Archaeometric Analysis of Hunter-Gatherer Pottery from Northeast Asia

Summary

Traditional archaeological analysis of pottery remains in East Asia has often emphasized macroscopic features of pottery including decoration, vessel form and paste composition. While these features are important in characterizing the cultural and technological aspects of pottery, microscopic and archaeometric analyses have the potential for enhancing traditional pottery research in this region by developing novel insights into social processes such as the transmission of information and exchange of resources. In the remote Kuril Islands of Northeast Asia, the use of archaeometric methods is particularly appealing as a majority of the hunter-gatherer pottery remains from this region are surface collected and do not demonstrate diagnostic design elements or vessel forms. Therefore, in order to address meaningful archaeological questions concerning the exchange of information and/or resources in the Kuril Islands, this research utilized a range of archaeometric methods including luminescence dating (TL/OSL), organic residue analysis and elemental composition analysis by ICP-MS and pXRF methods. Overall, results of this research broaden the knowledge concerning the production and use of pottery in the Kuril Islands but also highlights how maritime hunter-gatherers may have used exchange networks and social partnerships to help mitigate the challenges associated with living in this extreme and insular environment.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Micro-worlds, materiality and human behaviour: Magnifying material science in explanations of technology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage