Communities of Practice in an Archaeological “Third Space”: Exploring Five Centuries of Plain Ware Ceramic Production along the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands

This article addresses changes in local ceramic production resulting from contact and interaction through a detailed examination of pottery manufacture immediately before, during, and through the decline of the Atlantic trade. Increased socio-economic interactions are directly correlated with changes in local ceramic production, including increased variation in the former Niumi commercial center on the Gambia River. The Atlantic trade period in Niumi is characterized by increased settlement, interaction, and wealth. In this light, I characterize the changes in local ceramic production as a locally circumscribed reaction to regional and global events. Specifically, through an examination of the visible shifts in temporally sensitive attributes such as temper, paste color, firing practices, and to a lesser extent decorative grammars, it is possible to discern connections between changes in local ceramic production and broader social processes. These include population fluctuations and increased variety in diet reminiscent of public display. These shifts are inextricably tied to the Atlantic trade and are best understood by examining the growth and decline of the Niumi commercial center at four sites, each of which represents different levels of involvement in commerce — Lamin Conco, San Domingo, Juffure Factory, and Juffure Village.

Local production and long-distance trade of Islamic glazed ceramics in Central Asia: A compositional analyses of ceramics from Southern Kazakhstan by NAA and LA-ICP-MS

This paper explores the multi-faceted nature of ceramic production and use in the context of contact and interaction through a detailed examination of pottery manufacture immediately before, during and after the decline of the Atlantic trade at the trading site of Juffure on the Gambia River. It is argued that potters’ decisions during the production process affected the aesthetic qualities of pots, including paste colour, temper, form and decoration and that some of these qualities are the by-products of acts of social displays related to diet. Analysis of ceramics during each phase of the Atlantic trade demonstrates that the potters’ choices were not exclusively expressions of communal ethnic identity of the producers or users. Additionally, the heightened production and eventual abandonment of this industry at Juffure fails to display a relationship between ceramics and personal identity. Rather, it is the broader socio-economic processes such as population fluctuations, consumer demand and socio-economic interactions as opposed to ethnic identity formation and maintenance, that affected shifts in local ceramic production.

Building materials from Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco): a diachronic local production from the Roman to the Islamic period

The Moravian community settled in North Carolina in 1753, and local ceramic production soon began in Bethabara, with the opening of the first pottery workshop in 1756. However, by 1771, the main ceramic activity had moved to Salem. This study examines the exploratory approach to raw materials that characterised the work of the first two master potters: Gottfried Aust (1722-1788), who was trained in Europe, and Rudolf Christ (1750-1833), who trained under Aust. The extremely well-documented history of Moravian ceramic production allows us to trace the story of technological adaptation in changing geographical conditions. This paper highlights characteristics of the glazes through the analysis with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry and cross-references those results with the archival written sources. This approach foregrounds the experimental nature of the medium in the hands of artist-practitioners, rather than seeks to challenge previous attributions or dating of specific pieces.

Scaling ceramic provenience at Lydian Sardis, Western Turkey

A total of 203 pieces of fine ceramic and four clays from seven sites of western Switzerland (Bern, Genève, Grotte du Four, La Tène, Marin, Saint-Triphon — Massongex and Yverdon) were studied chemically and mineralogically to determine if there was local production at each site and if trade links existed between the sites. Firing wasters from Bern and the region of Genève indicate local ceramic production. The sherds are often contaminated with secondary phosphorus and, in the case of Bern, copper. Most of the fine ceramic is CaO-poor, contrasting with the CaO-rich clays. Based on the chromium and nickel concentrations, it can be subdivided into two distinct groups. The majority of the sherd populations from Genève, Saint-Triphon and Massongex, as well as a few specimens from Bern, La Tène and Yverdon, have high Cr and Ni values. The remaining sherds have low Cr and Ni concentrations. The analyses show that: (1) the fine ceramic from each of the seven sites forms an often inhomogeneous and widely dispersed group, distinct from the others; consequently, it is most probably a local or regional product; (2) ceramic import is probable for one piece from Grotte du Four (provenance Yverdon); (3) the Late La Tène fine ceramic was manufactured mainly from silicate or silicate-carbonate, fat to lean clays.

