Craft Areas Research Articles

Officina di IG XIV2 – Probable Defixio on a Tile from Taranto

The paper discusses the first edition of a list of personal names inscribed on a terracotta tile. The document, which dates back to the early Hellenistic period, was brought to light in 1988 from a craft area site in Taranto (via Leonida 52). The type of inscription seems to refer to the genre of defixiones written in the form of a nominal list, while the type of medium appears to be rather unusual for a magical text. Comparison with a coeval defixio from Taranto and similar documents shows that magic lists are known to have been used in Taranto during the Hellenistic period, as well as in other areas of Magna Graecia and Sicily.

Analisis Faktor Ergonomi pada UMKM Batik Tradisional Kediri

UMKM Traditional Batik located in Kediri is a batik woven craft area that has been established since the 1950s which processes raw products in the form of threads into semi-finished products in the form of cloth and finished products such as sarongs, batik clothes. The batik production process itself still uses simple tools and the process is done manually without tools and the technology used is a hereditary heritage. The risk of ergonomic hazards in traditional batik has several working postures when carrying out the process of making traditional batik such as standing, sitting or squatting. For this reason, this study aims to assess ergonomic factors in traditional batik workers at Traditional Batik SMEs. The method used in this research is using SNI 9011:2021. The sample of this research is traditional batik craftsmen in Kediri, totaling 10 respondents. Based on the results of observations on traditional Batik in Kediri using SNI 9011: 2021, the results showed that the working posture of traditional batik workers was classified as in the medium category. Complaints experienced by batik workers in traditional Batik found that most experienced complaints on the shoulders and back. Traditional Batik owners should make improvements to the ergonomic seating of traditional batik workers according to the body posture of the workers, doing regular stretching.

The Makeup of a Makerspace: The Impact of Stereotyping, Self-Efficacy, and Physical Design on Women’s Interactions with an Academic Makerspace

This article applies a qualitative ethnographic research approach to explore the perceptions of highly-skilled makers of gender and its role in their makerspace. It explores two research topics – common problems impacting makerspaces and the role of gender in makerspaces – and then analyses the results in the context of their impact on women’s sense of self-efficacy. Various factors relating to the overall makerspace culture contribute to women’s lowered sense of self-efficacy. In the makerspace under study in this work, a feminine-stereotyped Craft Area had been integrated among the more ‘traditional’ makerspace equipment, affecting women’s participation in the space. Ergonomic and accessibility problems in the masculine-stereotyped areas of the makerspace were more likely to negatively impact women’s use of the space. We discuss potential solutions to common problems in the makerspace and share recommendations to create a more universally accessible makerspace and impart the benefits of experiential learning more equitably.

Area Learning Model of Conectivism based in Fine Art and Craft Learning to Improve Social, Metacognitive Skills in Elementary School Students

This research aims to test area learning model of connectivism based in art and craft learning to improve social and metacognitive skills in second grade of elementary school students. This learning model is a learning model that gives students the freedom to choose learning activities in the area they interest (learning area). It consists of drawing, shaping, and craft areas. By starting to read material and to select material are activities to select the learning area. Moreover, for work appreciation activities use IT as a basis for connectivism. This learning model is one of the solutions to overcome the problems of learning which is monotonous manner. It tends to be a large amount of intervention in students’ work processes, which makes them to be less able to develop their social and metacognitive skills. After the treatment was carried out on the students, the results on the social skills variable obtained the calculation data using the N-gain score with the criteria: 0.63 (N-Gain score 0.3 < N-gain < 0.7, included in the medium category), whereas if N-Gain score > 0.7 (High category). The results obtained from the combination of the pretest-posttest scores on the aspect of social skills were classified as high criteria for 22 students, while at a moderate increase of 2 students, the metacognitive data obtained test data 1 and test 2 on pre-test scores and post-test scores on improvement moderate as many as 3, while in the high improvement category there were 21 students out of 24 students.

