Ware Types Research Articles

Бронзов бръснач от колекцията на Националния археологически институт с музей към Българската академия на науките

Among the numerous objects kept in the collections of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences there is one object that stands out for its specific characteristics. It is a moon-shaped blade with a handle – most probably a razor. The aim of the present article is to publish this object, and to attempt to clarify its cultural affiliation and relative chronology. The dimensions of the bronze razor are: length (with the handle) – 13.5 cm; length of the handle – 4 cm; width (max.) – 5.1 cm; thickness of the blade – 0.1 cm; width (middle) – 4.00 cm; diameter of the ring on the handle – 1.3x1.2 cm; thickness of the handle – 0.4 cm. In conclusion, it can be pointed out that the object fits perfectly into a group of artefacts whose territorial distribution, of the particular type of Vetulonia, covers the lands of northern Italy within the historical limits of northern Etruria and more precisely its central part. The dating can be placed at the time of the first phase of the Early Iron Age, in a relatively narrow time span (10th–7th centuries BC). Considering the archaeological context in which these objects are usually found, as well as their semantic context, there should be no objection to interpreting it as part of the grave goods belonging to a male individual associated with the initiations of growth, maturation and incorporation into the community that generated and produced this type of bronze ware.

Mound group “II” near Askania-Nova

The article is devoted to the publication of the excavation results of the Krasnoznamianka expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1989 near the urban type settlement Askania-Nova in Kherson Oblast. Data are provided for 24 burials, almost entirely related to the Bronze Age: six Yamna culture burials, 13 Inhul culture burials, three Zrubna culture burials, one Sarmatian burial, and one indeterminate burial. Yamna culture burials belonged to ordinary representatives of this culture. All of them were found in the burial mound no. 7. Burial structures are pits with ledges. Noteworthy is a small flat-bottomed amphora from the grave no. 13. This type of ware is rather rare. A small number of Yamna culture burials does not allow drawing broad conclusions. However, it can be noted a rather rare orientation of some burials in the south-north direction. Catacomb burials belong to the Inhul culture. All of them have rounded entrance pits, short dromos, oval or semi-oval small chambers. In only one case, the deceased lies on his back with his legs bent at the knees. They are also represented by ordinary burials. Only the grave no. 12 from mound no. 7 can be considered an exception. The stone axe belonged to a warrior. Although in all other respects this is an ordinary burial. Attention is drawn to the burial no. 5 from mound no. 7. Three people are buried in this catacomb. Two adults and a teenager. Two adults are buried on top of each other on earthen bedding. The third — a teenager — lies at the feet of the first two. Perhaps this is an accompanying burial. The relatively large number of children’s burials is striking. The burial no. 8 from mound no. 7 testifies to the long coexistence of the Yamna and Inhul cultures. The legs of the deceased, raised at the knees, fall to the left. There are a lot of such burials in the steppe. Among several Zrubna culture burials, the burial from the mound no. 6 attracts attention. There was a pit with ledges, in which the skeleton of a calf lay. This is a socially significant burial. In general, the burials described above supplement our knowledge of the Syvash sites of the Bronze Age.

The Coarse Wares of the Building A and Building B at Anemurium

This paper aimed to understand of the coarse wares of the two late Roman building at Anemurium. The wares studied in this paper were excavated in the Building A and Building B between 2018 and 2021 field seasons at Anemurium ancient city. The buildings are close to the central ridge of the city. The excavation of these buildings did not reveal a stratigraphical sequence, besides that, architectural remains unearthen. Consequently we are evaluating the material as an accumulation. The houses and coarse wares shares the same dating. These dated to the late Roman period. The coarse ware of the Building A and Building B other than the cooking pots and amphorae consist of jars-storage vats, basins-mortars, bowls?/funnels?, bottels-jugs and lids. Some of the types are studied by Williams. But some the types of jag-storage ware, basin-mortar, unguentaria, bottle-jug, strainer jug and the domed shaped lids are the new discoveries for Anemurium coarse ware assamblage. Anemurium is a part of the coarse ware type tradition of the rough Cilicia. According to the coarse ware finds we can suggest that Building A and Building B builded for different purposes.

