QIUC-DsgA3VhA0yIlJarSGoFyRCSyjSrur656-qE_ozP8Dgf9XVpZBW6MdmSHvkzXbFhNYnLeB3PPjz-reDnsq1nOx-K6mBWyvVQqemKJhWUx2Sac7TJgBA8wFl6hhT1MGPw/s752/Oikonomou_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="337" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qB6qXEMyepWRaNOu9U0kGIgB4JLWzZTsZhH-GcxEvinOXKDM_uiyd-QIUC-DsgA3VhA0yIlJarSGoFyRCSyjSrur656-qE_ozP8Dgf9XVpZBW6MdmSHvkzXbFhNYnLeB3PPjz-reDnsq1nOx-K6mBWyvVQqemKJhWUx2Sac7TJgBA8wFl6hhT1MGPw/w286-h640/Oikonomou_2.png" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>The µ-XRF setup upon analysis of a beautiful Mycenaean glass button.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In few words, the principal aim of </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Myc-MVP </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">is to establish </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">an unprecedented protocol </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">to
tackle this very problem of Mycenaean vitreous materials retrieved in archaeological
excavations and stored lacking proper identification (either interchangeably or even seen as
ceramic or stone) and preventive conservation practices, failing, thus, to be classified,
interpreted, reconstructed and studied successfully; the latter also imposing risks for their
future preservation. The novel approach of this project aims at applying state of the art X-ray
technology such as </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">μ</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">-Xrf, macro-XRF, PIXE, PIGE and RBS to accomplish its objectives.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The project is hosted at the XRF Laboratory of N.C.S.R. Demokritos in Athens (Dr Andreas
Karydas-Director of the X-Ray Laboratory) and is a collaboration between the host
organization, the National Museum in Athens and the University of Ioannina. The research
team consists of me, Dr Maria Kaparou and Ourania Kordali while a PhD student will come on
board in due time for a short term to assist in the analysis of the assemblage.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The analytical work has already started and great things keep coming up. Do follow the
website and/or the social media accounts of the project to dive with us within the fascinating
world of vitreous studies.
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">www.myc-mvp.eu </span></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-60061998802804153852022-11-25T17:28:00.003-05:002022-11-25T17:28:46.428-05:00Archaeometry and Museum Collections<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Mark Golitko</b>, <i>Associate Editor for Lithics and Network Analysis</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">pXRF and other more affordable and accessible methods of materials characterization have led to
a massive increase in the generation of archaeometric data, particularly for obsidian, as I noted in
my last post on this site. The development of portable XRF, portable FTIR, and other non-,
minimally-, or quasi-non-destructive techniques have also made studies of objects possible that
might not have been two decades ago. For instance, I’m about to head back to my old place of
employment, the Field Museum of Natural History, to complete data collection for a project I
began nearly a decade ago, using PXRF to source the obsidian blades in large spears and daggers
produced in the Admiralty Islands (Papua New Guinea) during the late 19th<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;"> </span>and early 20th<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;"> </span>centuries.
This project is in collaboration with Robin Torrence (Australian Museum), and builds on her prior
work (Torrence et al. 2012, 2013) on similar spears and daggers from the Admiralties housed in
museum collections in Australia and the UK. Our work examines how producers there responded
to a sudden massive increase in demand for these objects as museum and private collectors
developed an interest in ethnographic objects during the “golden age” of museum collecting.
Torrence had already found that the quality and variability of haft design appeared to decline as
producers became concerned with pumping out as many spears and daggers as possible (Torrence
1993). Preliminary PXRF results suggest that they also broadened obsidian procurement—spears
and daggers produced before ~1900 are exclusively made on obsidian from Lou Island (Torrence
et al. 2012), while sources on Pam Island appear in 20th<span style="vertical-align: 4pt;"> </span>century spears and daggers. Some of these
blades may actually have been produced centuries or even millennia earlier and reused as demand
increased—the production of large obsidian blades has a history stretching back to the mid-
Holocene in the Bismarck Archipelago (Fredericksen 2000; Torrence et al. 2013).
</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqJMG8Y7-m6lXu0TkjDqpcxe4mBhIEd0Jgu-ffWMFBwVR0zBd1eIFcnmTv6u8naEBjhdFy_pqmcaLUcNhM1CUPJ-vL2FLbNxcQdeRCgb445tFFpgFEGZdWOO8gvAGph4PySI8G9VB_7vGcOnY4pTcUYsZ6-09WfmwRu_eVzVAUu0RMJaS0S_VufmCsQ/s974/Golitko.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="974" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqJMG8Y7-m6lXu0TkjDqpcxe4mBhIEd0Jgu-ffWMFBwVR0zBd1eIFcnmTv6u8naEBjhdFy_pqmcaLUcNhM1CUPJ-vL2FLbNxcQdeRCgb445tFFpgFEGZdWOO8gvAGph4PySI8G9VB_7vGcOnY4pTcUYsZ6-09WfmwRu_eVzVAUu0RMJaS0S_VufmCsQ/w640-h112/Golitko.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">An obsidian bladed dagger produced in the Admiralty Islands (image courtesy of wikicommons).</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A recent paper in </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Antiquity </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(Cambell et al. 2021) uses PXRF to source obsidian mirrors housed in
the British Museum collections, including one once owned by the Elizabethan era polymath and
mystic John Dee. While there has apparently been some debate over the authenticity of this object,
the authors conclusively show that the obsidian from which the mirror was made originated at the
Pachuca source flow in central Mexico, the primary source utilized by the Aztec empire, as does
another mirror in the British Museum. Two other objects analyzed as part of the study (one mirror
and one polished block) originated from the Ucareo source, within the bounds of the neighboring
Tarascan empire. The symbolic associations of these objects were complex and multivalent in
central Mesoamerican mythology, being used in healing, as a symbol of royal power, for human
sacrifice, and as a prosaic material for tool manufacture. Mirrors themselves had numerous
associations, including protection from evil spirits (Darras 2014; Pastrana and Athie 2014). The
Campbell et al. study documents the interesting process by which objects used for these purposes
were appropriated for broadly similar purposes by Dee (who hoped to commune with angels and
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">other supernatural beings), but in contemporary European society, Dee’</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s use of the mirror was
considered a form of black magic.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">References
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Campbell, S., E. Healey, Y. Kuzmin, and M.D. Glascock. 2021. The mirror, the magus and more:
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">reflections on John Dee’s obsidian mirror. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Antiquity </span><span style="font-family: arial;">95: 1547-1564.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Darras, V. 2014. Ethnohistorical evidence for obsidian’s ritual and symbolic uses among the
Postclassic Tarascans. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Obsidian Reflections: Symbolic Dimensions of Obsidian in
Mesoamerica</span>, edited by M.N. Levine and D.M. Carballo, pp. 45-74. University of Colorado Press,
Boulder.</div>
</span><p></p>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fredericksen, C. 2000. Points of discussion. Obsidian blade technology in the Admiralty Islands,
2100 to 50 BP. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin </span><span style="font-family: arial;">20: 93-106.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Pastrana, A., and I. Athie. 2014. The symbolism of obsidian in Postclassic Central Mexico. In
<span style="font-style: italic;">Obsidian Reflections: Symbolic Dimensions of Obsidian in Mesoamerica</span>, edited by M.N. Levine
and D.M. Carballo, pp. 75-110. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.</div></span><p></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Torrence, R. 1993. Ethnoarchaeology, museum collections and prehistoric exchange: obsidian
tipped artifacts from the Admiralty Islands. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">World Archaeology </span><span style="font-family: arial;">24(3): 467-481.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Torrence, R., P. White, and S. Kelloway. 2012. Expanding the range of PXRF to ethnographic
collections. <span style="font-style: italic;">IAOS Bulletin </span>46: 9-15.</div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Torrence, R., S. Kelloway, and P. White. 2013. Stemmed tools, social interaction, and voyaging
in early-mid Holocene Papua New Guinea. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology </span>8(2):
278-310.
</span></p>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-53016905901031917322022-11-25T16:52:00.001-05:002022-11-25T16:52:25.294-05:00Book Review: Thin Section Petrography Geochemistry and Scanning Electron Microscopy of Archaeological Ceramics<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Charles C. Kolb</b>,<i> Honorary Associate Editor for Archaeological Ceramics</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Thin Section Petrography Geochemistry & Scanning Electron Microscopy of Archaeological
Ceramics</span>. Patrick Sean Quinn (2022) Archaeopress Archaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress. ISBN
Paperback: 9781803272702; Digital: 9781803272719; DOI 10.32028/9781803272702. Weight
2.6 pounds. £35.00 / $49.00 paperback, £16.00 PDF personal use eBook, £35.00 PDF
institutional use eBook. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacdjMPAG6QascQtuRKKDo5-WhDnyrIB7iwNoFgRyhlcfMLzQMieyLDvUjhCExudv93FBdgHYMAfq3y2OQaOHM4KNJF_bSl2lxvaGXxcbx0V4dGRs9fVVjbR1Uos30LKxhmioInaDkzJSesdkYRilRbLqz6TfuiPV6cQhEBBM8yMJPnEt-ItzCGIM0Qg/s266/Petrography_Quinn.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="189" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacdjMPAG6QascQtuRKKDo5-WhDnyrIB7iwNoFgRyhlcfMLzQMieyLDvUjhCExudv93FBdgHYMAfq3y2OQaOHM4KNJF_bSl2lxvaGXxcbx0V4dGRs9fVVjbR1Uos30LKxhmioInaDkzJSesdkYRilRbLqz6TfuiPV6cQhEBBM8yMJPnEt-ItzCGIM0Qg/w284-h400/Petrography_Quinn.jpeg" width="284" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Patrick Sean Quinn, Principal Research Fellow in Ceramic Petrography at University College
London, is both well-known and highly-regarded by his peers as an archaeological scientist who
specializes in the analysis and interpretation of ceramics, plaster and stone. He was trained as a
geologist (Keele University, UK) and micropalaeontologist (UCL), before applying his skills to
archaeometry and ancient ceramics (University of Sheffield, UK). Quinn edited </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Interpreting
Silent Artefacts: Petrographic Approaches to Archaeological Ceramic</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s, Oxford: Archaeopress
(2010), reviewed in </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span><span style="font-family: arial;">33(3):5-9 (2010). The 16 contributions are preceded by a
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">“Forward” (pp. v</span><span style="font-family: arial;">-viii) written by Ian K. Whitbread (University of Leicester) and inspired by the
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">international meeting on “Petrography of Archaeological Material” held at the University of
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Sheffield, 15-17 February 2008. The chapters cover a wide range of archaeological periods and
geographic regions and examine key themes such as trade and exchange, the organization of
production, craft technology, culture, and tradition. Issues of trade and exchange are considered
by Ixer and Vince, Montana </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">., Boileau and colleagues, Ownby and Bourriau, Heidke, and
Kelly and colleagues.</span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">More recently, Quinn wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Petrography: The Interpretation of Archaeological Pottery
& Related Artefacts in Thin Section</span>, Oxford: Archaeopress (2013) also reviewed in <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin
</span>36(3):7-10 (2013). This book is structured according to the main steps involved in the analysis
and interpretation of archaeological ceramic thin sections, including classification,
characterization, provenance determination, and the reconstruction of manufacturing technology.