Bridging the Lacuna Between Concept and Modeling in Ceramic Practice

Ceramics, burnt stuff is the use of clay with or without other substances and rendered permanently rocklike, dense, and vitreous by heat treatment. From its birth, the traditional potters like their counterparts in other art and craft areas produced their wares from concept to the modeling without drawing or sketching. In the hand building technique of ceramics which involves pinching, coiling and slab methods, practiced by every ceramist, even those that have gone through the formal education system still produce wares without drawing which remains, the initial documentation of ideas, thoughts or concepts for record purposes and planning. This paper brings drawing to the fore, to bridge the lacuna between concept and modeling in ceramics practice, especially among professional artists and ceramists from art centers and institutions of higher learning.

Reflections into Ptolemaic glass: Colorless, white, blue, and green inlays from the workshop of Tebtynis

AbstractInlays range among the most aesthetically pleasing and technically challenging glasses produced in the Ptolemaic period. Despite the central role of this phase in the history of glass technology, little is known about the recipes and the technological knowledge of the Egyptian artisans. This paper will thus focus on the study of the materials from the secondary workshop of Tebtynis (Fayum oasis, Egypt). We report the first multi‐methodological study comprising textural, chemical, and mineralogical analyses (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive system, electron probe microanalysis, and μ‐Raman spectroscopy) on a set of 81 colorless, white, blue, and green samples carefully selected among the 800+ glasses from the craft area now stored at the Museo Egizio, Turin (Italy).Our study offers the biggest compositional database of well‐dated Ptolemaic glasses currently available in the literature, highlighting some interesting novelties regarding the silica and alkali sources, and the coloring and opacifying techniques employed. The results suggest a specialized craft of traditional origin, but open to innovation and experimentation, as expected from transitional phases.

Ceramic complexes of the mouth of Wadi el-Hawad: Features of Meroitic pottery under king Natakamani (morphology and archaeometry)

The urban and temple centers of the ancient Sudanese kingdom of Meroe – Hamadab, Awlib and Abu Erteila are located to the south of capital, at the mouth of the seasonal watercourse Wadi el-Hawad, and flourished under the King Natakamani in the 1st century A.D. The study of the pottery shape features makes it possible to identify the morphological evolution of Meroitic ceramics, its functions, and local characteristics. Archaeometric analysis of pottery helps to differentiate the methods of its manufacture and belonging to production centers. As a result, we can say that each of the settlements could have own pottery workshops, which provided, first of all, their needs. Trade in ceramics was weak, and ordinary types of utensils were used in the exchange of their contents. The location of the pottery workshops identified in Hamadab and Muweis demonstrates the development of a planning system for their settlements according to a single model, clearly divided into residential and craft areas, being a characteristic feature of the production infrastructure of the capital region of the Meroitic Kingdom. Although the image of material culture of Meroe shows a high degree of centralization, clearly expressed in the unity of the temple and administrative architecture, and the style of household and cult items (primarily ceramics), we can conclude that the handicraft production and exchange of goods between Meroitic settlements were less centralized, which led to the creation and active functioning of their own pottery workshops both in large urban centers and small administrative and temple complexes.

Dwellings and workspaces at Strandvägen, 5600–5000 cal. BC

This paper describes identified workspaces and the manufacture of slotted bone points at the Late Mesolithic settlement Strandvägen in Motala, in eastern central Sweden. Several dwellings were documented, Dwelling 1 being typically round-oval in shape 9×5.5 meters, with a floor area covering 49.5 m2. Radiocarbon dates fall between approximately 5600-5200cal BC. A combined archaeological record, with lithics and bone artefacts as well as analyses of the osteological assemblage has shown that slotted bone tools with mounted lithic inserts have been produced adjacent of the dwelling. The spatial distribution of bone flakes, microblades, processed resin and slotted artefacts testify to a clearly and delimited craft area near the shoreline of the river Motala Ström. Analyses of the finds, e.g. birch bark resin and prepared bone preforms by direct percussion, also help in reconstructing the stages of manufacturing composite projectile points in this part of Eurasia.

