Ware Pottery Research Articles

Twisting: An Innovative Combination of Coil and Slab Building Techniques in Ceramic Art

This work seeks to create decorative ceramics wares which would be self-decorating to reduce the time of attention given to the surface of ceramics wares by incorporating twisting and weaving techniques into the production of the wares by drawing my inspiration from the climbing plant. Two hand forming techniques namely slab making and coiling were successfully combined to create twisted and woven wares. It also seeks to demonstrate how clay can be twisted and woven into intricate shapes for outdoor decorations. These twisted and woven wares reduced the tendency of cutting and incising as an afterthought finishing but forms an integral part of the work. Production of the wares were based on the basic units’ formation as the building blocks which were pre-formed and allowed to get leather hard and joined together in the building process. It looked at the possibility of providing an alternative to the conventional way of building ceramic wares, particularly the solidness in their form; so as to break the monotony of sold form production and present forms with surfaces which are with self-decorative appeal. There are about seven forming techniques I have experienced in ceramic art, and still counting, namely Pinching, Slab making, Coiling, Wheel Throwing, Slip Casting, Jiggering, Jollying, Ram Press, Modeling and Sculpting. The above basic techniques allows both learners and master ceramic artist to explore hand building creativity and come out with fascinating ceramics or pottery wares. My technique of production is what I term as <i>twisting </i>and my style as<i> twistism,</i> which I developed from the combination of two hand formations methods, namely, slab forming and coil making. As happened in painting, where a group of painters lead by Pablo Picasso in 1907, pronounced monotony on the line and style of painting at that time, in the late twentieth century and brought about “<i>cubism</i>”, so do I feel and seeks to digress from tradition to bring about forming variation, which I termed as “<i>twistism</i>” in ceramics, whereas the attention will be on how to manipulate the clay by twisting strips of slabs and creating non solid forms out of that as well as weaving coils to produce ceramic wares. I therefore put forward for the acceptance and inclusion of this technique, twisting as a basic forming technique in addition to pinching, slab making and coiling.

A Group of 3rd Millenium BC Plain Simple Ware Pottery Found at Tilmen Höyük

Tilmen Höyük’teki kazılar 1959-64 ve 1969-72 yılları arasında U. Bahadır Alkım tarafından yürütülmüştür. Söz konusu kazılar sonucunda Tilmen Höyük’te MÖ 4. binden MÖ 2. binyılın sonlarına kadar kesintisiz bir yerleşim saptanmıştır. Bu kazılar sonucu bulunmuş olan İlk Tunç Çağı’na ait çark yapımı, iyi pişmiş bir grup keramik tarafımızdan Açık Renkli Yalın Keramik (ARYK) olarak isimlendirilmiştir. Bu keramik grubu ilk olarak Braidwood tarafından Plain Simple Ware / Simple Ware olarak arkeoloji literatürüne girmiştir. Açık renkli, çark yapımı, hamuru iyi arıtılmış ve iyi pişmiş olan bu keramik grubu İlk Tunç Çağı’nda Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi ve Kuzey Suriye’de yoğun olarak görülür. Uluslararası terminolojide Orta Fırat Bölgesi, Fırat Nehri’nin Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi ile Kuzey Suriye’de kalan kısmını tanımlamaktadır. Bu bölge ARYK grubunun çekirdek bölgesi olarak kabul edilebilir. Çok geniş bir yayılım alanı bulmuş olan ARYK Doğu ve Orta Anadolu’da ithal malzeme olarak görülmektedir. Söz konusu keramik grubu Geç Kalkolitik Çağ’dan itibaren gelişimini sürdürerek MÖ. 2. binyıl boyunca görülmeye devam eder. Özellikle İTÇ’den itibaren teknolojik gelişmeler gösterir. ARYK, İTÇ başlarında çarkta üretilmeye başlar ve İTÇ’nin sonlarına doğru hızlı çark üretimi bir keramik grubu olarak devam eder. İTÇ’nin sonlarında bu keramik grubunun belli standartlara bağlı, seri olarak üretildiğini söyleyebiliriz. ARYK grubunda görülen bazı formlar tarihlendirme açısından önemlidir. Cyma-recta olarak bilinen “S” profilli kâseler İTÇ I-II’ye, caliciform olarak bilinen çan biçimli bardaklar ise İTÇ’nin sonlarına tarihlenmektedir. Bu makalede incelenmiş olan Tilmen Höyük’e ait keramikler İTÇ I’den başlayarak İTÇ/OTÇ geçiş evresine tarihlenmektedir.

