Clay from the Coast: Petrographic Investigations of Xiajiaoshan's Coastal Hunter-Gatherer Pottery Production in Southern China

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite extensive research on ceramic production in agricultural societies, ceramic traditions of coastal hunter-fisher-gatherer groups in southern China have been comparatively overlooked. The middle Neolithic site Xiajiaoshan, said to belong to the Xiantouling Culture (dated to 7,000 BP), excavated in recent years has yielded abundant intact pottery vessels, offering a unique opportunity to glean the production, distribution, and use of pottery wares by prehistoric coastal communities. Through typological and petrographic analysis, this study compares Xiajiaoshan with other sites in the coastal landscape, investigating Xiajiaoshan occupants’ ceramic production techniques and clay sourcing. By comparing pottery petrographic data across multiple coastal sites, we reconstruct interaction networks among coastal communities and their understanding of the landscape for clay-souring. This research illuminates the pottery production capabilities of coastal hunter-fisher-gatherers, enhancing our understanding of prehistoric pottery technology in southern China. More broadly, it could possibly inform interpretations of socio-cultural practices and landscape perceptions of other prehistoric coastal communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37796.0