Mary Ownby | University of Arizona (original) (raw)

Papers by Mary Ownby

Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Dec 14, 2021

Patrick E. McGovern, The Foreign Relations of the “Hyksos.” A Neutron Activation Study of Middle ... more Patrick E. McGovern, The Foreign Relations of the “Hyksos.” A Neutron Activation Study of Middle Bronze Age Pottery from the Eastern Mediterranean. With Updated Preface 2020. Oxford: BAR International Series 888, 2020. ISBN 9781841710884. Pp. Xxii + 242, 17 black and white plates and 29 black and white figures. £57 Online Addendum to the above publication, entitled “Origins of the Enigmatic Hyksos?: New Data, Working Hypo- thesis, and Methodological Considerations.” Pp. 243, 86 black and white figures. Addendum available at: https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/343290808_APPENDIX_4_AFTERWORD_PETROGRAPHIC_ ADDENDUM_AND_POTTERY_FIGURES_by_Patrick_E_McGovern_and_Christopher_Wnuk_to_be_ appended_to_The_Foreign_Relations_of_the_Hyksos_A_Neutron_Activation_Study_of_Middle_Bro

The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2009

This review discusses the important results of the petrographic analysis of the Amarna tablets pr... more This review discusses the important results of the petrographic analysis of the Amarna tablets presented by Yuval Goren, Israel Finkelstein, and Nadav Na'aman. Particular attention is given to summarizing some of their key findings, which highlight the potential for scientific analysis of clay objects to provide relevant and otherwise unattainable information on the specifics of human history. This book is a key resource for any individual studying the political relationships between Egypt and the Near East, the historical events of the Late Bronze Age, or the geopolitical layout of the empires and city-states in this region, and offers a promising new approach to ceramic petrography in general.

The broad spatial distribution and long period of production of Rio Grande Glaze Ware vessels hid... more The broad spatial distribution and long period of production of Rio Grande Glaze Ware vessels hides considerable material diversity within the typological grouping as a ware. This has long made archaeometric techniques attractive options for understanding variability within the Rio Grande Glaze Ware category. We present the results of new petrographic analysis of Rio Grande Glaze Ware pastes and new isotopic analysis of Rio Grande Glaze Ware glaze paint. The results of these new analyses complement extensive earlier work characterizing both Rio Grande Glaze Ware pastes and paint. Especially relevant is the identification of glaze paints made primarily with lead ores from the Hansonburg district or made by mixing Hansonburg ore with the more commonly used Cerrillos district ores. The predominant use of Cerrillos ore in the production of lead glaze paint identified in prior work is nuanced through the additional data presented here, which suggests a division in networks of lead ore and/or glaze paint procurement between a larger, northern network making use of Cerrillos ores, and a smaller, southern network relying on Hansonburg ores for glaze paint production.

Peeters Publishers eBooks, Dec 31, 2021

African Archaeological Review, Mar 1, 2022

avant notre ère (vers 1800-1550 avant notre ère). Les matières premières, les recettes de pâtes e... more avant notre ère (vers 1800-1550 avant notre ère). Les matières premières, les recettes de pâtes et les méthodes de cuisson sont analysées pour identifier les similitudes et les différences entre les traditions céramiques des cultures Groupe C, «Pan-Grave» et Kerma. Trois groupes de pâtes distincts ont pu être identifiés. Chaque groupe correspond, potentiellement, à l'un des groupes culturels établis. Il est proposé que ces variations reflètent différentes approches quant à l'acquisition et au traitement des ressources ainsi qu'à des méthodes de cuisson distinctes. Quoique ces groupes technologiques peuvent être rattachées à la chronologie et à différentes stratégies de subsistance, plus de recherche est nécessaire avant d'établir un lien direct entre les technologies céramiques et les unités culturelles.

