Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ceramics are one of humanity’s most durable products. The common geological presence, variability, and plasticity of their main ingredient—clay—and the additive nature of their manufacturing process have afforded humans remarkable creativity and space for social expression. People in separate parts of the world, at different times, in diverse social, economic, and ecological contexts have produced them in various fabrics (from earthenwares to porcelains) to satisfy needs that ranged from the quotidian to the cosmological. As a result, they are invaluable to archaeologists/archaeometrists for answering diverse research questions. Ceramic analyses examine the selection and preparation of raw materials; the manufacturing, firing, and decorative methods; and the shape, size, use, distribution, reuse, and discard of the final product, as well as decorative designs. Ceramic ecology and chaîne opératoire are guiding mid-range theoretical approaches, supported by archaeometric, geoarchaeological, and ethnoarchaeological methods. The goal of this new annual Society for American Archaeology symposium is to present and assess current ceramic research from around the world, at different scales, using varied methods and theoretical approaches. This new series is sponsored by the Society for Archaeological Sciences and continues a 35-year tradition of ceramic presentations at the American Anthropological Association meetings.