Cooking Pot Research Articles

A Review ofXiongnu Tombs in Mongolia

본 논문에서는 2(X)(년 이후 집중적인 조사가 이루어진 봉콜지역 흉노시대 분묘에 대한조사 현황을살펴보고 흉노무덩의구조와편년을비롯한분묘관련연구성과를검토하였다. 봉콜 전역에서는 대략 기원전 1세기 전 중반부터 기원후 1세기에 해당하는 적석목곽이 기본 구조인흉노무덩이 발견된다 각무덩군간의거리가상당하지만，봉골전역의흉노무덩은지상에노출된 외부 형태와 지하의 매장주체부 구조가 거의 유사하다 대형 흉노무덩의 경우 칠마차 칠목관과 급은제 목관 장식， 비 단을 비 롯한 각종 직물， 급은제 장신구， 동복과 각종 청동 용기， 동경， 급은제 pj- 규 장식을 비롯한여러 벌의 마구류， 각종 생활용기(대형 용， 호， 동잔， 성발) 풍 부장유울에서 거의 통일한 구성을 보여주고 있으며 소형 흉노 무덩 역시 대형 무덩에 비해 소략하기는 하기만 각종 장신구 마구 토기(심발 호) 동 일관된 부장 양상이 확인된다 봉골 전역에 걸쳐 흉노시대 분묘의 구조와부장품의 구성이 동일하다는 점은 당시 무덩의 조성에 중앙의 강력한통제가있었음을시사한다 흉노 무덩은 외부 적석 구조에 따라 원형(고리형)과 방형으로 나면다 원형은 묘도가 없는데 비해， 방형은 일부 유적을 제외한 대부분의 무덩에서 묘도를 갖추고 있다 초대형을 제외한 대부분의 흉노무덩에서는 별도의 봉분을 확인할 수 없는 반면， 대형 또는초대형 무덩은 ‘뀐자형의 테두리를 띠라석축벽이부가되어약간의 봉분구조를갖추고있다 매장주체부는목관이나목곽의사용。1 일반적인데 2중목곽은 대형의 ‘뀐’자형 평연 구조를 갖춘 흉노 무덩에서 주로 확인된다 특히 배장묘 를 갖춘 2중목곽의 초대형 무덩은 규모 부장품의 동급과수량 변에서도 다른무덩과는 뚜렷한 써를보이고있는 바 최고계층의묘제로사용되었을것으로추정된다This paper reviews the recent archaeological investigation on Xiongnu tombs in Mongolia that took place since 2000, and examines the research on the structure and chronology ofXiongno tombs. In the 21th century, manyXiongnu tombs, dated from 1st century BCE to 1st century CE, were discovered and excavated in Mongolia. Despite the considerable distance between the burial groups, the Xiongnu tombs throughout Mongolia are similar in the appearance on the ground and the internal structures. In case oflarge Xiongnu tombs, coffìn walls were covered with felt rug or silk, and decorated with gold or silver ornaments. Inside or outside the coffìn, ritual grave goods of similar composition are found that include animal bones, pottery, ornaments, horse equipment, bronze mirrors, lacquer wares, bronze cooking pots, jade decorations and various weapons. The small Xiongnu tombs are also relativε， ly simple compared to large tombs, but various grave goods such as jewelry, harnesses, and earthenware can be found. The fact that the tomb structure and the composition of grave goods are the same throughout Mongolia indicates a strong central control of the tomb composition during the Xiongnu era Most Xiongnu tombs have two types of surface stone structure: square and roughly circular. The circ ar tombs do not have dromos, whereas the square tombs mostly have a long rectangular dromos or entry chamber on the south side. In most of the Xiongnu tombs the mound cannot be identifìed, but large or extra-large tombs have a mound structure with a stone wall along the outline. Inside the large tomb there is usually a single or a double (exterior and interior) wooden chamber holding the coffìn at the bottom of a burial pit. In particular, extra-large tombs with -shaped outline, which have many satellite burials near the main tomb, are remarkably different in size of structure and quantity of grave goods from the others. Such tombs are thought to have belonged t。e aristocratic cl잉s of the Xiongnu.