His book was organized into seven chapters, each of which has its own set of references titled
“Further Reading” (hence, there is no common bibliography); there are no in notes or endnotes.
In addition to his own research, Quinn cites relevant examples from around the globe: France,
Sweden, Spain, Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, China, South Korea, Togo, Belize, Venezuela, and Peru.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">His newly published 2022 book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Thin Section Petrography Geochemistry & Scanning Electron
Microscopy of Archaeological Ceramics </span>([xix] + 441 pp., 487 figures (color throughout), further
reading at the end of each chapter, 310 total entries) is a welcomed, updated, and greatly
expanded version of the 2013 textbook, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Petrography: The Interpretation of
Archaeological Pottery & Related Artefacts in Thin Section </span>(v + 254 pp., 246 figures (nearly all
in color), further reading at the ends of each chapter). The new volume utilizes the compositional
and microstructural signatures of ceramics from pre-contact California, the Bronze Age Aegean,
Qin period China and prehistoric and Roman Britain to investigate a variety of archaeological
topics including trade and exchange, migration, cultural interaction, craft technology, organization
of production, tradition and identity. Using nearly 500 color figures of a diverse range of artifact
types and archaeological periods from fifty countries worldwide, this book outlines the
mineralogical, chemical, and microstructural composition of ancient ceramics and provides
comprehensive guidelines for their scientific study within archaeology. The presentations on thin-</span><span style="font-family: arial;">section petrography (Chapters 2-7) are updated, while bulk instrumental geochemistry (Chapter 8)
is a newly added up-to-date rendition, and Chapter 9 provides the latest information on scanning
electron microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In his “Preface” (p. 1) Quinn states that his book is dedicated to the scientific analysis of ancient
ceramics particularly on ceramic petrography, detailing the primary steps in the preparation of
archaeological thin sections, petrographic characterization and classification, and interpretation in
terms of provenance and technology of ceramics. In the main, the focus is on utilitarian, coarse,
earthenware, and terracotta pottery but also ceramic building materials, refractories, high-fired
glazes ceramics, (porcelain and fritware), and cementitious materials. He writes: “It is assumed
that the reader has a basic knowledge of optical mineralogy and the thin section petrography of
rocks” and should be used in conjunction with standard geological texts and identification guides.
Ceramic geochemistry is detailed in a dedicated chapter and the application of scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) are presented as supplementary methods of
ceramic compositional analysis used to address specific archaeological topics. The “Further
Readings” accompanying each chapter are expanded and updated (the most recent is 2021). The
nine individual chapters have from four to 23 parts each, supplemented by “Acknowledgments”
(3 p.) and a valuable, highly detailed 11-page double-column “Index.” The chapters follow the
same basic format as his 2013 text. The “Contents” (4 pp.), “Preface,” “Acknowledgments,” and
“Index” are all unpaginated. The color photomicrographs, almost always are a half-page, are
crisp and clear and have measurement scales separate from the images although no color bars are
included; and several spread sheets are difficult to read but are included by Quinn to show
formats. The color renditions are exceedingly important, and as good as or better than the older
standbys of Adams and MacKenzie 1998, and MacKenzie and Guilford 1980.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I next provide summaries of the key points made in each chapter before a comparison with other
texts and conclusion. The summaries include headings and major topics within, and lists of
suggested readings. In the latter, I use D.E. Arnold to differentiate Dean E. Arnold from at least
four “Arnolds” who study pottery. <span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 1: </span>“Introduction to Archaeological Ceramics &
Compositional Analysis” (pp. 1-20, 24 figures [10 thin section photomicrophotographs], four
parts). There are discussions defining Archaeological Ceramics; Ceramic Compositional
Analysis; and an Introduction to Thin Section Petrography; plus Further Reading n = 33. The
latter include citations to D.E. Arnold 1985, Freestone 1995, Hunt (ed.) 2016, Orton and Hughes
2013, Pollard <span style="font-style: italic;">et al</span>. 2007, Quinn (ed.) 2009, Rice 2015, and Velde and Druc 2021. <span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 2:
</span>“Sampling, Preparation & Analysis of Ceramic Thin Sections” (pp. 21-46, 30 figures [17 thin
section photomicrophotographs], seven parts). The topics include an Introduction (noting
modifications of standard techniques employed in geology); Sampling (noting that two-
dimensional thin sections tend to underestimate maximal particle dimensions); Thin Section
Preparation; Analytical Equipment (including polarizing light microscopes); Other Resources
(geological maps, published and unpublished accounts); Curation & Access to Thin Sections (an
extremely valuable section); and Further Reading: n = 17. The readings include Chandler 2001,
Humphries 1992, Quinn 2018, and Reedy 2006.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 3: </span>“Composition of Archaeological Ceramics in Thin Section” (pp. 47-87, 62 figures
[<span style="font-weight: 700;">all </span>thin section photomicrophotographs], five parts). The narrative includes an Introduction
(body, paste, and fabric) and discussions of The Clay Matrix (color, homogeneity, heterogeneity, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and micritic calcite); Particulate Inclusions (often the most distinctive component of the paste,
slag, and organics); Voids (absence of materials and a key component of ceramics); and Further
Reading: n = 22. The latter include: Adams and MacKenzie 1998, Cuomo di Caprio and Vaughn
1993, Degryse and Braekmans 1993, MacKenzie and Guilford 1980, Reedy 2008, and Whitbread
1986. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;">Chapter 4: </span><span style="font-family: arial;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Classification & Characterisation of Archaeological Ceramics in Thin
Section</span><span style="font-family: arial;">” (pp. 89</span><span style="font-family: arial;">-165, 42 figures [28 thin section photomicrographs], 23 parts). There is an
Introduction (types and scales of variation) and narratives on Visual Classification & Description
(grouping; description; a petrographic descriptive system: inclusions, roundness, spacing, grain
size, shape, sorting, and alignment; clay matrix; voids; fabric summary examples [unimodal and
bimodal fabric descriptions], and fabric summary: forming and firing technology, variation,
relationship to other fabrics, distribution, and source); Quantitative Characterisation & Statistical
Grouping (textural analysis modal analysis, data collection, and statistical classification);
Macroscopic Fabric Analysis (equipment and sample preparation, fabric characterization,
classification/grouping, fabric description: shell temper and grog temper fabrics); and Further
Reading: n = 42. The readings include: Baxter </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. 2008, Cau </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. 2004, Folk 1974, Hein </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">.
2018, Maritan 2019, Middleton </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. 1991, Reedy 2006, Tomber and Dore 1998.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 5: </span>“Petrographic Provenance Determination” (pp. 167-203). 36 figures [15 are thin
section photomicromicrographs], eight parts). There is an Introduction (provenance is defined as
the ceramic artifact production location, while provenience is the location where it was excavated
or found); and details on Geological Characterisation of Ceramic Raw Materials (fabric analysis:
thin section microscopy versus macroscopic, primary and secondary clay sources, sedimentary
clay deposits); Provenance Resolution (petrographic composition and texture, aplastic inclusions,
local and regional geology, direct evidence and comparative samples and data); Geological
Literature & Fieldwork (geological maps, soil maps, clay sampling, problems of dense vegetation,
primary and secondary clay deposits, fired experimental briquettes, problems of raw material
prospection); Quantitative Provenance Determination (modal analysis and grain size
measurements defining fine-scale petrographic and textual differences, field sampling,
compositional and textural groups, and qualitative and quantitative petrographic data);
Micropalaeontology (microfossils and microfossil, biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental
assemblage data), Interpreting Provenance Data (geographical indications of provenance, ceramic
artifact form and function, trade and exchange, transport amphorae and other types of storage jars,
mass transport, gift giving and receiving, ceramic assemblages and ritual significance, and
models); plus Further Reading: n = 29. These include: D.E. Arnold 1985, Hunt 2012, Knappett <span style="font-style: italic;">et
al</span>. 2005, Kirizati 2003, Michelaki <span style="font-style: italic;">et al</span>. 2010, Renfrew 1977, Rice 2015, and Rye 1981.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 6: </span>“Reconstructing Ancient Ceramic Technology in Thin Section” (pp. 205-291, 108
figures [100 are thin section photomicrographs], 17 parts). There is an Introduction (production
methods, written historical records versus artifact analysis, production behaviors, the sequence of
production steps, an example of the examination of the production sequence of a “typical pottery
vessel); followed by narratives on Raw Material Selection & Procurement (functional properties
of the clay, choice and procurement of clay and temper, and taskscapes); Raw Material Processing
& Paste Preparation (reduction and refining, tempering, physical and thermal characteristics
relevant to function, types of materials, heating effectiveness, physical shock, visual appearance,
bone and synthetic inclusions, grog, sand temper, crushed rock, organic materials, field sampling,
clay mixing and desired outcomes, hydration and aging, and working the clay); Forming Methods </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(interpreting construction techniques: macroscopic analysis, thin section microstructure, main
forming techniques wheel-throwing, slab building, coiling, molding, and criteria of assessment);
Finishing (surface modification: wiping, burnishing, polishing, incising, combing, impressing and
rouletting; decorative techniques: incision, combing, impressing, and rouletting; slips and
englobe, painting salt-glazing, frit and glaze mixtures); Drying (water evaporating, uneven
shrinkage, flaws, and shrinkage); Firing (key physical, chemical and mineralogical changes; firing
temperatures, archaeothermometry, refiring tests and SEM, firing atmospheres, color changes,
soaking time, porosity, fired color and core-margin color, and firing regimes: open versus closed
firings and kilns); Ceramic Use & Function (intended functions, crucibles and refractory
ceramics); Post-Depositional Alteration of Archaeological Ceramics (ceramic stability, deposition
of sediments and mineral precipitation, soluble mineral inclusions, secondary calcite deposits,
groundwater and seawater penetration); as well as Further Reading: n = 30. Among there are:
D.E. Arnold 2000, Berg, 2008, Eramo 2020, Freestone 2001, Gosselain 1991, Harry 2010, Quinn
and Burton 2009. Rice 2015, Roux 2009, Santacreu 2014, and Whitbread 1996 and 2001.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 4"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 7: </span>“Other Ceramic Materials in Thin Section” (pp. 293-329. 50 figures [<span style="font-weight: 700;">all </span>thin section
photomicrographs], eight parts). The Introduction (brick and tile, metallurgical ceramics, and
plaster), is followed by topics including Architectural Ceramics (ceramic building materials
(CBM), potter’s stamps); Unfired Clay Structures (mud brick, adobe clay mortar, daub, plant
waste and pollen, kiln furniture, crude evaporation vessels, and briquetage); Refractory Ceramics
(analysis by SEM-EDS and/or XRD;, metallurgical and glass-making crucibles, and used
refractory ceramics); Other Ceramic Objects (cuneiform writing tablets, seals, statues and
figurines, and tobacco smoking pipes); Petrography of Cementitious Materials (plaster, mortar,
concrete, hydraulic lime, and gypsum); Stoneware, Fritware, Porcelain & Faience (non-
earthenware pottery characteristics and distinctions); followed by Further Reading: n = 30. These
include: Davidson and Davey 1982, Ingham 2011, Reedy 2008, Ting <span style="font-style: italic;">et al</span>. 2019, Mason 1995,
and Quinn <span style="font-style: italic;">et al</span>. 2017.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Chapter 8: </span>“Instrumental Geochemistry of Archaeological Ceramics” (pp. 331-403, 62 figures
[diagrams, graphs, maps, spread sheets, diffractograms, etc.], 13 parts). The text includes an
Introduction with definitions: Instrumental geochemical analysis is the compositional study of
archaeological ceramics in terms of the chemical elements or types of atoms they contain, as well
as their relative abundance; such ceramics may contain 40 or more elements; types of apparatus
for Assessment: INAA, XRF, and ICP-MS). The subsequent discussions include The Chemical
Composition of Ceramics (clay minerals, inclusions, “trace” elements, and carbon-rich organic
matter); Equipment & Preparation (the three most important methods are reviewed, compared,
sample preparation, advantages and disadvantages, and selection of apparatus are reported: INAA
or NAA, XRF, ED-XRF, pXRF and ICP-MS); Quality Control (errors, sampling, mathematical
calculations, accuracy, CRM standards); Descriptive Statistics (compositional patterning,
multivariate measures, statistical measures of dispersion, types of plots; mathematical skills, and
descriptive statistics); Choice of Elements (erroneous or missing values, data quality assessment,
bulk ceramic geochemistry, object use bias, post depositional alteration, element selections effects
on classification); Normalisation, Standardisation & Transformation; Detecting Geochemical
Patterning (spreadsheets, scatterplots, principal components [PCA], software packages, cluster
analysis [HCA, and deciding which methods to use); Data Presentation (graphical representation,
trivariate plots, and spiderplots); Reconciling Geochemical & Petrographic Data (bulk </span><span style="font-family: arial;">geochemical signatures; integrated analyses; element sources in ceramics; and examples of K-
feldspar, Fe oxides, Mg, and trace minerals and their elements [discussion about Cr, Y, Ni, Sc,
Nc, Cr Th, U. Zn, Ni, Th, Rb, Ba Cu, Sr, P, and S]); Geochemical Provenance Interpretation (thin