Изображения рыб на поливной византийской керамике XII–XIII веков. Стилистические группы

Introduction. The study of zoomorphic ornamental motifs on specific types of glazed ceramics is an important direction of Byzantine archeology. In this case, we will be interested in the images of fish that are found on some types of Byzantine glazed ceramics of the second half of 12th – second half of 13th century. Since the ceramic production of this group of vessels was a separate area, both the material and spiritual culture of the Byzantines, especially in the specified chronological period, it was chosen as the subject of research. The source base of the work is made up of all published and available materials of archaeological research, both Constantinople and the cities of the Byzantine provinces. Particular attention is paid to the correspondence of each of the highlighted images on a specific type of glazed ware to finds on the territory of medieval Taurica. Despite the publication of the material used, including the Crimean, these findings were not analyzed in the complex. Methods and materials. Standard methods of comparative stylistic analysis were used. Analysis. The use of a large number of sources allows for the first time to raise the question of the existence of several stylistic groups of fish within the same craft workshops. Results. The findings make it possible to distinguish five stylistic image groups and match them with two large groups of Byzantine glazed ceramics of Middle Byzantine Production, primarily Fine Sgraffito Ware and Incised Sgraffito or Aegean Ware. Images of fish on Cypriot ceramics are also briefly analyzed. The image of fish on the vessels of Italian workshops is a separate area of research and is not considered in the work.

True Blue? Locality of pottery decorations during the Middle Bronze: The case of Red, White and Blue Ware

Around 30 painted pottery sherds were selected for pXRF and Raman Spectroscopy testing to study the chemical and mineralogical composition of their pigments. These sherds originated from two significant Middle Bronze Age sites located in the Southern Levant, i.e., Ashkelon and Tel Azekah, and belong to a ceramic group referred to by scholars as Red, White, and Blue Ware (RWB). Examples of this type of ceramic ware have been unearthed at multiple sites during the last century. However, hitherto no analysis of the pigments’ composition has been performed. Our results demonstrate the use of three well-known pigment recipes: Red Ochre, White Lime, and Carbon Black and indicate that the pottery and pigments were locally made from available materials at each site. It is possible that the specific way in which Carbon Black was applied to the pottery was an attempt to imitate Egyptian decoration style.

The Artaxiad capital of ceramic: Exploring the changing local pottery production and exchange at Artaxata (Armenia) from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE

This paper offers an insight into the characteristics of local pottery production and exchange at Artaxata, modern Armenia, from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, drawing from stratigraphic, typological and technological evidence. The pottery assemblage under study derives from the Armenian-German Artaxata Project, a collaboration between the Armenian Academy of Sciences and University of Münster since 2018. The excavation of various structures of Hill XIII and its adjacent plain, with a particular focus on Complexes A and B, reveals a change in the ceramic repertoire. A large proportion of fine ware, notably red-slipped ware of the Eastern Sigillata A (ESA) style and other tableware types, was recovered in the early phase (2nd to 1st century BCE). While these fine ware types continue to be found in the later phase (1st century BCE to 1st century CE), a greater quantity of coarse ware of utilitarian purpose such as storage jars and cooking vessels also appears. A few turquoise glazed vessels that are similar to the Parthian or Mesopotamian style were also recovered, but it is challenging to establish their date as they were mostly found in the topsoil. Such patterning can be explained by the shift in the function of Complexes A and B from serving as public buildings, possibly a sanctuary, during the early phase to domestic houses in the later phase.Despite these changes in the ceramic consumption patterns, this diverse range of ware types was mostly produced locally at Artaxata, based on the results of our technological study of 53 samples using thin-section petrography and scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). Although they were made locally, different types of fine, coarse and turquoise glazed ware were made in different workshops, each workshop having their own recipes and technologies. In particular, the ESA-styled red-slipped ware was exclusively made in a single workshop over an extended period of time, suggesting a high level of specialisation existed in local pottery production. Such characterisation reflects the status of Artaxata as the capital of the Artaxiad Kingdom, highlighting its ability to control of the production of certain products, especially the ones that are considered to be of high quality and cosmopolitan.

