Ceramic Vases Research Articles

Funerary vs. domestic vessels from the Hallstatt period. A study on ceramic vases from the Milejowice settlement and the Domasław cemetery

Clay vessels have a wide variety of functions in social activities in the Hallstatt period. In addition to food storage and processing, they were used for ritual purposes and as funerary vessels. The paper presents the results of archaeological and chromatographic studies of 31 vases from two different Hallstatt culture sites in lower Silesia (Poland). The investigations included vessels fragments from the Domasław cemetery and from the Milejowice settlement. The chromatographic analyses focused on fatty acids and biomarkers and made it possible to identify the most likely sources of substances they came into contact with during use. The c-means and hierarchical cluster analyses showed that grave vessels differed from settlement ceramics. Thus, conclusions on the diverse vessel functions could be made.

Residue analysis suggests ritual use of tobacco at the ancient Mesoamerican city of Cotzumalhuapa, Guatemala

The widespread significance of tobacco in Mesoamerica is documented in historical and ethnographic sources, yet recovery of the organic remains of this plant from archaeological contexts is rare. Here, the authors present evidence for the ritual use of tobacco at Cotzumalhuapa, Guatemala, during the Late Classic period (AD 650–950). Detection of nicotine in residue analysis of three cylindrical ceramic vases recovered from cache deposits near the El Baúl acropolis suggests that these vessels contained tobacco infusions or other liquid preparations. These results suggest an ancient ritual practice involving tobacco for which there was previously no physical evidence in Mesoamerica.

Грейсън Пери. Постигна ли художествената керамика своя Ренесанс?

In 2003, the prestigious Turner Prize for Contemporary Art of the Tate Britain Museum was awarded to the artist Grayson Perry for his painted ceramic vases. This award has been described by many institutions across Europe as a positive reappreciation of the ceramic material in the contemporary art world, and Grayson Perry has been seen as a precursor of the long-awaited ‘renaissance’ of ceramics. When compared to contemporary artworks executed in other materials, contemporary works using or entirely executed in ceramics show no thematic or expressive limitations conditioned by the specific qualities of the ceramic material. However, ceramics still has a very limited presence on the contemporary art stage. Historically layered cultural classification prejudices in society and the difficult specificity of the ceramic metalanguage are cited as the main reasons for the undervaluation of this material.

The TAO CI ontology of vases of the Ming and Qing dynasties

The advent of the Semantic Web and Linked Data initiative has contributed to new perspectives and opportunities regarding cultural heritage conservation. Museums have extensive collections of Chinese ceramic vases in China. Although some data sources have been digitized, the vision of cultural heritage institutions is not only to display objects and simple descriptions (drawn from metadata), but also to allow for understanding relationships between objects (created by semantically interrelated metadata). The key to achieving this goal is to utilize the technologies of the Semantic Web, whose core is Ontology. The focus of this paper is to describe the construction of the TAO CI (“ceramics” in Chinese) ontology and terminology of the domain of ceramic vases of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. The theoretical framework relies on the notion of essential characteristics. This notion is compliant with the ISO principles on Terminology (ISO 1087 and 704), according to which a concept is defined as a combination of essential characteristics, and with the Aristotelian definition in terms of genus and differentia. This approach is intuitive for domain experts and requires identifying essential characteristics, combining them into concepts, and translating the result into a Semantic Web language. This article proposes an approach based on a morphological analysis of the Chinese terms for vases to identify essential characteristics and a term-guided method for defining concepts. Such a term-and-characteristic guided approach makes ontology engineering less dependent on formal languages and does not require a background in Description Logics. The research presented in this article aims to publish the resulting structured data on the Semantic Web for the use of anybody interested, including museums hosting collections of these vessels, and enrich existing domain ontology building methodologies. To our knowledge, there are no comprehensive ontologies for Chinese ceramic vases. TAO CI ontology remedies this gap and provides a reference for ontology building in other domains of Chinese cultural heritage. The TAO CI ontology is openly accessible here: http://www.dh.ketrc.com/otcontainer/data/otc.owl.