section petrography, petrographic data, raw material prospecting, geochemical source groups,
types of sources, control groups, and importance of petrography to geochemical provenance);
Geochemistry & Ceramic Technology (effects of tempers, clay mixing, complex particulate
tempers, and combining thin section petrography with SEM-EDS and macroscopic fabric
analysis); plus Further Reading: n = 54. The citations include: D.E. Arnold </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et a</span><span style="font-family: arial;">l. 1991, Baxter </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et
al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. 2008, Bishop </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. 1990, Buxeda i Garrrigos 1999 and 2003, Day </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">et al</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. 1999, Golitko and
Dussubieux 2007, Hein and Kilikogolu 2020, Hunt and Speakman 2015, Neff 2012, Rice 1987,
Schneider 2016, and Wilke 2017.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;">Chapter 9: </span><span style="font-family: arial;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Scanning Electron Microscopy & X-Ray Diffraction of Archaeological Ceramics</span><span style="font-family: arial;">”
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">(pp. 405-442, 40 figures [24 are photomicrographs], seven parts). The Introduction reminds the
reader that other methods tend to be applied less routinely to the study of low fired unglazed
ceramics and that they serve as a primary analytical tool in the assessment of stoneware,
porcelain, and fritware. Five related methods are detailed. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
is reviewed in terms of equipment, procedures, magnification of ceramics, refired ceramics, and
fired clay briquettes, and determination of ancient firing temperatures); SEM Geochemical
Characterisation (advantages and disadvantages, examination of microfossils, SEM-EDS,
problems with argillaceous inclusions, analysis of finish [slips, paints, and glazes], highly fired
ceramics, refractory ceramics, and cementitious artifacts); SEM Mineralogical Characterisation
(automated mineral identification systems, matching spectra and/or chemical compositions with
candidate minerals, and textural analysis); SEM versus Thin Section Petrography & Bulk
Geochemistry (equipment requirements and expenses, ease of sample evaluation, required
training, advantages and disadvantages, and LA-ICP-MS) ; and X-Ray Diffraction Analysis of
Ceramics (XRD or XRPD, advantages and disadvantages, reconstructing ancient firing
temperatures, and problems with chlorites, calcite, and hematite); plus Further Reading: n = 39.
Among the selections are: Dorias and Shriner 2002, Freestone and Tite 1986, Heinmann 2016,
Holton 2012, Pollard 2007, and Tite and Maniatis 1975a and 1975b.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 5"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Quinn’s magnum opus, published in late July 2022, is certainly the most recent and up-to-date
textbook for the study of archaeological ceramics it is valuable both as a textbook for students
and as a handbook for senior scholars keeping up with the fast changes that have occurred in the
study of ancient pottery by thin section petrography. Fourteen years ago, I reviewed and
recommended another volume, also published by Archaeopress: <span style="font-style: italic;">Thin-Section Petrography of
Stone and Ceramic Cultural Materials </span>by Chandra L. Reedy (London: Archaeopress, 2008, vi +
256 pp., 341 color figures, references, index, CD-ROM), reviewed in <span style="font-style: italic;">SAS Bulletin </span>31(4):18-20
(2008). This manual was a comprehensive illustrated overview of the minerals and textures seen
in polarized light microscopy of cultural artifacts. She focused on the specific applications of
thin-section petrography to the study of cultural materials made of stone (as found in
architecture, sculpture, tools, etc.) and ceramic objects (earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, brick
and tile, etc.). Readers would learn the techniques used to identify and characterize such
materials; differentiate between them; monitor the extent of their deterioration; determine where
they may have originated; and interpret their fabrication, decoration, and use history. She
selected the “most representative” cultural materials for which thin-section petrography has been
used as a major research tool and conducted a thorough survey of the literature in which she </span><span style="font-family: arial;">references primary publications from the past and more recent scholarship as well. The eight
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">topical chapters are roughly equally divided between “stone” (Chapters 2 through 5) and
“ceramics” (Chapters 6 through 9).</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 6"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Quinn’s latest volume surpasses Reedy’s in ceramic studies but remains useful in lithic analyses.
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><br /><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-68625758422388192052022-11-25T16:44:00.001-05:002022-11-25T16:53:16.729-05:00Book Review: Potters at Work in Ancient Corinth: Industry, Religion, and the Penteskouphia Pinakes<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Charles C. Kolb</b>,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"> Honorary Associate Editor for Archaeological Ceramic</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Potters at Work in Ancient Corinth: Industry, Religion, and the Penteskouphia Pinakes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Eleni
Hasaki, with a contribution by Ioulia Tzonou and James A. Herbst. Hesperia Supplement
Volume 51. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2021. xxii + 418 pp.,
234 b/w figs., 8 col figs, 13 tables, 639 footnotes, and a bibliography of 615 (mostly with
English-language citations). ISBN: 9780876615539. £45.00 / $75.00 (paperback).
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbnMT4vm6XIhqDpNGMBCYw_jdi8EAijgfCSoiW923ev7kuZNUJlKD2aSuKQh4yIg0UHDdT1VA9tiR0JVVVg7yjsih2qEx8O2YXB0jV0yddh_G908ToQGIgSYHJQhhqhKO3IU6nwV_zl6O7c_bBAKsIwdfxuUJ8JoJkKIFCSQnq4iaM9YGqAoxxiap6w/s255/Corinth.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="197" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbnMT4vm6XIhqDpNGMBCYw_jdi8EAijgfCSoiW923ev7kuZNUJlKD2aSuKQh4yIg0UHDdT1VA9tiR0JVVVg7yjsih2qEx8O2YXB0jV0yddh_G908ToQGIgSYHJQhhqhKO3IU6nwV_zl6O7c_bBAKsIwdfxuUJ8JoJkKIFCSQnq4iaM9YGqAoxxiap6w/w309-h400/Corinth.jpeg" width="309" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Eleni Hasaki is Professor of Anthropology and Classics at the University of Arizona and the co-
director of the Laboratory for Traditional Technology. She received her B.A. from the University
of Athens, Greece (summa cum laude), an M.A. in Classics and Classical Archaeology,
University of Cincinnati, and her Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Cincinnati. Martin
Bentz and Hasaki co-edited </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Reconstructing Scales of Production in the Ancient Greek World:
Producers, Processes, Products, People. Panel Proceedings in the XIX Conference of Classical
Archaeology, Bonn Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">, Heidelberg: Propylaeum
ebooks, 2020 </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeum/catalog/book/639/c9973?lang=en</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">.
She has published on craft technologies, ceramic production, craft apprenticeship, the spatial
organization of workshops, and social network analysis of communities of practice in the
</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Classical world. Hasaki’s research agenda in the lab, excavations, experimental and
</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">ethnoarchaeological projects, as well as Digital Humanities, aims to enrich our understanding of
industrial quarters and their connectivity.</span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She directs </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The WebAtlas of Ceramic Kilns in Ancient Greece: A Research Gateway to the Study
of Hellenistic Ceramic Workshops </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(see Stella Drougou (ed.), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Pottery Workshops, Craftsmen and
Workshops</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, Athens: Archaeological Resources Fund, Publications Department, pp. 280-312
[with parallel Greek translation as </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Ο διαδικτυακός άτλας των κεραμικών κλιβάνων της αρχαίας
Ελλάδας. Ενα εργαλείο έρευνας για τα ελληνιστικά κεραμικά εργαστήρια</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">]). Hasaki also directs the
NEH-funded [National Endowment for the Humanities] NAP: Social Networks of Athenian
Potters. She has excavated pottery workshops in Greece and directs the ethnoarchaeological
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">project Communities of Practice in Transition on the relocation of a potters’ quarter in Moknine
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Tunisia). </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt;">https://anthropology.arizona.edu/user/eleni-hasaki </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition, she recently authored
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Web Atlas of Ceramic Kilns in Ancient Greece: A Research Gateway to Hellenistic Ceramic
Workshop </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">at the University of Arizona, </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt;">https://atlasgreekkilns.arizona.edu/project</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. She is
scheduled as a presenter, with Marco Serino (University of Turin/University of Arizona), of
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Mobilities of Potters and Pot Painters in the Ancient Mediterranean. The Test Cases of Athens
and South Italy,” at the 35</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ceramic Ecology symposium to be held at the American
Anthropological Association annual meeting in November 2022.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hasaki’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Potters at Work in Ancient Corinth </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">long awaited monograph has been published after
numerous delays by the press</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">1 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and some revisions to the narrative as seen in changes in
pagination and number of illustrations listed in earlier press releases of the Table of Contents
compared to the in print version. I am particularly interested in her monograph because of the
depictions of potters at work with illustrations ranging from of clay preparation through kiln
firing on 1,023 Archaic black-figure ceramic plaques (represented by more than 1,200
fragments) recovered at the site of Penteskouphia near Corinth more than a century ago. The </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">assemblage was recovered by a farmer and followed by early archaeologists employing
inappropriate excavation techniques and recording systems. The plaques depicted gods, warriors,
animals, and the potters themselves, providing a uniquely rich source of information about Greek
art, technology, and society. In this volume, the findspot of the plaques is identified in a
contribution by Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst and James Herbst, and the assemblage as a whole is
contextualized within the Archaic world. Then, by focusing specifically on the images of potters
at work, the author illuminates the relationship between Corinthian and Athenian art, the
technology used in ancient pottery production, and religious anxiety in the 6</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">century B.C. The
first comprehensive register of all known Penteskouphia plaques complements the well-
illustrated discussion.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The monograph includes the traditional “Acknowledgments” (pp. xix</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-xxii), eight chapters, seven
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">appendices, “References” (pp. 381</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-399), and three indices: General Index (pp. 401-411), Index
of Museums (pp. 413-415), and Index of Ancient Sources, (pp. 417-418). There are 234
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">illustrations, 8 color figures, 12 tables, and 639 footnotes. Hasaki’s narratives are highly detailed
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and filled with information, citations and other references. I next review the content of the
individual chapters and appendices, paying particular attention to information about the
production processes that benefit archaeologists and archaeometrists.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 1: Introduction” (pp. 1</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-22, 15 illustrations, 1 table, 51 notes) provides contextual
background. Corinth was a major producer of ceramics with multiple workshops during the
Archaic period (700-400 BC). Penteskouphia was an obscure site located west of Corinth where
1,023 rectilinear terracotta </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(plaques) painted in black figure technique in ca. 1,200
fragments of various dimensions (averaging H 7.2 x W 10.0, x Th 0.7 cm) depict </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">potters at
work</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">such as digging for clay, forming pottery vessels and decorating them on the wheel, and
firing kilns. The plaques were decorated on one of two sides and sometimes had personal names
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">or painter’s signatures that date to the first half of the sixth century BC. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The plaques were not
mentioned in ancient sources and archaeological evidence is scant. Details as to site location and
the history of excavations (1879 ff.) by a farmer, illicit collecting, early scientific excavations,
and collections in museums reported; the museums in Berlin and Paris have complete </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">,
Corinth does not. Other plaques have been found in localized contexts in Corintha, notably the
Potters</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’ </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Quarter at Corinth (n = 38 specimens), and fewer at Corinth Gotsi, Isthmia/Rache, and
Perachora dating 5000-2200 BC. No Archaic period pottery workshops have been excavated at
Corinth, hence, the pottery making subject matter at Penteskouphia is unique. Hasaki outlines the
subsequent chapters which concern archaeological context, iconography, technological and
organizational content, and religious ideology.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 2: Excavation Site of the Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Pinakes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” by Ioulia Tzonou and James A.
