Revisiting the Exploitable Threshold Model: 14th century resource procurement and landscape dynamics on Perry Mesa, Arizona

Kelly, Sophia; Watkins, Christopher; Abbott, David R.

doi:10.1179/009346911x13140904575585

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Ethnographic studies of traditional potters indicate that in the vast majority of cases, these craftsmen employ clay and tempering material obtained from sources located within no more than ca. 7 km of the locus of manufacture (Arnold, 2006; Kelly et al, 2011). This practice is substantially a function of the wide availability of potting clays and tempering materials in most regions, combined with the costs of time and effort involved in traveling to a raw material source and in transporting the material acquired to the workshop location.…”

Section: Raw Materials For Pottery Production At Pompeiimentioning

confidence: 99%

Multianalytical investigation of wasters from the Tower 8/Porta di Nola refuse middens in Pompeii: Sr–Nd isotopic, chemical, petrographic, and mineralogical analyses

et al. 2021

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A total of nine representative pottery fragments belonging to ferruginous, carbonate, and thin‐walled wares were recovered in refuse middens outside the fortification wall of Pompeii and subjected to a program of multianalytical operations (thermal ionization mass spectrometry, X‐ray fluorescence, X‐ray powder diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy–energy‐dispersive spectrometry techniques, optical microscopy). The fragments bear manufacturing defects, indicating their local production in workshops located somewhere at Pompeii. These three groups display a similar volcanic coarse component that exhibits distinct chemical compositions. The volcanic component consists of alkali feldspar, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, minor garnet, and rock fragments (with primarily plagioclase and leucite), pointing to an origin from the Somma‐Vesuvius. The fingerprint of the Sr–Nd isotopes of carbonate ware suggests an affinity with high‐CaO clays from Rufoli, a subdivision of Salerno. Sr–Nd isotopes also suggest that clays from the Sorrentine Peninsula were used: A clay mixture of different argillified pyroclastic materials was employed for the low‐CaO ferruginous ware, whereas the low‐CaO thin‐walled ware was manufactured with a marine varicolored clay. The distribution of materials likely occurred by sea via the port at Salernum and Surrentum. The combination of different types of complementary data obtained through this program of analysis illustrates the importance of combining both quantitative petrographic and chemical characterization in the evaluation of archaeological pottery.

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Section: Raw Materials For Pottery Production At Pompeiimentioning

confidence: 99%

Multianalytical investigation of wasters from the Tower 8/Porta di Nola refuse middens in Pompeii: Sr–Nd isotopic, chemical, petrographic, and mineralogical analyses

et al. 2021

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“…Some criticisms have been levelled against the model because it does not account for the range of sociocultural mechanisms or factors that could be responsible for preferring particular clays and tempers over others, and the consequent effect this would have on the variation in pottery composition (cf. Kelly et al., 2011). Nevertheless, the model was never designed to cover all such mechanisms or account for all factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, ethnographic research indicates that resources for making pottery will be collected in tandem with other activities people undertake, such as collecting water and domestic fuel. In challenging the idea that the distance to resources and clay and temper quality are universally important considerations of potters, archaeologists have argued that the co-occurrence of resources on landscapes (e.g., water, clay, fuel, temper) tends to better explain why certain clays and temper are used for pottery manufacture (Kelly et al., 2011). This relationship was predicted for some time by ethnographic research in Africa (Gosselain, 1994, Gosselain and Livingstone Smith, 2005, cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying precontact ceramic resource areas in the boreal forest of northern Manitoba, Canada

Fowler

Shabaga

Brownlee

et al. 2019

North American Archaeologist

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The objective of this study is to better understand how people gained resources to make Middle and Late Woodland pottery from Sipiwesk Lake in northcentral Manitoba. To meet this objective, we conducted petrographic analyses of sediments from Sipiwesk Lake, archaeological sherds from sites around the lake, material from outwashes, fired experimental tiles, and sherds from archaeological sites across the boreal forest ecozone and the prairie ecozone in the south-central and south-western regions of the province. Specimens from each sample were examined using optical petrography, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. Nine distinct fabrics (fired pastes) were identified by correlating the results of these analytical techniques. Each fabric can be considered a “paste recipe” that has local, regional, or pan-regional distributions. Local and regional distribution patterns redefine what “local” production means for mobile hunter-gather communities when the distances people travel for regular and routine seasonal activities are considered. This new model challenges exchange as an explanation for the spatial distribution of pottery. Expanding the range of exploitable distance thresholds for resource acquisition is alone enough to explain why the same pottery compositions would be found over vast areas incorporating one or more river systems. We further suggest that pan-regional recipes resulted from similar practices that served to add, remove, and/or alter the properties of nonplastics in clays. Such practices could potentially frustrate pottery provenience analysis, and we urge further research on the production of experimental pastes and the application of geochemical analyses to precontact Manitoba pottery.

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“…Therefore, a comparative database of raw materials is essential to archaeological considerations of vessel production and provenance (Bishop and Blackman 2002). Toward this end, natural clay deposits have long been studied by archaeologists as a way to understand spatial variation in chemistry and mineralogy, which is relevant to performance characteristics of pottery fabrics as well as useful as provenance markers (e.g., Jorge et al 2013; Kelly et al 2011; Michelaki et al 2015; Neff and Bove 1999; Rice 2015; Stark et al 2000). Although most comparative clay studies in archaeology are project specific and limited in scope, there are distinct benefits to studying clays on a large scale with consistent protocols.…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparative Clay Analysis and Curation for Archaeological Pottery Studies

Cordell

Wallis

Kidder³

2017

Adv. archaeol. pract.

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We describe the curation and use of clay samples as part of the ceramic ecology program at the Florida Museum of Natural History's Ceramic Technology Laboratory (FLMNH-CTL). We outline the history of the comparative clay sample collection at the FLMNH-CTL and detail the standard operating procedure by which samples are processed, analyzed, and curated. We also provide examples of how the clay samples have been used in research projects as well as some of the challenges inherent to studies using such samples. Our collection of processed clays and associated thin sections, which is curated in perpetuity, represents a valuable resource for ongoing and future lab endeavors and is available to other researchers focusing on Florida and adjacent regions.

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Revisiting the Exploitable Threshold Model: 14th century resource procurement and landscape dynamics on Perry Mesa, Arizona

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Multianalytical investigation of wasters from the Tower 8/Porta di Nola refuse middens in Pompeii: Sr–Nd isotopic, chemical, petrographic, and mineralogical analyses

Multianalytical investigation of wasters from the Tower 8/Porta di Nola refuse middens in Pompeii: Sr–Nd isotopic, chemical, petrographic, and mineralogical analyses

Identifying precontact ceramic resource areas in the boreal forest of northern Manitoba, Canada

Comparative Clay Analysis and Curation for Archaeological Pottery Studies

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