Preliminary discussions on painted pottery in Neolithic China

Godin VI Painted Pottery in the Eastern Central Zagros

Identification of laccol as a paint binder in Neolithic pottery from China

Introduction. The fine arts of archaic Greece and Etruria experienced a noticeable influence of the East. The transition from archaic to classical time influenced the forms of depicting the morphological features of a person in antique art. Comparative study of the anthropological features of the antique population of the Mediterranean on the greek painted pottery and etruscan murals of the archaic and classical times was the purpose of our study. Materials and methods. The material was collected in the online-collections of ancient collections of museums. We used the method of a composite portrait in a digital version, the calculation of the frequency of features in our study. Studied features was – beard growth, hair color and nature of the hair. Results and discussion. On the etruscan murals of the archaic period, the frequency of depicting straight nature of the hair in women is the highest (7,7 %) in all samples; for different groups of painted pottery, it does not exceed 7 %. The degree of beard growth according to vase painting and etruscan murals is characterized by a strong and very strong growth. A greater manifestation of hair pigmentation polymorphism according to painted pottery is noted in the images of the classical period. Dark hair predominates in all groups, grey-haired was depicted only in male characters. Hair depigmentation on painted pottery is observed in images of the classical and late classical periods and did not exceed 6 % in the total sample. Pigmentation on etruscan murals indicates a lightening of the hair in the group towards reddish-red shades, depigmentation does not exceed 8%. Features of the depiction of pigmentation in to vase painting and murals, despite the different technique and coloring, reveal common tendencies of variability characteristic of the Mediterranean groups. Composite portraits based on painted pottery reflect the historical transformation of the anthropo-aesthetic ideas of the greeks through the fine arts of the archaic and classical times. Conclusion. Color in greek painted pottery performs not only a decorative function, but is also an artistic means of conveying morphological variability. Involvement of antique written sources of the description of population and the philosophy of color in antique culture can help in the anthropological reading of vase painting and further study of pigmentation polymorphism. @ 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

The subject of this thesis is the painted pottery from Aulnat, France. The site was partially excavated by Dr. Collis of Sheffield University. The site is thought to be that of an industrial village complex which dated from the Early La Tene period to the Roman occupation. The painted pottery was only one type of pottery excavated from this site. The first chapter gives a brief overview of the Late Iron Age period of temperate European prehistory, highlighting the limit of our current knowledge. The second chapter briefly puts the excavation at Aulnat into context, both historically and geographically, and within its research design. It also outlines Collis' excavation. The methodological considerations of this thesis are discussed in the third chapter. The approaches chosen for this data base were firstly to describe it and to characterise its nature, and secondly to investigate the pottery as it progressed through its cycle from production to discard. The fourth and fifth chapters describe the recording techniques used and the results obtained, respectively. The sixth chapter suggests some interpretations of the results and further possible research considerations. Â

Chinese ceramic art originated in the Neolithic period, with archaeological evidence indicating that primitive ceramics date back approximately 10,000 to 13,000 years. Throughout this long history, research on early ceramics has continued unabated. This study employs a review and analysis of existing literature on painted pottery, combined with image analysis, to examine their social functions across different regions of the Yangshao Culture.Key areas of analysis include the recording of social events, social hierarchy and identity symbols, as well as belief systems and survival-related rituals. The findings reveal that painted pottery served not only as artistic decoration, but also as a medium for documenting historical memory, signaling social status, and conveying spiritual values. However, the study remains limited by its reliance on a small number of representative artifacts and the speculative nature of prehistoric cultural interpretation.Overall, these motifs demonstrate the multifaceted role of ceramics in prehistoric society, highlighting their significance beyond mere functionality and providing a deeper understanding of early Chinese social and cultural practices.

Late Neolithic Plant Remains from Northern China: Preliminary Results from Liangchengzhen, Shandong

The Majiayao Culture (3300 BC–2900 BC) formed one of the three painted pottery centres of the Yellow River basin, China, in prehistoric times. Painted pottery from this period is famous for its exquisite workmanship and meticulous painting. Studying the layer structure and element distribution of the paint on the pottery is conducive to investigating its workmanship, which is important for archaeological research. However, the most common analysis methods are destructive. To investigate the layers of paint on the pottery nondestructively, a confocal three-dimensional micro-X-ray fluorescence set-up combined with two individual polycapillary lenses has been used to analyse two painted pottery fragments. Nondestructive elemental depth analyses and surface topographic analysis were performed. The elemental depth profiles of Mn, Fe and Ca obtained from these measurements were consistent with those obtained using an optical microscope. The depth profiles show that there are layer structures in two samples. The images show that the distribution of Ca is approximately homogeneous in both painted and unpainted regions. In contrast, Mn appeared only in the painted regions. Meanwhile, the distributions of Fe in the painted and unpainted regions were not the same. The surface topographic shows that the pigment of dark-brown region was coated above the brown region. These conclusions allowed the painting process to be inferred.

