Pottery Technology Research Articles

КЕРАМИЧЕСКИЕ ИЗДЕЛИЯ ИЗ СРЕДНЕВЕКОВОГО ГОРОДИЩА ЖАЙЫК(по материалам раскопок 2015 г.)

The presented article is devoted to one of the most common artifacts of archaeological complexes – ceramics. Based on the archaeological analysis of the products, the morphology and technical characteristics of some types are briefly revealed. The research base of the article consists of materials from the archaeological excavation of the Zhaiyk settlement, carried out during the 2015 field season. Ceramic production, as one of the specialized types of craft, has a certain set of special technical means and devices. Generalization of data on technology and, above all, the design of roasting furnaces over a certain, rather long, chronological period within one region makes it possible to trace the evolution of special roasting devices. This, in turn, allows us to make a conclusion about the level of ceramic production technology in a particular period, as well as judge the degree of specialization of the craft at various stages of the development of pottery. In addition, a detailed analysis of the design of the forges makes it possible to identify mutual influences, and often direct borrowings in pottery technology. For the medieval settlements of the North-Eastern Caspian region, this is all the more relevant, since based on the analysis of the earliest structures, it is possible to resolve the issue of the time and ways of the appearance of the region and the direction of its further evolution.

The Social Implication of a “mixed” Ceramic Assemblage: Understanding the Predynastic Community of Nag el-Qarmila (First Nile Cataract, Egypt) Through Pottery Technology

This article investigates the social landscape of the First Nile Cataract region in the 4th mill. BCE through the application of petrographic and technological approaches to pottery analysis. The study focuses on the ceramic assemblages from the settlement WK15 and the necropolis WK14 at Nag el-Qarmila and identifies for the first time three technical traditions along with their synchronic and diachronic interaction. It provides new data on the more ancient phases of the so-called Naqadan productions and their relationship with the Shale Ware and the Nubian Black-Mouthed Ware. The results allow us to better frame the mixed assemblage that characterizes a site far from the elite centers and where relations between mobile and sedentary groups were, therefore, more fluid. The data obtained also constitute a comparative nucleus for the growth of technological and petrographic studies at other sites and periods, and the numerous insights that emerged will be useful for directing future research.

Technology and provenience of the oldest pottery in the northern Pannonian Basin indicates its affiliation to hunter-gatherers

Consensus holds that pottery technology came to Central Europe from the Northern Balkans with independent pottery traditions existing concurrently in Eastern Europe. An unusual grass-tempered pottery dating back to around 5800 cal BC found in lake sediments at Santovka, Slovakia, predated the earliest known Neolithic pottery in the region (~ 5500 cal BC), suggesting unexplored narratives of pottery introduction. Analyses of the pottery’s technology, origin, and grass temper shedding light on ceramic traditions' spread can unveil mobility patterns and community lifestyles. Our findings indicate a non-local provenance, low temperature firing, Festuca sp. grass temper and unique rectangular or cylindrical vessel shapes which align with Eastern European hunter-gatherer practices. Moreover, the pottery style and technology have no analogies in the contemporary Danubian pottery traditions and have more similarities to those of the Eastern traditions. The pottery's raw materials likely originated from distant areas, indicating extensive territorial access for its creators. Our findings imply late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers as the probable artisans and with implications for the site's significance in the late Mesolithic landscape.

Tick Island Incised: an early ceramic skeuomorph in Late Archaic Florida

ABSTRACT Tick Island Incised (TII) is a relatively rare variety of Late Archaic fiber-tempered pottery found across sections of central and northern peninsular Florida. The striking stylistic divergences of TII from other Orange pottery types have led multiple researchers to invoke foreign influences or migrations to account for its appearance. This paper presents newly collected data on TII vessels from the Silver Glen complex (8LA1/8MR123) and related sites along the St. Johns River and northern Gulf Coast. These data, which represent the most detailed information yet collected on the technology, style, composition, and spatiotemporal distribution of TII pottery, are used to address numerous published speculations regarding the type's timing, origin, and cultural meaning. This research supports the idea that TII's aberrant style, which features symbolically powerful sinistral or left-opening spirals, can be explained as an example of skeuomorphism linked to preexisting lightning whelk shell cups. It further indicates that TII appeared during a particularly volatile time during the Late Archaic period and that its use and deposition in ritualized contexts may have been part of a deliberate effort to intervene in ongoing historical processes and mediate their impacts.

