Use Alteration of Pottery Vessel Surfaces: An Important Source of Evidence for the Identification of Vessel Function

Abstract

Eighty-one whole and partial vessels recovered from domestic structures and burial contexts at two Barnett phase sites in northwestern Georgia have been analyzed for evidence of surface alteration resulting from use. Three types of use alteration found on these vessels-sooting, oxidation discoloration and interior surface pitting-are described, and the processes by which they were produced are identified. The associations that exist between types of surface alteration and the morphological vessel types characteristic of the Barnett phase vessel assemblage are described and interpreted. Because these types of surface alteration are the result of actual vessel usage, they are a source of reliable evidence for identifying the function of individual vessels and of morphological vessel types.In spite of their long standing preoccupation with pottery, archaeologists have given relatively little consideration to the question of vessel function. This neglect can be attributed in large part to two factors. Prior to the 1960s most archaeological research focused on problems of a culture-historical and chronological nature for which a knowledge of vessel function was considered largely irrelevant. Secondly, vessel function is most effectively investigated with whole vessels, but most pottery collections that archaeologists have to work with are either unrepresentative of the aboriginal ceramic inventorye.g., burial lots-or contain few whole or reconstructable vessels.Interest in the functional nature of pottery has grown rapidly within the last decade. Much ofthis interest has taken the form of ethnoarchaeologica1 investigation of living pottery using communities (Birmingham

Forms, function, and use of Early Eneolithic pottery and settlement structures from ZgornjeRadvanje, Slovenia

“…10b). Moreover, similar patterns of use of carinated bowls were also recognised by researchers of Lamar-period carinated bowls in Northern Georgia (Hally 1983a;Shapiro 1984) and, consequently, such bowls are interpreted as communal serving vessels (Hally 1983a;1983b;1986;Henrickson, McDonald 1983;Wilson 1999;Boudreaux III 2010.21-22). However, another similar bowl from Coweeta Creek had a two-centimetre-wide ring of soot encircling the vessel's base indicating that it was placed over a low fire, which could mean that it was used for both cooking and serving (see Wilson, Rodning 2002.33, Fig.…”

Palaeodietary implications from stable isotopic analysis of residues on prehistoric Ontario ceramics

“…It is possible that exterior residues are due to the contents boiling over. They may also be from the combustion of the fuel in the fire which would result in the deposition of soot, which is composed primarily of three substances: distilled resins, oxidized resins and free carbon [8]. We have attempted to contrast interior and exterior residues, but exterior residues were generally rare.…”

Simulation Experiments for Determining the Use of Ancient Pottery Vessels: the Behaviour of Epicuticular Leaf Wax During Boiling of a Leafy Vegetable

“…The position of these marks can provide clues to the type of heating process employed in antiquity, e.g. suspension over an open fire or placing amongst hot ashes (Hally, 1983). Processes such as scraping, grinding, cutting and stirring will also leave diagnostic marks, e.g.…”