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Herbst (pp. 23-44, 13 illustrations, 86 notes) notes a paucity of primary evidence but summarizes
art historical material from the nineteenth century. The illicit discovery was followed by an
excavation by Oliver Washburn August 21-23, 1905 (alas, surface and excavated pottery were
stored together) and a dozen other scholars, and a site map was created by Bert Hill only in 1916.
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">find spot</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” at Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">can be reached by two possible routes from Corinth</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">: the “main
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">road</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” or the “b</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">eaten path</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The discovery site is 200 meters west of the former, but later
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">construction by Hadrian’s Aqueduct in the Roman era changed the original landscape. By
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">carefully examining the evidence, the authors conclude that the plaques were deposited near the
end of the sixth century BC along a route connecting Corinth with cemetery and sanctuary sites </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">further south; in addition, previous excavators had failed to retrieve the entire deposit which was
a waste or ritual site.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 3: Manufacture, Function, Iconography, Epigraphy, and Chronology” (pp. 45</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-81, 37
illustrations, 4 tables, 124 notes) provides a panoramic overview of the entire corpus of
Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">; the stages of making and decorating are documented and comparanda
reviewed. Of the 1,023 plaques studied, 656 are one-sided and 367 two-sided with a total of
1,390 scenes depicted. Hasaki notes that Corinthian column kraters are a hallmark shape and
determines that the plaques are also made using two distinctive types of clay: yellowish
Corinthian clay with large limestone inclusions and reddish clay with no inclusions.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Furtwängler (1885) had initially determined that there were five clay groups based on the color
of the fired clay: green, greenish-yellow, warm yellow, matte, and mixed. The plaques were
formed on flat wood surfaces and had two pierced holes for hanging or mounting. There were
four basic size groups painted in the black figure technique with some incised details (pottery
wheel, kilns and figures). Slips were applied but generally not well preserved on the recovered
specimens. Two-sided plaques were generally painted by the same artist for both surfaces and
the same kiln used for both. Hasaki summarized previous studies related to function and
discussed the iconography on the Penteskouphia plaques and relationships with Corinthian vase
painting. There were a limited number of themes depicted on the 1,390 scenes: 1) Poseidon
related (n=350), 2) warriors or other figures (219), 3) equestrian (169), 4) animals 115), 5)
potters at work (102), and 6) miscellaneous / mythological (57); unclear [unclassified] (378).
Comparisons are made to themes on other materials (bronze, stone, and clay) and the epigraphy
related to chronologies, detailed in Appendices V-VII and Table 3.4; the scenes date mostly to
the Middle and Late Corinthian periods (690-630 BC). Attribution to specific painters is
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“difficult.”
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 4: Catalogue of Scenes of Potters at Work” (pp. 83</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-189, 8 color plates [between pp.
178-179], 93 illustrations, 2 notes). The catalogue includes one- and two-sided </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">as
separate groups, and further divides the corpus into the three main stages and three lesser stages
of pottery manufacture as depicted on the plaques: 1) clay and fuel collection, 2) potters at the
wheel, 3) kiln firing, 4) workshop related scenes, 5) ambiguous scenes (one- and two-sided), and
6) disassociated scenes. All of the scenes are illustrated by Hasaki in this chapter. Potting
production scenes include typical Corinthian clays (Munsell 7.5YR 7.4 (pink) to 10YR 7/4 (very
pale brown), and use of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">black figure technique (dark brown to red; the orange “sli</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">p</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is
equivalent to paint or a levigated slip. The inscriptions have been previously catalogued by
Wachter (2001), and information also is integrated from previous studies by Furtwängler (1885),
Pernice (1897), von Raits (1964), and Geagan (1970). The one-sided scenes (n=34) are depicted
with kiln firing (n=28) the most frequent depictions, while among the two-sided (n=63), kiln
firing (n=43) also have kiln firing as the most common scene.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 5: Scenes of Potters at Work: Iconographical and Epigraphical Analysis” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(pp. 179-226,
29 illustrations, 7 tables, 141 notes). The detailed analyses of the Corinthian scenes presented in
Chapter 4 are compared with Athenian representations. A total of 63 scenes were assessed:
Poseidon related (26 scenes), equestrian (12), warrior (10), potters at work (5), animals (3), ships
(3), mythology (2) and unclear (2). The pictorial evidence in this chapter should be read
alongside textual, archaeological, ethnographic, and experimental data for each stage of pottery
manufacture represented in Chapter 6, The clay and fuel collection (n=10), working at the wheel </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">and pottery shapes (12), and kiln firing. Wood was collected for fuel; the wheel was used for
throwing and for painting: nine counterclockwise movements show wheel forms and the potter
siting on a stool, with the work done usually indoors on three forms: jug/pitcher, krater, and
amphora. The kiln illustrations rendered the architecture of circular kilns, the stoking channel,
combustion chamber, firing chamber, dome, and chimney, as well as activities by single or
multiple attendants </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">– </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">all males. Hasaki made comparisons between Corinthian and Athenian
potters at work as depicted on red and black figured vessels, and distinctions on kiln
iconographies, technical equipment, workforces, fellow craftsmen, as well as gods invoked.
Athenian inscriptions depicted Athena, while Poseidon was rendered by the Corinthians on their
works. Inscriptions on Corinthian plaques included 16 personal names but no identifiable
potters</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">’ </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">signatures nor geographical affiliations.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 4"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 6: Technology, Workforce, and Organization of Ceramic Workshops” (pp. 227</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-278, 35
illustrations, 144 notes)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Hasaki writes that “Archaeometric analyses of clays from Corinth
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">provide a wealth of infor</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">mation ...” (p. 227) about the potters and their products. And that the
“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ethnographic record of traditional potters in Greece and Cyprus can be helpful in reconstructing
past practices since the basic pottery-forming techniques have changed little over the past three
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">millennia before the advent of electricity” (p. 227). She dr</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ew upon archaeological research at the
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Potters’ Quarter in ancient Corinth where one </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">model of a kiln and eight actual kilns (dating from
the Archaic to Byzantine period) were recovered. Eight sites with production debris revealed two
Greek, two Roman, and four Byzantine era kilns; four were rectangular and four circular. Table
6.1 provides salient data, and is accompanied by images of kiln plans: Figures 6.2-6.14. Hasaki
also pointed out </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">that “no Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">have been subjected to petrographic or chemical
analysis, but even if compositional data were available, it is doubtful that it could point to
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">specific raw clay sources with known fingerprints” (p. 238). The proximities of the Potters’
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Quarter workshops to clay sources is reported, and the distances </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“fit” data published by Dean
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Arnold (1985, 2005) and D. P. S. Peacock</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’s Roman era evidence </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(1982:31-43).
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A substantial part of Chapter 6 is also </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">devoted to the potters’ equipment</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, beginning with the
wheel which was similar to wheels used in Athenian, Greek, and Roman times. Nonspecialized
tools made in wood and clay was </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">similar to modern counterparts. The potters’ kiln and related
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">topics were discussed in detail, including individual kiln components with accompanying ground
plans. Kiln Type Ia, an updraft circular kiln with a circular central support was known
archaeologically since the Middle Bronze Age. Architectural components include the stoking
channel, combustion chamber (the most commonly preserved in the archaeological record);
perforated floor and its central support, pot-firing chamber, and dome. Stacking procedures and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">kiln furniture are also noted. The kiln’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">primary </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">fuel, depicted on the plaques as painted “blobs,”
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is olive wood carried into the firing area by kiln workers; olive pomace was also used. The
author reports (pp. 265-273) the importance of dry fuel and notes that animal dung and charcoal
were </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">not </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ideal fuels, although these are prevalent in ethnographic accounts. Greek clays vitrify at
1050-1100o C, unslipped clays at 700o C, and levigated clays at 850-900o C. The three stages of
firing are reviewed: oxidation, reduction, and reoxidation. Firing equipment such as stoking rods
has changed little since Picolpasso (1548). Test pieces and the removal of the fired ceramics
were mentioned, and there is no evidence of the use of kiln smoke hole covers. As to the
workforce and scale of production in ancient Greek workshops, Hasaki reports that 77% of the
kiln sites have only one kiln and that the numbers of kilns in a workshop and load capacity are </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">closely linked with the size of the workforce and, hence, scale of production. Corinthian and
Athenian plaques illustrate crews of 3-7 people, suggesting that the workshops were family-
based with a division of labor. Therefore, the data suggests that a </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">typical ceramic workshop was
modest in size,</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">” </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">run by a family-based crew </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">which utilized one or two small kilns, and
produ</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">ced vessels similar in size and shape” (p. 278).</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 5"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 7: Industrial Religion and Potters’ Anxieties” (pp. 279</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-300, 11 illustrations, 85 notes).
