Theme:
1. Artefacts, Buildings & Ecofacts
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
The Wheel Has Come Full Circle: Technological Choice in Pottery Producing Communities of Central and Northern Europe (100BC–800 AD)
Content:
This session aims to identify and assess the (dis)appearance of the pottery wheel as a technological innovation within central and northern Europe between 100 BC and 800 AD. As an important hub for trade networks, central and northern Europe is an interesting study region to assess how a technological invention, such as the pottery wheel, can alter society; why and how pottery wheel-throwing can be adopted by various craft communities and how important social interactions are in the assimilation of the new technique. In the case of central and northern Europe, the earliest as well as the latest stratigraphic contexts comprise both handmade and wheel-thrown pottery, yet the implications of such co-existing divergent technological traditions remain poorly understood. Why did some craft communities adopt the wheel-throwing technique, and why did others reject it?
While central and northern Europe is a valuable study region, a key objective of this session is to better understand the social interactions that facilitated technological knowledge transmission of pottery wheel-throwing within complex societies. Consequently, cross-cultural and cross-regional case studies outside the study region, which tackle the issue of how a technological innovation is assimilated in craft communities and assess the underlying dynamics and social networks, are invited. Research papers integrating theoretical perspectives on social interactions with compositional and technological studies, experimental archaeology or digital analytical tools are welcome. A comprehensive reconstruction of pottery manufacturing processes combined with theory will permit to identify previously hidden social and dynamic networks of craft communities and highlight the connection between craft communities and society.
Keywords:
Technological Innovation, Pottery Wheel, Knowledge Transmission
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Barbara Borgers (Austria) 1
Co-organisers:
Sonja Willems (Belgium) 2,3
Kayt Hawkins (United Kingdom) 4
Affiliations:
1. University of Vienna, AU
2. Catholic University of Louvain, BE
3. Museums for Art & History of Brussels, BE
4. UCL Institute of Archaeology (ASE), UK
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