Fort Ancient-Mississippian Interaction and Shell-Tempered Pottery at SunWatch Village,Ohio

Abstract

The use of mussel shell for tempering pottery vessels by Fort Ancient societies is poorly understood. Suggestions have included both diffusion from neighboring Mississippian social groups and local developments, although no studies have investigated whether shell-tempered pottery is non-local or associated with Mississippian features and artifact types within Fort Ancient sites. This study begins to remedy this deficiency by examining the social and temporal contexts and petrographic composition of shell-tempered pottery at the Sun Watch site, a Fort Ancient village located in sw Ohio that was occupied during the height of neighboring Mississippian developments (ca.A.D. 1150–1450). Our findings indicate that shell tempered pottery was not produced locally and is linked with a village leader and Mississippian-inspired architecture.     

SHELL-TEMPERED POTTERY ON THE CENTRAL PLAINS

Abstract

The Central Plains have not been included in recent coverage of issues related to the use of shell-tempered pottery in eastern North America. It has been known for over a century that this material does appear on the Central Plains. Its spatial and temporal distribution, however, are not well understood, and issues related to its presence and technology have only recently begun to receive needed attention. This paper reviews the status of what we know about the spatial and temporal distribution of shell-tempered pottery on the Central Plains by compiling data from many sources and visually portraying their patterning. Some factors affecting the distribution then are discussed, with particular attention given to firing and raw material properties. Vessel form and function, and decoration and its implications, also are briefly discussed.     

Discontinuing Traditions: Using Historically Informed Ethnoarchaeology in the Study of Evros Ceramics

Ethnoarchaeological studies of pottery primarily focus on the ethnographic present, often disregarding the role of history in the production of material culture. This paper integrates information from historical sources and ethnographic interviews to better understand stylistic ceramic change. Beginning in the 1920s, undecorated pots largely replaced decorated pottery in the region of Evros, Greece. I argue that historically informed ethnoarchaeology provides the key to documenting and understanding the concomitant changes in the social context of pottery production and consumption and the distribution of material culture.     

明代琉璃陶烧造初论

古代的琉璃陶是中国陶瓷史上一个重要的品种,而明代的琉璃陶更是记录当时皇家建筑历史的重要见证,也是当时一个烧造较多、风格独特的重要陶器品种。几十年来,随着考古工作的深入进行,发现了大量明代琉璃陶文物和资料。本研究以明代琉璃陶烧造为主要内容,从考古发现和历史文献两个角度,对明代宫廷和藩王使用建筑用琉璃陶及陪葬使用琉璃陶俑、民间使用琉璃陶人像以及琉璃陶相关器物进行综合性叙述和梳理,也对明代琉璃陶的一些相关问题进行了研究。     

The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun: Umm an-Nar ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250–2000 BC

This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an-Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun's contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from the Oman peninsula the Bahrain collection is tentatively dated to c. 2250–2000 BC. The location of the Umm an-Nar pottery within the distribution of burial mounds reveals that its import was strongly associated with the scattered mounds of Early Type. It is demonstrated that the frequency of Umm an-Nar pottery declined just as the ten compact cemeteries emerged c. 2050 BC. The observed patterns are seen as a response to the decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun.     

The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun: Umm an-Nar ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250–2000 BC

This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an-Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun's contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from the Oman peninsula the Bahrain collection is tentatively dated to c. 2250–2000 BC. The location of the Umm an-Nar pottery within the distribution of burial mounds reveals that its import was strongly associated with the scattered mounds of Early Type. It is demonstrated that the frequency of Umm an-Nar pottery declined just as the ten compact cemeteries emerged c. 2050 BC. The observed patterns are seen as a response to the decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun.     

浅析贵州民间砂器工艺特点与重要历史价值

贵州砂器工艺是一项非常有特色的民间传统工艺,它所蕴含的古代文化信息十分丰富。通过对贵州民间砂器制作工艺中成型技术、烧制与鼓风方式等与新石器时代制陶工艺的比较,可看出其基本原理及一些重要工序或器械都直接继承了新石器时代的制陶工艺,或者在原始工艺基础上进行了改进。其中包括一些发明创造体现了山区劳动人民的聪明智慧,反映了人类在生存斗争中的创造能力。贵州砂器工艺的历史价值不可低估,值得保护和研究。     

先秦诸子论历史盛衰

先秦诸子承认历史盛衰变化是一种客观存在,这是其历史盛衰论产生的思想前提。先秦诸子还认识到盛衰变化和转化的必然性。对于决定历史盛衰的因素,先秦诸子从历史与哲学的高度进行了深刻、多维的思考,他们关于历史盛衰的总结和思考,对我国民族的历史思维及后世史学产生了深刻的影响。     

Lapita and Proto-Oceanic

Linguistics and archaeology have been, and continue to be, entwined in the discourse on the early human history of the Pacific. It is commonly assumed, explicitly or otherwise, that the bearers of the Lapita culture were speakers of Proto-Oceanic, the ancestor of the Austronesian languages of most of the Pacific. In this discursive piece, the chronological data for the location and timing of the emergence of Lapita pottery are compared with the linguistic data for the source region of Proto-Oceanic. Although both pottery and proto-language may possibly originate in the same location, this is not the most likely scenario if the evidence from the two disciplines is evaluated independently. There is no necessary historical association for the emergence of the Proto-Oceanic language and Lapita pottery. The Proto-Oceanic language and Lapita pottery should not be assumed to represent a single historical vector, as is commonly the case; rather, they should be considered discrete and separate historical phenomena.     