Preliminary Analysis of Relationships between COVID19 and Climate, Morphology, and Urbanization in the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy).

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the most severe global health and socioeconomic crisis of our time, and represents the greatest challenge faced by the world since the end of the Second World War. The academic literature indicates that climatic features, specifically temperature and absolute humidity, are very important factors affecting infectious pulmonary disease epidemics - such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS); however, the influence of climatic parameters on COVID-19 remains extremely controversial. The goal of this study is to individuate relationships between several climate parameters (temperature, relative humidity, accumulated precipitation, solar radiation, evaporation, and wind direction and intensity), local morphological parameters, and new daily positive swabs for COVID-19, which represents the only parameter that can be statistically used to quantify the pandemic. The daily deaths parameter was not considered, because it is not reliable, due to frequent administrative errors. Daily data on meteorological conditions and new cases of COVID-19 were collected for the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy) from 1 March, 2020 to 20 April, 2020. This region exhibited the largest rate of official deaths in the world, with a value of approximately 1700 per million on 30 June 2020. Moreover, the apparent lethality was approximately 17% in this area, mainly due to the considerable housing density and the extensive presence of industrial and craft areas. Both the Mann–Kendall test and multivariate statistical analysis showed that none of the considered climatic variables exhibited statistically significant relationships with the epidemiological evolution of COVID-19, at least during spring months in temperate subcontinental climate areas, with the exception of solar radiation, which was directly related and showed an otherwise low explained variability of approximately 20%. Furthermore, the average temperatures of two highly representative meteorological stations of Molise and Lucania (Southern Italy), the most weakly affected by the pandemic, were approximately 1.5 °C lower than those in Bergamo and Brescia (Lombardy), again confirming that a significant relationship between the increase in temperature and decrease in virulence from COVID-19 is not evident, at least in Italy.

First elemental analysis of glass from Southern Myanmar: replacing the region in the early Maritime Silk Road

The two neighboring late prehistoric/protohistoric sites of Aw Gyi and Maliwan, located in the southernmost part of Myanmar in the Isthmus of Kra, yielded large quantities of glass beads and wastes. The measurement of 61 glass compositions from these sites using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry has revealed two different patterns. At Aw Gyi, a combination of potash and m-Na-Ca-Al glasses, also noticed at Arikamedu, India (1st c. BC and onward), and Phu Khao Thong, Thailand (2nd c. BC–4th c. AD), two ports facing the Bay of Bengal, suggests the existence of a “Bay of Bengal” network, active from the 2nd–1st c. BC. At Maliwan, the glass types are more diversified with some of them found generally during the 4th to 2nd c. BC period. This is in line with the radiocarbon dating of the site that shows an occupation from the 4th to the 1st c. BC. However, Maliwan has little in common in terms of glass typology with other early and contemporary sites along the Isthmus of Kra indicating that they were not part of the same network. At Aw Gyi and Maliwan, evidence would suggest bead making, but the craft areas where such an activity would have taken place remains to be found. Despite this caveat, the difference in glass composition and typology between these close-by sites draws perhaps a more complex economic and political situation than expected with different networks at early periods on the east and west side of the Isthmus of Kra.