Life and Work of Anhelina Zhdanova - Master of Porcelain Painting of the Second Half of the 20th Century

The aim is to identify the key porcelain works painted by the Honored Artist of Ukraine Angelina Zhdanova during the second half of the 20th century, to reveal the artistic features of her decoration of sculptures, utensils and vases. Research methods – ontological, axiological, hermeneutic, historical-chronological, historical-comparative, cultural, typological, art analysis. Their combination allows us to reveal the specifics of the creative method of Anhelina Zhdanova concerning the design of sculptures of small forms and design development of decors for fine ceramic ware and vases. Novelty comprises the analysis of the artist’s appeals to the Ukrainian in the decoration of the best examples of domestic porcelain sculpture of the third quarter of the 20th century. (first of all, according to the designs of V. and M. Trehubov’s forms) and the use of exquisite Petrykivka painting in the design of vases, dishes, tableware of the second half of the twentieth century, created at Korosten and Svitlovodsk porcelain factories. Conclusions. The milestones of the work of the outstanding Ukrainian artist-designer in the field of porcelain Anhelina Leonidivna Zhdanova are traced. The list of main works in sculpture, vases and utensils, decor projects which she created at Korosten and Svitlovodsk porcelain factories in the 1950s – 1990s is outlined. It is determined that A. Zhdanova is the author of the original painting of the famous sculptures ‘Ukrainian Dance’ and ‘Shoes’, the forms for which were developed by V. Trehubova in the mid – second half of the 1950s. Portraits of Soviet figures on plates and vases, such as party executives, astronauts, foreign ambassadors or the UN Secretary General, are important in the artist’s work. A separate segment of Korosten products by A. Zhdanova consists of paintings with skillfully executed floral ornaments for framing portraits. The paintings are made in a delicate brush technique ‘cat’, the type of Petrykivka paintings.

Using ISO and Semantic Web standard for building a multilingual terminology e-Dictionary: A use case of Chinese ceramic vases

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artefacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Terminology is a tool for the dissemination and communication of cultural heritage. The lack of clearly identified terminologies is an obstacle to communication and knowledge sharing. Especially, for experts with different languages, it is difficult to understand what the term refers to only through terms. Our work aims to respond to this issue by implementing practices drawn from the Semantic Web and ISO Terminology standards (ISO 704 and ISO 1087-1) and more particularly, by building in a W3C format ontology as knowledge infrastructure to construct a multilingual terminology e-Dictionary. The Chinese ceramic vases of the Ming and Qing dynasties are the application cases of our work. The method of building ontology is the ‘term-and-characteristic guided method’, which follows the ISO principles of Terminology. The main result of this work is an online terminology e-Dictionary. The terminology e-Dictionary could help archaeologists communicate and understand the concepts denoted by terms in different languages and provide a new perspective based on ontology for the digital protection of cultural heritage. The e-Dictionary was published at http://www.dh.ketrc.com/e-dictionary.html .

Sobre animalística y bandas precolombinas de la Gran Nicoya

In the present article two types of Pre-Colombian polychrome ceramics from the Great Nicoya (between Nicaragua and Costa Rica) are exhibited.They are polychrome Jicote and Pataky vases dating from 1200 A.D. to 1550 A.D. The aim is to analyze animal representations and their complexbands that are generally represented in the superior openings of the vases. For the creation of a database, the data and photographs of vases in theNational Museum of Costa Rica were recorded. Based on such database, 56 Jicote and Pataky ceramic vases were categorized. They were classified in two major groups according to the motifs or themes represented in the complex bands: a) 12 geometric and b) 42 figurative. In the group of the figurative vases, six cases stand out where their bands have been repainted to achieve possible graphic representation schemes and semiot

A painful matter: the sandal as a hitting implement in Athenian iconography

The article examines a series of images on Athenian ceramic vases in which sandals are depicted as a hitting implement. This iconographic motif appears mainly in two contexts: educational scenes, where an adult hits a subordinate, and erotic scenes, where the hitting action is almost always performed by males upon female prostitutes. The utilisation of this specific mundane object, rather than equally available others, for these violent acts is explored in light of psychologist James J. Gibson’s term “affordance”, which refers to the potentialities held by an object for a particular set of actions, stemming from its material properties. I suggest that the choice of the sandal is not arbitrary: it supports these aggressors’ desire to cause pain to those of lower status, thereby controlling and humiliating them. The affordances of the sandal, stemming from its shape and material and the inherent potentialities for action, are perceived and exploited by the hitters. Though not designed as a hitting implement, in the hands of these privileged figures in these specific situations, the mundane, ordinary sandal becomes the medium, a social agent, by which their control attains physical embodiment. Thanks to the Athenian vase painters, we are able to register and visualise latent affordances of the sandal that previously lay out of sight. It seems that in the context of Athenian society, the supposed dichotomy between the ordinary usage and the extraordinary violent usage of the sandal collapses. In this particular case, hitting with a sandal seems as ordinary as donning it in everyday use.

