Innovation and Collapse: Bucket-Shaped Pottery and Metalwork in the Terminal Migration Period

Abstract

In this article we focus on the third and final production phase for the distinct and atypical bucket-shaped pottery in south-west Norway, during the last decades of the Migration Period in the 6th century ad. The culmination of a unique progression that probably extended nearly two centuries, this phase is characterized by high-quality ceramics and metal handcraft. The two craft types had broadly similar trajectories, but eventually it seems only potting disappeared. We explore specific links between production modes for bucket-shaped pots, contemporary ceramic types and high-quality metal and glass objects. The approach combines recently analysed archaeometric data with sophisticated ethnographic understanding of the dynamics of paste recipes among potters, while also reviving and refining the astute conclusion by Haakon Shetelig (1905) dating back more than a century. We argue that knowledge transmission for high-quality bucket-shaped potting emanated from certain contexts which included artisans working in gold, silver and bronze. These workshops functioned as creative nodes, developing most of the new craft techniques in the 6th century. Consequently, the peak period and eventual demise of terminal Migration Period high-quality bucket-shaped potting cannot be viewed in isolation from the production modes of Style I animal art.