Tracing the origin of Chinese early white porcelain in the late sixth century—evidence from Xing kiln

AbstractAs the criterion used by archaeologists for determining early white porcelain is quite ambiguous, the origin of Chinese white porcelain remains a point of disagreement. In this study, we systematically investigate 61 typical Xing porcelains of the late Northern dynasties to the early Sui dynasty (550–600 CE) using spectrophotometer, X‐ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), and analyze the differences between early white porcelain and celadon of Xing kiln in terms of their whiteness and raw materials characteristic. The results show that early white porcelain is a new type of ware that differs from celadon, which can be distinguished by whiteness, with a whiteness greater than 8% being early white porcelain and a whiteness less than 8% being celadon. It is assumed that the ancient potters created the whiter wares based on celadon by improving the glaze and selecting new raw materials for the body, but the production of this type of ware was short lived and subsequently refined in the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) owing to the limited improvement in whiteness.

Technological changes in the glazed wares of northern Tunisia in the transition from Fatimid to Zirid rule

A representative selection of glazed ceramics recovered from medieval Islamic contexts excavated in the former Roman port of Utica (North Tunisia) (23 of 99 pieces) has revealed new data about medieval glaze technologies in the central Mediterranean. Stratified sequences of pottery have established four main phases of occupation which span the mid-tenth to the mid-eleventh centuries. Significant changes in the range of glazed wares are found in the Zirid period with respect to the late Fatimid period: whereas polychrome yellow-amber glazed ware from the Kairouan region was practically the only glazed ware supplied to Utica in the Fatimid period, a varied range of polychrome glazed wares was produced in various techniques in the late tenth century, early Zirid period. These new glazed ware types become dominant in the early eleventh century. Up to six different glazing techniques have been identified by SEM–EDX and optical microscopy, including transparent and opaque glazes with underglaze and overglaze decoration respectively. The absence of tin in all the glazed vessels confirms the data obtained in a previous study from Bir Ftouha. Though it has been repeatedly stated that tin was used to produce the white background of Fatimid-Zirid glazed wares in Tunisia, this was achieved by adding quartz to the glaze. Some imports of glazed ceramics from Sicily and al-Andalus have been detected: their appearance in the early-mid eleventh century is significant as it seems to indicate a first stage in the re-activation of Mediterranean commerce, which increased in the course of the following centuries.

Phantom Porcelains: Zhangzhou and Yoshida Polychrome Dishes with Seal Design

Abstract Zhangzhou ceramics, coarsely potted with thick glaze and sandy feet, were mass-produced in southern Fujian during the late Ming and early Qing periods. The rise of the Zhangzhou kiln complex was an outcome of expanding maritime trade since the Jiajing period (1522–1566) and Zhangzhou production reached a climax in the Wanli period (1572–1620). The Fujianese workshops created a whole spectrum of porcelain products, ranging from monochrome pieces to blue-and-white and polychrome ones. Of the decorative vocabulary that is unique to Zhangzhou kilns, the pavilion and seal design (previously known as the “Split Pagoda” motif) is noteworthy for its decorative originality and transnational appeal. Through a close examination of typical Zhangzhou dishes with seal design, the paper points out that the intriguing theme fuses Daoist ideals with Confucian-recluses’ pursuits. The pluralism in the symbolic meanings of the pattern enhances the marketability of this type of Zhangzhou ware. Around the 1650s, Japanese potters in the Yoshida workshops of Ureshino, Hizen province on the Island of Kyushu started to incorporate the Zhangzhou designs into their local decorative repertoire. But instead of faithfully imitating the seal pattern from the Fujianese prototype, Yoshida decorators seamlessly wove Japanese fashion into Chinese-inspired motifs. Popular designs from nearby Arita, the porcelain capital of Japan, further stimulated Yoshida artisans to create affordable fusion-style products for Southeast Asian markets that were yet to be dominated by prestigious Hizen porcelains. However, the efflorescence of Yoshida porcelains with seal design was rather short-lived due to limited native resources and fierce competition in and outside Kyushu.