Tradições arqueológicas ceramistas de dois povos Jê: Kayapó meridional e Kaingang da região centro norte de São Paulo

Este artigo aborda a questão da homogeneização cultural das tradições ceramistas Aratu-Sapucaí e da Neobrasileira relacionada à variabilidade de enterramentos, formas e de decoração incisa em vasilhames cerâmicos diante de contextos arqueológicos evidenciados por projetos acadêmicos em regiões ocupadas por povos do tronco linguístico Macro-Jê: Kayapó meridional no extremo oeste de Minas Gerais e, Kaingang, na região centro norte de São Paulo.

Sweet, weedy and wild: macrobotanical remains from a Late Classic (8th century ad) feasting deposit discovered at La Corona, an ancient Maya settlement

Ritual feasting was an integral part of ancient societies; the Maya were no exception. Archaeologists working in this region have used various lines of evidence, including the study of scenes depicted on painted polychrome drinking vases and ethnohistoric sources written by Spanish colonists, to attempt the reconstruction of ancient Maya feasts. However, while feasting deposits have been identified across sites in the Maya world, few have been studied from an archaeobotanical perspective. In this paper, macrobotanical results from a Late Classic (mid-to-late 8th century ad) feasting deposit from the site of La Corona, located in northwestern Peten, Guatemala, are presented. The archaeobotanical results suggest that the participants of these feasts were served dishes and beverages made from ingredients collected from wild and domestic landscapes, and that plants with specific medicinal properties may have also been part of the menu. These data suggest that ancient Maya feasts were events that cannot be simply recreated through painted ceramic vases or from reading historic records, and that if we are to appreciate the nuances of ancient Maya feasts, the archaeobotanical record needs to be considered and further evaluated.

TÜRKİYE’DE ASBEST YASAĞI VE BAZI İTHAL ÜRÜNLERDE ASBEST MİNERALLERİNİN ARAŞTIRILMASI

Asbestos, a natural silicate mineral having a fibrous structure, is used in a lot of technological products due to its electrical and heat insulation properties. Asbestos is known to be used in more than 3000 industrial products, including pressure-resistant water pipes, coating materials, gaskets, brake pads, various plastic products, paints, filters, heat proof clothing, paper products and space crafts. Use and manufacturing of products containing asbestos have been banned in several developed nations, particularly in the European Union, due to its negative effects on the human health. Nevertheless, in some countries, where manufacturing of asbestos containing products have not been banned, consumer’s goods containing asbestos are still manufactured and exported to various parts of the world. The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of asbestos in some consumer’s goods entering in our country via importation from the People’s Republic of China between the years 2011-2014. Within the scope of this study, various types and sizes of artificial flowers, ceramic vases and brake pads belonging to different vehicles were investigated using polarized light microscope and scanning electron microscope to confirm the presence of asbestos. Results of this study have shown that artificial flowers and ceramic vases did not contain the asbestos minerals, on the contrary brake pads of some vehicles contained high percentage of asbestos minerals. As a result, ban of the manufacturing of products containing asbestos and their international trade have an utmost importance for prevention of various health-related problems, especially lung cancer and mesothelioma. Keywords: Asbestos ban, brake lining, polarized light microscope, scanning electron microscope

Technology, production, and distribution of terminal classic molded-carved vases in the Central Maya Lowlands

The paper summarises the results of the technological and stylistic analyses of the moldedcarved ceramic vases from Altun Ha, and Pook’s Hill, two archaeological sites located in Belize. The stylistic analysis of these vases indicates that the decorative modes and the tradition of manufacturing vases by molds date squarely to the Terminal Classic period (ca. AD 800-1000). The Terminal Classic period is one of transition, exhibiting dramatic socio-political changes in the Maya Lowlands. The technological analyses employ energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), to characterise the physical, mineralogical, and chemical properties of the molded-carved vases. Combining the results of the technological and stylistic analyses help to discriminate the production groups, reconstruct the manufacturing technology, characterise the organisation of production, and delineate distribution patterns. Our present findings reveal that the changes in the socio-political order during the Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands likely stimulated changes in the types and manner in which elite pottery was produced, as well as the mechanisms responsible for the distribution of such ceramics.