Interregional and intraregional interaction of the Tianshanbeilu population in eastern Xinjiang from the perspective of pottery analysis

The beginning of human settlement in the Hami Basin, located in the eastern part of Xinjiang, has been a focal question for the academic community in China. In particular, the thesis that the immigrating population from the Hexi Corridor since the late Neolithic founded the Tianshanbeilu culture has riveted the attention of scholars. Pottery wares, abundantly discovered at the synonymous cemetery of this culture, have played a key role in extrapolating population migration and cultural interaction. This paper aims to test the thesis by characterizing the chemical composition, painting pigment, and carburizing technique of 70 pottery samples from the cemetery with various scientific methods. It shows that the chemical compositions of the coarse pottery in the three colors of red, yellow, and gray, painted and unpainted alike, are remarkably different from those of fine pottery in black and red, indicating that the raw materials for the coarse and fine pottery samples are possibly procured from different sources; the pigments of the red slip and black paint are derived from hematite, black manganese ore, and carbon black; carburizing and polishing techniques are further applied to the gray coarse pottery; In combination with the compositional data of pottery samples from the Yaer cemetery also in the Hami Basin and the Xichengyi settlement in the Hexi Corridor, this paper finds that some pottery wares of the Tianshanbeilu culture were exchanged within the Hami Basin, but each site had its own production facility. No direct exchange of pottery wares with Xichengyi is attested; the similar style of pottery wares between the two sites may have resulted from population migration and technological exchange.

A Review of Malta’s Pre-Temple Neolithic Pottery Wares

Abstract Sites from the earliest known phases of Maltese prehistory often consist of scatters of sherds for the Għar Dalam and Skorba phases (6000–4800 BCE), and tomb contexts for the Żebbuġ phase (3800–3600 BCE). Neolithic studies are, therefore, heavily reliant on the study of pottery. Although traditional typological and seriation-based analyses of the pottery record have substantially enhanced our knowledge of Early Neolithic Malta, there is a growing appreciation of the need to go beyond these approaches to gain new insights. This study reviews the accessible literature on fabric studies on assemblages found in the Maltese Islands, presenting the state of knowledge for the pottery of the Għar Dalam, Skorba (Early Neolithic), and Żebbuġ (Late Neolithic) phases. Microphotographs of pottery wares were selected from a compilation produced for an ongoing project (the MaltaPot project) to illustrate the descriptions found in the literature. The advances made by archaeologists in studying the Maltese Neolithic pottery are reviewed, and suggestions for building on them are proposed, as archaeometric and petrographic techniques have not been applied systematically to Neolithic pottery from Malta.

Exploring the Determinants of the Demand for Pottery Products in Nigeria for National Economic Advancement

The obvious decline in the demand for pottery wares in Nigeria is worrisome as the trend is pushing many potters out of business. Meanwhile the nation needs to harness all its resources for economic growth, but the pottery, through which the resources could be exploited seem not to enjoy patronage. In this work, literatures were reviewed to fathom the determinant for the demand for pottery. It was discovered that the attributes of the pottery wares, price of alternative imported pottery wares, and that of vessels made of materials other than clay, effect of poor advertisement, taste, interest and orientation, and the income of the consumers are the major determinants for the demand for pottery wares. Homemade tiles, personalized pottery, and ceremonial wares are pots with unique selling points identified for the potters to engage in. The Nigerian potters needs to improve on the qualities of their products in order to compete favourably with imported wares and wares made of plastics and metals at the market.

