Craft Production (Other Keyword)
351-375 (378 Records)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Nomadic hunter-gatherer populations of the Eastern Subarctic were once thought to have largely rejected or ignored pottery technology. The archaeological recovery of ceramics at several sites north of the St. Lawrence Lowlands over the past few decades has passed the status of anecdotal finds and seriously challenges this assumption. Questions remain, however,...
Thin Section Petrography of Inka Pottery from Pachacamac, Peru (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study investigates the organization of production for Inka pottery at Pachacamac from several contexts throughout the site’s ceremonial core and elite residential sector. Pachacamac was a major Ychsma center on Peru’s central coast that was transformed into a major Inka provincial center around 1470 C.E. The Inka constructed a number of buildings and...
Thinking Locally: A Glimpse at Ceramic Production at Küllüoba, Turkey, during the Early Bronze Age (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. After the birth of the Turkish Republic, German archaeologists fled to Turkey in search of new beginnings and freedom. These archaeologists would soon head the first archaeology departments in Istanbul and Ankara, shaping how budding archaeologists would complete their training and research for the next 90 years. Traditionally, ceramic research...
Thread Production in Ocotelulco, Tlaxcallan, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Tlaxcallan: Mesoamerica's Bizarro World" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological excavations undertaken by the Tlaxcallan Archaeological Project have recovered an important sample of spindle whorls from Late Postclassic – Early Colonial (1420 -1540 A.D.) domestic contexts in Ocotelulco, a subsection of the urban site of Tlaxcallan, Mexico. In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of identified whorl...
Three Case Studies of Andean Metalworking (2018)
The history of South American metalworking still presents a number of unresolved questions, despite decades of archaeological and historical research. This is especially true for the Andean region, where in prehistoric times alloys of copper as well as precious metals were crafted into intricate objects. Here, analytical metallographic techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and infra-red (IR) spectroscopy are used to investigate different aspects of...
Three-Dimensional Photogrammetric Modeling of Ceramic Whole Vessels from Pachacamac, Peru: Challenges, Considerations, and Applications (2018)
In recent years, photogrammetry has emerged as a low-cost solution for the digital preservation of archaeological sites and artifacts. Beyond preservation, the creation of three-dimensional models allows archaeologists and researchers to ask questions of objects or sites remotely and at more refined scales. It also allows sites or active excavations and objects not on display to be accessible to the public. Whole ceramic vessels from Max Uhle’s 1897 excavations at Pachacamac, curated at the Penn...
To Wear, or Not to Wear: Symbolism and Technology of Lip-Plates in Mursi (Ethiopia) and Mebêngôkre (Brazil) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Body Modification: Examples and Explanations" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This chapter offers a comparative look at the labrets of the Mebêngôkre (Brazil) and Mursi (Ethiopia) with a special emphasis on how lip-plates are made, worn, valued, and evaluated at a normative level. By normative, we mean the historical, technical, symbolic, and discursive ways in which such practices are understood by the Mursi and...
Tools Fit for a Queen: Interdisciplinary Study of a Set of Ancient Maya Weaving Implements (2019)
This is an abstract from the "From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper reviews our interdisciplinary study examining a set of carved deer bones comprising what appears to be a weaving or sewing kit for an ancient Maya royal woman bearing the Sa’ emblem glyph associated with...
Toward a Typology of Late Postclassic Period Figurines from Tututepec, Oaxaca, Mexico (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Checking the Pulse: Current Research in Oaxaca Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper, we present a preliminary typology, description, and discussion of ceramic figurines from Late Postclassic period (CE 1100–1522) Tututepec, a regional capital located on the coast of Oaxaca. The figurine sample is primarily drawn from household excavations carried out in 2005 and 2022 but also includes material curated...
Tracking 1,600 Years of Ceramic Technology at Prehispanic Jecosh (Ancash, Peru) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Cross-Cultural Petrographic Studies of Ceramic Traditions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. How do ebbs and flows in regional trade relations affect village level practices of pottery production? We assess this question by tracking variability and continuity in ceramic technological traditions at the site of Jecosh, located in the Callejón de Huaylas of Ancash, Peru. Recent excavations of domestic and mortuary...
Tracking Luxury Craft Production across Mayapán's Physical and Social Landscapes (2015)
Considering luxury production activities in Mayapán's urban landscape reveals new data regarding a complex and diverse economic system. We explore the evidence for luxury production activities at households attached to elite palaces at this Postclassic Maya capital city. Surplus crafting at Mayapán varied according to scale, intensity, and the value of surplus items. Crafting of valuables such as effigy censers, figurines, copper objects, and stucco sculptures, was more closely supervised (or...
Two Decades (Almost) of Regional Clay Surveys by the EAF: Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities (2024)
This is an abstract from the "The Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum: Celebrating 20 Years Serving the Archaeological Community " session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. An early and ongoing goal of the EAF was to not only generate compositional data on archaeological artifacts but also to build comprehensive collections and elemental databases of natural materials that had potentially been used to manufacture craft objects. To date, EAF...
Two Mould Types for All the Vessels: Correlating Casting Mould Forms to the Vessel Forms Produced during the Shang Dynasty (2018)
Through the previous research on the Royal Ontario Museum’s mould fragments, three main types of moulds were identified. In order to extend our knowledge beyond the moulds themselves and associate the moulds to the bronze vessels this paper brings both the moulds and bronze vessels into the same discussion by looking at the correlation between the mould types and the bronze vessel forms they were made to produce. The correlation can further our comprehension into the reason of produce the mould...