Olympic Music: Inspiration From the Olympic Games, London 2012

Television showed it live and with detail to a global audience: while entering the Aquatic Center at the London Olympics each athlete wore earphones, most did so even when they were being introduced to the audience, and some actually left them on as they approached the starting line. Performance enhance- ment through functional music is an ancient method in sports. More than 2500 years ago, high-performance athletes con- trolled and enforced their exercise programs by incorporating music into their daily routine. Live music at that time was offered by flute players typically using the Greek double flute called Aulos. Ancient images drawn on ceramic vases depict such ‘‘ensembles.’’...

Iconografía de la cerámica de San Lorenzo

En años recientes se ha cuestionado si los olmecas detonaron el desarrollo cultural en lugares distantes de la costa del Golfo durante el Preclásico temprano (1500-850 a.C.). Por su amplia distribución en diversas regiones, los objetos del llamado “estilo olmeca”, que pudieron ser las manifestaciones materiales de dicho impulso, son las vasijas cerámicas decoradas con símbolos cosmológicos. El presente trabajo analiza formalmente algunos de estos motivos, proporciona analogías iconográficas que permiten desentrañar su significado y ofrece evidencias para examinar el origen de este código simbólico.

Los conjuntos palaciegos reales de las Tierras Bajas Mayas del sur: una evaluación de los datos arqueológicos e iconográficos

Este artículo va a trazar algunas conclusiones de una evaluación de los aspectos físicos, espaciales, funcionales y sociales de los conjuntos palaciegos reales tomando en cuenta evidencia arqueológica e iconográfica. Para el componente iconográfico se analizaron representaciones de escenas palaciegas pintadas sobre 87 vasijas cilíndricas de cerámica, mientras que para el componente arqueológico se evaluó información de conjuntos palaciegos bien documentados como el Grupo Palaciego M7 de Aguateca, el Palacio de Palenque, Los 27 Escalones de Kohunlich, el Grupo 10L-2 de Copán, la Acrópolis Central de Tikal y el Grupo Gran Acrópolis de Calakmul. Uno de los objetivos generales de este trabajo es proporcionar un ejemplo de cómo se puede capitalizar la información que las escenas palaciegas proveen (al comparar el corpus iconográfico con el dato arqueológico). Esto permitiría plantear ideas más ajustadas sobre los aspectos físicos, espaciales, funcionales y sociales de los conjuntos palaciegos del Clásico Tardío en el área maya.

Céramique, fonctionnalité et dépôts funéraires

In the funerary sites there is generally, in addition to osseous remains, a whole of material elements considered usually as funerary furniture of the one individual or many individuals deposited. In general, the study of these movable elements is limited to note their presence, without deepening in the knowledge of the possible uses and/or material and social functions that these objects could have within the framework of the social, economic and ideological relations of the group as also within the specific framework of the funerary practices carried out in the studied deposit. There is a clear example of this situation in the study of the ceramic remains, which undoubtedly constitute one of the categories of the most usual artifacts in the funerary contexts. The quantitative and qualitative developments of research around the funerary world in Prehistory, supported by slow but progressive discovery of intact funerary deposits, allow more precises analysis. They highlight the presence of the ceramic vases in the funerary contexts can be explained by different causes. The discussion on these elements extends our vision on the complexity of the functions of the material elements in the funerary contexts.