Studies of links to industrial and religious contexts suggest that iconography is rare but the
Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">have no links to the Poseidon cult. Chronologically, through the first half
of the sixth century BC, there was a dramatic decline in Corinthian figural pottery trade due at
least in part to competition from Athenian potters, resulting financial stress, and a decline in east
and west sea route trade. The impending commercial collapse is seen in Corinth</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’s Potters’
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Quarters. The </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Potters’ </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Quarter maintained a shrine as did other craftsmen, such as marble
workers, and these craftsmen also established sanctuaries, sacred groves as well as shrines.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Chapter 8: Conclusions” (pp. 301</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-312, 1 illustration, 6 notes). </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hasaki writes that “The scenes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of
potters at work on Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">pinakes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">are crucial for our understanding of the craft and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">technology of Greek pottery....” (p. 301). She summarizes that the corpus consist of a minimum
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of 1,023 plaques assembles for 1,200 fragments dispersed to museums in Greece, Germany, and
France. Potters at work comprise nine percent of the total plaques (102 scenes on 97 pinakes)
Her study focused on: 1) archaeological context, 2) their unusual images, and 3) their spectrum
of practical and ritual uses within the workshop and outside of it. This research provides a view
of the economic reality of Corinthian decorated pottery trade during the Middle and Late
Corinthian periods. The reconstruction of the archaeological context of the plaques is hampered
because of not knowing the precise site location of the recovered plaques. She states that the
plaques were likely used as clay sketchpads to create dedications at or near sacred places or near
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the potters’ workshops. She argues that the plaques are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">not </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">technical manuals although the
depictions are generally accurate and related to small-scale, family-run ancient workshops. The
emphasis on kiln depictions is a reminder of how much of the ancient potter</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s’ </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">workshops,
equipment, and tool kits have been lost to us. She has assembled many types of evidence:
archaeological, iconographical, and technological (Appendices I-VII) but reminds the reader that
no Archaic period kilns are known; however, the Greek Tile Works had been excavated before
1939 but not published until 2006. Lastly, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">no </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">petrographic or chemical analysis of the plaques
has ever been undertaken. She also notes that future studies may refine, confirm, or refute ideas
presented in her monograph.
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The appendices include:</span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix I: List of Penteskouphia </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Pinakes </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in Ancient Corinth, Berlin, and Paris” (pp. 313</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-350)
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix II: Distribution of Themes on One</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- and Two-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sided Penteskouphia Pinakes” (pp. 351</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-
357).</span></div></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix III: Combination of Themes on </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Two-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sided Penteskouphia Pinakes” (pp. 359</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-363).
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix IV: Concordance of Inventory and Catalogue Numbers” (pp. 365</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-367).</span></div></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix V: Concordance of Inscribes Catalogued Penteskouphia Pinakes with Epigraphical
Corpora” (pp. 369</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-370).</span></div></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix VI: Concordance of Inventory Numbers with Epigraphical Corpora” (pp. 371</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-375).
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Appendix VII: Concordance of IG IV Entries and Inventory Numbers” (pp. 377</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-380).</span></div></span></span><p></p>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This unique, thoughtful monograph provides a comprehensive register, analysis, and
interpretation of the entire corpus of plaques recovered more than a century ago, which depict the
potters, their workshops, warriors, animals, and deities, informing us of the technology used in
pottery production in the later 6</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">th </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">century BC in Corinth. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I don’t believe that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">there is any similar
ancient pictorial document that deals with the subject of pottery-making which had been studied
and evaluated in such a comprehensive manner. There is much to learn from the illustrations and
from the traditional assessment that Hasaki presents. The illustrations are splendid and the text
especially detailed and informative, particularly on the activities associated with wheel-made
pottery and the kiln firing.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I, too, lament that fact that petrographic and archaeometric studies have not been undertaken and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">that the actual “find spot” was illusive. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Archaeometric studies can add much more than just
provenance to the analysis.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: 4pt;">1 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This monograph was listed by its publisher, the American School of Classical Studies at
Athens, as being published and available on initially on 05/09/2019, then 01/03/2020,
04/03/2020, 5/--/2020, 11/2020, July 31, 2021, 8/7/2021 = August 7, 2021, September 30, 2021,
October 7, 2021, November 30, 2021, December 31, 2021, and finally on January 31, 2022. I
received my preordered personal copy on March 16, 2022. The volume carries a 2021
publication date. It was worth the wait.
</span></span></p>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-88562732754162995212022-11-25T16:37:00.001-05:002022-11-25T16:37:25.994-05:00Book Review: Palestinian Traditional Pottery: A Contribution to Palestinian Culture: A Fieldwork Study<p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Charles C. Kolb</b>, <i>Honorary Associate Editor for Archaeological Ceramic</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Palestinian Traditional Pottery: A Contribution to Palestinian Culture: A Fieldwork Study,
1972-1980</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. John E. Landgraf and Owen Rye; Elizabeth Burr, Jean-Baptiste Humbert, Owen
Rye, and Hamed Salem (eds.). Series: Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 101, Cahiers de la Revue
Biblique, Series Archaeologica 3. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2021. xxxi + 329 pp. ISBN Print
ISBN: 9789042947085, 904294708, XPrint ISBN: 9789042947085, 904294708X, eText, ISBN:
9789042947092.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOy8t7mRPAhpPhX4pZ7u9YA8LEz8PxVzCIKfCTx6gRzp0IS67o_gD__2r5Du7HXo9oqVqRcjQ6VbVYk-YzSyO87XJPo3mNWDzQEW-j-TR9mZL4FAE5WCYektfHry3tfKSRndPaYWNWwTg4VV3hof9raghm-GwcSoYx21wbZrFECO0BVrH8Bct2IeIwew/s213/Palestine%20traditional%20pottery.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="150" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOy8t7mRPAhpPhX4pZ7u9YA8LEz8PxVzCIKfCTx6gRzp0IS67o_gD__2r5Du7HXo9oqVqRcjQ6VbVYk-YzSyO87XJPo3mNWDzQEW-j-TR9mZL4FAE5WCYektfHry3tfKSRndPaYWNWwTg4VV3hof9raghm-GwcSoYx21wbZrFECO0BVrH8Bct2IeIwew/w282-h400/Palestine%20traditional%20pottery.jpeg" width="282" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">This unique monograph documents in both text and image the disappeared and disappearing craft
of traditional pottery making by Palestinian women and men potters. The two primary authors,
an American born in Highland Park, Michigan, John Elsemore Landgraf (1928-2017), who
undertook ethnographic and archaeological field work in Palestine in 1970s, while the
Australian, Owen Rye (b. 1944), Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, a studio potter/ceramic
artist who is at the forefront of the contemporary international wood firing movement and
contributed to ceramic ethnoarchaeology with field studies in Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and
Palestine, the latter 1973-1978. They are two very different, yet complementary, researchers and
authors, both interested in pottery traditions and employed techniques of social anthropology.
For various unexplained reasons, this material lay dormant over four decades in the possession of
Owen Rye. Friends and colleagues have resurrected, edited, and published these studies.</span><p></p></div></div></div><div class="section" style="background-color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%);"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The late John Landgraf graduated from Michigan State College in 1950 with a B.S. in botany,
earning an M.S. in horticulture there in 1952. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, he served with
the Medical Corps in Washington, D.C., until 1955. In 1962 he completed his doctorate in
molecular biology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He then did graduate study at
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tübingen in biblical archaeology, history, and theology. In the Netherland, Landgraf was
influenced by H. J. Franken and Jan Kalsbeek and studied Bronze and Iron Age ceramics as well
as contemporary potters. From 1965 to 1980, he lived in Jerusalem working as an archaeologist
and unofficial social worker and collected information on women potters.
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Owen Rye earned a B.Sc. with first Class Honors (major in craft ceramics) in 1965 at the
University of New South Wales, Sydney, and his doctorate at NSW in 1970 with a thesis “The
use of Australian raw materials in the development of porcelain bodies and glazes.” Rye is best
known for several major studies in ceramics: Owen S. Rye coauthored with Clifford Evans,
<span style="font-style: italic;">Traditional Pottery Techniques in Pakistan </span>(1976), Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology
21, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press (reprinted in Pakistan 1988); <span style="font-style: italic;">Pottery </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Technology. Principles and Reconstructions </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(1981), Manuals on Archaeology 4, Washington, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">DC: Taraxacum (reprinted 1987 and 1994). </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">His studies in Palestine were undertaken during three
field seasons between 1973 and 1978. He received the Society for American Archaeology </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">Award for Ceramic Studies in 2000 and in 2010 was elected to the International Academy of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">Ceramics (Sėvres Museum), Paris, France. See also: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">https://www.owenrye.com/resume/rsum-long</span></p></div></div></div></div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The monograph focuses on two very different traditions: The first is designated “First Part,”
authored by Landgraf, and focused on Palestinian women potters who fabricated handmade
vessels primarily for household use – a tradition that was being abandoned and would soon end.
</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The “Second Part” by Rye featured Palestinian male potters creating quantities of wheel-thrown pottery in workshops in a tradition that continues into the new millennium. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The volume begins
with appreciations by Linda Ammons (a cultural anthropologist who was studying a West Bank
village at the same time Landgraf was conducting his research) and Claudine Dauphin (a French
archaeologist working on Byzantine era Palestine); a “Forward” by Jean-Baptiste Humbert (pp.
ix-xi) and a 2019 preface by Elizabeth Burr (who studied potters at Sinjil), as well as John
Landgraf (1999), and Owen Rye (2019) (pp. xvi-xx). An informative “Introduction” by Hamed
Salem (pp. xxi-xxvi), an archaeologist who conducted fieldwork beginning in the 1980s,
provided a brief archaeological background about Palestine, a review of fieldwork and
publications (he cites seven of his publications), commenting on socioeconomic constraints,
procurement of resources, the production sequence (workplace, clay preparation, forming and
decorating techniques, and firing), cessation and adaptation of the craft, and “interpretations and
use of the present to understand the past. This is a very fine summary and valuable contribution
to the book. I mention these essays because collectively they provide significant context about
Landgraf as a scholar and that Landgraf and Rye worked together since 1974, combining their </span><span style="font-family: arial;">research talents as they visited villages and urban center, particularly Deir ‘Alla.</span></p></div></div><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another “Introduction” by John Landgraf and Owen Rye (pp. xxvii-xxxi) focused on a definition
of the term “traditional,” archaeological and ethnographical connections, and locations of pottery
making. The authors also discuss the traditions of male and female potters, with the former
fabricating handmade vessels – a tradition that died out – and men who made pottery on the
wheel – a tradition that survived. The introductory material also includes color maps: “Map:
Historic Palestine in 1967” (p. 2) and “Map” Distribution of potters’ sites, most of them in the
Palestine Territories, in 1977” (p. 3).</span></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">“End of a tradition: Palestine’s women potters” </span>by John Landgraf (pp. 5-25. Figs. 1.1-1.11).