以青州为例看山东的可移动彩绘陶质、石质文物

近十几年来,青州陆续有龙兴寺佛教造像和香山汉墓彩绘陶俑出土。这些文物有一个共同特点,即彩绘保存较好,且数量很大。通过对山东其他地区出土的同类彩绘文物的色彩、纹饰等的统计,让我们对山东的彩绘陶质和石质文物的艺术特色有一个综合认识。陶质彩绘文物自大汶口文化时期出现,经历了由实用器到明器的转变,到两汉时期发展到高峰,中国雕塑的最大特色之一塑、绘结合成熟了,对其后的雕塑艺术产生了很大影响。隋唐以后,彩绘陶质明器渐渐走向衰落。目前彩绘石质文物在山东最早见于汉代画像石,在北朝时期的佛教造像上得到极大发展。继承了汉代陶俑塑、绘结合的雕塑形式,将外来的宗教艺术中国化了,其细腻的刻画,对形体比例的准且把握,使中国的雕塑艺术达到了一个高峰。     

On pottery change and northern Iroquoian origins: An assessment from the Finger Lakes region of central New York

Pots as tools is a concept that has been widely accepted and developed since Braun’s classic 1983 publication. However, in northeastern North America archaeologists continue to use pottery primarily as an aid to culture history and research problems based thereon. In central New York State it has been postulated that a change in pottery forming technique heralds the onset of Iroquoian pottery traditions at around AD 1000. Empirical data on pottery forming and two other pottery traits do not support this postulation. Rather the trends in these traits are consistent with social learning theory and changes in mobility and population aggregation. Following Engelbrecht (1999, 2003) we suggest that a more fruitful approach to understanding the evolution of northern Iroquoian groups is to be found in ethnogenesis theory as described by Moore (1994, 2001).     

Conquest,ceramics, continuity and change. Beyond representational approaches to continuity and change in early medieval England: a case study from Anglo‐Norman Southampton

Studies of Anglo‐Norman material culture, and pottery in particular, have struggled to see how processes of change are reflected in the material record. In this paper I propose a new approach to the analysis of this material. By reconstructing how people interacted with objects, we can see how the agency to create Anglo‐Norman England was distributed through interactions between people and their surroundings. Furthermore, rather than being reflected in such interactions, continuity and change flowed through engagements with objects, generating unique meanings and experiences. This approach therefore challenges the existing ontology that underlies our understanding of the period and its political developments and ethnic identities.     

CLAY RESOURCES AND TECHNICAL CHOICES FOR NEOLITHIC POTTERY (CHALAIN,JURA, FRANCE): CHEMICAL,MINERALOGICAL AND GRAIN‐SIZE ANALYSES*

Many authors have considered pottery manufacturing constraints and sociocultural elements as factors in change in past civilizations over time. The main issue of this research is to better understand the reasons for changes, or choices, in pottery raw materials. The very precise and detailed stratigraphy and cultural succession of occupations is based on dendrochronological data from the lake‐dwelling sites of Chalain (Jura, France). Petrographic, palaeontological and chemical analyses were used to determine the nature and origins of the raw materials used by the Neolithic potters. Stratigraphy and dendrochronological data were used to reconstruct in detail the evolution dynamics of fabric changes. Several raw material sources were identified for many of the pottery groups. Each of them was sampled for qualitative experimental tests of pottery forming. The experimental results show a high variability between the sediments tested. This variability was quantitatively estimated by XRF, XRD, the Rietveld method, calcium carbonate quantification and laser grain‐size analyses of matrices, indirect measures of plasticity. These analytical results allow a better understanding of the differences observed in the experimental tests. On the basis of these experimental and analytical results, changing parameters such as pottery manufacturing constraints, mineralogical characteristics of raw materials and sociocultural factors are considered. In conclusion, all the social and technical parameters, in each archaeological context, must be taken into account for a better understanding of the changes occurring throughout the chronological sequence.     

I Like You,I Like Your Pottery: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach to Ceramic Distribution and Acquisition in Northeastern Ghana

This article deals with the myriad determinants involved in pottery distribution in northeast Ghana, considered from a theoretical perspective that integrates the materiality of vessels and the social, political and historical context where both communities and pottery operate in their daily practice. Hence, we develop a comprehensive research strategy that combines emic and etic views covering the multiple dimensions of pottery life history. In this sense, production units, technical traditions and the characteristics of the redistributive centres, as well as the strategies for pottery acquisition, are studied. Special attention is paid to quite varied aspects such as the physical properties of vessels and their performance characteristics, the reputation of both vessels and potters according to the consumers and the mobility and connectivity patterns found in the study area. On the other hand, interpretations regarding the historical and sociopolitical context of the region are emphasised, as well as the interethnic relationships amongst groups inhabiting the area.     

