Replicating Red: Analysis of ceramic slip color with CIELAB color data

Abstract

The CIELAB (International Commission on Illumination L*a*b*) tristimulous color space offers archaeologists an alternative to the Munsell system for analysis of the color of archaeological material and geological deposits. CIELAB space maps colors in three dimensions and does not require complicated mathematical manipulations before use in quantitative analyses. It can also be collected easily and inexpensively from digital photographs. Here we illustrate how to collect and use CIELAB data through our reanalysis of red-slipped ceramics in western North America, comparing our results to a previous study of red slip color that relied on descriptive Munsell data. Our case involves red-slipped ceramics from two contact-period Native American archaeological sites in Kansas, USA. The CIELAB data support previous conclusions about changes in slip color through time in Ledbetter Red, enabling more precise descriptions of color and testing of statistically significant differences between groups. We argue that our methods record color in a more objective, precise way than is possible with the human eye alone, and that the resulting data are useful for artifact or material comparison.