The handmade tradition produced primarily cooking pots and water storage vessels were
fabricated always by women. Landgraf noted the transition from handmade to wheel-made
pottery occurred at the same time as the introduction and impact of electricity. The collection and
preparation of raw materials included the use of various tempers: crushed limestone temper, grog
plus chaff, grog plus crushed calcite, and crushed calcite. The tempers are related to desired
firing characteristics in the production of water jars and cooking pots. Kiln versus open firings
are reviewed and fuels included cow, donkey, and sheep/goat dung. Five principles of firing are
reported (pp. 23-24).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Women potters in ten West Bank villages (pp. 26-144). Landgraf begins this section with a
discussion of the impacts of the 1948 and 1976 wars on village life when the Israeli’s blew up
Palestinian housing in retaliation and ultimately appropriate 70% of Palestinian land for their
own uses. The first group of villages, Dura, Fuqeiqis and Beit ‘Awwa (pp. 26-35, figs. 2.1-2.58),
features the production of water jars and vessel forms that are no longer made. Among these
were bowls for tanning hides, oil lamps, cosmetic pallets, and canteens as pottery making
became an “occasional” craft. The raw materials used included local clays plus crushed calcite
and wheat chaff temper; crushed calcite was a main ingredient in cooking pots. Clay body
preparation and forming techniques, featured a clay disc base fashioned on cleared ground and
large strips of clay added as the potter moves around the vessel. A pit firing from Fuqeiqis in
1976 is documented.</span></p></div></div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The fabrication of vessels at Beit ‘Anan (pp. 36-55, figs 2.7-2.27) is, likewise described,
including raw materials (local clay with crushed calcite temper), clay body preparation, forming
techniques (slab and coil building), adding neck rims and handles for water jars, and forming
cooking pots using grog temper. A water jar firing on level ground is recorded (including a firing
graph and many images), and three different jar forms described. Fuels included animal dung and
refuse. A comparison of cooking pot manufacture from Beit ‘Anan and al Jib is also presented.
Firing cooking pots in the latter village utilized <span style="font-style: italic;">Opuntia </span>cactus leaves (this non-native cactus had
been imported from Mexico beginning in the 1500s.). Enamel painted decoration is added using
chicken feathers as brushes to some post-fired vessels. Potting at al Jib (pp. 56-67, figs 2.28-
2.48) focuses on two potters, the local clay source, crushed calcite temper, the five stages of pot
forming (hand built using slabs on a disk), incised decoration, and firing in shallow pits fueled by
a dwarf shrub (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sarcopoterium</span>) common to the southeast Mediterranean region and the Middle
East.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Landgraf’s Beitunia village potting report from 1976 (pp. 68-78, figs.n2.49-2.58) is augmented
by a Excursus: “Handmade Pottery of the Peasant Women from Ramallah and Surroundings
[1914]” written by Lydia Einsler (pp. 68-72, translated by Landgraf from the original German
language publication). Three potters working in 1976 made water jars with grog temper, forming
the coiled vessels in stages on a woven straw tray, and slip painted. A comparison with the 1914
report indicates changes in forming techniques and added painted decoration. The firing report in
1976 also lists vessel types, numbers fired, and breakage. From Sinjil (pp. 79-99, figs 3.1-3.42)
we are informed about clay sources including location, land ownership and depth of source
below the surface. Clay body preparation included grog temper made from crushed soft (low
fired) archaeological potsherds with fabrication on straw trays. Water jars were formed in four
stages, handles attached, then covered with cream-colored slip and decorated with red pigment
called <span style="font-style: italic;">migre </span>brought from northern Jordan. Fuel and firing relied on dung cakes (cow and
sheep/goat) with straw as well as burlap bags, discarded clothing and shoes. Lansgraf recorded
three separate shallow pit firings in 1975 observing that the excessive use of straw resulted in
higher breakage. The focus on water jars ignored the manufacture of other vessel forms with
specific painted designs using donkey hair tail paint brushes.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Three potters from the village of Qusra (pp. 100-115, figs. 3.43-3.69) were studied. Raw
materials and clay body preparations for water jars were similar to other documented villages,
with slab-building on trays, the addition of handles, slipping, but no painting. Firing utilized cow
manure and straw and the observed firing was of six large jars and one bowl. The forming of
cooking pots utilized an old broken clay cooking vessel or metal pan as a mold. Qabalan potters
(pp. 116-126, figs 3.70-3.83) used clay tempered with grog and crushed calcite for cooking pots
or chaff in forming water jars. Vessels were fired in shallow pits with sheep/goat dung as fuel in
one recorded firing in 1976. Kafr al Labad (pp. 127-132, figs. 3.84-3.94) women made a variety
of forms: cooking pots with two vertical or two horizontal handles, flat ceramic plates with two
horizontal handles used as frying pans and coffee roasting pans, and round-bottom bowls with a
basket handle. The forming techniques were recorded in detail and included coiling, with some
coils up to 6 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length. Two Ya’bad potters (pp. 133-143, figs. 3.95-
3.111) utilized calcite crushed in stone hand mills for temper and reported that crushed
limestone was not used as a temper because it resulted in cracking and vessel loss. Slab-building
was used to form a variety of vessels: cooking pot, charcoal brazier, and frying pan/coffee </span><span style="font-family: arial;">roaster with handles, slipped, and sometimes burnished. A footed bowl and foot-washing bowls
were also made. Firing was done in a sheltered bonfire in the corner of a courtyard with twigs
and dung cakes, and sometimes kerosene used as fuel.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 4"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">“Survival of a tradition: Palestine’s male potters” </span>by Owen Rye (pp. 145-163, figs. 4.1-4.12)
begins with an “Overview of the tradition” (pp. 145-161. Figs 4.13-4.33). Rye characterizes
“tradition” as homogeity over time in producing consistent vessel forms, forming techniques,
kiln designs, and firing techniques. Workshops in Palestine were located on the outskirts of
towns and had one or two master potters (usually sons) with outsiders who prepared the clay and
occasionally would become master potters. Clay was delivered in truckloads, and Rye provided
information about types of clays and their locations, and noted that men, by comparison to the
women potters, had few clay sources and used one type of clay which had to be refined to
remove grit; sand was added as temper and measured by volume rather than weight. The potter’s
wheel was used to make all vessels, and Rye has a lengthy, illustrated discussion of the
components of the wheel and speed of rotation, and notes that it takes five to ten years of
continuous practice for a potters to become “skilled.” The so-called <span style="font-style: italic;">Tijlis </span>Technique of throwing
is limited to Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Gaza; the technique has four characteristic; the
techniques used at Jaba’, Hebron, and Gaza were also summarized. The male potters produced
six vessel Groups: 1) coffee molds, garlic mortars, and jar covers/lids; 2) couscous bowls, coffee
mortars, and flower pots; 3) water storage jars; 4) water carrying jars and cooking pots; 5) drums
(a cylindrical form open at both ends); and 6) butter churn (in two sizes). Rye also observed
distinctions between Jaba’, Hebron, and Gaza vessels in shapes and colors.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Male potters at eight centers in Palestine” (pp. 162-263) begins with Ramallah, including al
Ramla, Jericho, and Jordan (pp. 162-163, fig 4.34). As Landgraf previously stated, the 1948 and
1967 wars impacted the production of pottery vessels by the confiscation of Palestinian land, but
also, as Rye points out, in consumption patterns. The Arabs, the main customers of the potters,
had purchased a large range of vessels but the Jewish population had bought flowerpots, so there
was little overlap between the two markets. Sesame seeds were washed in salt water to separate
their husks and these were unusable as fertilizer but were fuel for kilns and resulted in a
whitening effect on the pottery. Grass, straw, and agricultural waste were also utilized as kiln
fuels. Rye considered Jericho pottery production 1948-1967, which produced a range of vessels
for Palestinians, particularly water storage, and water drinking vessels. Clay was mixed with
sand temper and the vessels fired in Palestinian-type kilns using rubber from tires, sawdust,
wood, and used motor oil as fuels. In Ramallah (al Bireh and Qalandia) slaking pits, settling
pools, drying beds, and rain water tanks were characteristics of workshops. Forming techniques
included the production of a limited range of vessels, from Groups 1 and 3, with Palestinian-type
kilns fired with cardboard, rubbish soaked in used motor oil, sawdust, and rubber scraps.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One potter from ‘Irtah (pp. 166-167) was interviewed and provided information on the potting
history before 1948 when there were five workshops. Clay sources, clay preparation, products,
and markets are noted, with olive jars, water storage jars, milk vessels, drums, and cooking pots
produced. Vessels were water smoked for in kilns 4-5 days prior to firing. The 1948 war
resulted in changes in clay sources, clay preparation, products, and market, with sales only to
Palestinians and dependence on scrap wood and motor oil for firing.
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jaba’ (pp. 167-185, figs. 4.35-4.65) had two workshops located on the northwest edge of the
village in the 1970s. The vessels being made were of the same forms as were fabricated 50-60
years ago. The major change was the introduction of ball bearings to potters’ wheels to improve
rotation speed. The raw materials included white clays procured from near the workshops and
red clays from various locations added for red color and to improve clay workability, mixed in
equal amounts; there were no slips but enamel paints were used for decoration. The clays were in
processed in pits, sun dried and slaked. Traditional utilitarian vessels were made in five of the six
Groups (1, 2, 3, 4, and 6), but some novelty vessels had been fabricated: wedding jars, money
boxes/banks, and candlesticks. Handles were pulled and spouts thrown. Palestinian kilns similar
to those in Gaza and Hebron were built in the 1930’s into the 1970s. Unfired bricks of white
refractory clay with wheat straw were used in construction with two to four firings per year, and
the kilns were repaired after every second firing. Mixed cow and donkey dung was the main fuel
but diesel fuel and waste motor oil were also employed. One firing was observed by Dr. Albert
Glock (an archaeologist at the Albright Institute who was later murdered). The kiln was
preheated using strips from rubber tires, old shoes dung, and anything combustible. Only red and
black wares were made (no whitewares); there was a “tremendous” production Sales were made
directly by the potters for cash and buyers came “from all over.” Vessels produced included
water jars (red), yogurt jars, milk jars, canteens, Pilgrim’s flasks, spouted drinking jars, wedding
jars, ceramic ducks, candlesticks, cooking pots, and butter churns.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The work of two potters from Nazareth (p. 187) was reviewed briefly. Haifa (Kafr Samir) potters
(pp. 187-191, figs. 5.1-5.5) had been working since the 1920s, and Rye was able to obtain
historical data about workshops from the ‘Atalla brothers (a Christian family and the only
Christian potters in the study). The raw materials in the 1920s-1948 included two types of clays,
a dark brown and white, mixed 2:1, plus seawater beach sand. Quartz sand would lead to
breakage. Clays were mixed in small amounts and kneaded by hand. The impact of the 1948
conflict resulted in Palestinian Arabs fleeing the area. From 1948 to 1967 the fuels used
included straw, dung, sawdust, dried pulp from olive pressing, and driftwood. The typical
Palestinian-type kiln was used and four days of water soaking necessitated. The vessels
produced pre-1948 included water drinking jars, water carrying jars, water storage jars, and
flower pots. Glazes were introduced in 1971 after one brother (Munir ‘Atalla) studied in Holland,
and the whole workshop gradually converted entirely to the production of glazed ware. Fuels in
glaze firing included wood from packing cases, wood chips, grass, and sawdust soaked with
waste motor oil. The entire production of the workshop was sold to one distributor in Tel Aviv
and included ashtrays and lidded pots; seconds were sold at the workshop. Notably, Christian
women members of the family assisted in the work but did not throw pottery. Sales plunged
during the Six Day War in June 1967 and the large-capacity Palestinian-type kiln was no longer
used and was replaced by a smaller kiln.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One pottery workshop in Akka (Acre) (pp. 192-194) was studied in 1997. Prior to1948
production was devoted entirely to Palestinian Arab customers but the number of workshops
decreased from nine to five as most Palestinian potters migrated to Lebanon. The range of
vessels produced also greatly diminished, but the Jewish demand for flower pots increased. The
June 1967 conflict with the Israeli occupation of the west Bank resulted in the closure of four of
the five workshops and minor changes in working techniques. In the 1997 study, Rye found that
potters mixed two clays at a 1:1 ratio and added beach sand as temper when the production was </span><span style="font-family: arial;">white wares. Flower pots were made from a red clay from Galilee, and a white clay procured
from a source 5-10 km from Akka. Slaking pits were used with dry sand blended by foot
kneading, then run through a pug mill, and hand kneaded just before being thrown. The products
were Groups 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 with flower pots the main product after 1977 and a limited number
of water carrying jars and butter churns made for Russian immigrants. Pottery was fired in a
Palestinian updraft kiln with three days of water smoking and fuels including scrap wood,
sawdust, and used motor oil.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 6"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The pottery making at Hebron (pp. 194-235, figs. 5.6-5.69) is the longest and most detailed
report in the book. Prior to 1964, workshops were located in the city but moved south to Fahs
and the number of shops increased to ten, all owned by the Fakhuri family. Rye provides great
detail about these workshop and a history of Hebron potters during the twentieth century,
particularly the impact of the 1948 war on temper types, firing, and kilns. Clay with limestone
fragments was supplanted by Mediterranean beach sand which fired faster. Oil jars and water
carrying jars were dropped from the inventory, followed by glaze ware and some workshops
used refractory brick to build kilns which took longer to cool after firing. A considerable number
of potters migrated to other countries as the demand for traditional wares diminished but some
moved into the city to make glazed wares using crushed glass and produced miniatures for
tourists. “The Technology of Hebron Pottery (figs. 5.13-5.69)” is a comprehensive assessment of
changes in raw materials sources, detailed information on clay body preparation, including the
use pf pug mills, and changes in kiln locations and the use of waste rubber inner tubes as fuel.