Piezoelectric Sensing Element‐Assisted Ceramic Art Process Optimization and Visual Quantitative Characterization

In this paper, piezoelectric sensing elements are used to assist in the study and analysis of ceramic art process optimization and visual quantization characteristics. A series piezoelectric element impedance sensor is designed based on the resonant frequency characteristics of the series piezoelectric element. Combining the resonant frequency characteristics of the series piezoelectric element and the basic principle of the impedance method, a multisensing impedance method based on the series piezoelectric element impedance sensor is proposed. The feasibility of the multisensing impedance method for monitoring the grout compactness was verified experimentally, and the basic principle of the method was further investigated by finite element simulation. The vase‐type porcelain vessels were classified according to symmetry elements to find the characteristic points, the abdominal morphology was used as the basis for classification, and the screened samples were extracted from the contours to exclude the influence of other factors on the vessel shape. By the symmetrical elements of each type of ware, the classification principle of the ware type was designed and divided into six types, and each type was further subdivided into various types to establish a typological map of Qing dynasty bottle porcelain. The information entropy redundancy that describes the uniformity of the code appearance probability and the visual redundancy that describes the human eye’s sensitivity to image content or details are all entry points that can be considered for image coding. The experimental results show that the LBP‐HOG fusion features can digitally express the information of ancient ceramic ornamentation and dig and verify the evolution of ceramic ornamentation with the times from the digital quantity. The GRNN model has an excellent performance in processing small samples of ancient ceramic data.

“Nderit Ware” and the origins of pastoralist pottery in eastern Africa

“Nderit Ware,” a type of pottery famous in eastern Africa for its remarkably intricate basket-like bowls, is associated with evidence for the region's earliest pastoralism during a time period known as the Pastoral Neolithic (PN, c. 5000-1200 cal BP). This paper reviews the changing ways archaeologists have conceptualized “Nderit” pottery over the past eighty years. The “Nderit” ware type was defined in relation to initial finds in central Kenya, decades before archaeologists discovered Nderit had greater antiquity as a technology/artistic tradition in northwest Kenya's Turkana Basin. Ceramic assemblages from pillar sites surrounding Lake Turkana – including Lothagam North (GeJi9) and Jarigole (GbJj1) – reveal a more variable and complex history of ceramic production and use than previously recognized. Nderit's first known production and use is associated with the region's earliest food producers, mobile pastoralists establishing themselves around a dramatically shrinking Lake Turkana. These findings carry important implications for reconstructing the cultural history and material lives of early herding groups moving within and beyond the Turkana Basin, and expand our frame of reference for understanding the origins of pottery production by mobile, small-scale groups worldwide.

Dynamics in Ceramic Production: Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from Godin Tepe III:6 and III:5

ABSTRACT Petrographic analysis was conducted on pottery from Early Bronze Age archaeological levels at Godin Tepe (western Iran), for the purpose of defining traditions of raw material procurement and ceramic production methods in the context of a local abandonment and resettlement of an agricultural town within the excavation area. Thin-section samples of ceramics representing various ware types from each phase were analysed with a polarising light microscope. The results reveal that there was some continuity in raw material procurement strategies between these phases, especially with buff common wares. The high degree of petrofabric homogeneity within buff common wares strongly suggests the presence of workshops producing them, while more variation among buff coarse and grey-black wares indicates possible household production. A distinct petrofabric of mostly metamorphosing red shale inclusions appeared in III:5, closely associated with red-slipped wares which proliferated in that archaeological phase, suggests the appearance of a novel ceramic tradition at the summit of the town mound, alongside the persistence of existing ceramic traditions and raw material procurement strategies.