Understanding Ancient Maya Expedient Lithic Technology: Raw Material, Production, and Use (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Expedient flaked stone tools, generally defined as those which are produced as needed, without standardization, and with little to no investment, are less often examined in the archaeological record than formal stone tools, those which require more skill and effort to produce following a prescribed method or...
Understanding Site Function and Textile Production in Southwestern Iberia (3400–2000 BCE): The Loom Weights from Perdigões (Alentejo, Portugal) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The 16 ha site of Perdigões is comprised of ditched enclosures and negative features that were opened and closed throughout its long and complex occupation beginning in the Late Neolithic, continuing throughout the Chalcolithic, and into the early Bronze Age. This site includes around 12 roughly concentric circular ditches and several hundred circular...
Understanding Variation in Utilitarian Ceramic Assemblages of the Chesapeake: The Impacts of Local Production (2013)
Utilitarian ceramics made of earthenware and stoneware were important tools in the early American domestic sphere. Milk pans, storage jugs, baking dishes, and other specialized forms made a variety of domestic industries possible. However, the abundance and characteristics of these wares were not consistent through time or across households. In turning analytical focus to this under-investigated class of artifacts, a better understanding of the relationship between domestic and economic life in...
Unraveling Neolithic Cultures in the Taipei Basin through Pottery Technology at Tzufakung (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Taipei Basin holds archaeological significance, particularly in illuminating the Neolithic era in Taiwan. The sites of Yuanshan and Botanical Garden each represent distinct Neolithic cultural phases. However, the coexistence, contemporaneity, or transition between Neolithic cultures has been a subject of debate. The nationwide site survey,...
Urbanization and Ceramic Change: An Exploration of the Relationship (2015)
Previous studies about the production, distribution, and consumption of craft goods in complex societies emphasize social relations at the household, site, and regional scales. An often neglected component is the nature of economic organization within different neighborhoods of large settlements. This paper argues that we should attempt to understand neighborhoods as meaningful communities for inhabitants of urban centers. These smaller communities can have a major impact on the nature of social...
Urbanization and Ceramic Consumption at the Late Neolithic Settlement of Liangchengzhen (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations at the Longshan period settlement of Liangchengzhen in southeastern Shandong have uncovered large quantities and diverse forms of ceramic vessels from contexts representing each phase of occupation. This paper explores consumption patterns for ceramic vessels in one neighborhood during eight phases of occupation estimated to represent...
Using XRF Analysis on Historic Choctaw Ceramics from Chickasawhay Creek, Kemper County, MS (2018)
In partnership with Tennessee Valley Archaeological Research (TVAR), this poster presents the results of an x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) analysis of ceramics recovered from historic Choctaw (Late 17th - Early 19th century) contexts at sites (22KE630 and 22KE718) located along Chickasawhay Creek, Kemper County, MS. In the fall of 2017, a sample of ceramic sherds was selected for chemical sourcing at the University of Alabama. XRF was used to non-destructively identify ceramic...
Weaving the Cosmic House: Chibchan Myth and Nicaraguan Spindle Whorls (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Cordage, Yarn, and Associated Paraphernalia" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Bribri myth, the Creator God Sibó commanded Sál, the head of the spider clan, to weave cane and thatch to cover the cosmic house, which was built to encapsulate the world order. The house was supported by a central pole with eight surrounding posts representing each of the major clans. In 20+ years of archaeological research in Pacific...
Weaving with Wichuñas in the Coastal Tiwanaku Diaspora: New Insights into Camelid Bone Tool Production from Los Batanes (Sama, Peru) (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Textile production was a major economic sector in the prehispanic Tiwanaku state, for which weavers transformed camelid (llamas, alpacas) fibers and bones into utilitarian and decorative objects. As Tiwanaku pastoral communities dispersed in the wake of state collapse, they relocated to arid coastal regions where their textile industry demonstrates...
Where Were the Children Learning? A Spatial Analysis of Childhood Potting Practices in Fifteenth-Century Great Lakes Villages (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Hearth and Home in the Indigenous Northeast" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Investigations of childhood practices in the Great Lakes have emerged through ceramic analysis and skill evaluations. This approach has been effective in tracing direct material interactions of potters and social relations within a communities of practice. However, there is less focus on potters and their relations to the village environment....
White Iron and Red Gold: How to Identify Tin, Copper, and Bronze Derived from Rooiberg Mineral Deposits, South Africa (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Geological and Technological Contributions to the Interpretation of Radiogenic Isotope Data" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Tin and copper ores around Rooiberg, South Africa, were exploited from 1000–1300 CE until about 1840. Geologists estimated that around 1,000 tons of the tin mineral cassiterite, equivalent to 792 tons of metallic tin, were mined there. Archaeological survey showed only a small amount of evidence...
Who Attended Their Funerals? A Petrographic Comparison of Pottery from the Majiayao Culture of Neolithic China (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Cross-Cultural Petrographic Studies of Ceramic Traditions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In northwestern China’s Gansu Province, painted pottery from the late Neolithic Majiayao Culture has long been admired for its skillful construction and beautiful painted motifs. Since the majority of whole vessels have been recovered from graves, it has generally been assumed that these items were produced primarily for mortuary...