Theme:
1. The Material Record: Current Trends and Future Directions
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Through the Lens of Pottery: Technologies in Times of Change in Prehistoric Mediterranean Basin
Content:
Advances in archaeological science (e.g., aDNA and isotopes analyses) are challenging traditional archaeological narratives and posing new questions especially regarding major transformations in European and Mediterranean societies during prehistoric times. Ceramic is an important component of the material record and gives us insights into cultural, chronological, technological, symbolic and socio-economic information beyond simple chrono-cultural determinations. The combination of stylistic, archaeometric, technological, trace and functional analyses, as well as experimental archaeology, has become established in archaeological research in recent years. At the same time, anthropological, sociological and ethnoarchaeological studies have informed the interpretation of potter’s skill and knowledge. This interdisciplinary approach demonstrated to be crucial to detect and explore technical, cultural, symbolic, and socio-economic change. With this in mind, the session aims to bring together a broad range of expertise from archaeological theory, experimental work and the natural sciences, to present research about understandings of periods of change through the lens of ancient ceramic in the Mediterranean basin, from Neolithic to Iron Age.
In particular, we aim to focus on specific questions: What happens to the ceramic production in times of cultural, socio-economic or population transformations? Can periods of change be detected through advanced ceramic analyses? How can these different approaches to ceramics be combined to tackle transitions? What are the mechanisms of resistance and change in contexts of intense socio-cultural innovation? What is the role played by potters’ knowledge and skill in these processes?
We welcome studies about the ceramic analyses in times of cultural and socio-economic change with an emphasis on the variety of theoretical and methodological approaches adopted in relation to different contexts and time periods.
Keywords:
Ceramic, Archaeometry, Technology, Transition, Pottery, Prehistory
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:
Vanessa Forte (Italy) 1
Co-organisers:
Maria De Falco (United Kingdom) 2
Delia Carloni (Netherlands) 3
Silvia Amicone (Germany) 4,5
Jade Bajeot (Poland) 6
Affiliations:
1. Sapienza University of Rome
2. Durham University
3. University of Groningen
4. University of Tübingen
5. University College London
6. Polish Academy of Sciences
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