Tempered strength: A controlled experiment assessing opportunity costs of adding temper to clay

Bebber, Michelle R.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2017.08.002

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Full details of clay and temper sourcing, processing, and ceramic test sample manufacture, are provided elsewhere [ 1 ], but a summary is provided here. In order to create ceramic test samples that accurately reflected sherds from the archaeological record, macroscopic and microscopic analyses of the clay matrix and temper used in pottery samples ranging from Early Woodland (800–100 B.C.)…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recurring question in studies of ceramic technology is whether or not pottery additives (i.e. tempers) were selected by prehistoric people for production-based benefits facilitating initial vessel formation, or for performance-based benefits associated with post-firing vessel use, and the precise nature of these production and/or performance benefits [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Many authors propose that temper was added to clay to assist in vessel formation [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ], whereas other studies have focused more on the variation in post firing mechanical properties between various temper types [ 2 , 3 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A performance-based evaluation of chemically similar (carbonate) tempers from Late Prehistoric (AD 1200-1700) Ohio: Implications for human selection and production of ceramic technology

2018

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PurposeThis study was designed to assess the mechanical properties of two calcium carbonate tempers, limestone and burnt shell. These tempers have been previously compared, in separate studies, to silicate-based grit or sand temper and, relative to the latter, are assumed to possess similar mechanical properties. However, their simultaneous use at the Morrison Village site begs the question: do these two calcium carbonate tempers indeed possess similar mechanical properties? In order to assess their performance characteristics, a side-by-side controlled experimental test was conducted to determine the degree of similarity in providing increased vessel strength and toughness.MethodsStandardized ceramic test samples were systematically prepared via a set, explicit protocol. An Instron Series IX universal testing machine configured with a four-point flexural test jig was used to perform a flexural strength test of the test samples. The Instron load and deflection data were used to calculate three values related to mechanical performance: peak load, modulus of rupture, and modulus of elasticity.ResultsAll four comparative tests clearly show substantial differences in peak load, modulus of rupture, and modulus of elasticity. These differences are statistically significant for each performance attribute in every iteration of the experiment and as indicated by Mann-Whitney U Tests.ConclusionsThese results do not support the hypothesis that limestone and burnt shell offer the same performance characteristics. These results have implications for our understanding of prehistoric human selection of temper and the evolution of ceramic technology. Although both carbonate-based tempers are currently thought to offer the same benefits during the initial phase of pottery production, their contrasting post firing properties would have provided distinct benefits in different contexts. Future assessments of the Morrison Village ceramic assemblage should focus on residue analysis, or other functional indicators, to support or falsify this hypothesis.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A performance-based evaluation of chemically similar (carbonate) tempers from Late Prehistoric (AD 1200-1700) Ohio: Implications for human selection and production of ceramic technology

2018

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“…Their experiments investigate how sharpness varies between stone edges made from different raw materials , how stone cutting edges perform relative to copper alternatives (Bebber et al 2019) and the rate that a stone's edges blunt (Key et al 2018). These studies are part of a broader movement within archaeology to apply mechanical research techniques to answer functional questions (e.g., Key 2016;Milks et al 2016;Bebber 2017;Thomas et al 2017;Kozowyk and Poulis 2019;Schmidt et al 2019;Calandra et al 2020;Key and Lycett 2020;Marreiros et al 2020).…”

Section: As Detailed Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat treatment significantly increases the sharpness of silcrete stone tools

2020

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Humans were regularly heat-treating stone tool raw materials as early as 130,000 years ago. The late Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Late Stone Age (LSA) of South Africa's Western Cape region provides some of the earliest and most pervasive archaeological evidence for this behaviour. While archaeologists are beginning to understand the flaking implications of raw material heat treatment, its potential functional benefits remain unanswered. Using silcrete from the Western Cape region, we investigate the impact of heat treatment on stone tool cutting performance. We quantify the sharpness of silcrete in its natural, unheated form, before comparing it with silcrete heated in three different conditions. Results show that heat-treated silcrete can be significantly sharper than unheated alternatives, with cutting forces halving and energy requirements reducing by approximately two-thirds. The data suggest that silcrete may have been heat treated during the South African MSA and LSA to increase the sharpness and performance of stone cutting edges. This early example of material engineering has implications for understanding Stone Age populations' technological capabilities, inventiveness and raw material choices. We predict that heat-treatment behaviours in other prehistoric and ethnographic contexts may also be linked to increases in edge sharpness and concerns about functional performance.

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“…And we would be remiss in not mentioning equipment used in experimental archaeology like compound bows, projectile launchers, materials testers, electric kilns, wind tunnels, ball bearings, forges, etc, all of which are modern substitutes for past equipment that likely would have been unavailable and/or manufactured from different materials, in some cases vastly so (e.g. Bebber, 2017;Coppe et al, 2019;Dibble and Whittaker, 1981;Lipo et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Another tool in the experimental toolbox: On the use of aluminum as a substitute for chert in North American prehistoric ballistics research and beyond

Eren¹,

Mukusha²,

Lierenz³

et al. 2022

North American Archaeologist

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Experimental archaeology continues to mature methodologically and theoretically. Around the world, practitioners are increasingly using modern materials that would have been unavailable to prehistoric people in archaeological experiments. The use of a modern material substitute can offer several benefits to experimental method, design, control, replicability, feasibility, and cost, but it should be directly compared to its “traditional” analogue to understand similarities and differences. Here, aluminum is introduced as a substitute for chert in prehistoric ballistics research because, critically, aluminum is safe, inexpensive, easy to process, and it and chert possess densities that differ by less than 4%. The aluminum casting process for replicating stone artifacts is presented, and it is shown that the aluminum castings are essentially identical in form, flake-scar patterning, and mass to their stone counterparts. We then present a proof-of-concept ballistics experiment that demonstrates no difference between aluminum and stone points in terms of target penetration.

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Tempered strength: A controlled experiment assessing opportunity costs of adding temper to clay

Cited by 15 publications

References 49 publications

A performance-based evaluation of chemically similar (carbonate) tempers from Late Prehistoric (AD 1200-1700) Ohio: Implications for human selection and production of ceramic technology

A performance-based evaluation of chemically similar (carbonate) tempers from Late Prehistoric (AD 1200-1700) Ohio: Implications for human selection and production of ceramic technology

Heat treatment significantly increases the sharpness of silcrete stone tools

Another tool in the experimental toolbox: On the use of aluminum as a substitute for chert in North American prehistoric ballistics research and beyond

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