ПРОБЛЕМА СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ СТРУКТУРЫ СРЕДНЕВЕКОВОГО РЕМЕСЛА ПОВОЛЖЬЯ ПО АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИМ ДАННЫМ

The social structure of medieval craft in the Volga region was studied with the help of archaeological data. For this purpose, the manufacturing techniques were analyzed and described. Reconstruction of the craft organization demands a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis (integration of the traditional archaeological and archaeometric methods) of craft products, raw materials, and workshops. This approach was applied to the investigation of the Bilyar settlement, which is the best studied pre-Mongolian monument and, therefore, the most informative one. The conclusions were made about the organizational specifics of the Bulgarian craft, concerning, in particular, its topography within the city. Two major social forms were singled out: palatial (khan) craft and free small commodity production. Three main components of craft associations were established: apprenticeship institution, settling by professions inherent in the organized craft, and manufacture control. The progressive development of the Bulgar craft was disrupted by the Mongol invasion that changed the vector of cultural development in all craft areas. New trends in the craft organization typical of the Golden Horde were particularly pronounced in the Lower Volga capitals of Sarai al-Mahrusa (Selitrennoye settlement) and Sarai al-Jedid (Tsarevskoye settlement).

A Dig through Archives and Depots

Abstract Despite the key role of the Ptolemaic period in the history of glass technology, very little is known on the workshop activities and on the organization of the production. This is mainly due to the limits of the documentation currently available, consisting of very few archaeological contexts often poorly preserved. This contribution presents a first overview of the material and archival record related to the 1931 excavations in the Ptolemaic inlay workshop of Tebtynis (Fayum oasis, Egypt). Unlike other coeval sites, the data from Tebtynis revealed a complete set of evidence related to the stratigraphy and the topography of the craft area, to the shape and size of the kiln, to the furniture, the tools, the raw materials, and the finished products discovered. The interpretation of the data provides the opportunity to propose new hypotheses on the function of the spaces and the tools, but also on the chronology of the workshop, contributing to shedding light on the technological and empirical knowledge of the ancient Egyptian glassmakers in a crucial moment of glass history.

Items Made of Wood from the Territory of the Craft and Commercial Area at Bolgar During the Golden Horde Period (on materials of excavations CLXXIX, CXCII)

Items Made of Wood from the Territory of the Craft and Commercial Area at Bolgar During the Golden Horde Period (on materials of excavations CLXXIX, CXCII)

Items Made of Wood from the Territory of the Craft and Commercial Area at Bolgar During the Golden Horde Period (on materials of excavations CLXXIX, CXCII)

Items Made of Wood from the Territory of the Craft and Commercial Area at Bolgar During the Golden Horde Period (on materials of excavations CLXXIX, CXCII)

Bona Dea à Nîmes

A residential and craft area of the roman period was found during the excavations of the Parking Jean-Jaurès in Nîmes (2006-2007, director Jean‑Y ves Breuil, INRAP). The new datas give a context to ancient discoveries like a female statue identified as Bona Dea. This statue could belong to a private worship, located in this area. A second statue found out the limits of the roman town could be attached to a public worship. These two statues and altars from Glanum, Arles and Apt are the only known references to the deity in Gallia Narbonensis. They are evidences of the modes of introduction and spreading of this worship came from Latium.

La Artesanía de los muñecos llevada a la escuela

This article describes the experiences of bringing craftsmanship practice into the classroom. We dolls and ornaments and felted wool in a public school in Guadalajara with a craft area. Also do a tour of the artists who worked dolls and the importance of working with your hands and drama in education.

The ivory workshop of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain) and the identification of ivory from Asian elephant on the Iberian Peninsula in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC

During excavations in the huge ditched enclosure of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain), the main centre from the first hierarchical framework-settlement in the Guadalquivir Valley, a pit with remains of a context for producing ivory artefacts, dating from the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, was discovered in the large metallurgical nucleate workshops. Scientific (Optical Microscopy, FIRT and Raman Spectroscopy, C/N Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry) analyses revealed that the ivory belonged to Asian elephants and the archaeological study, which was made in a specialized workshop context. In this paper we present the archaeological context, the study of the ivory artefacts and the state of research on ivory in the Lower Guadalquivir Basin during the 3rd millennium BC. In a parallel way, this paper discusses the significance of this workshop context in the configuration and function of the long distance circulation of raw material and the specialized craft areas in the first political centres.