Changes in market demand included novelty items, two types of cooking vessels, three types of
bowls, and flower pots.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The histories of four Gaza workshops and their locations (pp. 236-263, figs. 6.1-6.37) in 1948
were contrasted with the 22 pottery workshops in Old Gaza. Rye’s study in 1974 and his
descriptions of clay body preparations featured slaking pits, drying beds, mechanical sieves, and
stone lined pits for traditional potting wheels. Six vessel forms, mostly blackwares (and some
red), are also detailed. Large Palestinian-type updraft kilns at the Hajazi brothers workshop are
described including Arabic names for kiln parts, firing techniques and stages (water smoking was
from three or five days and up to ten days), a maximum temperature was attained for only six or
seven hours, and cooling required from two to four days. For the first time we have statistics on
firing losses (10-20%) and repairing cracked vessel before sale. A detailed list of Gaza pottery
forms was compiled in July 1975; there were six categories: bowls, water vessels, cooking
vessels, milk vessels, cylindrical vessels, and miscellaneous (banks). Rye also provided a list of
17 discontinued pottery forms and a synopsis of forty years of Gaza pottery workshops (more
than fifty in the 1970s and “barely five” by 2013. He also documented “Reasons for the decline
in numbers of Palestinian male potters” (pp. 260-261) and “Change and stability in traditions”
(pp. 261-263).
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The book also has a list of 64 “Works cited” (pp. 265-268); 62 in English and 2 in German).
There are five “Appendixes” (pp. 269-277): toponyms; lists of workshops, and list of potters’
names. Others were Palestine census data for 1967 and 1997, and a “Glossary of technical terms”
by Owen Rye which contained 61 entries (pp. 273-274) and is an important asset to the
narratives. The “List of figures” (pp. 279-287) is a tabulation of 351 monochromes and line </span><span style="font-family: arial;">drawings found in the narratives; and a </span><span style="font-family: arial;">“List </span><span style="font-family: arial;">of color images</span><span style="font-family: arial;">” (</span><span style="font-family: arial;">unpaginated) clusters splendid
color pictures of 24 women potters and 23 male potters.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 7"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This monograph is essentially two books conjoined, each with fieldwork descriptions of
individual potters or potting communities, plus important prefatory essays that provide
significant background about the two authors and their research. The “Contents” (pp. vii-viii) has
on no chapter numbers or titles per se but has logical topical headings so that the major divisions
are best followed by referring to the “List of Figures” (pp. 279-287). The two major parts each
provide significant introductory information prior to Landgraf’s and Rye’s separate illustrated,
descriptive essays on ten West Bank villages where women made pottery almost exclusively for
their own households’ consumption, and eight potting communities of male potters who produce
vessels and other objects for commercial sales. Landgraf and Rye indicate that men are not
engaged in the women’s pottery-making process, not even in the procurement – location,
excavation and transport -- of clays. However, Hamid Salem writes that there is little help from
men. Women are not engaged in the large-scale production except in the case of a family of
Christian potters in Gaza.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The eighteen case studies are of different page lengths, different content organizations, and
quality – transcribed field notes -- “uneven” is the best overall description of the corpus. Some
studies are mere mentions as at Nazareth and ‘Irtah (several paragraphs each), but the studies at
Beitunia (and the Excursus by Einsler) Sinjil, Qusra, Qabalan, and Ya’bad are quite informative,
Rye’s excellent introductory essay (pp. 1440161 is especially valuable, as are his assessments at
Haifa, Akka (Acre), Hebron, and Gaza. The two authors’ figures and color illustrations are
magnificent and often tell the story of fabrication and firing as well or better than the narratives –
a picture is “worth a thousand words.” Several of the studies are sufficiently complete as to be
important for pedagogy and understanding characteristics of the production sequences. On the
whole, the illustrative narratives make for highly interesting but difficult reading; alas, there is no
index.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The authors might have clarified the two “wars” (1948 and 1967) that caused the displacement of
Palestinian and Syrian civilians. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War (Israel versus Egypt, Lebanon,
Jordan, and Syria) ended early in 1949 with a permanent ceasefire but no actual peace
agreements were signed. Israel’s new borders (the “Green Line”) were established but not
recognized by the Arab states. Jordanian forces remained in the West Bank and Jordan would
later annex the region; Egypt kept Gaza as an occupied zone. Syria retained control of a strip of
territory along the Sea of Galilee, while Lebanon occupied a small area at Rosh HaNikra.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In a subsequent armed conflict called the Six-Day War (Third Arab-Israeli War) June 5-10,
1967, with Israel against the United Arab Republic (Jordan, Syria, and Egypt), resulted in an
overwhelming Israeli military victory and the transfer of the West Bank to Israel. In both the
1948 and 1967 (and other conflicts) significant numbers of the civilian populations were
displaced including merchants, craftsperson’s (including potters), their families, and their
customers. Clay, temper, and fuel sources were also lost, and the economic effects of the
migrations cannot be minimized.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the clay preparation process for cooking jars, calcite was used to prevent cracking during kiln
firing and during culinary use, and there are some references to the literature (pp. xxiii footnote </span><span style="font-family: arial;">8, xxx). The West Bank women had stopped making pottery by the 1980s, partially due to the
use of new fuels such as kerosene, propane gas, and electricity. Calcite and other aplastics could
not withstand the higher and faster cooking temperatures attained, and the handmade vessels
were replaced by metal ones. The introduction and use of ball bearings in the pottery wheels
resulted in faster throwing, which is mentioned in several instances; however, it is unclear if
some or all of the workshops studied had made use of this innovation during the period of the
field studies or at later times. The improvement would result in higher levels of production.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 8"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Lastly, “Palestinian-type” kilns are not adequately described either by Owen Rye or Hamed
Salem (p. xxv). However, the latter has some information (pp. 17-19) in his doctoral dissertation
<span style="font-style: italic;">Early Bronze Age Settlement System and Village Life in the Jenin Region / Palestine: A Study of
Tell Jenin Stratigraphy and Pottery Traditions </span>(Leiden: University of Leiden, 2006) and
especially in his MA thesis (pp. 57-61), <span style="font-style: italic;">Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology: A Preliminary Study
</span>(Tucson: University of Arizona, 1986) in which he documents fieldwork at a’Qabet Jaber,
Palestine. The “Palestine-type” updraft kiln appears to follow from the construction of the typical
bread oven (<span style="font-style: italic;">tabūn</span>) (p. 9, 146); <span style="font-style: italic;">tandur </span>in Iran and Afghanistan where I worked. Normally, the
kiln is shaped like a truncated cone with an opening at the bottom (the stokehole door) leading to
the lower chamber (firebox) for loading the fuel, and a separate door for the upper chamber
where the unfired pottery would be placed. At Jaba’, Rye notes the use of unfired bricks that
become firing and illustrates a kiln (pp. 175-180, fig. 4.55a, b p. 178), but I am unsure is this is a
“typical” kiln and similar to those reported at the eight other workshops. Most appear to be
fabricated using clay bricks (pottery clay?) or as mentioned in two instances, white refractory
brick, with an outer wall of stone. Little or nothing is said about a kiln’s internal structure:
chimney or vent hole, flue, columnar support, and perforated floor, or combustion chamber.
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In sum, this monograph is a “labor of love” prepared to honor Landgraf and Rye’s pioneering
efforts to describe women’s household production and men’s and sometimes families small
industries in a region undergoing rapid adjustment due to war, forced and unforced migration,
and political, religious, and culture change. The authors have documented a craft and its
producers and consumers during a bygone era making the book a valuable reference work with
important narratives and incredible color images.
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><br /><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-11521693406208115132022-11-25T16:25:00.003-05:002022-11-25T16:25:54.763-05:00Conference Review: Ceramic Ecology XXXV, American Anthropological Association<p>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Charles C. Kolb</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">,<i> Honorary Associate Editor for Archaeological Ceramic</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Ceramic Ecology XXXV: Unsettling Landscapes</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">AAA Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA (November 12, 2022)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj5AP7OuO8BpyrNtR7EaPixkF1CFk6-NscvVcvyTF5IRaU7Y6vCzuqXHTI_NGSV_-Xl3Oj6bPGlVPdRcVVJ41-8OWrXyGSbMSpgCuT5jA5qmQBKk9KvhX1TKDPLXkMKmdOzYGDfCIqQRMqTQ9ri3Ou5dOFoYPg2Cl3GqI6gBexWLZf31QaaSJkilhfg/s274/AAA.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj5AP7OuO8BpyrNtR7EaPixkF1CFk6-NscvVcvyTF5IRaU7Y6vCzuqXHTI_NGSV_-Xl3Oj6bPGlVPdRcVVJ41-8OWrXyGSbMSpgCuT5jA5qmQBKk9KvhX1TKDPLXkMKmdOzYGDfCIqQRMqTQ9ri3Ou5dOFoYPg2Cl3GqI6gBexWLZf31QaaSJkilhfg/w640-h430/AAA.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>Organizer: </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Sandra L. López Varela, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México </span></div></span><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Chair: </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Kostalena Michelaki, Arizona State University</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Discussant: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Charles C. Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities, USA (Retired)</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Session Abstract: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For 34 years, the Ceramic Ecology session at the American Anthropological
Association has provided an open and supportive venue to present current research and insights
on all aspects of ceramic studies: production, consumption, trade, and their economic, political,
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">social, aesthetic, cosmological, and phenomenological implications. ‘Unsettling Landscapes’ is
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">his year’s AAA theme, giving us a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of our research
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">covering many aspects of ceramic studies. It is an opportunity to reflect on our responsibility in
reckoning with disciplinary histories, harms, and possibilities; think about to whom are we
giving evidence, toward what ends, and for whom are we writing. In this session, participants
will approach these questions and present new data on archaeological ceramics, methodological
applications, and insights into the strug</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">gles of pottery communities in today’s world.
