X‐Ray Fluorescence and Stable Isotope Analysis of Marble in Central Lydia,Western Turkey

This paper presents the results of carbon and oxygen stable isotope analysis on marble quarries and artefacts from central Lydia, western Turkey under the auspices of the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS). The marble survey and sampling programme studied 11 small‐scale quarries in the hinterland of the ancient city of Sardis. These quarries demonstrate evidence of ancient tool use, though their precise periods of operation were unknown prior to this study. The results presented here correlate material from these quarries with material previously studied from Sardis and from several tumuli in the monumental cemetery known as Bin Tepe. This study demonstrates that small quarries were important components of ancient social and economic landscapes, and that they are deserving of more consideration in archaeometric and marble studies. The data also point towards different social and economic factors at work in Lydian and Roman‐period marble acquisition.     

Variability of Ceramic Production and Consumption on the Greek Mainland During the Middle Stages of the Late Bronze Age: The Waterpots from the Menelaion,Sparta

The article examines pottery groups manufactured in non‐Mycenaean traditions from the site of the Menelaion in Laconia (southern Peloponnese, Greece) during the middle stages of the Late Bronze Age. Pottery traditions are first defined using macroscopic study of surface and break features. Two distinct handmade traditions, and another one employing the wheel but with some links to traditional handmade pottery manufactured on the island of Aegina, were recognized and subjected to petrographic analysis. Its results confirmed that potters’ choices regarding clay preparation were different in the case of each identified tradition, being most distinct for the largest group of handmade undecorated water jars. The study highlights survival of pottery traditions with roots in the Middle Helladic period well into the Late Bronze Age, a fact that has not received appropriate attention in the scholarly discourse. It captures the very last stage of their existence, as just a few decades later the production and consumption are entirely dominated by Mycenaean pottery.     

Athenian Black Gloss Pottery: A View from the West

Excavation of archaic Morgantina (c.700–450 BC), Sicily, has brought to light a significant pattern in the distribution of imported Greek pottery. This pattern, which shows a preference for imports with features that referred to metal vessels, is echoed at sites around the western Mediterranean. We argue that the preference for certain types was communicated back to Greek producers, and that it also reflects the particular local interests of non‐Greeks, who associated metallic features not only with wealth, but also with their own ancestral traditions.     

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.     

West African Tradition in the Decoration of Colonial Jamaican Folk Pottery

In the early colonial period, Jamaican slaves manufactured pottery that incorporated traditional West African technology with selected European innovations. Recent examination of Afro-Jamaican wares from the seventeenth-century site of Port Royal suggests that the decorative elements are consistent with those that are in wide use among West African pottery traditions, particularly those of the Gold Coast (Ghana). Stamped designs prevail as the clearest example of this continuity. Potential Amerindian contributions to the Jamaican folk pottery industry during this period are considered and shown to be unlikely. The isolation of decorative traits demonstrates how certain craft elements of West African peoples were transported to the New World and integrated with other cultural traditions. It also corroborates the documentary record pertaining to the geographical origin of Jamaican slaves during the early colonial period.     

Ceramic Traditions and Cultural Identities: West‐Central France during the Late Neolithic II Period (c.3400–2900 cal. BC)

Pottery is generally used as the main basis for characterizing Neolithic cultural identities: archaeologists tend to define groups and cultures in time and space on the basis of typological classification. This paper proposes a different approach to the study of pottery that takes into account the various steps of the chaîne opératoire of manufacture, particularly the methods used to form and finish the pots, in order to characterize the cultural landscape of the Late Neolithic II period in west‐central France (3400?2900 BC). This cultural landscape has hitherto been poorly defined and subject to endless debate since the 1950s, largely because the pottery is fairly homogeneous in shape and is mostly undecorated. The technological study presented here, based on the examination of 23 ceramic assemblages and focusing on a variety of stages in the chaîne opératoire, has allowed the definition of three technical traditions. The main characteristics and diagnostic features of these traditions are outlined below, together with their interrelationships.     

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).     

马家浜文化晚期陶鼎的兴起及其影响

环太湖地区马家浜文化晚期,形态各异的陶鼎开始兴起。各个类型陶鼎在时空分布、创制机理和发展过程等方面都存在着明显的不同,与本地区固有的以釜为主的炊器传统有着亲疏程度上的显著差异。不同制鼎传统之间彼此影响,关系错综复杂,一度形成了多个本土和外来传统并立的局面。厘清这些陶鼎类型的源流谱系,对于明确其后续影响,乃至阐释整个环太湖地区史前陶鼎传统的形成问题,都具有重要意义。     

论江汉地区二例相关的史前陶文

阴湘城和石家河古城是江汉地区两个著名的史前时代的古城。最近,在这两个古城遗址的发掘中发现了两例相似的陶文。作者对这两例陶文进行了考释,认为它们是“荆”字最初的写法。他进一步认为“荆”是距今4000-5000年前生活在江汉地区的一个远古部落的名称,而荆州也因此而得名。     

Regional spaces, spaces of regionalism: territory, insurgent politics and the English question

Amid the globalization of economic life and a myriad of powerful challenges to Westphalian traditions of political statehood, it is now routinely contended that regions are 'in resurgence'. Nonetheless, much of the debate on this purported regional renaissance is bedevilled by confusion over what scholars and activists mean by regions and an analogous mystification as to why some regions are 'successful', 'lagging' or 'different'. Our paper aims to instil some coherence to this debate by distinguishing between what we term regional spaces and spaces of regionalism . It then draws on this distinction to explore the institutionalization of England's South West region, highlighting some tensions which prevail over its economic future, its political representation, its territorial shape and cultural vernacular. In undertaking this, we demonstrate how the formation of any given regional map is reflective – and indeed constitutive – of an unevenly developing, often overlapping and superimposing mosaic of economic practices, political mobilizations, cultural performances and institutional accomplishments. This prompts us to question the currently fashionable inclination to fully jettison a scalar and/or territorial approach to the theory and practice of spatiality in favour of relational/topological/non-territorial approaches.     