Anuario de arqueología, Nov 15, 2022

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections

A selective review of the section: "Material Evidence for Contact: Ceramics, Imports and Imi... more A selective review of the section: "Material Evidence for Contact: Ceramics, Imports and Imitations"

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections

This short bibliography is provided as a guide to some of the more recent ceramic studies that pr... more This short bibliography is provided as a guide to some of the more recent ceramic studies that provided important information on Egyptian interconnections. It does not aim to be exhaustive, but to highlight some of the trends in the field and where advances have been made. The compilers hope this bibliography will be a starting place for those interested in recent work on pottery and Egyptian contact with the Near East.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2023

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

The origins and early development of stonepaste pottery has been a subject of controversy. This p... more The origins and early development of stonepaste pottery has been a subject of controversy. This paper examines eleven pottery fragments from Fustat, Egypt that were previously studied and discussed based on art historical grounds. Using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy examination of bodies and glazes, different stages of the development of stonepaste technology in Fustat are demonstrated. The relationship of this technology in Fustat with other Islamic regions is discussed based on available data.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

This paper challenges the still-popular use of territory, materiality, genetics, and linguistics ... more This paper challenges the still-popular use of territory, materiality, genetics, and linguistics to define a homogeneous and stable shared identity (or "diffuse unity") for the Isthmo-Colombian Area. Using the communities of practice and communities of consumption concepts, we suggest that the distribution of pottery was the result of practices related to production, exchange, and use of pottery, and not necessarily ethnic affiliation. This research is based on compositional and technological characterization of 117 ceramic samples through neutron activation analysis (NAA) and thin section analysis to identify the recipes people used in the Late Pre-Columbian period (AD 700-1500). Results show the different articulation of communities of potters and communities of consumption in Central and Eastern Panama. The analysis introduces more dynamic representations of the past by focusing on the value of consuming imported pottery for culinary, ritual, and political events for different pre-Columbian groups.

Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Dec 14, 2021

The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2009

Peeters Publishers eBooks, Dec 31, 2021

African Archaeological Review, Mar 1, 2022

Anuario de arqueología, Nov 15, 2022

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2023

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Integrative Approaches in Ceramic Petrography, 2017

Edited volume of papers on utilizing ceramic petrography combined with other methods to understan... more Edited volume of papers on utilizing ceramic petrography combined with other methods to understand the past.

Archaeology Southwest Magazine, Oct 2012

This issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine includes ten articles on archaeometry in Southwest A... more This issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine includes ten articles on archaeometry in Southwest Archaeology. The topics covered include ceramic petrographic analysis, obsidian XRF analysis, turquoise isotopic analysis, argillite XRD analysis, analysis of archaeological corn, and analysis of soils.

Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 217, 2013

"This volume presents the papers given at an international conference on "Functional Aspects of E... more "This volume presents the papers given at an international conference on "Functional Aspects of Egyptian Ceramics within their Archaeological Context", which was held from 24th to 25th July, 2009 at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK. The aim of this conference was to discuss Egyptian pottery in different archaeological contexts and the employment of ceramics for understanding these deposits. At the same time some archaeological contexts were utilised to gain insights into the function of pottery, in order to integrate both approaches.
The papers cover domestic, funerary, festival, and ritual contexts and the ceramic finds within them. Additional topics are the widely neglected reuse of pottery and how ceramic material can be interpreted in its wider socio-economic context. The case studies discuss pottery derived from many sites in Egypt from the Delta in the north to Elephantine in the south, and cover a chronological range from the Old Kingdom to the Coptic period. This broad approach ensures that the focus was on the role of Egyptian pottery within past societies as seen through various types of archaeological contexts. This volume provides archaeological and ceramic insights that are significant beyond Ancient Egypt"

PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2010

Trade between two regions often necessitates that the respective parties are political entities. ... more Trade between two regions often necessitates that the respective parties are political entities. This was indeed the case for trade from the Levant to Egypt during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1550 BC, MBA) and Late Bronze Age (ca. 1550-1200 BC, LBA). Scientific analyses of Canaanite jars, transport vessels, from the site of Memphis, Egypt provided an ideal proxy for examining the relationship between trade and politics.
During the MBA, Levantine peoples were present at the site of Tell el-Dabca in the eastern Nile Delta. However, archaeologically there is little evidence for contact between these peoples and the Egyptians at Memphis. The results of comparison of MBA Canaanite jars from both sites suggest that the political situation fostered long-distance trade with the Levant and limited local interaction with the Egyptians.
During the LBA, Egyptian kings controlled territory in the Levant. A comparison of MBA and LBA Canaanite jars from Memphis revealed that the political changes in some cases affected the trade partners but not in others. Further, the production of the jars appeared to have altered in some regions.
These results suggest that the affect of political situations on trade can vary, from only minor changes, to the complete exclusion of trade partners and the introduction of new trade contacts. However, the influence of lucrative trade networks on political developments was also illustrated. The utility of provenance studies of ceramics for providing insight into the complex relationship between trade and politics was confirmed.