Trade Networks in the Neighbouring Roman Provinces of Aquitania-Tarraconensis on the Bay of Biscay: Evidence from Petrographic and Chemical Analyses of Common Coarse Ware Pottery

Common non-wheel-thrown Roman pottery from the southern Aquitania and north-eastern of Tarraconensis provinces (CNT-AQTA) of the Early and Later Roman Empire (1st to 5th centuries AD) has been studied. Petrological, mineralogical, and chemical analyses were conducted to contrast with the archaeological study of the pottery. The chemical composition of many pottery samples displays different patterns of burial chemical modification, limiting their use for provenance and diffusion studies. Particular emphasis has been paid to the petrographic features of the fabrics, as they do not change during burial, reflecting the nature of the raw material and making it possible to identify the provenance areas of the raw materials. Around the Bay of Biscay, the same pottery tradition continued in the neighbouring provinces during Roman times. Petrographic studies make it possible to determine the distribution of pottery and the changes in trade networks during the Roman period across the area of the Bay of Biscay being studied.

The Bronze Age Destruction of Jericho, Archaeology, and the Book of Joshua

The ancient city of Jericho, located at the archaeological site of Tell es-Sultan west of the Jordan River and adjacent to the Ein es-Sultan spring on the edge of modern Jericho, has often been associated with the biblical city of Jericho and the story found in the book of Joshua. The identification of Jericho with Tell es-Sultan is not disputed, and numerous excavation teams have affirmed Tell es-Sultan as Jericho. While excavations have also uncovered the fiery destruction of a walled city at Jericho, the date of the fall of Bronze Age Jericho and the association of this destruction with the narrative in the book of Joshua have been a point of disagreement among archaeologists for more than a century. The first excavations at Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) occurred in 1868 under the direction of Charles Warren, followed by soundings conducted by FJ Bliss in 1894, the expeditions of the years 1907–1909 and 1911 by Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger, the excavations of 1930–1936 directed by John Garstang, the 1952–1958 project of Kathleen Kenyon, brief excavations by Shimon Riklin in 1992, and the most recent excavations and restorations by the joint Italian–Palestinian team from 1997 to 2000 under Nicolo Marchetti and Lorenzo Nigro, followed by the 2009–2017 seasons directed by Jehad Yasin, Hamdan Taha, and Lorenzo Nigro. Although there is a significant deviation in views over the exact date of the destruction and abandonment, archaeological analyses of Jericho generally agree on the manner in which the city met its end, including a widespread fire, collapsed mudbrick walls, burning of the stored grain, and abandonment. However, assessing all of the archaeological data from Jericho IVc, both new and old, including pottery wares, Egyptian scarabs, a cuneiform tablet, stratigraphic analysis, and radiocarbon samples, allows a more definitive historical reconstruction concerning the chronology of the destruction of Jericho and its connections to the biblical narratives.

Production and distribution of White Ware towards the end of Late Bronze Age in Greece

This article discusses new evidence concerning the production and distribution of White Ware, a pottery class characterized by its distinct sandy fabric, pale surface and predominantly simple decoration that was in circulation in the Aegean during the two last centuries of the 2nd millennium BCE. After a summary of previous studies and hypotheses concerning its production location(s), results of petrographic and Neutron Activation Analysis for White Ware pottery from Eleon and Lefkandi are presented. They confirm that White Ware from these sites is identical to that of Perati, and that it was most likely produced at the same location. Several lines of evidence, including distribution pattern and most recent discoveries in the area of Perati, designate East Attica the most likely production area for White Ware.