Pottery in Hellenistic tradition from ancient Bactria: The Kurganzol fortress (Uzbekistan, Central Asia)

Kurganzol is one of the fortresses founded in ancient Bactria during the conquest of Alexander the Great. An archaeometric characterisation was conducted on 20 pottery sherds recovered in the earliest settlement dated to the late-4th BC. The aim is to examine both the composition and variation of the raw materials used and the production technology involved in pottery manufacture. The sampling included plates, cup/bowls, basins, jars, containers, a colander, a bottle or flask and a cooking pot. The analytical program comprised X-ray Fluorescence, X-ray Diffraction, and thin section analysis as well as the study of the geological environment. The analysis of the surface treatment was performed on three sherds through scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The results were compared with an analytical database that includes wares in Hellenistic tradition from coeval sites in the region (i.e. Kampyr Tepe and Termez). The analysis revealed that most of the tableware and common wares analysed correspond to a single local pottery production consisting of a very fine calcareous fabric. Composition and morphological characteristics of these wares enable distinguishing this fabric from other contemporary pottery productions. A regional origin was however assigned for a few wares confirming contacts among different sites. The only cooking pot examined consisted of a calcareous shelltempered fabric which is consistent with a regional technological tradition.

Household Scales: What Cooking Pots Can Tell Us About Households in the Late Neolithic Stavroupoli (Northern Greece)

AbstractRemains of the houses in the Late Neolithic of Northern Greece are as a rule less well preserved than in some other regions of Greece such as Thessaly. The site of Stavroupoli-Thessaloniki is a settlement with a dense habitation pattern, but poorly preserved architecture. Several habitation phases have been distinguished, dating to the Middle and Late Neolithic. Radiocarbon dates place the earlier phase to 5890 B.C. or slightly later. As the domestic unit in Stavroupoli can barely be approached through their architecture, the ceramic wares and particularly the cooking vessels will be used as a proxy to identify households and clarify aspects of their organization. The size of domestic units is approached through capacity of cooking pots, assuming that sharing cooked food on everyday level is a vital element of these units. Also, variability in cooking techniques between houses and possible changes through time will be examined through both the shape and the size of cooking vessels. Finally, Stavroupoli’s cooking pots will be compared with cooking vessels from other contemporaneous sites in order to approach the issue of household on a regional level.

Earliest direct evidence of plant processing in prehistoric Saharan pottery

The invention of thermally resistant ceramic cooking vessels around 15,000 years ago was a major advance in human diet and nutrition1-3, opening up new food groups and preparation techniques. Previous investigations of lipid biomarkers contained in food residues have routinely demonstrated the importance of prehistoric cooking pots for the processing of animal products across the world4. Remarkably, however, direct evidence for plant processing in prehistoric pottery has not been forthcoming, despite the potential to cook otherwise unpalatable or even toxic plants2,5. In North Africa, archaeobotanical evidence of charred and desiccated plant organs denotes that Early Holocene hunter-gatherers routinely exploited a wide range of plant resources6. Here, we reveal the earliest direct evidence for plant processing in pottery globally, from the sites of Takarkori and Uan Afuda in the Libyan Sahara, dated to 8200-6400 bc. Characteristic carbon number distributions and δ13C values for plant wax-derived n-alkanes and alkanoic acids indicate sustained and systematic processing of C3/C4 grasses and aquatic plants, gathered from the savannahs and lakes in the Early to Middle Holocene green Sahara.