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Paper Abstracts
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Mobilities of potters and pot painters in the ancient Mediterranean: the test cases of
Athens and Southern Italy</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Eleni Hasaki* and Marco Serino**</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*University of Arizona</span></div></span></span><p></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">*University of Turin, Italy</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This paper will cover the mobility of potters and pot painters throughout the Greek world
between 600-300 BCE. It will approach the migration of artisans from the eastern Mediterranean
to Athens in the 6th century BCE and into neighboring cities of Corinth and Boeotia, and from
Athens to western cities in southern Italy, in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. The 6th century BCE
mobility phase was part of a coordinated incentivizing campaign to recruit foreign artisans from
eastern regions and bring them into Athens to expedite its government's cultural and political
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">dominance. Triggered by Perikles’ ambitious program, the 5th century BCE mobility from
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Athens to western cities in southern Italy was accelerated by a prolonged civil war and a
pandemic. Here, we examine how these different mobility models influenced potters and pot
painters, as they adjusted to local ceramic ecologies for shape and slips and how pot-painters had
to modify their iconographical repertoire and their application on local shapes to understand
better serve the regional market requests. We critically approach previous mobility models by
suggesting a model of local adaptations of imported ceramics produced by local work crews.
Finally, we revisit the ceramics terminology (e.g., Corinthianizing or Atticizing) to capture and
explain the similarities between products made at different places.</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ceramic Evidence of the Development of El Pilar as a Major Center in the Late Preclassic
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Anabel Ford*, Andrew Kinkella*, Sherman W. Horn III, Andrew Kinkella**, and Paulino
Morales***</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">*MesoAmerican Research Center, University of California Santa Barbara</span></div></span><p></p>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">** Moorpark College</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">***Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The scale and extent of monumental remains of construction at El Pilar </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">– </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">over 150 hectares
spread across two kilometers </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">– </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">attest to its position as a dominant center in the upper Belize
River Area in the Classic Period. In common with Belize Valley centers, El Pilar was founded in
the early Middle Preclassic as part of an early hierarchy of the local agricultural communities.
This initial period of construction appears in a dispersed deep excavations around the main Late
Classic public Plaza Copal. Reviewing the sequences of changes in the construction chronology
reveals that there was major architectural expansions at El Pilar in the Late Preclassic times.
New radiocarbon dates, stratigraphic reconstructions, and ceramic analysis results reveal the
massive scale of architectural investment at the public ceremonial core of El Pilar. We discuss
these new data and their implications for understanding the roots of power of the Classic Period
grandeur of El Pilar. 3.</span></div></span></span><p></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Early Maya Ceramic Decoration: The nature and meaning of post-fire incised decoration
on the earliest ceramics of the Maya region (1000-700 BCE)</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">George J. Bey III (Millsaps College)</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Around 1000 BCE communities across the Maya lowlands began producing pottery. These
ceramics appear at sites in the Peten and Belize up through the northern Maya Lowlands.
Associated with these ceramics are both simple and complex post-fired incised decorative motifs
that both distinguish and link these various early Maya communities together. The use of
postfired incised decoration is the dominant form of ceramic decoration throughout the early
Middle Preclassic (1000-700 BCE), to a large degree disappearing by the late Middle Preclassic
(700- 300 BCE). This paper explores the range of decoration associated with these early
ceramics and discusses the possible meanings of the motifs that are utilized by the Maya. Of
particular interest are the relations between these early decorative motifs and those of the nearby
Olmec region, how these motifs were used to define early Maya identity and why this approach
to ceramic decoration was abandoned at the end of the early Middle Preclassic. Also considered
is the theoretical issue of identifying decorative motifs versus complex systems of meaning in
early ceramics.</span></div></span></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Modeling whole Household Ceramic Production in the Late Postclassic Tarascan State
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Amy Hirshman, Department of Sociology and Anthropology West Virginia University</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While women are often understood to be “the potters” in traditional ceramic production contexts,
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">verifying who is responsible for ceramic production in a household context is important in
understanding the broader political economy within early states. Regarding the emergence of the
Mesoamerican Tarascan State in the Mid to Late Postclasscic (AD 1000-1525), I have previously
argued that ceramic stylistic change in the Lake Pátzuaro Basin of western Mexico as the state
emerged was driven in part by household participation in the state symbolling iconographic
system. But I cannot assume that women were driving that change just because women tend to
be traditional potters. Moreover, archaeological data on Tarascan households are limited within
the region. This paper will compare the models for ceramic production from better-known
Mesoamerican cultures to identity a prospective model for whole household production in the
Tarascan case.</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ceramic Analysis Sheds Light on Interactions between a Small Residential Site (Box B)
and Chaco Canyon, Northwest New Mexico ca. AD 1050-1130
</span></span></p>
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<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Genevieve Woodhead PhD Candidate | Department of Anthropology | University of New
Mexico</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Abstract: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This study examines local and non-local ceramic sherds from the Box B site in
northern New Mexico (USA), 70 km north of the great regional hub of Chaco Canyon. The goal
of the study is to establish whether potters working at a small residential site on the edge of a
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">regional center’s sphere of influence were interacting with potters based in the center itself, in
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">this case, potters based in Chaco Canyon. According to macroscopic observations, sampled
sherds are local to the Box B site, imported from Chaco Canyon, or of an unidentifiable origin.
This study aims to determine where sherds that share qualities of both local and non-local pottery
were manufactured and by whom. Such research requires a clear understanding of the
environmental and geological context of pottery-making for differing regions of the northern US
Southwest. Ceramic compositional analyses and microscopy allow for the characterization of
archaeological pottery. In conjunction with knowledge of environmental and geologic resource
availability, such characterizations can help identify where pottery was made and whether it was
made using similar recipes and preparation techniques. For this study, scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) reveal the clay paste geochemistry
and forming techniques of local and non-local Box B pottery. Results suggest the possibility of
1) relocated small site potters applying established production processes to new material
resources or 2) centrally located potters emulating ceramic styles associated with more distant
regions.</span></div></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A Pilot Study to Determine Protein Residue on Low-fired Ceramic Sherds
</span></span></p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Joanne M. Mack,* John Fagan,** Mark E. Swisher, ** Cam Walker***</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">**Archaeological Investigations Northwest; Archaeological Investigations Northwest
***Independent Researcher</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ceramic vessels have rarely been recovered archaeologically in western Oregon or northern
California. This may be the first study of its kind, where Cross-over Immunoelectrophosesis
(CIEP) was used to identify protein residues on Pacific Coast ceramics. On a sample of ten
Siskiyou Utility Ware sherds, three sherds contained protein residue from Subfamily </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Salmonidae
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Oncorhynchus</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">); though tested for, no mammal protein residues were found. All ten sherds had
been recovered from archaeological excavations undertaken along the Upper Klamath and
Middle Rogue Rivers in southwestern Oregon. The results speak to the importance of salmon
species to pre-contact peoples, and suggest more usage of CIEP technique can be useful in
understanding traditional subsistence strategies.</span></div></span></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Discussing Ceramic Ecology XXXV: Unsettling Landscapes
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Charles C. Kolb, Retired
</span></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2229021710768107501.post-68440939713499319612022-11-25T16:04:00.001-05:002022-11-25T16:04:23.967-05:00Updates on Archaeological Pigments<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Roxanne Alipour</b>,<i> Associate Editor for Archaeological Pigments</i></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over the past 20 years, little by little, studies have surfaced showing that the use of Egyptian blue (CaCuSi<span style="font-size: x-small;">4</span>O<span style="font-size: x-small;">10</span>), considered the oldest engineering pigment, did not in fact disappear with the fall of the Roman Empire. The studies, along with the 2020 remarkable finding
of Egyptian blue in Raphael’s fresco, “The Triumph of Galatea” (Anselmi et al.
2020), have led to the development of a research network called BLUENET. On
October 5, 2022, BLUENET researchers from around the world gathered in Rome and
also joined remotely to present new findings of Egyptian blue, synthesis
techniques, provenance studies, and novel methods of detection. This research
collaboration and conference talks are paving the foundation for important
studies searching for historical uses of Egyptian blue and answering important
questions about its use and synthesis in more ‘modern’ times. Stay tuned for
future updates!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqGXsDzIy4h0sYLWofVtA4TlBfMRWW_uLaFIAgM7YoGRb_mQ7lXGCZW1A5WfrouTAXvwi0ovf-XZiaqTkCbm2J41LlGKM0U_JLjCJV-v426tyEGNt3UIUCmu6bxX6uvVWNbeqgj9MVv2UejA_utG6MkoQURm5u2zqIJnbYy1NjEPHhWKygGK-sF94Xw/s640/640px-Blue-Painted_Jar_Fragment_from_Malqata_MET_12.180.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="640" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqGXsDzIy4h0sYLWofVtA4TlBfMRWW_uLaFIAgM7YoGRb_mQ7lXGCZW1A5WfrouTAXvwi0ovf-XZiaqTkCbm2J41LlGKM0U_JLjCJV-v426tyEGNt3UIUCmu6bxX6uvVWNbeqgj9MVv2UejA_utG6MkoQURm5u2zqIJnbYy1NjEPHhWKygGK-sF94Xw/w640-h484/640px-Blue-Painted_Jar_Fragment_from_Malqata_MET_12.180.33.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">More about BLUENET:</span><div>
<h3 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.polychromyroundtable.com/resources/Events/BLUENET2022_definitive%20program.pdf" style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.polychromyroundtable.com/resources/Events/BLUENET2022_definitive%20program.pdf</a></span></span></h3><p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Reference</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anselmi, Chiara, Manuela Vagnini,
Claudio Seccaroni, Michela Azzarelli, Tommaso Frizzi, Roberto Alberti, Mallio
Falcioni, and Antonio Sgamellotti. "Imaging the antique: unexpected
Egyptian blue in Raphael’s Galatea by non-invasive mapping." <i>Rendiconti
Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali</i> 31, no. 4 (2020): 913-917.</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<h3 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"></h3></div></div></div>Carmen_Tinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960418542733749416noreply@blogger.com0