Ceramics (Other Keyword)
1-25 (693 Records)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Opening the Vault: What Collections Can Say About Jamestown’s Global Trade Network", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Jamestown collection contains proportionally few Portuguese-made ceramics. However, their presence in seventeenth century Virginia highlights the political, economic, and social dynamics between an established world power and a developing one. Global trade networks, particularly the trading...
1300 years of a Classic Maya ceramic tradition at El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala (2017)
In the course of 13 field seasons, archaeologists have carried out 23 operations across the ruined city of El Perú-Waka’. During these investigations, excavators recovered upwards of a million ceramic sherds from a wide variety of contexts; palaces, pyramids, residences, sheet middens, construction fill, ritual deposits, spoil piles, termination deposits, votive deposits, surface collections, burials, caches, and tombs. The excavation contexts are good enough, the quality of preservation...
2000 Years of Eating: Continuity and change in food practices among the Puuc Maya (2017)
This paper examines the evidence for what and how the Maya of the Puuc region ate during the long history of occupation of this region. Data collected from almost two decades of research by the Bolonchen Regional Archaeological Project and covering close to two millennium of occupation are used in this exploration of eating. Household archaeology primarily from the site of Kiuic and the suburban site of Stairway to Heaven, and ceramic data from throughout the BRAP study area provide insights...
About Face: A Head-On Examination of Pre-Columbian Social Identity (2017)
A desire for art to reflect social identity is made apparent through prolific representations of human faces in Pre-Columbian ceramics. The ceramic art of Greater Nicoya and the surrounding regions demonstrates an intrinsic drive to communicate distinct group characteristics and illustrates the importance of individuals’ bodies as instruments of both personal expression and social relationships. Physical expressions of collective identity foster a sense of belonging and satisfy the human desire...
About the Sites (2003)
This lists the identifying site number, the probable ethnic affiliation (Mohawk, Seneca, etc.) and the sample size. The original coding sheets are curated in the archives of Buffalo State College. Sites with a small sample size are not represented in this project.
Absolute Chronology of the Early Formative Revisited: Bayesian Analysis, Radiocarbon Chronology, and the Emergence of Pottery in the Americas (2016)
In 1987, the author’s doctoral dissertation featured a comprehensive analysis of calibrated radiocarbon dates associated with the earliest ceramic complexes in the Americas towards a model for the emergence of sedentary lifeways. This resulted in a critical evaluation of James Ford’s posthumously published model for the Early Formative diffusion of pottery as well as other cultural features in a region extending from the Southeastern U.S. through Mesoamerica and the Isthmo-Colombian Area to the...
Adams (1970)
This is a data set of ceramics from Adams. Adams is a Seneca Village dating to the latter part of the 16th century.
Adams Site Ceramic Data (1970)
ceramic data from the Adams Site (Seneca area)
Adams Site Regrouped Ceramic Data (1970)
ceramic data from the Adams site with regrouped attributes
Adoption of Ceramic Technology: Case Study from Incipient Jomon of Southern Kyushu (ca. 13,500/14,000 – 12,000 cal yr BP) (2015)
Hunter-gatherers of late-Pleistocene Japan were among the first in the world to adopt ceramic technology. Archaeologists have suggested that in southern Kyushu, these people of Incipient Jomon (13500/14000-12000 cal yr BP) also used large grinding stones, stored food, occupied pit houses, and made boats for navigation; they had signatures of reduced residential mobility. Nevertheless, there have not been systematic tests to assess the hypothesized decreased residential mobility. Identification...
After Monte Albán (2008)
After Monte Albán reveals the richness and interregional relevance of Postclassic transformations in the area now known as Oaxaca, which lies between Central Mexico and the Maya area and, as contributors to this volume demonstrate, achieved cultural centrality in pan-Mesoamerican networks. Large nucleated states throughout Oaxaca collapsed after 700 C.E., including the great Zapotec state centered in the Valley of Oaxaca, Monte Albán. Elite culture changed in fundamental ways as small...
Analysis of Ancient Chinese Pottery Utilizing X-Ray Fluorescence and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (2017)
Field studies were performed at the Yangguanzhai Neolithic site near Xi’an, China, using an Olympus Delta Premium portable XRF spectrometer and an Agilent ExoScan FTIR spectrometer. 932 ceramic sherds collected from nine locations across the site were selected and classified based on color (red, tan and brown), decorations (painted, rope impression - cord or thread, and plain), and time period (Miaodigou and Banpo IV). Each sherd was broken, so that the analysis could be performed on a clean...
Analysis of Fatty Acids in Precontact Ceramics from Barbados, West Indies (2015)
Analyses of organic residues on ceramics complement other types of archaeological evidence used to characterize diets of populations colonizing and adapting to Caribbean Islands. Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) is used to identify compounds sampled from 20 sherds excavated from two households (the Goddard Site 200 B.C. - A.D. 300 and Chancery Lane Site A.D. 800-1500). Measurable peaks of fatty acid residues are present on six samples from the Goddard Site. Smaller traces of fatty...
The Analytical Nexus: Multi-Technique Approaches to Ceramic Composition (2015)
Archaeologists have employed many different approaches to characterize the composition of ceramic pastes, but until recently only a minority of studies have used multiple analytical techniques to examine the same sample. An "analytical technique" is used here to mean a single perspective that characterizes an aspect of a ceramic paste. Since humans created pottery using different processes and recipes, it follows that each perspective teaches us about a unique aspect of the potter's behavior...