The effect of mineralogy, microstructure and firing temperature on the effective thermal conductivity of traditional hot processing ceramics

The present work analyses the effect of mineralogy, microstructure and firing temperature on the effective thermal conductivity of traditional hot processing ceramics. Samples prepared with two quartz-rich kaolinitic clays (BAR1 and BAR2), a fine kaolinitic clay (ARG) and a glaucophane-rich clay (SIF), were fired in the range between 950 and 1350°C. The effective thermal conductivity is principally affected by the porosity of the body. Mullite further improves the thermal conductivity of BAR1 and BAR2 ceramics, while in ARG samples cristobalite is correlated with the increase in thermal conductivity. In SIF ceramics, the higher densification and the formation of spinel, pyroxene and hematite results in a higher conductivity compared to the other samples. The amorphous phase improves the ceramics' thermal conductivity since it seals voids between particles. In samples in which quartz exceeds 50wt%, the ceramics' thermal conductivity decreases because of fissures and detachment zones formed after the α-β quartz phase transition. Finally, functional conclusions are drawn on traditional cooking pot and Medieval glass crucibles.

Characterization of gaseous and particulate pollutants from gasification-based improved cookstoves

Cookstove studies have reported pollutant concentrations (mainly PM2.5, black carbon and CO) without routinely associating it with the design and operating principles of the stoves. Extensive characterization of pollutants from cookstoves and the effect of different operating conditions are required for a better understanding of the mechanisms of pollutant formation. In this study, a forced draft (FD) and a natural draft (ND) gasification-based improved cookstove were tested under controlled conditions. Real-time pollutant concentrations, both particulate (PM2.5, lung-deposited surface area and particle number size distribution) and gaseous (CO, CO2 and NOx), from these stoves using three types of fuel (applewood chips and chunks, cowdung cake and coal) along with different cookstove operating conditions (airflow rates and with or without a cooking pot) were measured and compared. The FD cookstove tended to exhibit higher concentrations of emissions compared to the ND cookstove. Increasing airflow through the FD stove decreased flame length and the residence time of VOCs inside the flame zone, which in turn increased pollutant concentrations. An optimum airflow producing the lowest particulate matter (PM) concentrations was established for the FD cookstove. The CO–CO2 ratio, an indicator of combustion efficiency, demonstrated strong correlations with PM2.5 (r=0.857), particle geometric mean diameter (r=0.900) and the total surface area concentration (r=0.908) indicating that CO–CO2 ratio may be used as a proxy for these PM metrics. Results reported in this study will facilitate further improvements in the design of future cookstoves.

Simulation of Performance of Thermal Energy Storage in a Solar Cooker

Finite element analysis was used to simulate the performance of thermal energy storage in a solar cooker which was fabricated by our team. This cooker stores solar energy in materials like sand for future use. It is inexpensive to construct and can be widely used in villages and urban areas. The cooker energy storage unit consists of a cubical solid block which contains sand as a solar-energy storage unit, along with conducting aluminum sheets for uniform heat distribution throughout the block. The block is enclosed in a uniform layer of insulation, except the cavities on the top surface to allow heating of the sand and as well as near the cooking pot. This heated sand can be used at night to heat a cooking pot which is centrally located in the storage box. A paraboloidal concentrator focuses solar radiation through a secondary reflector onto the central zone of the storage block through the cavity in the insulation. The storage is charged for a set period of time and heat is subsequently discharged to a pot during the night time. The effects on cooker performance are compared for various numbers of plates in the storage block. The temperature attained at various stages is studied for various models. This can be used to cook food in a slow manner and can be kept heated until night.

The Civil Cooking Pot: Hominy and the Mississippian Standard Jar in the Black Warrior Valley, Alabama

AbstractAlthough the Mississippian standard jar, a specific vessel form found in many parts of the Mississippian cultural world, has long been recognized as a utilitarian cooking pot, the important connection between this ceramic form and maize has largely been overlooked. By focusing on the Mississippian site of Moundville located in the Black Warrior valley of west-central Alabama, I propose that the Mississippian standard jar was not simply a general cooking pot, but instead a specialized culinary tool used to nixtamalize maize. As such, both the vessel and the plant were part of a cohesive ancestral hominy foodway. This relationship is demonstrated in two ways: first, by articulating both the hominy foodway and the antecedent nut foodway practiced between A.D. 1020–1260; and, second, by exploring changes in the morphology and use-alteration patterns of the Moundville Mississippian standard jars recovered from contexts dating to the Moundville I-III phases(A.D. 1120–1520). The relationship between vessel and food demonstrated here suggests a practice- and taste-based model for the synergistic relationship long recognized between maize and the emergence of the Mississippian civic-ceremonial center of Moundville.