Continuity and Innovation in Pottery Technology: The Karst Region (North-East Italy) from Neolithic to Early Bronze Age

This paper explores the development of pottery technology in the Trieste Karst region (North-East Italy) from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (EBA). It also seeks to identify cultural links with other areas by examining potentially imported vessels. Archaeometric analyses (X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy) reveal significant differences between Neolithic ceramics (Danilo–Vlaška Group) and the majority of Late Copper Age (LCA)/Early Bronze Age (EBA) pottery (primarily associated with the Ljubljana Culture and a few with the Cetina Culture). Neolithic pottery displays consistent characteristics across all vessel types, including coarse grain, prevalent sparry calcite temper, and the absence of grog. In contrast, most LCA and EBA vessels exhibit distinct features such as very fine-grained paste, no sparry calcite, notable use of grog temper, higher quartz, muscovite, and flint content. Notably, from a technological perspective, the analyzed Cetina vessels bear a strong resemblance to the majority of LCA ceramics. The differences between Neolithic and LCA/EBA vessels clearly suggest the use of new raw materials, recipes, and techniques, likely reflecting changes in cultural and social contexts and potential connections with the core area of the Ljubljana Culture.

Pre-Mamom Pottery Producers in the Heart of the Yucatan Peninsula

Recent research in the Maya Lowlands has revealed substantial new evidence for the first pottery producers at about 1000-600 bc, during the early Middle Preclassic period. This comparatively late adoption is a special case in Mesoamerica, where pottery appeared elsewhere up to a millennium earlier. Although archaic lifeways had long been established in the region, and pottery technology was likely known to some archaic communities, these new data reveal the complex set of circumstances that prompted the shift to ceramic production across the Yucatan Peninsula, Peten, and Belize. This article reviews these data from the perspective of the upland region of central and southern Yucatan, known as the Elevated Interior Region (EIR). Its rather complex early settlement links the EIR to contemporary pottery industries throughout the peninsula, suggesting well-established exchange systems were in place even as the first populations chose to settle more permanently on the landscape. Most significant among these cultural shifts was the increasing dependence on maize foodways as a primary subsistence strategy. Intensive maize agriculture has not been documented in Mesoamerica much before 1000 BC, yet ceramic technology was adopted independent of its use in other areas. Current evidence suggests, however, that the two were linked in the Maya Lowlands, where a relatively rapid transition took place as horticultural communities became more dependent on maize crops, followed waterways to settle more permanently on the landscape, and began producing pottery locally.

Investigating figulina pottery technology in the southern Po Plain through an integrated archaeometric approach

Figulina pottery refers to a fine, light-coloured ceramic class commonly occurring in Neolithic assemblages of southern and central Italy and, on the opposite side of the Adriatic Sea, along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. In northern Italy, figulina pottery occurs in limited quantities during the 5th millennium cal. BCE and seems to diverge from the local ceramic productions in terms of technological choices and firing procedures. In light of these technical considerations, past scholarly research hypothesised the existence of networks involving either the exchange of figulina vessels or dynamics of knowledge transmission between Neolithic communities bearing distinct pottery traditions. In this paper, figulina sherds from five mid-late Neolithic settlements located in the southern Po Plain area of northern Italy have been analysed through a multi-analytical archaeometric approach that comprises macroscopic fabric analysis, thin section petrography, X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) and portable X-Ray Fluorescence (p-XRF). The investigation was carried out with the scope of exploring the technological choices behind the rare figulina pots exceptionally retrieved at the Po Plain sites. Results shed light on the production technology and presumable provenance of the raw materials selected for figulina productions in the region, disclosing possible scenarios of technological transmissions while calling into question the ceramic production model currently hypothesised for Neolithic northern Italy.