Pottery vessels from a collective burial in the mound of the Pazyryk Culture (Northern Altai)

In one of the barrows examined in 2007 at the site of Choburak-II (the territory of the Northern Altai), an in-trusive, and not quite ordinary, a collective burial of people was found. Accompanying burials of two horses were also recorded there and a variety of artefacts was found (a fragment of a stone grain grinder, elements of horse harness, miniature knives made of non-ferrous metal, a dagger, a chisel, a quiver hook, fragments of gold foil from clothing decoration and other items). The recovered materials made it possible to attribute the excavated burial site to the Pazyryk Culture and to carry out its dating, including the radiocarbon method. In this publication, a special attention is given to the pottery finds. Two vessels appeared to be severely damaged, and to determine their parameters it was necessary to use the bespoke technique of computer-aided restoration based on photo-grammetry and aimed at obtaining the most probable shape of these ancient containers. In this respect, an algo-rithm, being tested by the authors, of modern demonstration in publications of the category of products in question was implemented. Based on the reconstructions performed in the paper, the restored dimensions of the pottery vessels are given, as well as their closest analogies. The third pot (of a closed jar shape with well-marked han-dles) was found intact. It reflects a different cultural tradition. Such products are very rare in the Altai Mountains. However, they are found in the neighboring and somewhat remote territories. This circumstance influenced the in-terpretation of the recorded situation. Pottery ware is an important archaeological source. Unfortunately, it has not yet become a separate research area in the study of the Pazyryk Culture. It is hoped that the developments of the authors of the paper will contribute to the research. The specific nature of this additional burial of the deceased person is noted. The investigated archaeological site to a certain extent may reflect the processes of interaction of the Pazyryk popula-tion with their northern neighbors. The body of the considered data complements the content and features of the culture of the Altai population of the Scythian-Saka period.

Lustrous wrappings: Complex color and collaborative practices in the contemporary ceramic facade

AbstractGlazed ceramic cladding is a material with a very long history of use in the built environment, whether as roof tiles, wall tiles, or more recently, as part of a rainscreen cladding system. A key factor in the resurgence of interest in ceramic as a cladding material—in addition to its inherent qualities of sustainability, malleability, durability, and fire resistance—is as a means of incorporating color into the facade. Although polychromatic facades are commonly achieved using tessellation of a range of single‐colored elements, this article will focus on complex layered and variegated color and texture within a single component. Historical glazes, such as the blue‐red of Chinese Jun ware pottery from the 12th century CE were produced through carefully controlled reduction kiln processes, yet retained an element of uncertainty in the resultant patterns and remain an inspiration for contemporary ceramic artists. Drawing on historical research, literature review and interviews with ceramic artists and industrial manufacturers, six case studies from the United Kingdom and China are discussed that show collaborative processes at different scales of operation. These combine unique artisan and artistic glazes, with standardized, rigorously tested, and internationally manufactured products. These “fusion glazes” refer to historic hand‐made practices to bring an element of unpredictability, and a layer of complexity in terms of color, texture and luster.

Technological continuity and change in Late Bronze and Iron Age Plain Ware pottery from Sirkeli Höyük (Cilicia, southern Anatolia)

The period from the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1190 BCE) to the Iron Age (c. 1190–330 BCE) in the eastern Mediterranean is characterized by upheavals in political and socio-economic structures, accompanied by changes in material culture such as pottery production. Plain Ware is one of the most common pottery types found in Plain Cilicia in southern Anatolia during the Late Bronze and the Iron Ages and displays typological and stylistic variations during these periods. In this work, we examined the Plain Ware from Sirkeli Höyük, one of the key settlements in Plain Cilicia, using petrographic, mineralogical (XRPD), microtextural (SEM-EDX), and chemical analysis (LA-ICP-MS). The main objective is to determine the source of raw materials and to investigate Plain Ware production including clay procurement, clay processing, and firing techniques. Our archaeometric results suggest that the vessels were produced from calcareous clay available in the Ceyhan Plain. We have observed continuity in the methods of Plain Ware production from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age with a minor change in the Iron Age.

The White Ware Pottery from Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581): Learning Frameworks and Communities of Practice and Identity

The Tijeras Pueblo Ceramics Project was designed to explore how the origin and spread of glaze-painted pottery and technology among the Ancestral Eastern Pueblos of the middle Rio Grande was associated with inter-regional macro-scale social processes, such as immigration, population aggregation, and coalescent community formation during the Pueblo IV period in the American Southwest (AD 1275-1425). However, carbon-painted black-on-white ceramics make up over half of the decorated pottery from Tijeras Pueblo and these white wares have their own unique story to tell. In particular, this article argues that the diversity of traits that characterize local carbon-painted black-on-white pottery was directly associated with the context in which novice potters learned to make pots, how technological practices were transmitted and regulated within these communities of practice, and how such practices were related to strategies of coalescence and identity formation around the turn of the fourteenth century.