A study on the departure port of the Sinan shipwreck—A perspective based on the Chinese ceramic cargo

The 14th century Sinan (or Shinan) Shipwreck, located in the southwestern marine area of the Korean peninsula, is one of the most significant ancient shipwrecks in the East Asian seas. Several hypotheses have been proposed about the port of departure, although insufficient archaeological research has been carried out on this matter. This paper makes a detailed comparison between the ceramics found on the Sinan shipwreck and the contemporaneous ceramics unearthed in Fuzhou, Hangzhou, and Ningbo in China, using three parameters: places of origin, proportion of products from different kilns, and similarity in ware types. We confirm that the most likely departure port of the ship was Ningbo (at that time called Qingyuan), from the perspective of its ceramic cargo. This inspires us to re-evaluate the importance of Ningbo to the maritime trade in the East Asian seas.

The relationship between the use of Zijin clay and glaze crackles for Chinese celadon with black body

The celadon with black body is a famous type of ceramic product in ancient China due to its appearance features, black body and crazing glaze, different from regular. For this type of ware, the crazing glaze is a kind of artificial decoration, not production defect. How the glaze crackles were made by ancient potter has always attracted many people's attention. And it has been studied mainly based on chemical composition. In this paper, we aim to provide our discussion and explanation for its sophisticated combinations of crazing glaze and black body. Based on analysis of ancient and modern celadon products, we thought that the difference in quartz content of the fired body is the reason why the celadon with black body is more likely to have crazing glaze than regular. And, the potter could control the expansion coefficient of the body by using Zijin clay with low quartz content as raw material.

Some hypothetical evolutionary lines relating to the Phocean Red Slip Ware types 3F/G, 3G and 3.

Some hypothetical evolutionary lines relating to the Phocean Red Slip Ware types 3F/G, 3G and 3.

The Archaeology of the Ostraca House at Israelite Samaria: Epigraphic Discoveries in Complicated Contexts

The Archaeology of the Ostraca House at Israelite Samaria: Epigraphic Discoveries in Complicated Contexts

Plant materials used as temper in the oldest Neolithic pottery from south-eastern Poland

Plant materials were frequently used as a temper as an important part of the process of making pottery. However, identification of the presence of tempering material and its taxonomic composition are still uncommon practices. This paper presents the results of a study of plant remains observed in pottery dated to the oldest Neolithic from south-eastern Poland, as a tool for detecting or confirming changes in the method of making the pottery. In previous studies, plant material was noticed sporadically in coarse ware and its identification was based on macroscopic plant morphology. On the other hand, remains of plants were not usually observed in the other finer ware types since their surfaces were frequently smoothed and decorated, while their sections were very thin. Therefore, in the present study, these groups of pottery have been studied in detail. A preliminary observation of surfaces and fresh sections of selected potsherds has shown that plant temper was neither evident nor abundant in them. However, with microscopy, small fragments of plant tissues and their imprints have been seen inside the clay. Their identification was not possible on the basis of plant morphology, but was carried out with the help of plant anatomy, especially by observing the microscopic features of plant epidermis. Previous archaeobotanical studies from the area indicated that the plants used as temper in coarse ware mostly included remnants of cereal chaff. Consequently, this paper will test this hypothesis in the case of the finer Neolithic ceramics.

Tracing pottery use and the emergence of secondary product exploitation through lipid residue analysis at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad (Syria)