Cooking fabric recipes: an interdisciplinary study of Cypriot cooking pots of the Late Bronze Age

This paper discusses the first results of an interdisciplinary research project on ancient cooking pots from Cyprus contextualising this ceramic corpus within its social and historical milieu. Late Bronze Age cooking pots from the urban centre of Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios, and the contemporary, short-lived settlements of Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro were examined through typological classifications, fabric composition and the technology of their production, to determine technological and socioeconomic change. Ceramic petrography was employed for the mineralogical and technological characterisation of the samples.The inter-type and inter-site compositional and technological variability were assessed with regard to regional geology, the production and distribution of cooking pots, the character of the settlements, possible links among these settlements and other regional centres, and the historical and social processes at the final stages of the Late Bronze Age.

Preliminary results of the organic residue analysis of 13th century cooking wares from a household in Frankish Paphos (Cyprus)

Organic residue analysis was carried out on kitchen wares from a Medieval household at Paphos (Cyprus) in the framework of the POMEDOR Project, which aims to gain insight into food practices in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Medieval period. The samples were selected from a household assemblage which included nearly two hundred table, cooking and storage vessels, and provided a rare insight into everyday life in Frankish-period Paphos. Both glazed and unglazed vessels were chosen for this first step towards the study of foodways at the site: 4 glazed vessels (3 pans/baking dishes and 1 cooking pot) and 7 unglazed vessels (3 cooking pots, 1 jug and 3 pans/baking dishes). Samples were analysed using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry, following different extraction methods to identify the residues preserved. The preliminary study confirmed that glazed ceramics absorb residues. Animal products were identified in the unglazed pots and in glazed pans/baking dishes. Only one unglazed pan shows residues of possible wine or its derivatives, that may have been used to flavor the foodstuff cooked.Statement of significance Ceramic vessels can be studied in order to recover information about their original content through specific chemical analyses.This study is part of the first step of a broader project, which aims to gain insights into food practices in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Medieval period. The project incorporates historical, archaeological and archaeometric research.The study provides information on the use of a range of vessels, such as pots, pans/baking dishes, and jugs, as well as on the food cooked in them.An important aspect of this study is that it confirms that glazed ceramics absorb and preserve organic residues, yielding information about the original content of the vessels.

Intentional Cooking Pot Deposits in Late Roman Jerash (Northwest Quarter)

Abstract – During the 2012 campaign of the Danish-German Northwest Quarter Project in Jerash, ancient Gerasa, three intentionally deposited cooking pots were found in a fill layer. Two of them were almost intact and discovered with ashes and other finds inside. Another one was fragmented and also held ashes inside. The cooking pot deposits are likely to have been termination deposits. It is the scope of this paper to discuss the context and function of these deposits and of comparable evidences. No completely conclusive explanation for the three deposited cooking pots from the Northwest Quarter can be given, but the context gives clear indications that they were deposited intentionally and were only in some sort of use for a short period of time. They were not part of an installation, such as a kitchen or production complex and they were not part of an ancient dump. The homogenous fill layers surrounding them indicate a rapid and intentional filling —a process in which these deposited pots played a role. We here suggest a possible ritual or magic function of these pots as termination deposits, but this can only be confirmed further by comparable finds excavated and documented in detail at other sites as well as better knowledge of the room that was backfilled and ritually closed with termination deposits. The main purpose of this article is to raise awareness of such deposits in archaeological contexts, which may too often be overlooked.