Insights into ancient ceramic technology: a comprehensive analysis of mineralogy, chemistry and firing conditions

The intensive integration of Azerbaijan into the global economy, mainly through international gas and oil pipeline construction, has led to significant archaeological research in the past two decades. The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline (BTC) and the Southern Caucasus Pipeline gas pipeline (SCP) prompted a four-year archaeological fieldwork program, followed by a six-year post-excavation program. The current work applied an interdisciplinary approach using various instrumental methods for studying ancient artifacts found during those projects. The thermogravimetric method and differential thermal analysis were employed to obtain insights into the production technology of the ancient pottery and information about the mineralogy of the ceramic sherds. The complex processes involved in firing the ceramic paste have been studied extensively, and patterns in mass loss ratios during different temperature ranges have been established. In total, 15 samples were investigated, and the thermogravimetric analysis of ceramic shards revealed that the firing temperature of the samples was in the range of 700 °C. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of quartz, feldspar, and clay minerals in the ceramic samples. The presence of calcite and other specific minerals is subject to the origin of the ceramic materials. The results obtained from this multidisciplinary approach provide insights into the firing technology and the origin of the ceramic samples.

Development of Ceramic Decorative Rotary Tool Technology Based on the Internet of Things as a Learning Media to Support Creative Industries

Indonesia is a rich and diverse country for crafts and creative industries. In supporting the creative industry, it is necessary to have skills through learning creative crafts in the community of Rangdumulya Village, Pedes District, Karawang. The problem that occurs is that currently, the younger generation is less interested in creative crafts such as pottery, ceramics, and batik. In making pottery and ceramics, turntable equipment is needed to make pottery products that can be formed into jugs, teapots, glasses, and jars. The lack of digital turntable tools is helping the work of pottery craftsmen in the process of making and forming pottery, which can be used to accelerate the production process. The purpose of this research is to create, design, and implement to have a positive impact on the emergence of new technological products and the creation of pottery technology, which is considered very necessary to help the learning process of creative crafts in the village to become an independent village. The focus of this research is the development of internet-of-things-based ceramic decorative rotary tool technology as a learning medium to support creative industries. The result of this research is that Internet-of-Things-Based Ceramic Decorative Rotary Tool Technology can work, have a positive impact on pottery craftsmen, and increase the productivity of youth skills in the field of creative crafts, especially in making pottery or ceramics.

A closer look at wound cord

Wound cord (whipped cord, cord stamp) decoration on pottery from the late 4th to early 3rd millennium BC in Latvia has been subject to detailed stereomicroscope study, incorporating reflectance transformation imaging, which proved an invaluable tool for documenting impressions. While this kind of ceramic ornamentation constitutes a European-scale phenomenon, considerable local variation in the methods of making pottery stamps emerges, most significantly in the kinds of support used for winding the cord, which indicates the importance of vertical transmission for this component of pottery technology. Further, the similarity of the cordage to that used for fishing nets implies a close link between pottery-making and fisheries.

Ceramic production and the transition to agriculture in Northeast China: Neolithic pottery technology in the Fuxin Region

Ceramic production and the transition to agriculture in Northeast China: Neolithic pottery technology in the Fuxin Region

Multidisciplinary approach to the study of Neolithic pottery technology (based on the materials of the Luzhki II site)

