Experimental approaches to archaeological ceramics: unifying disparate methodologies with the chaîne opératoire

Jeffra, Caroline

doi:10.1007/s12520-014-0177-4

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The chaîne opératoire described above, which corresponds to a sequence of technical gestures and contextually embedded decision-making processes that accompany the life-history of raw material, from acquisition to final product, as already underlined, reveals the interplay between socially rooted learned traditions and motor habit acquisition, and can therefore be considered as a reflection of the social identity of the authors [ 13 ]. This innovative approach to Levantine paintings, combined with the formal analysis of motifs at different geographical scales, will allow for a better characterization of stylistic horizons and their territorial boundaries, as well as for a diachronic assessment of the horizontal transmission of techniques.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These chaînes opératoires –modalities through which raw material is acquired, transformed, and used–correspond to social rules that were learned, shared, and accepted by a community, and therefore should be considered as identity-revealing [ 8 ] as they can contribute to the characterization of prehistoric communities, their social boundaries, and interaction networks. Their study should thusly be considered as a powerful tool for building interpretational bridges between social and technical aspects [ 9 – 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identification of plant cells in black pigments of prehistoric Spanish Levantine rock art by means of a multi-analytical approach. A new method for social identity materialization using chaîne opératoire

et al. 2017

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We present a new multi-analytical approach to the characterization of black pigments in Spanish Levantine rock art. This new protocol seeks to identify the raw materials that were used, as well as reconstruct the different technical gestures and decision-making processes involved in the obtaining of these black pigments. For the first of these goals, the pictorial matter of the black figurative motifs documented at the Les Dogues rock art shelter (Ares del Maestre, Castellón, Spain) was characterized through the combination of physicochemical and archeobotanical analyses. During the first stage of our research protocol, in situ and non-destructive analyses were carried out by means of portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF); during the second stage, samples were analyzed by Optical Microscopy (OM), Raman spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Two major conclusions have been drawn from these analyses: first, charred plant matter has been identified as a main component of these prehistoric black pigments; and second, angiosperm and conifer charcoal was a primary raw material for pigment production, identified by means of the archaeobotanical study of plant cells. For the second goal, black charcoal pigments were replicated in the laboratory by using different raw materials and binders and by reproducing two main chaînes opératoires. The comparative study of the structure and preservation of plant tissues of both prehistoric and experimental pigments by means of SEM-EDX underlines both a complex preparation process and the use of likely pigment recipes, mixing raw material with fatty or oily binders. Finally, the formal and stylistic analysis of the motifs portrayed at Les Dogues allowed us to explore the relationship between identified stylistic phases and black charcoal pigment use, raising new archaeological questions concerning the acquisition of know-how and the transfer of traditionally learned chaînes opératoires in Spanish Levantine rock art.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of plant cells in black pigments of prehistoric Spanish Levantine rock art by means of a multi-analytical approach. A new method for social identity materialization using chaîne opératoire

et al. 2017

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“…It might, therefore, be argued that, rather than relying on a chance, subjective connection such as this one between flame pots and Holocene project, a more directly relevant association could be achieved by making a replica of a flame pot. This makes sense from an experimental archaeology perspective as a way of generating and testing hypotheses about possible Jōmon chaînes opératoires and providing useful information about material process (Jeffra 2015). But I give three reasons to suggest that experimental archaeology is not so good at capturing sensory process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Project Holocene: The Clayful Phenomenology of Jōmon Flame Pots

March¹

2020

CAJ

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As a ceramic artist, I was surprised to find that archaeological research gives little attention to the extraordinary sensorial qualities of Jōmon flame pots. To understand why, I consider the challenges of including sensory experience in archaeological method and the problems of leaving it out. Turning to the typological approach to Jōmon pottery, I highlight the assumptions it makes about cognition before introducing Material Engagement Theory (MET) as an alternative. A MET-oriented reanalysis of the typological evidence places sensation at the centre of enquiry and removes the need to interpret symbolic, representational content. Through MET, I consider the sensorial qualities of flame pots, not as prehistory but as they appeared recently and unexpectantly during the process of modelling clay into sculptures for a contemporary art project. Flame pots joined conceptually with the explorative activity of clay. A prehistoric/contemporary artefact/modelling system was created and developed itself into a method of monitoring intra-systemic experience—clayful phenomenology. The findings cover five themes: enacted agency, iconicity from indexicality, bending rules/undermining habits, the choreography of material engagement and the phenomenology of space.

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“…1. a greater number of datasets treated using a combination of macro and microscale analysis; 2. these being integrated with a chaîne opératoire based approach to vessel production (Jeffra 2015;Roux and Courty 2019); 3. that the resulting data are made widely accessible to other researchers.…”

Section: Introduction Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ceramic studies and petrographic analysis in Levantine archaeology, the limitations of current approaches

Badreshany

Gibbons

2020

Levant

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By way of an introduction to this volume, we look to provide a brief review of recent approaches to ceramic studies in Levantine archaeology, and to the way that the results of laboratory-based investigations have been integrated within these. As we are interested in using ceramic data to address questions that extend beyond single-site studies, we pay particular attention to the information potential offered by the large-scale integration of ceramic and petrographic data from multiple archaeological projects. We will begin by highlighting some of the weaknesses of traditional approaches to pottery in Levantine archaeology and how these have continued to limit the interpretive potential of ceramic data. The strengths and weaknesses of petrographic research in the region to date will be discussed, and observations made regarding the use of petrography and geochemistry to address wider issues. The question of how new approaches, and the large-scale integration of ceramic data, might be used to address key social and economic questions in Levantine archaeology will form the subject of the concluding paper of this volume.

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Experimental approaches to archaeological ceramics: unifying disparate methodologies with the chaîne opératoire

Cited by 13 publications

References 12 publications

Identification of plant cells in black pigments of prehistoric Spanish Levantine rock art by means of a multi-analytical approach. A new method for social identity materialization using chaîne opératoire

Identification of plant cells in black pigments of prehistoric Spanish Levantine rock art by means of a multi-analytical approach. A new method for social identity materialization using chaîne opératoire

Project Holocene: The Clayful Phenomenology of Jōmon Flame Pots

Ceramic studies and petrographic analysis in Levantine archaeology, the limitations of current approaches

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