People, Pottery, and Petrography: Recent research in ceramic petrography
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)
Ceramic petrography has grown from an approach adapted from material scientists to a common method of analysis in archaeology. The combination of both qualitative and quantitative data in petrographic analysis allows it to be applied in a variety of studies, ranging from ceramic manufacturing techniques to the interpretation of social phenomenon, such as exchange, population dispersals, and emulation. The posters in this session are a selection of recent research centered on ceramic petrography from both small-scale and complex societies in the Americas, as well as the western Mediterranean. The wide geographic focus of this session highlights the potential for petrographic research to address complex social questions. In this session, ceramic petrography is used to investigate transitions in social formations within groups and the interactions between different groups, examine the physical properties of coarse crystalline rocks and other manufacturing techniques, and highlight additional sourcing techniques and tools currently used by researchers.
Site Name Keywords
La Quemada •
Alta Vista •
El Teúl •
Las Ventanas •
Buenavista •
El Bajío •
Pajones •
Loma Flores •
Pochotitan •
El Piñón
Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
Other Keywords
Petrography •
Ceramics •
Pottery •
Technology •
Petrographic Analysis •
Experimental Archaeology •
Archaeometry •
Ceramic Paste Analysis •
Early Pottery •
Pottery Making
Investigation Types
Collections Research
Material Types
Ceramic
Temporal Keywords
Epiclassic
Geographic Keywords
South America •
Zacatecas (State / Territory) •
Aguascalientes (State / Territory) •
United Mexican States (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
Europe •
Northwest Mexico •
Caribbean •
Zacatecas region •
Malpaso Valley
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)
- Documents (8)
-
Finding a Middle Ground: Paste Analysis by way of a USB Microscope in the Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Ceramic pastes in the Titicaca Basin reflect shifting pottery production practices across space and time. Yet paste groups are not very standardized, making it difficult to compare ceramic pastes between sites, explore regional pottery production, social interactions, economy, and broader ecological and social landscapes of the past. This poster presents results from ongoing research employing a Dino-lite digital USB microscope in paste analysis and its value compared to petrographic analysis....
-
Fragments of Identity: Systematic ceramic analysis, technology, and colonial process (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This poster reports the results of a systematic examination of composition for 188 ceramic samples from the Bay of Cádiz (Spain), and discusses the socio-economic ramifications of the findings. Petrographic, NAA, and portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysis focused on 166 Phoenician and Iberian sherds dating to c. 800-550 BCE. An additional 12 geological and ceramic samples were included as controls for the provenance determination. The findings reveal unexpected relationships between...
-
From Distributed to Place-Based Communities: The Ceramic Social Geography of Late Archaic Stallings Societies (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
North America’s oldest pottery-making societies belonged to the Late Archaic Stallings culture of Georgia and South Carolina. The basic culture history of Stallings archaeology is relatively well-known; however, the types and scales of communities constructed by Stallings people, along with the nature of the connections between them, remain poorly understood. This poster presents preliminary results of research that uses compositional data from Stallings fiber-tempered pottery to investigate the...
-
Petrographic analysis of decorated ceramics from La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico (2016)
DOCUMENT Full-Text
The hilltop center of La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley of Zacatecas, Mexico, was the focal point of one of several polities that developed along the northern frontier of Mesoamerica during the Epiclassic period (A.D. 500-900). Northern frontier polities are known to have interacted due to their shared material culture (i.e., patio-banquette complexes, colonnaded halls, and the exchange of obsidian and shell products), but the mechanism(s) of this interaction are not fully understood. Ceramic...
-
A Petrographic Examination of Early Ceramic Crushed Rock Tempers (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
As part of her ongoing dissertation research, the author conducted a series of experimental tests to examine the physical properties of coarse crystalline rocks. Common coarse crystalline rocks in the Northeast include granite, granodiorite, and gabbro. Earlier petrographic studies by the author identified these rocks as common tempering agents in early ceramic vessels in New York. The author hypothesized that these rocks were intentionally collected by potters from glacial land formations and...
-
Petrography and Provenance of Pottery Sherds from Islands in the Southern Lesser Antilles, Caribbean (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Native Amerindian groups who inhabited the southern Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean likely used local materials for temper in the manufacturing of pottery, but may have transported pottery once it was produced. To identify potential sources of temper and possible movement of these resources and/or pottery, we conducted petrographic analysis of Pre-Columbian ceramics found on various islands, including Barbados, Mustique, Carriacou, and Union. Each island exhibits distinct geology with sand...
-
Petrography, Pots and People: Determining the source of Hohokam plainwares at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico. (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Late prehistoric Sonora, Mexico was a dynamic landscape of warfare, mass migration and trade networks spanning modern international borders. At around AD1300 archaeologists have clear evidence of Hohokam populations moving from southern Arizona and displacing indigenous Trincheras populations in the Altar River Valley of Sonora. With a ceramic type called Sells Plain, Hohokam potters introduce a new ceramic manufacturing technology –paddle-and-anvil ceramics- to the region. In response to this...
-
Using Petrographic Analysis to Identify Pottery Production: Shoshone Pottery Making at the Ravens Nest (48SU3871) Southwestern Wyoming (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Petrographic analysis has been commonly used to identify trade in ceramics and stone tools. At the Raven’s Nest site petrographic analysis was used to characterize the compositional variation in the ceramic assemblage recovered during excavation. The homogeneous nature of the ceramic pastes of the assemblage prompted additional petrographic study of local soils and geologic outcrops. Comparison of the local resources with the ceramics indicated the possibility for the local production of pottery...