The excavations of a new Neolithic site in the Samara Volga region, conducted by archaeologists of Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education in 2020–2023, yielded numerous ceramic materials, a comprehensive analysis of which is currently being conducted. The results of the technical and technological analysis of ceramics according to the method of A.A. Bobrinsky and the specifics of the geographical location of the Luzhki II site led to the appeal to more detailed methods of study. In addition to archaeological (morphological grouping of vessels, typology, technical and technological analysis of ceramics based on binocular microscopy, tracology and physical modeling), the methods of geology (petrography, X-ray phase analysis) and paleosolvology were used in the study. The results of the multidisciplinary approach to the study of Neolithic pottery technology are presented in this article. They suggested that a small site without stationary dwellings could be used as a seasonal place for making household utensils (in addition to the usual hunting and fishing activities). As a result of the technical and technological analysis of pottery ceramics of the Luzhki II site, a significant proximity of the pottery traditions of the population groups who left different ceramic complexes was revealed, which indicates the simultaneity of their existence in this area and active mixing processes. The archaization of the potters' ideas about plastic raw materials is noted – a return to more archaic methods: the share of the use of silt in the production of post-Yelshan ceramic complex lot is 82%; pricked – 75%; combed – 89%; «mixed» group – 83%. From the point of view of the historical and cultural approach, such a result could arise only because of the appearance in the southern Middle Volga of new groups of Neolithic population with archaic ideas about raw materials.

The beginnings of pottery technology in Vietnam based on finds from the Xom Trai Cave in the Hoà Bình Province

In the caves of South East Asia, artefacts from the Pleistocene period known as the Hoabinhian culture are found. They also include the oldest evidence of using pottery technology in this region. The adoption of the new technology can be seen as a deeper specialization within the hunter-gatherer economy. The use of pottery facilitates and accelerates the thermal processing of food (i.e., cooking or possibly roasting). In addition, some foods require prolonged or repeated cooking; otherwise, they may be toxic or difficult to digest. The article analyzes vessels fragments from the XomTrai Cave and additionally from the Hiem Cave – both in Hoà Bình Province in Vietnam. Based on physical characteristics, four formal and technological groups were distinguished, corresponding to three phases of use. The first is related to the decline of the Hoabinhian communities – the so-called Dabutian (the Da But culture), the second with the early Neolithic Phung Nguyen culture (or horizon), and the third with the early Bronze Age Go Mun culture.

STUDY IN THE FYODOROVKA POTTERY FROM THE MOCHISHCHE SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN URALS

The settlement of Mochishche contains materials from all the Bronze Age cultures of the Trans-Urals: Petrovka, Alakul, Fyodorovka, Cherkaskul, Mezhovka and Sargary ones. The study of Fyodorovka pottery showed that its forms and ornamentation could not be derived from the Alakul tradition. However, technological research yielded a different result: a significant part of clays and inclusions had parallels in the Alakul pottery of the settlement, but potters also started to use silty clay, which had been probably introduced by the Fyodorovka population of the Lower Tobol region. The number of polished ware decreased sharply, the use of grog increased to some extent, and there is no evidence of ware forming techniques with form-models characteristic of Alakul, but this may be due to the small number of items studied. Nevertheless, their vessels, like the Alakul ones, were formed with the spiral patching method following the bottom and lower part of wall formation on the model. Therefore, the pottery technology of the Fyodorovka population of Mochishche reflects the contacts of potters, bearers of two traditions: the local Alakul and Fyodorovka ones, probably from the Lower Tobol region. However, in the pottery shape and ornamentation, they were guided by Fyodorovka stereotypes, which began to dominate for some social reasons.

The Sokolniy VIII Settlement – the New Site of the Late Neolithic in the Mari Volga Basin

In the article the results of investigations of the Sokolniy VIII settlement located in the Zvenigovskiy district, Mari El Republic are presented. The topography of site, the history of its study, information about stratigraphy and spatial structure of archaeological material are considered. The characteristics of ceramic complex of site and technology of pottery making are discussed. The detail description of the stone inventory and the main types of tools are presented. At the Sokolniy VIII settlement any constructive components of the cultural layer except for one fireplace were not determined. This fact allows the authors to interpret the settlement as short time site. The most of the pottery shards belong to the Krasny Most ceramic type of the Late Neolithic in the forest Middle Volga basin and have the direct analogy in the materials of the reference site such as Krasniy Most II-III, Sosnovaya Gora III, Dubovskoe VIII. The technology of ceramics is characterized by the stablility of the main components. The silt organic clay was used as main raw source. As a temper grog and organic solution were added. The stone tool collection is impressive. The nuclei and morphological tools total consist of 45 items. The most of typological types of inventory have analogies to the artifacts from earlier studied assemblages. On the base of radiocarbon dating the period of the settlement exiting can be concerned to the last quarter of 5th millennium BC.