Surveying the Boundaries of Historical Linguistics and Archaeology: Early Settlement in South Central Africa

Drawing on evidence from South Central Africa, this paper explores two methods for linking the linguistic and archaeological records. Since the 1960s, scholars have correlated the hypothesized spatial and temporal overlaps of linguistic speech communities and pottery traditions, with varying success in the face of revisions to linguistic classifications and debates over pottery typologies. This paper assesses similar correlations between speech communities within the Bantu-Botatwe family and ceramic traditions of South Central Africa. Then, it proposes direct associations for specific activities and tools attested in both the linguistic and archaeological records in order to test correlations between pottery traditions and speech communities as well as the reliability of glottochronology. The development of a dense cluster of direct associations between the two records converging on the “when and where” of historical processes allows for the incorporation of theoretical and historical interpretations founded on one body of evidence into narratives developed from another type of data and, therefore, facilitates a “peer” engagement between the disciplines.     

Pottery Production, Distribution, and Consumption—The Contribution of the Physical Sciences

The study of the life cycle of pottery, from the selection of raw materials and the production stage through distribution and use to ultimate discard, can make a valuable contribution to archaeological research. The aim of the present paper is to provide a summary and critical assessment of the particular contribution of the physical sciences to the reconstruction and interpretation of this life cycle, in large part through the presentation of selected case studies. The topics covered include the reconstruction of the technology used in pottery production, through a combination of microscopy, radiography, and chemical analysis; the investigation of the extent of craft specialization and the organization of pottery production; the reconstruction of pottery distribution from its production center, using thin-section petrography and chemical analysis, and the interpretation of these data in terms of exchange and trade; the reconstruction of the consumption stage or uses to which pottery was put, from the study of surface wear, organic residues, and performance characteristics; and a discussion of the reasons for the introduction of pottery and for the different technological choices made in pottery production. Throughout, the importance of considering the overall environmental, technological, economic, sociopolitical, cultural–ideological and historical context in which the pottery was produced, distributed, and consumed is emphasized. The paper is concerned, almost-exclusively, with unglazed earthenware spanning prehistory through to circa 1500 AD.     

Pottery Use-Alteration as an Indicator of Socioeconomic Status: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Gamo of Ethiopia

The use of a pottery vessel leaves markers on the ceramic wall that can inform archaeologists how the vessel functioned in the past. At present, archaeologists have little information for understanding how use-alteration reflects the complex nature of ceramic function and socioeconomic status. I conducted a 2-year ethnoarchaeological research project among the Gamo people of southwestern Ethiopia, who continue to produce and use pottery on a daily basis. This research indicates that interior surface attrition occurs primarily on pottery vessels used in wealthy households because of fermentation processes from high-status foods. Thus, the Gamo example suggests that there is a relationship between ceramic use-alteration and household socioeconomic status.     

The effects of geographical distances on pottery assemblage similarities: a case study from Northern Iroquoia

A basic premise of archaeology is that the more frequently two human populations interacted with one another the more similar was their material culture. A corollary of this is that the closer two human populations are to one another geographically, the more frequently they will interact. This corollary has been expressed in the archaeological study of northern Iroquoia since the 1950s on the basis of historical ethnic territories. The expectation has been that after ca. A.D. 1000 to 1300 there was more interaction between village populations within these historical territories than between village populations located in different historical territories. Here I test this corollary with pottery decoration data from 114 northern Iroquoian village sites dating from c. A.D. 1350 to 1640. Results indicate that geographic distance has little effect on pottery assemblage similarity.     

Woodland Pottery Function,Cooking, and Diet in the Upper Great Lakes of North America

A multidimensional approach to functional analysis was employed to examine pottery use, cooking, and subsistence in pre-European North American contexts. A variety of analytic techniques were applied to ceramic assemblages from two sites on the south shore of Lake Superior: the Middle Woodland Naomikong Point site and the Late Woodland Sand Point site. The analyses of both technical attributes and use-alteration traces suggest that a majority of pottery vessels from these sites were used for cooking throughout the Woodland period. Lipid residue analysis corroborates traditional subsistence information but specifies which foods were cooked in pottery vessels. Vessel size varies according to context rather than by time or by function, with larger vessels associated with ritual areas and smaller vessels originating from domestic spheres, a trend potentially related to feasting behavior. Interior carbonization patterns change in frequency between the Middle and Late Woodland periods, suggesting a shift in cooking and possibly subsistence practices.     

河北满城要庄发掘简报

<正> 要庄村位于河北省保定市西北郊区,属满城县管辖。东南距满城县城十华里,西和眺山遥遥相对,北相隔不过一华里为漕河,南傍依著名的一亩泉。 要庄遗址位于要庄村西的高台平地上。1982年初至1983年底,河北省文物研究所联合保定地区文物管理所、满城县文化馆,对这一带进行了考古勘查和初次发掘。 在勘查中,除搞清楚了遗址的分布、面积、文化堆积及内涵外,在遗址以东,与古遗址的中心分布相距一华里的地方,新发现了两处古墓葬,探出古墓葬120余座。探出古代水井5眼(图