The present volume presents the proceedings from the international workshop entitled Egypt and th... more The present volume presents the proceedings from the international workshop entitled Egypt and the Near East – the Crossroads, dedicated to the study of the relations between the two regions. The symposium took place from September 1–3, 2010 at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. The main objective of the workshop was to enhance our understanding of the historical processes and the development of the abundant and complex relations between Egypt and the Near East during the period defined by the end of the Chalcolithic Period and the dawn of the Iron Age. In light of this, special attention was given to the region of Syria-Palestine. In order to obtain a well-balanced insight, the subject was discussed both from an archaeological and from a philological point of view. The volume contains fourteen papers, all of them closely related with the topic of the workshop with seven papers based on the study of material culture and archaeological data, and seven papers devoted to the study of written sources. The first group (archaeology and material culture) contains studies devoted to the Egyptian statuary from Qatna (A. Ahrens), to material from a grown settlement of the late Middle Kingdom at Tell el-Dabca (B. Bader), an overview of results of recent excavations at Tell Tweini (J. Bretschneider / A.-S. Van Vyve / G. Jans) and Tell el-Farkha (M. Czarnowicz), a study of the predynastic Egyptian influence in the Jordanian site of Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan (F. Klimscha); an essay on religious symbolism in the Southern Levant in the Bronze Age according to iconography (F. Lippke) and finally, an analysis of the Levantine combed ware from Heit el-Ghurab (A. Wodzińska / M. Ownby). As for the second group of texts (written evidence) the volume contains the following papers: a reappraisal of the tale of Wenamun in the context of Ancient Near Eastern law (Ch. Brinker), a revision of the chronology of the Amarna letters sent by Aziru, the ruler of Amurru (Cordani); a detailed revision of relations between Egypt and Ḫatti set into the context of Ancient Near Eastern chronology (E. Devecchi / J. Miller), a linguistic analysis of the terminology used to refer to the king in Egyptian and Hittite texts from Ramesside period (J. Mynářová); a study of historical topography concerning the location of the toponym Qode (Z. Simon); a reconstruction of the translation processes in the production and reception of the Amarna letters (H. Tarawneh) and finally, an analysis of the relations between Egypt, Kush and Assyria before the battle of Eltekeh (S. Zamazalová).Format: 272 x 210 mm, 350 pages, hardcover, in English.

by Agnieszka Mączyńska, Steve Rosen, Ernst Pernicka, Stan Hendrickx, Marcin Czarnowicz, Köhler Christiana, Karolina Rosinska-Balik, Morgan De Dapper, Amir Golani, Wouter Claes, Joanna Dębowska-Ludwin, Carla Swerts, and Mary Ownby

The Nile DelTA As A ceNTre Of culTurAl iNTerAcTiONs beTweeN uPPer egyPT AND The sOuTherN levANT i... more The Nile DelTA As A ceNTre Of culTurAl iNTerAcTiONs beTweeN uPPer egyPT AND The sOuTherN levANT iN The 4 th milleNNium bc PrOceeDiNgs Of The cONfereNce helD iN The POZNAN ArchAeOlOgicAl museum, POZNAŃ, POlAND, 21-22 JuNe 2013 POZNAŃ ArchAeOlOgicAl museum sTuDies iN AfricAN ArchAeOlOgy vOl. 13 Editor: AgNiesZkA mącZyŃskA Layout and setting: mAcieJ JórDecZkA Cover designer: mAcieJ JórDecZkA

Redacted version with site location information removed. Contact the Carlsbad Field Office, BLM... more Redacted version with site location information removed. Contact the Carlsbad Field Office, BLM or the author for complete PDF version.

Redacted version with site location information removed. Contact the Carlsbad Field Office, BLM ... more Redacted version with site location information removed. Contact the Carlsbad Field Office, BLM or the author for a full PDF version.