Etruscan Fine Ware Pottery: Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy as a Tool for the Investigation of Clay Firing Temperature and Atmosphere

Fine ware pottery from the Etruscan town of Tarquinia, whose necropolis in inscribed in the list of UNESCO sites, was studied by means of near-infrared (NIR) diffuse reflection spectroscopy. The aim was to investigate the correlation between the firing conditions of the illitic-calcareous local clay, in terms of temperature and atmosphere, and the physical properties of the ceramic paste, usually exploited by the archaeologists for a classification of pottery sherds. For comparison, analytical data related to the mineralogical composition of the samples were obtained by X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Spectroscopic data were elaborated by methods of multivariate analysis.

Uniform in diversity: Typological and technological analysis of Bronze Age fine ware from Kakucs-Turján

The ceramic variability of fine ware pottery in Early and Middle Bronze Age Carpathian Basin (2600/2500–1500/1450 BCE) has been used as an argument for the existence of distinct, large-scale communities. The recent technological studies of coarse ware ceramics have shown that different stylistic groups are characterized by uniform technological traits, suggesting that current narratives result from an a priori classification of material culture. To verify whether fine ware ceramics were characterized by similar traits, a sample of 33 vessels from a multi-layered, fortified settlement of Kakucs-Turján (Hungary) was analyzed in terms of vessel forms and underlying production processes. The analyses compared the classical local and non-local provenance objects to determine whether the impressionistic categorization of vessels is supported by discrete parameters. The results indicate that similarly to coarse ware, Early and Middle Bronze Age ceramics in the Carpathian Basin was characterized by uniform production processes suggesting the impact of multi-directional and persisting interaction across the Carpathian Basin.

Salt production during the Plain Ware Phase along the Swahili coast of Tanzania

ABSTRACT Pottery from archaeological sites on the Swahili coast of East Africa has enabled scholars to establish the social, political and economic dynamics of their inhabitants and helped them to determine forms of interaction between coastal communities and other societies within and outside Africa. This paper examines Plain Ware pottery (Plain Ware Phase) from the site of Nunge in Bagamoyo (Tanzania) to discover the reasons behind its production. Findings indicate that the elements associated with Plain Ware pottery were markers of the socio-economic (i.e. salt-making) and political contexts that the Swahili experienced during the Plain Ware Phase (tenth to thirteenth centuries AD). It is suggested that the use of pottery to make salt for exchange with people in the East African interior created wealth and socio-economic stratification and may have been one of the key elements that contributed to the development of the Swahili coastal states. Comparative data from other regions suggest that salt-making was an important component in socioeconomic interactions among communities and provided an opportunity for surplus production and the establishment of ties among polities.

The Traditional Ceramics of Bukovyna of the XIXth–XXth Centuries: Historical, Cultural and Artistic Features

The article is devoted to the traditional ceramics of Bukovyna – one of the ethnographical regions of Ukraine, where in the XIXth–XXth centuries the pottery of high-quality technology and high artistic level was developed. The historical and cultural processes, which occurred on this territory and influenced the development of handicraft are considered. The pottery centers are highlighted and the creative works of leading potters are analyzed. The peculiarities of manufacturing technology, the local names and the purpose of clay products are recorded. The characteristic features of the traditional pottery of Bukovyna are researched: the typology and the main shapes of wares, the artistic qualities of ceramics decoration, the dominant motifs of the ornaments, the characteristics of individual techniques and of expressive methods. On the basis of art-critical analysis, by comparing the pottery vessels from Bukovyna with the ones from neighboring ethnographic regions of Ukraine (Prykarpattia, Podillia), as well as with the pottery ware from foreign countries, the local peculiarities of traditional ceramics of Bukovyna are determined and common features with the samples of pottery ware from Moldova, Romania are found. Previously unknown artworks and names of craftsmen are introduced in the scientific circulation.