A core region is the first place for expected shifts in archaeological materials before, during, and after political changes like state emergence and imperial consolidation. Yet, studies of ceramic production have shown that there are sometimes limited or more subtle changes in the ceramic economy throughout such political fluctuations. This article synthesizes recent efforts to address political economic changes via geochemical characterization (neutron activation analysis; NAA) in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin in western Mexico. This region was home to the Purépecha state and then empire (Tarascan; ca. AD 1350–1530), one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Americas before European arrival. The combined ceramic dataset from four sites in the region result in eight geochemical groups. Our analysis indicates that the region experienced long-term and relatively stable ceramic production that was not substantially altered by the emergence of the state and empire. In addition, we find evidence for (1) dispersed, localized production; (2) long-lived compositional ceramic recipes; and (3) a complex ceramic economy with differential community participation. We discuss why documenting local ceramic production and craft production more generally is important for the study of past political economies.

In contexts of scarce resources, varied assets, and diverse communities, engaging local stakeholders in the problem-solving process is critical to develop interventions for HIV prevention and treatment. Communities of practice (CPs) – groups of people organized around a key purpose and a delivery point – can develop expertise in identifying their local community’s key challenges and selecting viable solutions. We propose a framework for systematically understanding the stages a CP may go through as it develops its capacity to identify and solve problems and implement good practices. Our framework is based on the experience of practitioners of the LISTEN model (Local Initiatives Scaled Through Enterprise Networks) in eight local-level CPs in Kenya and Eswatini. LISTEN seeks to help CPs integrate continuous improvement processes, data, and human-centered design into their development and solutioning activities. The four stages in our framework for a CP’s problem-solving journey are: 1) Community Identity: Identify and understand the community’s purpose and goals, and build rapport with its members and leaders; 2) Quick Win: Use a process of human-centered design to obtain a rapid and clear success in addressing a problem that the local community has identified for itself and which it can tackle with its own resources; 3) Stewardship: Support the CP in addressing more complex or long-term issues, including links to other CPs at the local-community or higher levels to disseminate knowledge and obtain resources and support, where needed; and 4) Evolution: Support the CP as it transitions into potentially new structures or functions. For each stage of the framework, we describe the kinds of support that may be provided to the CP in the LISTEN model, and the types of tools that could be developed to assist them in problem-solving and in disseminating sustainable solutions.

Magdalena Black-on-white ceramics from two sites (Gallinas Springs and Pinnacle Ruin) in west-central and southwestern New Mexico have been interpreted as evidence of a migration of Northern Pueblo groups from the Four Corners region into southwestern New Mexico during the thirteenth century. They also appear to be linked to sites with similar carbon-painted ceramics on the Rio Puerco of the east and beyond. An additional site (Roadmap Village) reveals import of Magdalena Black-on-white ceramics produced at Gallinas Springs as well as possible local production. Limited quantities of carbon paint ceramics have been found on El Paso Phase sites in south-central New Mexico that have previously been attributed to contemporaneous carbon-painted pottery produced at communities in the Galisteo Basin and the upper Rio Grande. Recent compositional analysis of carbon-painted ceramics from the Gallinas Springs, Pinnacle, and Roadmap sites has identified characteristic chemical signatures that suggest local production of carbon paint ceramics at all three sites and distribution of carbon paint ceramics from Gallinas Springs to Pinnacle and Roadmap in the eastern Black Range of southwestern New Mexico. Analysis of carbon paint ceramics from Madera Quemada, an El Paso Phase site in the Tularosa Basin indicates that the carbon paint wares found in El Paso Phase sites were acquired through trade connections from the Black Range rather than from more northern sources. The overall Magdalena Black-on-white production patterns are contrasted with the obsidian procurement data from the same sites to reveal a complex and divergent pattern.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are largely built on the assumption that learning is an individual process best encouraged by explicit teaching that is, on the whole, separated from social engagement with those outside the university community. This perspective has been theoretically challenged by those who argue for a social constructivist learning theory and a more collaborative approach to learning. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) afford lecturers and students an opportunity for extending the boundaries of a learning experience, not merely beyond the lone individual, but beyond the limits of discipline boundaries within a specific university community and beyond the institution into the local community. This paper illustrates how a collaborative effort between lecturers and students from the Computer Science and Education Departments at Rhodes University, teachers from the local community, the provincial Department of Education and a non‐governmental organisation developed into an unfolding virtual and physical community of practice which enabled ICT take‐up in a number of schools in the Grahamstown District, South Africa. This discussion of what has become known as the e‐Yethu project provides an example of how ICTs, underpinned by the insights of social constructivism, the notion of ‘community of practice’ and in particular Hoadley and Kilner's C4P Framework for Communities of Practice, can serve to help HEIs understand ways in which ICTs can provide opportunities for developing collaborative learning within HEIs, and between the HEI and the local community.