2019 SAA meeting, 2019

Presentation on petrography in cultural resource management based on work by M. Ownby at Desert A... more Presentation on petrography in cultural resource management based on work by M. Ownby at Desert Archaeology, Inc.

2019 SAA meeting, 2019

Examination of ceramic production trends (memes) in the larger Phoenix Basin and what affected th... more Examination of ceramic production trends (memes) in the larger Phoenix Basin and what affected their stability and transmission. Based on petrographic analysis from many projects in this area.

by Andrea Torvinen, Yukiko Tonoike, Mary Ownby, Deborah L Huntley, Kari Schleher, Robin Lyle, Michael Love, Neill Wallis, Ann Cordell, Zackary Gilmore, Kenneth Sassaman, Sarah Striker, and Vince Van Thienen

A marked resurgence in the use of petrography to answer archaeological questions has resulted in ... more A marked resurgence in the use of petrography to answer archaeological questions has resulted in the formation of Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas (CPA), a group that seeks to promote, discuss, and develop ceramic petrography in archaeology. While CPA members physically reside in the Americas, our research spans the globe both temporally and geographically as illustrated by the posters to be presented. The goal of this session is to provide a venue for the discussion and advancement of ceramic petrography and other characterization techniques among petrographers of all skill levels. In this session, ceramic petrography is used in a variety of archaeological cases to investigate social processes (i.e., cultural continuity, identity, migration, and mortuary behavior) by drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data related to raw material selection, ceramic technology, and provenance, as well as highlight additional sourcing techniques (e.g., SEM, EDX, XRF, and INAA) and tools (i.e., digital image analysis, ethnographic interviews, and experimental archaeology) currently used by petrographers.

Founded in June 2017, the mission of the Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas (CPA) group is the... more Founded in June 2017, the mission of the Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas (CPA) group is the promotion, discussion, and development of ceramic petrography in archaeology. Of principal interest is providing resources for those interested in employing ceramic petrography for their research and those who would like to pursue this method as a specialty. The group consists of archaeologists residing in the Americas who use optical petrography and other characterization techniques to infer the geological provenance of pottery and to study ceramic technology all around the world. This poster describes how the CPA formed, our goals, and information on how to connect with us and other petrographers based in the Americas.

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2009

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2012

Review of Duistermaat, Kim, and Ilona Regulski, eds. Intercultural contacts in the Ancient Medite... more Review of Duistermaat, Kim, and Ilona Regulski, eds. Intercultural contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean. Leuven: Peeters, 2011.

American Antiquity, 2016

Review of James Stoltman's book: Ceramic Petrography and Hopewell Interaction

by Romain DAVID, Mustafa Ahmad, Bettina Bader, Saskia Büchner, Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys, Bogusław Franczyk, Steven Matthews, Ulrike Nowotnick, Maria Paola Pellegrino, Mary Ownby, Agnes Vokaer, and Valentina Vezzoli

This bilingual English/Arabic manual is intended to accompany the training of future ceramic spec... more This bilingual English/Arabic manual is intended to accompany the training of future ceramic specialists in the Arab world. Resulting from the collaboration of four major institutions of French archaeology abroad: the Section française de la direction des Antiquités du Soudan (Sfdas), the Institut français d’archéologie orientale (Ifao), the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) and the Centre français de recherche de la péninsule Arabique (Cefrepa), it draws on the recent work of specialists from the Nile Valley, the Near East and the Arabian Peninsula to shed light on the theoretical reflections that have enriched ceramic studies in recent decades. Providing a genuine field tool, this volume is nonetheless a skilfully illustrated collection of the contribution of ceramic studies to the understanding of human history.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022