2017 Excavation report of rabat cemetery in Boysun, Uzbekistan

In 2017, the Joint Central Asia Archaeological Team of China and Uzbekistan conducted excavation in the Cemetery No.1 on the north of Rabat Village. The excavation recovered 52 burials, of which 37 were earthen cave burials with sideway chamber, 11 were vertical earthen shaft pit burials, and four had unidentifiable forms. The burial occupants were mostly in extended supine position heading north, and the grave goods unearthed from these burials included pottery wares, bronzes, iron objects, stone implements, glass wares, etc. The burial structures and artifacts unearthed from these burials all had unique characteristics compared to their counterparts found in the nearby areas, and the date of this cemetery is from the end of the 2nd century BC to the early 1st century AD. It would be the remains of the Da Yuezhi (Greater Yuezhi) people and could be named as Yuezhi Culture. The excavation of this cemetery provided important data for the archaeological exploration of the Greater Yuezhi people.

Grouping Ceramic Variability with pXRF for Pottery Trade and Trends in Early Medieval Southern Tuscany. Preliminary Results from the Vetricella Case Study (Grosseto, Italy)

The characterization of archaeological ceramics according to their chemical composition provides essential information about the production and distribution of specific pottery wares. If a correlation between compositional patterns and local production centers is assumed, pottery manufacturing and trade and, more generally, economic, political, as well as cultural relations between communities and regions can be investigated. In the present paper, the combined application of portable XRF and statistical analysis to the investigation of a large repertory of ceramic fragments allowed us to group the assemblage by identifying geochemical clusters. The results from the chemical and statistical analysis were then compared with reference ceramic samples from the same area, as well as with macroscopic and petrographic observations to confirm, coalesce or sub-divide putative sub-divisions. The study of 141 samples from different sites located within a wide area spanning across the Colline Metallifere and the coast (Monterotondo Marittimo, Roccastrada, Donoratico, and Vetricella) provided new clues for a new interpretive archaeological framework that suggests that there was a well-defined organization of pottery manufacturing and circulation across southern Tuscany during the early medieval period.

Tracing the lines

This article presents the results of the recent Historic Environment Scotland-funded project Tracing the Lines: Uncovering Grooved Ware Trajectories in Neolithic Scotland addressing the timing and nature of the adoption, development and ultimate demise of Grooved Ware in Scotland beyond Orkney. Following analysis within a Bayesian framework of over a hundred Grooved Ware-associated radiocarbon dates from Scotland beyond Orkney, evidence is presented that Grooved Ware pottery very closely related to Orcadian prototypes began spreading rapidly between key locales across Scotland towards the end of the 4th millennium BC. This was followed by a process of stylistic drift with regional variations. The so-called Durrington Walls sub-style was introduced some 200 years after the earliest Grooved Ware and is an exception to this pattern of gradual change. Our modelling suggests that the latest Scottish Grooved Ware has a currency that overlaps with the earliest Beakers by between 1 and 145 years and probably between 1 and 60 years.
 View supplementary material here: Supplementary material | References | Table S1 | Illus S40 Extracted Element

Change and Diversity in Neolithic Mortuary Practices on the Isle of Man

While the Early Neolithic chambered tombs of the Isle of Man are well known and the Late Neolithic has been clearly defined with reference to a distinctive suite of artefacts, little is known about the Middle Neolithic. This article reports on 17 new Neolithic radiocarbon dates from cremated human remains from the Isle of Man. These identify five burials in cists as Middle Neolithic and indicate new sequences of activity at cemeteries starting in the Middle Neolithic. Each of these sites is examined in detail. The dates also spur a reconsideration of the development of Ronaldsway pottery and the integration of Grooved Ware pottery and motifs into early 3rd millennium practice on the island. The paper ends with a consideration of the changing effects of mortuary practices throughout the Neolithic on the Isle of Man and a discussion of connections with Middle and Late Neolithic activity in Ireland and Britain.