Use of the potter's wheel at Shimao, Shaanxi, China

Shimao is among the largest settlements dating back to the late Longshan to early Bronze Age in Northern China. The Huangchengtai locality is often identified as the palace center of Shimao. The excavation of a large number of ceramic artifacts from this site presents an excellent opportunity to study Shimao's pottery technology. To understand the use of the potter's wheel and the traces left on ceramics, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of ceramics from the Huangchengtai locality. This investigation involved observing technological traces, X-ray photography, and microstructural analysis. The results revealed that the majority of the ceramic pots were made using the techniques of coiling and molding. However, a small portion of the pottery displayed techniques of throwing and turning. Interestingly, neither Shimao nor its neighbors had access to highly developed fast-wheel technology during that period. Moreover, many of the pots made on the potter's wheel in Shimao show a connection to pots found in the Longshan culture in the Central Plains. Therefore, it is likely that Shimao's fast-wheel technology originated from the Central Plains.

The role of salmon fishing in the adoption of pottery technology in subarctic Alaska

Ceramic technology makes an abrupt appearance in the New World Arctic at circa 2800 cal BP. While there is general consensus that the ultimate source of these Alaskan pottery traditions lay in continental NE Asia, the motivations for the adoption of pottery in Alaska have remained unclear. Through organic residue analysis we investigated the function of Norton pottery in Southwest Alaska, and the extent to which its function changed in later periods under the increasing northern influence of Thule culture in the region (from ca. 1000 cal BP). Our results show clear evidence of aquatic resource processing in all pottery vessels. Regional variability due to environmental and ecological differences are apparent in the pottery. The majority of Norton pottery was from inland riverine locations and the function of this early pottery was to process anadromous fish, with only limited evidence of other resources. After 1000 cal BP more sites appear on the coast, and while pottery technology changes dramatically at this time, this is not as clear in pottery function which remains aimed at local abundant aquatic resources. We hypothesize that pottery was adopted into Alaska as part of a riverine adaptation and suggest that targeted human exploitation of large riverine systems may have facilitated its expansion into Southwest Alaska. Furthermore, we suggest that this pattern might extend back into Siberia where Alaskan pottery originates.

The results of researching of Algay site in the Lower Volga region in 2022

Excavations of the Algay multi-layered site in 2022 confirmed the presence of a stratigraphic sequence of occurrence of the Neolithic and Eneolithic layers. The finds are represented by fragments of ceramics, quartzite and flint tools and production waste, animal bones and bone tools. The upper cultural layer is identified as the Khvalynskaya, middle as the Cis-Caspian layer, lower as the Orlovsky Neolithic layer. Stone inventory differs in raw materials, flint and quartzite tools were found. Scrapers of different types, points and geometric microliths were found. As for the ceramic inventory, a fragment of a wall ornamented with a jagged stamp was found in the Khvalynskaya cultural layer. However, this specimen can be attributed to both the Khvalynskaya and Altatinskaya cultures. The results of the technical and technological analysis of ceramics showed the presence of only two technological subgroups of vessels made from silty and natural clays. Vessels made of silt have not been recorded, but the results of previous years of excavations revealed the use of three types of raw materials at the Algay site. The Neolithic layer is represented by pottery with prickly incised ornaments made using the technique of pricking, retreating, and less often incising. The revealed features of the making of the dishes are close to the pottery technology of the Orlovskaya culture of the Lower Volga region, the population of the Varfolomeevskaya site (Saratov Region). The specificity of this sample is the absence of ceramics made in accordance with more archaic methods (the use of silt as the initial plastic raw material), which is known for the Algay site from previous excavations.

