A scanning method for the identification of pottery forming techniques at the mesoscopic scale: A pilot study in the manufacture of Early Bronze Age III holemouth jars and platters from Tell es-Safi/Gath

Ross, Jon; Fowler, Kent D.; Shai, Itzhaq; Greenfield, Haskel J.; Maeir, Aren M.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.01.036

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Within the expanded subsample, prints occur primarily on body sherds from six classes of vessels: two kinds of storage jars, holemouth cooking vessels, bowls, jugs and juglets [39]. All of these vessel types were made by coiling [44].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Fingerprint evidence for the division of labour and learning pottery-making at Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

et al. 2020

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The organization of craft production has long been a marker for broader social, economic and political changes that accompanied urbanism. The identity of producers who comprised production groups, communities, or workshops is out of reach using conventional archaeological data. There has been some success using epidermal prints on artefacts to identify the age and sex of producers. However, forensic research indicates that a combination of ridge breadth and ridge density would best identify the age and sex of individuals. To this end, we combine mean ridge breadth (MRB) and mean ridge density (MRD) to distinguish the age and sex of 112 fingerprints on Early Bronze Age (EB) III pottery from the early urban neighbourhood at Tell eṡ-Ṡ â fi/Gath, Israel, dating to a 100 year time span. Our analysis accounts for the shrinkage of calcareous fabrics used to make six type of vessels, applies a modified version of the Kamp et al. regression equation to the MRB for each individual print, and infers sex by correlating MRD data to appropriate modern reference populations. When the results are combined, our analyses indicate that most fingerprints were made by adult and young males and the remainder by adult and young females. Children's prints are in evidence but only occur on handles. Multiple prints of different age and sex on the same vessels suggest they were impressed during the training of young potters. Production appears dominated by adult and young males working alone, together, and in cooperation with adult and/or young females. Vessels with prints exclusively by females of any age are rare. This male dominant cooperative labour pattern contrasts recent studies showing that adult women primarily made Neolithic figurines in Anatolia, and more females than males were making pottery prior to the rise of city-states in northern Mesopotamia.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Fingerprint evidence for the division of labour and learning pottery-making at Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

et al. 2020

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“…When it comes to XCT investigations, during the last few decades this kind of imaging method has been increasingly applied in archaeological research (Kahl, Ramminger 2012;Thér 2016;Kozatsas et al 2018;Ross et al 2018;Park et al 2019). This type of analysis can provide details about the internal structure of the artefacts that cannot be otherwise disclosed but through destructive investigations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Object and Subject

Opriș¹,

Manea

Lechintan

et al. 2022

Doc. praeh.

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The current paper aims to reveal the potential of combining multiple approaches (techno-functional analysis, experimental archaeology, and X-ray Computed Tomography) when it comes to studying unique earthenware artefacts, such as the prehistoric human-shaped pot discovered within the tell settlement from Sultana-Malu Rosu (Romania), that belongs to the Kodjadermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI civilization (KGK VI) which thrived during the 5th millennium BC. This human-shaped pot, also known as ‘The Goddess of Sultana’, is an emblematic artefact that fascinates with its shape, gestures, and decoration. It was apparently made from a standard clay paste recipe and using basic forming techniques, with little care for the internal surface. This vessel also has several hidden cracks and some manipulation traces on its backside. In order to explore its relevance, our approach to this particular human-shaped pot included the use of archaeological data in correlation with other techniques in order to decipher the manufacturing process for such vessels, the possible way of using them, but also the meanings that they might have had for past human communities.

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“…Courty and Roux 1995;Reedy et al 2014a, b;Roux and Courty 1998;Thér, 2016;Thér et al 2019;Thér and Mangel 2021;Thér and Toms 2016;Whitbread 1996;Woods 1985), thick sections (e.g. Lindahl and Pikirayi 2010;Ross et al 2018), 2D X-ray radiographs (e.g. Berg 2008Berg , 2009Carr 1990;Choleva et al 2020;Greene et al 2017;Livingstone Smith & Viseyrias 2010;Rye 1977Rye , 1981Türkteki 2014), or visual inspections of cross-sectional fractures (e.g.…”

Section: Preferential Alignment Of Objects (Particles And/ or Voids)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative 3D orientation analysis of particles and voids to differentiate hand-built pottery forming techniques using X-ray microtomography and neutron tomography

Gait

Bajnok

Szilágyi

et al. 2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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This article describes the quantitative analysis of the 3D orientation of objects (i.e. particles and voids) within pottery fabrics to differentiate two categories of pottery hand-building primary forming techniques, specifically percussion-building and coil-building, comparing the use of two independent non-destructive imaging modalities, X-ray microtomography (µ-CT) and neutron tomography (NT). For this purpose, series of experimental organic-tempered vessels and coil sections were analysed. For both imaging modalities, two separate systems were employed for quantitatively describing both the orientation of individual objects, as well as the collective preferential alignment of objects within samples, utilising respectively polar and azimuth angles within a spherical coordinate system, and projected sizes within a positive Cartesian coordinate system. While the former provided full descriptions of the orientations of objects within 3D space, the latter, through a ratio dubbed here the ‘Orientation Index’ (OI), gave a simple numerical value with which the investigated samples were differentiated according to forming technique. Both imaging modalities were able to differentiate between coil-built and percussion-built vessels with a high degree of confidence, with the strength of these findings additionally demonstrated through extensive statistical modelling using Monte Carlo simulations. Despite differences in resolution and differences in the attenuation of X-rays and neutrons, µ-CT and NT were shown to provide comparable results. The findings presented here broadly agree with earlier studies; however, the quantitative and three-dimensional nature of the results enables more subtle features to be identified, while additionally, in principle, the non-destructive nature of both imaging techniques facilitates such structural analysis without recourse to invasive sampling.

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A scanning method for the identification of pottery forming techniques at the mesoscopic scale: A pilot study in the manufacture of Early Bronze Age III holemouth jars and platters from Tell es-Safi/Gath

Cited by 5 publications

References 21 publications

Fingerprint evidence for the division of labour and learning pottery-making at Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

Fingerprint evidence for the division of labour and learning pottery-making at Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

Between Object and Subject

Quantitative 3D orientation analysis of particles and voids to differentiate hand-built pottery forming techniques using X-ray microtomography and neutron tomography

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