THE HUMAN ASPECT OF TECHNOLOGY: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Cooking Ware from Jordan

The most interesting pottery type that can shed light on the debate on technology as having social or functional ends is the cooking pot. This object type has often been studied to explain the physical characteristics that potters employ in its manufacturing so that it can withstand the heat and cold associated with use. This paper aims at defining the physical characteristics of manufacturing a cooking pot and interpreting the social aspects of pot manufacturing using the different techniques employed as signifiers of the pottery communities. This study emphasizes the combination of approaches that explain the “material” bases of artifact manufacturing and at the same time draw attention to the humanistic or social side of technology. The social side of technology is embedded in the potters' practices, such as the choice of tempering materials and the forming techniques.

Subsistence Practices and Feasting Rites: Chumash Identity after European Colonization

The Chumash Indians of southern California were active social agents after European contact, making choices in the traditions that they maintained despite drastic transformations in their daily lives. Archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence suggests that they continued to hold large ceremonial feasts with massive quantities of traditional foods prepared in oversized vessels, such as decorated mortars and steatite cooking pots. Many of these vessels proliferated or became more elaborate after the introduction of metal tools. The persistence and elaboration of traditional patterns of food procurement, preparation, and consumption served as a symbol of cultural identity among the Chumash and a means of maintaining and expanding social networks that extended over a wide region of California.

Confessions of an ambidextrous fiddler crab

Confessions of an ambidextrous fiddler crab

Analyzing the fired-clay ceramic of EBA Canaanite pottery using FT-IR spectroscopy and LA-ICP-MS

The fired-clay ceramic of EBA (Early Bronze Age) Canaanite pottery is mineralogically and chemically analyzed by using FT-IR spectroscopy and LA-ICP-MS. Spectral analysis by second-derivative and curve-fitting techniques is applied to the FT-IR spectra in order to improve the identification of the compositional phases. In the firing of ceramics at temperatures no higher than 950 °C, the initial clay of the raw material is transformed into fired-clay, which is then defined as meta-clay. The meta-clay is characterized by a pseudo-amorphous, short-range ordered structure. The clay minerals kaolinite, smectite (montmorillonite) and illite are thermally transformed into metakaolinite, meta-smectite and meta-illite, respectively. In the present study, the fired-clay ceramic is analyzed in two specific classes of EBA Canaanite pottery: Metallic Ware (a group of ceramic) and holemouth cooking pots. The FT-IR spectroscopy and LA-ICP-MS results demonstrate that the major constituent of Metallic Ware is metakaolinite with quartz, indicating that kaolinitic raw material containing quartz was utilized for their manufacture. On the other hand, the major constituent of holemouth cooking pots is meta-smectite, indicating that smectitic raw material was used. An observation of both meta-clays in parts of the ceramics indicates that raw material consisting of a mixture of kaolinite and smectite was employed. The kaolinitic raw material was utilized for the manufacture of high-quality Metallic Ware because it does not swell or shrink upon wetting and drying, and can be fired to high temperatures to form impermeable, thin-walled durable vessels. However, for the manufacture of cooking pots a raw material that is stable in cooking directly over fire was required, and for this purpose smectitic raw material was utilized.

Experimental investigation of the solar cooker during sunshine and off-sunshine hours using the thermal energy storage unit based on a parabolic trough collector

A solar cooker based on a parabolic trough collector with thermal energy storage (TES) was investigated. In this experimental set-up, solar radiations were focused on the absorber tube and the collected heat was transferred to the solar cooker by natural circulation (thermosiphon) of the working fluid. The water and thermal oil (engine oil) were used separately as working fluids. Acetanilide was used as the TES material in the solar cooker. In day time, the phase change material (PCM) stored heat as well as transferred it to the cooking pot. In evening time, the stored energy by PCM was used to cook the food. The cooking process was carried out with different foods and with variation in the quantity of food. It was found that the temperature of thermal oil was 10–24°C higher than water as the working fluid. The system was able to cook the food twice a day and the rate of evening cooking was higher as compared with noon cooking. Using thermal oil as the working fluid, the quantity of heat stored by PCM was increased by an amount of 19.45–30.38% as compared with water.

