Between Manufacturing and Disposal: The Lives of the Pots in the Neolithic and Metal Age Settlements of Southern Vietnam

Summary

Studies on pottery from archaeological sites in Southeast Asia are largely orientated towards aspects of manufacturing and typology. Emphasis is on the identification of transregional similarities and differences of form, decoration, and composition to establish patterns of human migration, contact, and identity. Less emphasis has been directed towards understanding what happens to different pottery vessels between their manufacturing and disposal, as well as their actual functional use. For example, was a particular pot used to prepare, serve, or store food? To address this question, pottery vessels from the settlement sites of Rạch Núi, An Sơn (Neolithic), Lò Gạch, and Gò Ô Chùa (Metal Age) in southern Vietnam were analyzed for technofunctional attributes and organic residues to determine their usage and food contents. Specifically, organic residues were analyzed for fatty acid profiles with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, carbon isotopic signatures (δ13C) of palmitic (C16) and stearic (C18) fatty acids with compound specific isotopic analysis, and carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) with bulk isotopic analysis to elucidate former food contents on pottery. This paper then explores the "lives of the pots" as they were utilized in foodway practices by the inhabitants of Neolithic and early Metal Age sites in southern Vietnam.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Recent Advances in the Settlement and Landscape Archaeology of (South)west China and Southeast Asia Part II: The Micro Perspective of Internal Settlement Organization and Object Production

Keywords

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