Panamanian coarse handmade earthenware — a melting pot of African,American and European traditions?

Abstract

Panamanian coarse handmade earthenware is part of the wide-ranging phenomenon of handmade Colono wares common in Latin America and the Caribbean during the colonial and post-colonial periods. This article presents an overview of vessel forms and decoration and discusses the possible influence of different cultural traditions, based on archaeological research in Panama. Comparisons are made with indigenous pottery and with medieval ceramics from southern Spain and North Africa. The results may be seen as a case study highlighting the significance of handmade pottery in relation to processes of ethnic and social identity, cultural interaction and contact.     

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.     

淮河流域史前陶鼓的研究

淮河是介于黄河与长江之间的重要河流,淮河流域新石器时代的考古学化在我国新石器时代占有重要的地位。本对淮河流域新石器时代考古学化进行了重新界定,对淮河流域出土的史前陶鼓进行了定性与定名、器形分类、发展与传播、使用与作用等方面的综合研究,并探讨了陶鼓与原始礼乐的关系及东夷集团在华夏明化进程中所起的作用。     

On the Origins of Decorative Traditions in the Early Bronze Age Pottery of the Middle Tobol Basin,Western Siberia

The Early Bronze Age is one of the least documented stages in the prehistory of the Middle Tobol region. The key issue in the study of this period concerns the origins of several cultural traditions and the role of the native Chalcolithic population in this process. The analysis of pottery decoration from the Bairyk-Lybayevo Chalcolithic sites reveals cultural heterogeneity, evidently re?ecting the immigration of tribes, unrelated to local tribes, and their contacts with the natives. Two tendencies can be traced in this process. The ?rst is a gradual transformation of separate decorative components of the Bairyk-Lybayevo complex. These components are detached from the main complex and are represented by pottery from sites of the Imbiryai and Mostovoye types. The second is an abrupt change caused by intense contact with the immigrants, eventually resulting in the emergence of the Tashkovo culture.     

LAST ORDERS: CHOOSING POTTERY FOR FUNERALS IN ROMAN ESSEX

Summary.   This paper examines ceramic vessels from Roman-period funerary contexts in Essex. Using correspondence analysis, it charts changes in the choice of funerary pottery and isolates the elements in pottery assemblages that unite or differentiate sites. The paper finds that the status of sites can be distinguished on ceramic grounds, reflecting cultural differences in life. Jars and beakers are characteristic of settlement cemeteries, while cups are more typical of high-status burials. Flagons and samian ware are common between them. Underlying funerary traditions are rooted in continuity from the Late Iron Age, rather than post-conquest change. The study also suggests that funerary pottery was selected out of the supply intended for domestic use.     

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.     

Two Southern sudanese pottery traditions in a historical perspective

The author observed two very different pottery traditions in Southern Sudan: (1) the Dinka pottery, made by coiling technique and decorated with twisted palm roulette, (2) the Jur Molo pottery, which was a lump of clay and decorated with mat impressions. The present‐day distribution of people using rouletting pottery in this area is to the Nilotic speaking group, while the makes of the mat‐impressed pots belong to the Central Sudanic speaking group. The author hypothesizes that the prehistoric distribution and datings of the mat impression ware indicate that this is the oldest pottery tradition and might be associated with the Iron Age distribution of the Central Sudanic people in Southern Sudan.     

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.     

Trude Dothan (1922–2016): In Memoriam

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on the most common type of pottery associated with advanced phases of Early Bronze I (EB I) in the southern Jordan valley: the distinctive family or group known as Um Hammad Ware, or Proto-Urban D (PUD) Ware. To date, this kind of pottery was thought to be concentrated mostly around the site of Tell Um Hammad. This study presents new evidence suggesting that this ware was dispersed over a region considerably wider than previously understood, and that the centre of its manufacture was probably in the region of western Wadi Far'ah. This paper also explores the possibility that the origins of this family are to be found in the pottery traditions of the Golan region during the Chalcolithic period.     

The provenance and distribution of Early Bronze ceramics in the Kolyaei Plain,central Zagros,Iran

Within Iran, there is little archaeological evidence for relationships between newly arrived Early Trans-Caucasian (ETC) or Kura-Araxes settlers and earlier inhabitants and contact with neighbouring cultures, or for their apparently abrupt end. Based on the evidence, the Iranian Kura-Araxes was not a simple ‘copy' of the Caucasian Kura-Araxes package. Ceramic traditions show local peculiarities, and all are elements suggesting that the Kura-Araxes traditions went through processes of adaptation, change and re-elaboration according to local tastes and technologies. In this study, an archaeometric approach to ceramics in the Kolyaei Plain of central Zagros contributes to the discussion of contact and exchange between indigenous communities and several cultural spheres of influence on the Early Bronze Age (beginning in the fourth millennium bce ). Morphological data, as well as the mineralogical and chemical composition of ceramics, were applied to determine the major and trace elements of the pottery shards. Based on the trace element profiles, it can be suggested that all the pottery shards are in the same group and they strongly are local products. The ceramic provenance indicates the same patterns of material interactions during the ETC or Kura-Araxes in all the sites within the Kolyaei Plain.