Reconstructing change in firing technology during the Final Neolithic\u2013Early Bronze Age transition in Phaistos, Crete. Just the tip of the iceberg?

P M Day,V Kilikoglou,S Todaro,R Mentesana

doi:10.1007/s12520-017-0572-8

Abstract

Changes in firing practice have been suggested as representing a revolution in ceramic technology at the beginning of the Bronze Age in Crete. The introduction of kiln structures has been held responsible for such a change, perhaps by newcomers to the island, along with other innovative technologies. However, these hypotheses were often based on limited analytical data and mostly on macroscopic examination. This paper re-examines the suggestion of a transformation in firing technology at the beginning of the Bronze Age by presenting analyses of the rich ceramic assemblage from the site of Phaistos in South-Central Crete, which offers a rare, good stratigraphic sequence from the end of the Final Neolithic into the Early Bronze Age. Here, firing technology is reconstructed by macroscopic examination of colour across vessel breaks, by SEM examination and FT-IR analysis. This allows the reconstruction of temperature ranges and firing rates over the phases considered and a re-assessment of changes in firing technology, revealing a more multi-faceted pattern of change. Finally, changes in firing procedure are contextualised in the overall ceramic operational sequence, revealing a complex, stepped picture of change in ceramic production over the transition from the Final Neolithic.

Highlights

Firing causes mineralogical and microstructural modification of clay bodies, which results in changes in characteristics such as porosity, resistance to physical and thermal stress, colourArchaeol Anthropol Sci (2019) 11:871–894 of past societies
Estimation of firing procedures was made by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDAX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), in addition to macroscopic observation of the colour developed by both body and surface during firing
In terms of firing temperature range, this study shows that in Final Neolithic (FN) III the majority of the vessels belong to the very low to low fired range and only a few samples to the medium to high fired range

Summary

Introduction

Firing causes mineralogical and microstructural modification of clay bodies, which results in changes in characteristics such as porosity, resistance to physical and thermal stress, colourArchaeol Anthropol Sci (2019) 11:871–894 of past societies. Livingstone Smith (2001) suggested that there are no thermal parameters which allow us to clearly distinguish between different firing structures. He argues that Bfiring technologies may be characterized by a number of socially significant facets and cannot be reduced to ‘open’ and ‘kiln’ categories without a considerable loss of technical and cultural information^ Gosselain and Livingston Smith are undoubtedly correct to point out that estimating firing temperature cannot be considered an isolated core of a study of ancient firing technology and that instead it should form part of broader research into ancient technology, related to a specific archaeological question (cf Tite 1995). In this paper, firing technology is investigated to further an understanding of the presence or absence of technological patterns in the Neolithic– Bronze Age transition in Crete and to assess the hypothesis of radical change in ceramic technology

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Conclusion