form follows fingers - archaeological typologies and the perspective of the producer (original) (raw)

Form follows fingers. Roman pottery, the producer’s perspective and the mobility of ideas

C. HEITZ- R. STAPFER (eds.), Mobility and Pottery Production: Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives (Leiden 2017), 2017

This article engages in the distribution of superordinate ideas of forms of common pottery ware. Therefore, pottery fragments from an archaeological context are judged as a mirror for past people’s value systems in crafts, which influenced the body technique of the producing potter via apprenticeship and acquisition. In return, the transformation of body memory from apprentice to professional is reflected in the produced object. When it is possible to identify value systems, superordinate shapes, individual hands of a single potter, his / her skill-level or a workshop style, we will be able to generate distribution patterns of culturally characterised ideas of forms on the basis of a more profound data set. This would allow us to approach certain phenomena of mobility in a second step: not the ´mobility of pots´, but the mobility of superordinate ideas of shapes. For this, however, it is necessary to communicate intensely with representatives of pottery craft in terms of ethnoarchaeology, with the aim of gaining a deepened understanding of the acquisition processes of craftspeople in their environment. Roman wheel-thrown pottery from the vicus Kempraten, Rapperswil / Iona (Canton of Saint- Gall, CH) will be used as an archaeological example to elaborate.

Handmade: An Archaeological Exploration of Materials and Making (syllabus, 2016)

This interactive, seminar course provides an introduction to the archaeology of materials and making. The course combines theoretical reflection with hands-on activities and a detailed examination of archaeological case studies. On a theoretical level, we will explore the conceptual terrain mapped out in recent years amidst a flurry of archaeological interest in things, objects, materials, materiality, sensory experience, and embodiment. On a practical level, we will engage directly with a series of materials – among them, clay, stone, wood, and bone – in order to develop an appreciation for the properties of these materials, the constraints that they impose, and the opportunities that they present, as well as the skills, techniques, and creative improvisations that enabled ancient people to transform them into objects of use and value. For each type of material, we will also examine a selection of archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and ethnographic case studies in order to explore the challenges involved in dealing with archaeological evidence and to highlight cross-cultural similarities and differences. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a richer, embodied understanding of the archaeological record that draws directly on our own felt sense of materials and the process of making.

Material Culture Artefacts as Entangled Narratives with Reference to Roman Pottery.

2015

The research essay explores new scientific approaches in the study of the artefact as material culture and in particular the contemporary theory that the artefact embodies a narrative of itself, its time, and its society. There has been a progressive shift away from object-specific archaeology where attention tended to focus on sign values with which to identify and date cultures. Artefacts ranging from something as simple as a glass bead to a monumental architectural structure, are now considered to connect or become entangled with their cultural and historical environments beyond their obvious functional forms and usages. Such theorising requires a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach in research and interpretation. Reference will be made to pottery artefacts in Roman material culture to illustrate contemporary theories and methodologies . To put the contemporary theories and methodologies in perspective, the science of archaeology in its classical form as well as the related sciences which archaeology drew into its ambit, require some discussion. The artefact per se will be defined with commentary on how it fits into, and participates in the material culture of a society. The current literature in which authors argue in favour of the agency of the artefact to affect makers, owners and users, will be reviewed. In the final section of the essay, reference is made to Roman material culture to illustrate that the artefact can be ‘read’ as a narrative of entangled social, economic, ideological, and religious values and practises. Though Roman primary sources offer very limited insights into the aesthetic values assigned to pottery in material culture, this will nevertheless receive attention. The essay reflects academic arguments to support contemporary debate that artefacts, when considered only as archaeological objects, will reveal little beyond their cultural origin, typology, dating, materials, method of production, circulation and usage. The alternative which is being promoted, is a meta-methodology with which artefact can be ‘read’ as having agency to generate and gain reciprocal meanings and values. When the artefact can be understood from that point of view, it can be considered as an entangled narrative.

RECREATING ARTEFACTS AND ANCIENT SKILLS: FROM EXPERIMENT TO INTERPRETATION

2022

This volume focuses on the role and means of archaeological experimentation in understanding the processes involved in the design, manufacture and use of past artefacts. We set out looking for contributions that would test existing theoretical hypotheses but also others that bring forth innovative approaches. When asking for contributions, we suggested the five stages of an experimental approach as main-themes: 1. Selection and acquisition of raw materials, identical to those present in the archaeological assemblages. 2. Production of replicas following the technological transformation schemes identified by the direct study of archaeological items. 3. Experimental use as indicated by the publications/ethnographic comparisons or as suggested by the morphology/use-wear evolution of the archaeological items. 4. Microscopical analysis of use-wear patterns. 5. Comparison of experimental data with archaeological data in order to validate the existing hypotheses on their manufacture and use by the human communities. A second aim was for the invited authors to come from various archaeological backgrounds and cover a broad spatial and temporal interval.

(2021) Making a Mark: Process, Pattern and Change in the British and Irish Neolithic

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2021

This paper presents key results of the Making a Mark project (2014-2016), which aimed to provide a contextual framework for the analysis of mark making on portable artefacts in the British and Irish Neolithic by comparing them with other mark-making practices, including rock art and passage tomb art. The project used digital imaging techniques, including Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), and improved radiocarbon chronologies, to develop a new understanding of the character of mark making in the British and Irish Neolithic. Rather than considering this tradition in representational terms, as expression of human ideas, we focus on two kinds of relational material practices, the processes of marking and the production of skeuomorphs, and their emergent properties. We draw on Karen Barad's concept of 'intra-action' and Gilles Deleuze's notion of differentiation to understand the evolution and development of mark-making traditions and how they relate to other kinds of social practices over the course of the Neolithic.

Arts and Crafts: Artistic Representations as Ethno-Archaeology. A Guide to Craft Technique

vienna 2 – ancient egyptian ceramics in the 21st century Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna, 14th-18th of May, 2012 edited by bettina bader, christian m. knoblauch and e. christiana köhler, 2012

It has often been assumed that the kinds of scenes showing craft activities and rendered in Egyptian tombs from the Old Kingdom onwards can simply be treated as ‘daily life’ images, vague representations of activities carried out by Egyptians at the various periods concerned. Whilst they may be regarded as evidence that such crafts took place at these times they are not generally regarded as accurate representations of the crafts. This paper seeks to examine whether such scenes should be viewed in a different light, as being the ethnographies of their time. Consistent with the theme of the conference and building on the research carried out on saggars, the production of pottery is examined in some detail in order to test this view. vienna 2 – ancient egyptian ceramics in the 21st century Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna, 14th-18th of May, 2012 edited by bettina bader, christian m. knoblauch and e. christiana köhlerienna 2 – ancient egyptian ceramics in the 21st century Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna, 14th-18th of May, 2012, edited by bettina bader, christian m. knoblauch and e. christiana köhler