Is Financial Crisis an Opportunity for Vocational Education?

Abstract At the beginning of the 21st century, humanity is facing one of the largest financial crisis. This crisis is nothing else than the logical outcome of today's way of life, when the company is no longer based on production, but a mere trade - especially with the money in the stock markets. One way to find opportunities where the craft. One would again have to return to the craft fair. People who lost their jobs, seek career change or looking for the opportunity for active leisure, would certainly take advantage of lifelong learning in the craft areas. Secondary vocational schools have the advantage of accreditation and workshop facilities. However, it is a big risk unprofessional and incorrect lifelong learning courses.

Utilising Research 'Praxis' to Enhance Teaching Practice in The Domain of Apprenticeship Education: A Report on a Research Capacity Building Pilot Project Run in the School Of Construction Skills

The Dublin Institute of Technology is one of the largest multi-level higher education providers in Ireland, catering for over 22,000 students annually. Under the 1999 Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, DIT became an awarding body in its own right. Programme provision covers apprenticeships, short continuous professional development courses, taught undergraduate and postgraduate, research MPhil and PhDs. While the Institute's traditional mission1 was focused on teaching and learning in the field of advanced technical vocational education and training (TVET), over the last decade the importance of developing a research informed culture has become prominent in the strategic policy development of the Institute. Within this new emerging research agenda substantial achievements have been made in specific fields such as; science, engineering, ICT, tourism & food. However the research potential of a large portion of staff who work in the apprenticeship and craft area has been underdeveloped. This paper reviews some contextual information relating to the emerging research agenda as expressed in documents produced by the Institutes of Technology in Ireland and the DIT. It sign-posts significant Irish national strategies and notes some European Union initiatives that have relevance to research policy in this sector of higher education. The research then applies a 'single case study' (Yin 1996) to describe a new initiative which seeks to unlock the research potential of staff in the apprenticeship and craft area in DIT. Reporting the findings from a pilot Research Capacity Building project, which was run in DIT in 2008. This was a collaborative project between the Head of Department of Construction Skills and the Project Manager of the Skills Research Initiative, offered to Assistant Lecturers in the Wood Skills area. The paper details the emergence of this project and utilises '4th generation evaluation' methodology (Guba & Lincoln 1986) to access the effectiveness and future potential of this type of initiative. Further by adopting a participatory 'insider' research approach the 'lived experience' and 'voice' of staff who participated in the project is captured through in-depth ethnographic interviews.The research demonstrates a willingness of staff working in the apprenticeship and craft area to engage in, and develop skills, competencies and knowledge relating to research 'praxis'. However there seems to be a 'cultural gap' and mismatch between the high level national and sectoral research policy narratives, and the direct research capacity and capability needs of apprenticeship and craft staff. The research recommends that in order for this staff cohort to gain a footprint in the research domain, there is a need for localized and flexible research capacity building initiatives. This type of proactive research capacity building intervention can facilitate the unlocking, production and dissemination of the rich expert knowledge, experience and skills inherent in the apprenticeship and craft areas.

A linear programming model to manage the maintenance backlog

One of the keys to a successful maintenance program in a large manufacturing industry is the ability to complete repairs in a timely fashion. A poor maintenance program impacts productivity, costs, customer satisfaction, and worker esteem. Since a substantial portion of maintenance labor-hours are assigned to non-routine work orders, it is important to process these orders promptly and effectively. A linear programming model has been developed to cost-effectively allocate labor crews to different prioritized work orders. The linear programming model gives consideration to different craft areas, such as electrical, mason, and so on, as well as to the prioritization of work orders. Also, the use of overtime work and the assignment of a special allocable projects crew is considered. The model formulation is continually updated and rerun as new work orders enter the system, old orders are completed, and the time horizon changes for the pending work orders. An example of the model is presented as applied to an aluminum smelting plant, where the model is being run successfully on a weekly basis.