A Physicochemical Examination of Blue Shades in Pottery: Rich, Deep and Endless

This study attempts to take aspects of pottery technology into account while concentrating on the blue pigment and glaze recipes of various kinds of glazed pottery types; that is to say, Iznik ware, Kütahya ware, Miletus ware, glazed fritware, porcelain, polychrome glazed ware, and monochrome glazed ware were collected from a rescue excavation site within the Castle of Mytilene in Lesvos Island, Greece. The decoration, surface treatment, and production technology were investigated on the basis of 23 ceramic fragments that can be dated to the Turkish/Venetian period. The present study concerns the manufacture of glazed pottery, and in particular, colour recipes and issues of glaze technology. This study endeavoured to look into the specifics of the medieval colour recipes used on the glazed ceramics from Mytilene. This was accomplished by using an analytical process that took into account the compositional information of blue pigments, glazes, and slip coatings. The chemical analysis was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), Raman spectroscopy provided information about the compositional variation, and the optical examination via optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) yielded information about the sample stratigraphy of the examined ceramic sections. This investigation into glazed ceramics was able to define and reflect the key aspects of each society’s perception of colour through a large variety of colour and glaze recipes.

Features of the Technology of Ceramics of the Atlym Culture (Based on the Materials of Settlements of Barsova Gora)

Purpose. Barsova Gora is a unique archaeological and landscape site located in the Tyumen Region (West Siberia) of the Russian Federation. A technical and technological analysis of ceramics of the Atlym culture from Barsova Gora I/40 (13 vessels), Barsova Gora I/22a (7 vessels) and Barsova Gora IV/4 (9 vessels) settlements was carried out.Results. It was found that for the pottery manufacture potters of the Atlym culture mainly selected ferruginous clays, varying in the degree of sandiness and the presence of natural inclusions of shells and vegetation fragments. At all sites, potters exploited several clay plots. Recipes and assortment of molding masses vary considerably from settlement to settlement. The most stable technology is typical for ceramics from the site Barsova Gora I/22a for which only one recipe (clay + chamotte) has been fixed. It testifies to homogeneity of pottery traditions that existed on this site. A similar trend is demonstrated by ceramics of the site Barsova Gora I/40, where uncalibrated chamotte was used as the main impurity. The pottery technology of these two sites is very similar, and, apparently, these settlements constituted one group of the Atlym population with similar skills. It is possible that representatives of this group could have participated in the genesis of the Krasnoozerskaya culture of the Ishim River basin, as they recorded significant similarities in the adaptive and constructive skills of pottery making. The opposite situation can be observed at the site of Barsova Gora IV/4, where six single and multi-component compositions have been identified, which indicates a mixture of pottery skills and techniques. Several different groups of potters may have lived at this site, using different assortments of impurities to compose the molding masses. Probably, the Barsova Gora IV/4 site was left by another group of the Atlym population with different pottery skills, which differ from the skills of the “Atlym” from Barsova Gora I/22a and I/40 settlements. It can be assumed that the Atlym population of Barsova Gora IV/4 came to Barsova Gora from other territories, possibly from the Lower Priirtysh.Conclusion. The pottery technology of the sites Barsova Gora I/40 and I/22a has no direct analogues in the previously studied complexes of the Atlym culture in Western Siberia. For the vessels manufacturing technology of the Atlym culture in the territories of the Lower Irtysh River basin, Baraba and the Lower Ob River basin, the dominance of reipes with chamotte is not characteristic. At the same time, the use of chamotte as the main mineral additive and organic solutions is typical for ceramics of the later Krasnoozerskaya culture, which may be based on the Atlym culture. Vessel manufacturing techniques are also similar. Ceramics of the Atlym culture from the Barsova Gora IV/4 site demonstrates the greatest technological similarity with the pottery from The Lower Irtysh River basin. Potters of these territories used a similar range of mineral additives. The surfaces of the vessels were smoothed with a hard, smooth tool. The difference is manifested in the vessels design.