Petrographic Analysis of CPAS Ceramics: Long-Term Continuity and Change in Chengdu Plain Pottery Production

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Chengdu Plain Archaeology Survey (2004–2011): Highlights from the Final Report" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although ceramic analysis is sure to be a critical line of evidence for understanding the development of complex society in the Chengdu Plain (Sichuan province, China), only a small number of technical studies have been carried out on pottery from the region. Ceramic sherds collected by the Chengdu Plain Archaeological Survey team were therefore examined using petrographic microscopy in order to understand how pottery-making practices changed between the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Han periods. The results indicate that potters used similar raw materials and paste recipes during both the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. However, as the Chengdu Plain subsequently fell under control of the Qin and Han empires, local potters appear to have transitioned to the use of highly silty clays comparable to those found in the Qin and Han capital region to the north. These findings suggest (1) that elements of an indigenous pottery-making tradition persisted in the Chengdu Plain from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age and (2) that this potting tradition was ultimately supplanted as Sichuan was integrated into the Chinese cultural mainstream under Qin and Han.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Chengdu Plain Archaeology Survey (2004–2011): Highlights from the Final Report   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36748.0