Neutron activation analysis and local production of ritual ceramics at the Moche site, Peru With the Moche civilization, ceramic production reached a high level of specialization but few aspects have been detailed. The discovery of an important ceramic workshop associated with the Moche Site's Huaca de La Luna offers a unique opportunity to verify the production of ceramics with the local clay source. To determine the chemical composition of the ceramic products, neutron activation analysis has been used. The results confirm the local production of figurines as well as the tight control over the production of different categories of ritual vessels. However, control over the production of domestic vessels may have been looser and based on a procurement system at the regional level, while that for the ritual categories may have been under the direct control of the ruling class at the presumed capital of the first state on the north coast of Peru.

Amphorae are a significant type of Roman pottery, serving as both transport containers and indicators of economic and technological practices across the Empire. Despite their importance in interpreting local economic dynamics in Roman Lusitania, the production origins, technological characteristics and functional roles of amphorae from Conímbriga in Portugal remain poorly understood. Previous research has focused primarily on typological comparisons with imported forms, providing limited insight into whether these vessels were produced locally or how they were incorporated into regional trade and agricultural systems. This study takes a multi-analytical approach to examine a group of ten amphorae dating from the 1st to the 5th century AD. While these vessels formally resemble well-known types from Gaul and Hispania, they appear to have been manufactured locally using fabrics consistent with those found in regional common wares. To examine the raw materials, production techniques and possible contents, the analysis integrates a typological assessment with a range of archaeometric methods, including optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Recent gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) results contextualise these data further, enabling an exploration of how specific technological choices may have influenced or reflected the intended function of the amphorae. The findings shed new light on local ceramic production and contributed to broader debates concerning Roman provincial economies and material culture.

Regional theatres not only serve but build communities, providing social relations and sense of ‘place’ in a shifting cultural landscape. This article builds upon the findings of the research project Theatres Beyond the Stage: The Recovery of Regional Theatres as Placemakers in the East of England, which examined the relationship of four regional theatre venues to audiences and local communities in 2022 and 2023. This article explores how regional theatres have offered communities an antidote to an epidemic of isolation through building ‘communities of practice’ 1 1. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). and serving a vital placemaking role, with theatre sites and venues becoming much valued and meaningful places. Following a summary of the Theatres Beyond the Stage research, this article offers an account of the ecology of regional producing theatres, locating the partner theatres in the East of England within a national network of mid- and large-scale producing theatres. It considers the civic role of these theatres and their contribution to community recovery, suggesting that theatre users form ‘communities of practice’. Through community of practice processes (engagement, ethos, shared repertoire, imagination), regional theatres become placemakers; drawing on theories of placemaking and ‘sense of place’, this article argues that regional theatres are sites imbued with meaning. The article concludes by suggesting that given current sector challenges, it is ever more important to acknowledge regional theatres as community builders and placemakers, roles that have not only been revealed but dramatically emphasised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Technological choices and practices in local ceramic production at Iron Age Monte Iato (Sicily, 6th-5th century BCE)