Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
The term chaîne opératoire, or the chain of production, is used to describe the whole process of ceramic manufacture. By understanding this process, we may investigate the series of operations that transform raw materials into a finished product. Qualitative and quantitative ceramic petrographic methods are uniquely suited to identify production methods, such as paste preparation, forming techniques, and firing atmosphere. Petrographic data can be utilized to characterize the different chaînes opératoires present in a ceramic assemblage so they might be ultimately connected to the intention of the potter. These baseline data can then be used for comparative analyses of production step sequences and to define local and regional communities of practice. This session brings together case studies from around the world using thin-section petrography along with other complimentary methods, some of which aim to home in on individual steps while others analyze the chain of production in its entirety. By using these data to identify cultural patterns, these processes may be further used to answer larger questions such as those of identity and practice in relation to the spread of these chains of production.
Other Keywords
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis: Ceramic Petrography •
Communities of Practice •
Craft Production •
Mississippian •
Formative •
Material Culture and Technology •
Urbanism •
Ceramic Analysis •
Pueblo •
Ancestral Pueblo
Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) •
United States of America (Country) •
USA (Country) •
United Mexican States (Country) •
Delaware (State / Territory) •
Georgia (State / Territory) •
Mississippi (State / Territory) •
Tennessee (State / Territory) •
North Carolina (State / Territory) •
Kentucky (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)
- Documents (8)
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Ceramic Use and Production at Iron Age Bashtepe, Uzbekistan: A Preliminary Petrographic Study (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ceramic corpus at Bashtepe, Uzbekistan, is a complex mix of pottery forms, fabrics, and technology. Some vessels are hand-made, while others are wheel-made. Transport vessels, cooking pots, and fine ware are all present. To better understand the acquisition and local production of this corpus, a preliminary...
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Identifying Potting Traditions from the Nashville Basin through Ceramic Petrography (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper aims to investigate ceramic manufacturing in the Nashville Basin of Tennessee during the Mississippian period (AD 1000–1500) at the macroscopic and microscopic levels. Our vessel lot and petrographic studies analyze 73 shell-tempered pottery sherds from seven Middle Cumberland archaeological sites. We...
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Long-Term Use of Local Clays in Potting Traditions during Early Urbanization in the Nochixtlán Valley of the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico, 500–100 BCE (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Mixteca Alta Ceramic Study (MACS) in the Nochixtlán Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, aims to understand how early urbanization in the valley impacted potters’ crafting techniques over time and space. Early urbanization in the valley spanned the Yucuita and Early Ramos ceramic phases (500–100 BCE) of the Middle to...
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Making Pottery, Making Identity: Geochemical and Design Analyses from a Small Middle San Juan Site, New Mexico (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study addresses both the geochemical composition and the decorative content of ceramic sherds recovered from the Box B Site (LA 16660), New Mexico. Thorough and successful ceramic analyses by Barbara Mills, Hayward Franklin, and Elizabeth Garrett took place in the 1980s. This current project reexamines white...
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Organic Inclusions in Amazonian Ceramics: A Petrographic Approach (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Organic inclusions, such as freshwater spicules (cauixi) and tree bark ash (caraipé) are one of the most diagnostic elements of pottery production in the Amazon basin. At the Monte Castelo shell mound (southwestern Amazonia), Bacabal pottery represents the widespread use of sponge spicules in the ceramic paste,...
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Potting Communities on a Purépecha Landscape, Angamuco, Michoacán, Mexico (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Documentation of the chaîne opératoire allows us to investigate the manufacturing steps that transform raw materials into finished products. Study of these steps can facilitate discussions about the intentions of ancient potters and potter communities of practice. In western Mesoamerica during the Late...
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Ramey on the Frontier: A Pilot Study of Select Ramey Incised Technology from Cahokia’s Southern Neighbors (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cahokia’s influence on the archaeological cultures of the upper Central Mississippi River Valley (CMRV) has often been described as less prominent than processes taking place in the northern hinterlands. Although few examples are found at each site, Ramey Incised jars are found in many early and middle...
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The Struggle Within: Effects of Spanish Interaction Intensity on Pueblo Pottery Technology as Revealed through Petrographic Study (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Step by Step: Tracing World Potting Traditions through Ceramic Petrography" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Spanish intrusion, colonization, and missionization impacted many aspects of life for the Pueblo people. Examination of ceramic technology provides a way to recognize cultural continuity and transformation in Pueblo communities as well as highlighting the role of Indigenous agency in determining the structure of...