Late Neolithic settlements dating to around 7000 cal. BC are widespread in Upper Mesopotamia, however, the site of Tell Sabi Abyad is unique in the scale and quality of excavation, revealing an extensive architecture, huge numbers of domesticated animal bones, stone tools and potsherds. A previous study reported lipid residues in nearly 300 potsherds as part of a wider investigation of the origins of dairying in the Near East and Southeastern Europe. The aim of this paper is to interpret the organic residue findings in more detail, addressing such factors as the association of lipids in pottery with particular phases, ware types, and the faunal record. Overall, the recovery rate of lipids in sherds is low (14% of the sherds investigated in this study yielded detectable lipids) and the mean lipid concentration for sherds containing lipids is ca. 82 μg g−1. These results are typical of sites from this period and general region (southern Mediterranean and Near East). Our interpretations indicate: (i) the use of specific ceramic categories of vessel for “cooking”, (ii) clear evidence of the extensive heating of vessels is deduced from the presence of ketones, formed from the condensation of fatty acids, in some vessels, (iii) strong differences in recovery rates possibly reflecting differences in use between different pottery types, (iv) in particular the Dark-Faced Burnished Ware (DFBW) contained the highest frequency of residues (46% yielded detectable lipids), (v) degraded animal fats were detectable, as evidenced by fatty acids with C18:0 in high abundance and in few cases tri-, di- and monoacylglycerols, (vi) the presence of abundant carcass fats is consistent with interpretations based on faunal assemblage of extensive meat exploitation, and (vii) four vessels dated to 6400 to 5900 cal BC yielded milk fat residues.

Colouring Agents in the Pottery Glazes of Western Anatolia: New Evidence for the Use of Naples Yellow Pigment Variations During The Late Byzantine Period

A group of the late 12th–13th century Byzantine pottery glazes, mostly related to Zeuxippus Ware Type pottery from the Kuşadası Kadıkalesi/Anaia site in western Anatolia, was characterized non‐destructively using Raman spectrometry. SEM–EDX was also used complementarily for the glaze characterization. The nature and composition of the glazes, firing conditions, aspects of colour formation and pigments used were discussed. The glazes were found to be lead‐rich silicates, fired close to 700°C on the basis of the Si–O stretching peak maxima of the Raman spectra recorded at ∼920–980 cm–1, as also confirmed by SEM–EDX analysis. The polymerization index values calculated are between approximately 0.05 and 0.1. The use of biscuit‐fired bodies prior to glaze application was suggested based on the results of SEM–EDX analysis. In particular, the detection of Naples yellow pigment variations on a locally produced pottery sample is quite significant, since the use of this type of pigment has hardly ever been reported between the Roman period and the Renaissance.

Documentation of Ceramic Vessels and Projectile Points from the C. D. Marsh Site (41HS269) in the Sabine River Basin

A total of at least eight Caddo burials were excavated at the C. D. Marsh site on Eight Mile Creek, a southward-flowing tributary to the Sabine River, by Buddy C. Jones in 1959-1960. This includes Burial 1, an historic (dating after ca. A.D. 1685) Nadaco Caddo burial; European trade goods found with this burial include two small silver disks. The other burials (Burials 2-8) are part of an earlier Caddo cemetery that is thought to be associated with the ca. A.D. 1350-17th century Pine Tree Mound community along the Sabine River and its tributaries. Jones suggests that these latter burials are from a ca. A.D. 1200-1500 Caddo cemetery. According to Jones and notes on file at the museum, Burials 2-8 are located ca. 120 m east-southeast from the one Historic Caddo burial at the site. The burials were placed in extended supine position in north-south oriented pits in rows, with the head of the deceased at the southern end of the burial and facing north. Funerary offerings included ceramic vessels and mussel shells. In this article, we describe eight ceramic vessels in the Gregg County Historical Museum collections from Burials 1, 4, and 7, as well as projectile points from habitation contexts at the C. D. Marsh site; the location of Burial 7 relative to Burial 4 is not known. There are also six other ceramic vessels from the ca. A.D. 1200-1500 burials at the site that are unassociated funerary objects in the Gregg County Historical Museum collections. This includes one vessel each from Burials 5 and 8; the provenience of the other vessels at the site is unknown. One of the unassociated funerary object ceramic vessels at the C. D. Marsh site is a Ripley Engraved, var. McKinney carinated bowl. Such vessels would not be expected in a ca. A.D. 1200-1500 Caddo cemetery, and although this type of fine ware is commonly seen on post-A.D. 1600 Titus phase sites in the region, it is rarely found in association with European trade goods. Therefore, it may represent a burial from a third temporal component (ca. A.D. 1600-1685) at the site.