NOW AVAILABLE ON OPEN ACCESS! Click here https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103309 Co-authors ... more NOW AVAILABLE ON OPEN ACCESS! Click here https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103309 Co-authors K. Badreshany, K. Sowada, M. Ownby, M. Jean, M. De Vreeze, A. McClymont, G. Philip. A recent petrographic study of ceramic jars from Giza imported into Egypt during the 4th Dynasty of the Pyramid Age (c. 2613-2494 BCE) identified the original production zone as the Lebanese coast generally between Beirut and Tripoli, including the region of Byblos. The jars and their contents were imported to Egypt by maritime trade expeditions conducted at the behest of the Egyptian state. This study analyses a selection of these ceramic samples using ICP-AES and-MS for comparison with published data from the region of Byblos. The results not only confirmed the underlying petrography, but together with new evidence from Lebanon suggests the vessels likely belonged to specialised workshop production in the Byblos environs and were made specifically for export to Egypt. The finding sheds new light on the relationship between the Egyptian state and the polity of Byblos in the Early Bronze Age, indicating the presence of standardised local production and commodity procurement mechanisms tailored to the needs of a large trade entity. This relationship in turn delivered significant prestige and status to local elites in an environment of competitive local peer-polity interactions.

Ägypten und Levante 32 / Egypt and the Levant 32, 2022

Co-authors M.Ownby, U. Hartung, K. Sowada - The petrographic investigations of imported vessels f... more Co-authors M.Ownby, U. Hartung, K. Sowada - The petrographic investigations of imported vessels from Abydos, published a few years ago in “Egypt and the Levant,” confirmed their origin from different regions of the Levant. In addition to vessels from Early Dynastic royal tombs and from Cemetery B, the samples also included five jars from Predynastic Cemetery U, especially from Tomb U-j. For the latter, such an origin had already become apparent from the archaeological point of view, as well as from NAA and XRF analyses when the material was first published 20 years ago. However, the interpretation of the results of petrographic investigations at the time neglected this option. The new series of samples from Abydos has since been supplemented by 13 additional vessels from U-j and other Cemetery U tombs. The analysis presented below leaves no doubt as to the Levantine origin of the jars and shows that an evaluation of analytical results based on a limited database can easily lead to misinterpretation, which has long hindered the archaeological discussion concerning the significance of these finds. In the case of the U-j jars, this is regrettable as this thus far unique finding is not only important for the understanding of the connections to the Levant from an Egyptian point of view, but also sheds light on the socio-economic developments in different regions of the Levant in the late 4th millennium BCE.

Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, 2021

Please send me a message if you want a PDF of this paper. Co-authors K. Sowada, M. Ownby, J. Smyt... more Please send me a message if you want a PDF of this paper. Co-authors K. Sowada, M. Ownby, J. Smythe, S. Marchand, Y. Tristant - Geoanalytical results on imported ceramics from Egypt demonstrate wide-ranging links between 1 st Dynasty Egypt and different Levantine commodity production centres. This diffuse network contrasts with the highly efficient Old Kingdom supply chain, based on the maritime route to Byblos and the surrounding region in northern Lebanon. A dataset of imported pottery from the 1 st Dynasty elite cemetery at Abu Rawash builds on this picture. Early Bronze Age II/Early Levant II ceramic types from the site, mostly variations of one-handled jugs, were identified by thin-section petrography as originating in the Central Levant and the Central Jordan Valley/ northern Canaan. By the early Old Kingdom, a major transition had occurred in Egyptian trade routes, focusing primarily on northern Lebanon. Combed jars replaced the diverse range of jugs and jars as the main imported type in Egypt, yet the Early Dynastic one-handled jug shape continued symbolising the idea of imported liquid commodities in the artistic canon for much of the third millennium.

Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, 2022

Geoanalytical results on imported ceramics from Egypt demonstrate wide-ranging links between 1 st... more Geoanalytical results on imported ceramics from Egypt demonstrate wide-ranging links between 1 st Dynasty Egypt and different Levantine commodity production centres. This diffuse network contrasts with the highly efficient Old Kingdom supply chain, based on the maritime route to Byblos and the surrounding region in northern Lebanon. A dataset of imported pottery from the 1 st Dynasty elite cemetery at Abu Rawash builds on this picture. Early Bronze Age II/Early Levant II ceramic types from the site, mostly variations of one-handled jugs, were identified by thin-section petrography as originating in the Central Levant and the Central Jordan Valley/ northern Canaan. By the early Old Kingdom, a major transition had occurred in Egyptian trade routes, focusing primarily on northern Lebanon. Combed jars replaced the diverse range of jugs and jars as the main imported type in Egypt, yet the Early Dynastic one-handled jug shape continued symbolising the idea of imported liquid commodities in the artistic canon for much of the third millennium.