This study deals with a geoarchaeological examination of the jade artifacts unearthed from the major sites of jade‐using cultures over Neolithic China. The earliest examples of true jade—tremolite‐actinolite nephrite—were jade artifacts from the Chahai site at Fuxin in Liaoning, dating back to the 6th millennium B.C., approximately contemporaneous with the beginning of the Neolithic age. The expansion of jade‐using culture during the Neolithic period was gradually from east through west China. The jade‐using culture thrived especially in both the lower Yangtze River and Liao River valleys, and came to a climax during the late Neolithic period when not only could nephrite be discerned from jadelike and other minerals and rocks, but also nephrite of various grades could apparently be deliberately used to make jades of different types according to their importance in social life. It may be suggested that the raw nephrite used to make jades during the Neolithic age was derived from unknown ancient deposits that might be within China proper rather than at Kunlun Mountain.

Manufacturing technique analysis of Early Harappan painted pottery from the Jhang Bahatar Site, Pakistan, by using a multi-analytical approach

Investigating the coevolutions in human food resources, cooking technologies and pottery functions will provide a vital perspective for understanding the driving force of social development in Neolithic China. Here, we preliminarily present a multianalytical study on the plant microfossils of pottery residues, the stable isotopic compositions and radiocarbon dating of animal bones, and the characteristics of pottery vessels (including their types, textures and smoked traces) from the Mijiaya site. The results indicate that the Mijiaya people (ca. 3093‒1961 cal. BC) probably relied on the various food resources consisting of the diversified crops, livestock and some foraging food; Mijiaya people had refined the pottery functions by changing their types, textures and assemblages, and they also used some auxiliary tools for increasing the cooking efficiency and obtaining the complex foodstuff. Integrated with agricultural development and technological innovation during Neolithic China, the foodways at the Mijiaya site also shed light on its inherited social tradition and social organization in the Late Neolithic period.

Indonesia has an important pottery cultural heritage to preserve. This study aims to integrate culture-based education into the Merdeka Curriculum through P5, focusing on pottery making. The objectives of this study are to improve students' creativity, mutual cooperation, and social skills, as well as to strengthen the relationship between schools and communities in preserving local cultural traditions. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method to describe the implementation of P5 activities through pottery making in improving creativity and mutual cooperation at SMP Negeri 6 Kota Serang. Data were obtained through observation, interviews, and documentation from 1119 students and teachers. The results of the study will provide an in-depth picture of the impact of these activities on students at the school. Pottery making activities at SMP Negeri 6 Kota Serang develop students' creativity, motor skills, and mutual cooperation. By drawing designs, shaping, and painting pottery, they learn to think creatively, solve problems, and work together in groups. This activity supports the formation of Pancasila characters, such as togetherness, responsibility, and personal initiative, in accordance with the objectives of the Merdeka curriculum. P5 activities at SMP Negeri 6 Kota Serang have succeeded in achieving the goals of the independent curriculum, creating a Pancasila Student Profile that is creative, cooperative, and has good character. Students develop creativity and collaboration skills through challenging projects. This study emphasizes the importance of an art project-based approach to building the character of Pancasila students in the era of character education.

This paper presents data on the painted pottery of Hasanlu II/IIIA from an analysis of field records. The excavation programme at Tepe Hasanlu was carried out between 1956 and 1977 for the University of Pennsylvania Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Archaeological Service of Iran. Period II/IIIA, the final pre-Islamic occupation of the site, dates to the Late Achaemenid-Early Hellenistic period. The painted pottery includes Western Triangle Ware, Cream-slipped Bichrome Ware, Brown-line Ware, and Classic Triangle Ware.Site and sequenceHasanlu is one of several large Iron Age mounds in the Qadar River valley at the southern end of Lake Urmia in western Azerbaijan, Iran. It consists of a central Citadel Mound (25m above the plain and about 200m in diameter) surrounded by an Outer Town. It was occupied from about 5500 BC to about 280 BC and again in Islamic times.

