Can You Predict the Pot? Using Morphometric Variability to Predict Potting Techniques

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Geometric Morphometrics in Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While geometric morphometrics (GMM) roots are in biology, there has been an increase of studies applying GMM to archaeological material in recent years. Archaeologists have utilized morphometrics to determine the level of craft specialization at prehistoric sites, test the symmetry of stone tools, classify ceramic sherds, examine the level of production standardization, and overall study the change of an artifact type over time and space. In particular, experimental archaeologists have been adding to the discussion by analyzing whole samples to make up for the archaeological record's inherent nature. Here, with the assistance of a professional Turkish potter, select Anatolian Early Bronze Age (3000–200 BCE) ceramic types were re-created utilizing both the pottery mold and the potter's wheel. The sample ceramics were photographed, and their corresponding 2D images were then analyzed using shape analysis. This paper discusses how morphometrics can be applied to experimental ceramics to examine the morphological variability between potting technologies and possibly determine the potting technique (e.g., pottery mold, potter's wheel) that was used to create the pot.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Geometric Morphometrics in Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33526