Painted Decoration Studies in a Fourth Century BC Vergina Tomb

AbstractAegae, the first capital of the Macedonians, in Northern Greece, is being excavated since 1938. The most impressive finds come from the unlooted tombs of the Great Tumulus, where the grave of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, was discovered. Not far from the Great Tumulus, in the “Tumuli cemetery”, the most ancient part of the graveyard (1000-700 B.C.), recent excavations brought to light three looted graves dated in the mid-fourth century B.C., with very interesting finds such as weapons, gilded wreaths, pieces of jewelry, remains of decoration of wooden furniture, ceramic vases broken in small pieces and wall paintings. This paper describes studies carried out on the binding and the painting materials used for the decoration of the above wall paintings and ceramic vases. The characterization was performed through Optical Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Microscopy (SEM-EDS). It was found that the fresco technique was used, while all the pigments were identified. The results are discussed and related with other findings in that period in the Greek area

The effect of ceramic vases on the acoustics of old Greek orthodox churches

The effect of resonators on the acoustics of orthodox churches was studied. Empty bottles of commercial refreshment were used as resonators. A total number of 480 resonators having the same resonant frequency, were placed inside a church, in steps of 100 resonators each time, and the impulse response of the church was measured and analyzed in 1/1 and 1/3 octave band analysis. The effect of resonators is rather poor. An amplification of sound in the near field of resonators was observed as well as a small attenuation of the sound level in the reverberant part of the field in the resonant frequency and near to a higher overtone. A remarkable increase of C80 and D50 at resonant frequency was also observed.

Leishmaniose tegumentar no Brasil: revisão histórica da origem, expansão e etiologia

In that revision, the author concluded that tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) already existed in the country for many years and distinguished three stages in the historical development of the disease. The first one, of uncertain origin and based on vague references, extended until 1895, the year that was marked by the clinical observation of Bahia button and its relationship with the Oriental button. The second stage extended until 1909, when the etiologi- cal agent of Bauru ulcer was identified and described. The third stage started in 1910, when the parasite was found in mucosal lesions, then added to the clinical picture of the disease, and went up to the publication of the article. Archeological studies developed in Peruvian huacos - ceramic vases displaying reproduction of human images, both healthy and disease-mutilated ones - could assure the occurrence of uta and espundia - local names for the cutaneous and mucosal forms of TL, respectively - among the Incas, during the pre-Colombian era, although they were misinterpreted as syphilis in the beginning. On the other hand, studies of anthropomorphic ceramics produced by our Indian ancestors, due to their rudimentary characteristics, did not enable the same type of observation. The only safe and probably older indication of the disease in Brazil is found in a citation contained in the thesis by Tello, Antiguedad de la syphilis en el Peru, of 1908 and related to the written work Pastoral Religioso- Politico Geographico, published in 1827 and repor- ting a missionary's trip in the Amazon region. The missionary observed individuals presenting ulcers in their arms and legs, related to insect bites, which resulted in destructive lesions in their mouth and nose. Since it had not been previously mentioned in Brazil, Rabello thought it was more reasonable to suppose that, being endemic in the Amazon region, but at the same time originated from Peru and Bolivia, the disease could have spread in the Northern states in Brazil by individuals who trave- led to that area looking for work at the rubber tree exploitation sites and went back to their home- towns infected with the disease. As to the Central and Southern regions in Brazil, he found it was more likely that the disease could have been impor- ted from Bolivia or from the Amazon, via the State of Mato Grosso, and also probably from Paraguay, via the states of Mato Grosso or Parana, in view of its endemic form in those countries much earlier than the discovery. This long period of indemnity was probably determined by isolation due to poor transportation conditions at that time. The follo- wing were also considered strong evidence of the

The centaur's smile: the human animal in early Greek art

Human animals - such as centaurs, satyrs, sphinxes, sirens and gorgons - as well as other composite creatures like Pan, Triton and the Minotaur are extremely common in Greek myth, literature, theatre and the visual arts. Understanding the phenomenon of combining human and animal elements into composite creatures is central to our knowledge of the Greek imagination. This is an investigation of the representations of these human animals in early Greek art (circa 850-450 BC). The Centaur's Smile discusses the oriental antecedents of these fantastic creatures, examining the influence of Egyptian and Near Eastern models on the formation of Greek monsters in the early Archaic period. Essays also explore the nature and origin of horse-men (centaurs and satyrs) and the ways in which they are represented in early Greek art. Furthermore, the book surveys the broader range of Greek composite creatures and discusses their evolving forms and changing roles and meaning. Over 100 objects - all reproduced in colour - are described and analysed in detail. Among the featured works are: reliefs and statuettes in stone, bronze and terracotta; jewellery and metalwork in gold, silver and electrum; engraved sealstones in rock crystal, jasper and cornelian; and painted ceramic vases from Athens, Corinth, Rhodes, Miletus, Cyprus and Etruria.