Reviewed by: Women in Ancient China by Bret Hinsch Sheri A. Lullo Women in Ancient China. Bret Hinsch. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. 226 pp., 20 figures, glossary, notes, bibliography, index. Hardback US $79, ISBN 978-1-5381-1540-4. Bret Hinsch has made a number of contributions to the history of gender and sexuality in China, primarily for the ancient and premodern eras. His latest book, Women in Ancient China, "details the process of growing sexual inequality as it unfolded" across the Neolithic, Shang, and Western and Eastern Zhou periods (seventh millennium to third century b.c.) (p. x). This work greatly expands upon Hinsch's summary of these periods in a chapter in his other recent book, Women in Imperial China (Hinsch 2016:1–32). It also serves as a welcome and long-awaited companion to his Women in Early Imperial China (2002), which covers the Qin and Han periods (third century b.c.–a.d. third century). Like many of his books, Women in Ancient China takes a chronological approach, which allows Hinsch to examine the various ways that a woman's identity and status were affected by the shifting social, political, and institutional structures of each ruling power. Thus, each chapter is a comparative study that looks both back in time and anticipates future developments or changes. Drawing from multiple disciplinary perspectives, this useful and comprehensive study synthesizes the growing body of secondary scholarship on women's lives in ancient China. Hinsch's central thesis is that "growing institutional complexity affected female rights and privileges" (p. xii). The study details the various ways that gendered hierarchy became standardized with the expansion of a patriarchal governing system, relegating women to roles in which they invariably served to aid or help legitimize men. Interwoven within this narrative, however, are stimulating accounts of instances where women occupied positions of political, moral, and maternal authority. Hinsch's chronological study is framed by chapters that take up two prominent and influential "myths" in the study of gender in early China, including theories of matriarchy and a rhetoric of females causing the downfalls of major dynasties. Following the "Introduction," chapter 1, "The Myth of Matriarchy," addresses the "vexing methodological problem" with early and in some cases current scholarship that views early society in China as matriarchal (p. xiv). Such theories developed in the mid-nineteenth century under the influence of Marxism; to a certain extent, they remain part of state orthodoxy (though they are quietly disregarded by most scholars today) (p. 5). As Hinsch demonstrates, evidence of matriarchy and matrilinealism in Neolithic China and into the succeeding periods has been disproven. These approaches, however, must be acknowledged in an historical survey of women in ancient China since for decades they have been an underlying assumption of many scholars from numerous disciplinary perspectives, including archaeology, religion, social history, and linguistics. By including this "critical discussion" at the opening of his book, Hinsch positions his research as separate from this outdated body of scholarship (p. xiv). It should be noted, however, that a rather crucial part of the historiography of the "matriarchy myth" is missing from Hinsch's summary. Quite relevant to the purposes of his book are some of the positive outcomes that came with the quest to uncover China's matriarchal beginnings, as explained very clearly in an article by Gideon Shelach (2004) titled "Marxist and Post-Marxist Paradigms for the Neolithic." According to Shelach, misguided as they were, theories of matriarchy were foundational to the study of gender in the archaeological record of China: The Marxist paradigm fostered in China a coherent discussion on issues such as the family structure during the Neolithic period and forced Chinese archaeologists to think of archaeological methods that could flesh out these abstract social norms. Contrary to commonly held views in the West, Chinese archaeologists vividly debated theoretical and methodological issues related to concepts such as [End Page 413] matriarchy, matrilineality, patriarchy, and patrilineality. (Shelach 2004:14) These are some of the very issues that are central to Hinsch's book and as such should have been properly acknowledged. In chapter 2, Hinsch surveys the Early, Middle, and Late Neolithic periods of China, with dates provided...

This paper presents a case study of a young adult from the late Neolithic Yangshao cultural period site (∼3300–2900 years BC) of Guanjia (关家) located in Henan Province on the Central Plains of China, who has evidence for skeletal dysplasia characterised by proportional stunting of the long bones and a small axial skeleton, generalised osteopenia, and non-fusion of epiphyses. We provide a detailed differential diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia with paediatric onset and conclude that this is likely a form of hypopituitarism or hypothyroidism, an extremely rare finding within the archaeological context. This paper highlights the issues of distinguishing the forms of proportional dwarfism in palaeopathology because of the considerable variation in manifestation of these conditions. Finally, we assess whether there were any health and social implications for this person and community through the consideration of a bioarchaeology of care approach across the lifecourse, burial context, and information on social perceptions of ‘difference’ in the community.标题：中国新石器时代不同的成长历程：一个青壮年骨发育异常案例的情景分析及鉴别诊断本文以中国中原地区河南省新石器时代晚期仰韶文化关家遗址（公元前3300年～2900年）的一个青壮年为研究对象。该个体表现出骨骼发育异常，包括长骨成比例发育不良，较小的中轴骨，全身骨质稀少，及骨骺不融合。我们对该个体进行了儿科骨骼发育不良的详细鉴别诊断，并得出结论，这可能是垂体功能减退或甲状腺功能减退的一种形式。这在考古学背景下是极为罕见的发现。由于各矮化疾病的表现形式有较大的变异性，本文着重讨论了在古病理学中分辨不同形式的成比例矮化的问题。最后，我们结合对整个生命历程的生物考古护理研究、埋葬背景、“差异”个体的社会认知等信息，评估是否对该个体和社区有健康或社会影响。

The political, economic, ideological, and symbolic roles that stone tools and their production have played in many contexts have been clearly shown in archaeological and ethnographic research results. However, lithics in China have been absent from this discourse. This chapter looks at survey lithics recovered from a 313‐square‐kilometer regional area in Rizhao, Shandong Province, China, and at excavated lithics from the Liangchengzhen site, a regional elite‐oriented late Neolithic Longshan period (ca. 2600–2000 B.C.) center in the midst of this survey area. These lithics are used to identify the nature of relationships between settlements, the social identity of stone workers, and the role of stone‐working in the creation and maintenance of place in Neolithic China. Production in three different locations varied considerably and lithic production in the region's most important center was replete with political, economic, and ideological meaning. This study concludes that stone‐working and its products would have been important in the creation of Liangchengzhen as a powerful place in the late Neolithic world of eastern China.