Analyzing Color in Historic Refined Earthenwares Using Spectrophotometry (2013)
This project evaluates three of the most well-known ceramic types in historical archaeology: the non-vitreous, white-bodied earthenwares usually distinguished primarily by color and commonly known as creamware, pearlware, and whiteware. Almost ubiquitous on sites connected to worldwide trade routes from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries, these three wares are some of the most useful, most discussed, and possibly some of the most controversial in archaeological analysis. Using a...
Ancestors, Agency, and Formation Processes: Interpreting Problematical "Smash and Trash Deposits" at Ka’Kabish, Belize (2017)
Maya archaeologists commonly discover "smash-and-trash" deposits, collections consisting of large quantities of broken sherds, lithics, faunal materials, and other remains, in varying contexts on Maya sites. Interpretations of these deposits vary from simple trash or midden deposits, to remains of feasting, to termination and other rituals. These interpretations are often strongly influenced by the theoretical and analytical approaches taken by the excavators. At Ka’Kabish, Belize, a series of...
Ancient explosives from Jerusalem identified on the analysis of the mysterious sphero-conical ceramic vessels using archaeological chemistry (2016)
Thick-walled small stoneware Sphero-conical vessels have been found throughout the Middle East between the 10th and 14th centuries. Researchers have proposed that these vessels could have been used as smoking pipes, grenades or containers holding medicines, mercury, beer or perfume. The unusual nature of the ceramic, being the only highly fired stoneware produced in the Middle East, together with the very thick walls, would indicate an unusually dedicated function that only existed between the...
Anglo-American Ceramics As Social Medium (2018)
Long before the age of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, household ceramics have been enlisted to carry messages of religious inspiration, political engagement, historical commemoration, social mores, and personal sentiments. With the advent of mass production, these messages could quickly appear on tea tables, in dinning rooms, and tavern barrooms throughout the Anglo-American world. This beautifully illustrated will review some of the most significant ceramic campaigns in America's historic...
Animal Fats and Ancient Pyro Technologies in the North American Arctic: Contextualized Analysis of Lipids in Archaeological Sediments, Combustion Features, and Ceramics (2017)
Processing and combustion of animal products including bone, fat, and oil for food and fuel was critical for human occupation of far northern latitudes. Remnant fats from these activities preserve exceptionally well in many Alaskan sites and various sources can be identified using standard techniques of lipid analysis. Combining lipid analysis with ethnographically informed experiments and high-resolution analysis of archaeological sediments, combustion features and ceramics, could help trace...
Appearance Is Everything: Mary Washington And Her Specialized Ceramics Of Gentility (2020)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Specialized Ceramic Vessels, From Oyster Jars to Ornaments" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Mary Washington, mother to George, was widowed young. Her decision not to remarry, an unusual choice for women of her time, meant she faced an economic and social uphill battle raising five children to be successful adults and members of the Virginia gentry class. Consequently it was important that she cultivate a...
The Application of X-Ray Diffraction to the Characterization of Clay Samples from the Tuxtla Mountains, México (2015)
In this project I applied X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques to characterize the mineralogical composition of 11 clay samples collected from the Tuxtla Mountains, in the vicinity of Matacapan, Veracruz, México. These samples had already been analyzed through X-ray fluorescence (Pool 1990), and the data generated by XRD was compared to the already existing elemental analyses of these clays and of ceramics from the region. In this way, I attempt to distinguish minerals added to these clays in the...
Applying Experimental Archaeological Methods to Differentiate Chinese Celadon Glazed Ceramics from 19th-century Archaeolgoical Sites in the American West (2020)
This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Thousands of Chinese immigrants labored skillfully to complete the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in the American West during the 19th-century, bringing with them mementos of home, relying on an international supply chain, reaching across the Pacific Ocean, home to China, for foods, material goods, and support. Much of the archaeological assemblage from railroad and mining...
Archaeological Ceramics for Beginners: A Hands-On Activity for Introductory Classes
This activity is designed for students who have little or no experience with archaeology and, in many ways, is a classic; archaeological ceramics activities or labs are offered at many institutions. So, why offer it up? For two reasons: first, as a well-proven option that new instructors can use in their classrooms that is explicitly connected to the Principles for Curricular Reform and, second, as a starter for conversations with experienced instructors. The activity engages students with a...
Archaeological Ceramics for Beginners: A Hands-On Activity for Introductory Classes (2015)
This activity is designed for students who have little or no experience with archaeology and, in many ways, is a classic; archaeological ceramics activities or labs are offered at many institutions. So, why offer it up? For two reasons: first, as a well-proven option that new instructors can use in their classrooms that is explicitly connected to the Principles for Curricular Reform and, second, as a starter for conversations with experienced instructors. The activity engages students with a...
Archaeological Excavations in Monticello's First Kitchen (2018)
In 1808, enslaved African American laborers at Monticello dumped about 1,000 cubic feet of dirt to raise the floor to convert the Kitchen into a Wash House in preparation for Thomas Jefferson's retirement years. For the previous forty years, this Kitchen had been the space in which fine cuisine was prepared for Jefferson, his family, and guests. Archaeologists recently excavated nearly a third of this deposit, reidentifying the stew stoves, the original brick floor, and fireplace. Analysis of...