Maize consumption in pre-Hispanic south-central Andes: chemical and microscopic evidence from organic residues in archaeological pottery from western Tinogasta (Catamarca, Argentina)

Pre-Hispanic Andean societies depended economically on the cultivation of maize (Zea mays), the main staple food crop in the region after its introduction from highland Mexico. Here we report new data from residue analysis of potsherds recovered in archaeological sites in western Tinogasta, Catamarca province, Argentina, ca. 3rd to 16th centuries AD. Molecular and isotopic (δ13C values) compositions of fatty acids and microscopically identified maize starch granules from organic residues absorbed in archaeological potsherds were compared with Andean ingredients and food residues obtained from experimental replica pots, where traditional recipes were cooked. Complex mixtures of lipids and starch remains observed in archaeological cooking pots indicated combinations of Andean ingredients such as llama, beans, algarroba, and maize, and suggest continuity in the domestic foodways through time. The distribution and δ13C values of lipids preserved in vessels used for alcoholic beverage preparation, storage and transport in Inka sites suggested the possible consumption of two drinks with distinct patterns: traditional Andean maize beer (chicha) and a local fermented drink made from algarroba flour (aloja). This is potential evidence for consumption practices in festive contexts sponsored by the Inka state.

The First Season of Excavations of the Khirbat al-Mukhayyat Archaeological Project

The first season of the Khirbat al-Mukhayyat Archaeological Project focused on excavations in three areas of the site: Field A along the southern slope of the acropolis, Field B to the south of the acropolis, and Field C located on the flat area north of the acropolis. Field A revealed a series of east-west running walls and pottery ranging from the Iron Age to the Late Byzantine/Early Islamic Period. Excavations in Field B focused on two squares and yielded the corner of a large Hellenistic structure. Additionally, several intact Hellenistic cooking pots were recovered from this area. Although the central area of Field C contained no architecture, a rock-cut installation and a plastered reservoir dating to the Hellenistic Period were unearthed. In addition, the western area of Field C produced a large plaster-lined stepped installation.

A Randomized Control Trial Using a Fish-Shaped Iron Ingot for the Amelioration of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Rural Cambodian Women

Objective: The objectives were to determine whether cooking food with an iron ingot increases the hemoglobin and serum ferritin of women and whether women would use an iron ingot shaped like a fish considered lucky in Cambodian culture. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in three villages in rural Kandal Province, Cambodia. Participants were randomly assigned to the iron ingot, the iron ingot plus nutrition education, or untreated control group. Participants were instructed to use the iron ingot daily by adding it to the cooking pot when preparing soup or boiling drinking water and boiling for at least 10 minutes. Blood samples were taken at baseline and every three months thereafter, over a 12-month trial period. Results: Overall, a 46% reduction in the prevalence of anemia within the intervention group was noted at the end of the study. Hemoglobin concentrations were greater by 11.8 g/L (95% CI: 9.1, 14.6; P<0.0001) in women in the iron ingot group when compared to controls. Serum ferritin concentrations were 31.0 ng/mL (95% CI: 17.1, 45.0; P<0.0001) greater after 12 months of using the iron ingot when compared to controls. Over 94% of women used the iron ingot at least 3 times per week. Conclusion: The iron ingot shaped as a lucky fish is a very effective, innovative form of homestead food fortification in a country lacking affordable and accessible means of improving iron intake.

Keeping your temper under control: materials and the manufacture of Papuan pottery

Specific materials and techniques used in production of Melanesian pottery are analyzed. Investigation is made of theoretical advantages of using calcite as tempering material for low-fired, unglazed cooking pots. An experimental attempt was made to determine whether sea water or salt was used in excavated sherds.