Despite the association of the first pottery with food production and sedentism, case studies show hunter gatherers with different degrees of sedentism commonly adopted ceramics. Monagrillo ware (∼ 4500-3200 BP), central Panama, early in Central America, was made by egalitarian slash and burn farmers, cultivating domesticated seed and root crops. People occupied inland rockshelters and coastal shell middens. Their degree of sedentism is debated. It is unclear whether they were sedentary both in the inland and the coast exchanging resources or whether inland people visited the coast during dry periods. Their pottery functions are not well understood. I provenanced and studied production processes and diagenesis of Monagrillo pottery combining life history approach and archaeometric methods. I assessed the degree of sedentism of people and inferred vessel functions producers expected. I studied diagenesis because it probably affects analytical results. My study showed that pottery was produced and used in the foothills and on the coast, possibly, in the plains, of the seasonally dry Pacific side of Panama. This suggested that people were sedentary in areas surrounding Parita Bay. Vessels from the Pacific foothills were transported to perennially wet Caribbean slopes; where production was difficult due to precipitation. According to technical choices made, I infer that potters in the Pacific foothills opted for useful and dependable designs, for cooking. Transportability and resistance to weathering were also important. Pacific coastal producers may have chosen designs for cooking-related attributes, but not transportation. Finally, a Pacific plains intermediate site had a high proportion of vessels from both the Pacific foothills and the coast and had a high proportion of decorated sherds. This site may have had special functions such as for meeting, feasting, and exchange. All producers shared manufacturing techniques indicating relatedness. Sherds excavated from the Caribbean zone and the Pacific coast had different diagenetic patterns suggesting climatic differences; this identification helped source pottery. My work contributes to knowledge about pottery origins and degrees of sedentism, technical choices made to reach functional needs, and climatic impact on production and post-depositional changes.

No description available.

The Jurassic Rooi Rand dolerite dyke swarm was emplaced sub-parallel to the Lebombo Monocline during the initial stages of Gondwana breakup. The dykes extend northwards from the southern Lebombo region in northern KwaZulu-Natal, into central Swaziland, spanning a distance of approximately 200 kilometres with a width between 10 and 22 kilometres. Detailed mapping of a 600m-Iong section on the Pongolo River, established at least eleven phases of intrusion. Each dyke age was systematically sampled and analysed for whole-rock major, trace and rare earth element composition, as well as mineral chemistry. Selected samples were analysed for stable isotopes. In addition to notable intra-dyke chemical variations, there is also a high degree of inter-dyke mineralogical and geochemical variation, each dyke age bearing distinct geochemical characteristics. The apparent geochemical trend is not one of simple fractionation with time. Dyke chemistries are closely linked to magma genesis and magma volumes with time. Evolution of the magmas may be described in terms of varying degrees of partial melting and fractional crystallization, with a small degree of crustal contamination. Major, trace and rare earth element data indicate a lithospheric mantle source for the majority of dyke phases, and an asthenospheric source for only two of the eleven ages. Contrary to this, isotopic data (oxygen and radiogenic) indicate an enriched asthenospheric source for all the dolerites. This suggests that all ages may have originally been derived from the asthenosphere, with the majority of ages being intruded into the lithospheric mantle to later undergo partial melting and fractional crystallization, with some contamination. Previous studies assumed an asthenospheric source with depleted MORB-like rare earth element profiles to be representative for the majority of Rooi Rand dolerites. The Rooi Rand dolerites appear to display a geochemical link with the southern Sabie River Basalt Formation, as well as the Lebombo rhyolites. Magmatic evolution of the dykes was intimately linked to the initial rifting processes of lithospheric stretching and asthenospheric upwelling, which in this case concluded in a classic failed rift situation. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1996.

No description available.

This project was a reanalysis of the prehistoric ceramic collections from two important archaeolegical sites in east central Indiana: Mounds State Park (12-M-2) and the New Castle Site (12-Hn-1). Brief summaries of the two sites and their excavation histories are provided as well as summaries of the various pottery types involved. Specific attention is given to the New Castle Incised type.Previous interpretations regarding the ceramics from the two sties are given, and research from this project has provided new interpretations and information. Specifically, a statistical analysis was conducted, and the results show that the pottery from the two sites was made by peoples of the same culture. However, subtle changes were taking place in the manufacture of the pottery, primarily in the plain sherds.Future research goals are provided and include further excavations at both sites, thermoluminescence dating of sherds and additional study of the plain sherds. / Department of Anthropology

The Mean Ceramic Dating (MCD) formula is a widely accepted method for dating historic archaeological ceramic assemblages. This mathematical assessment uses historically known ceramic manufacture ranges to determine a date assumed to correspond with a site's occupation; however, formula applications on nineteenth century sites have been inconsistent in establishing acceptable absolute dates. An examination of applications of the formula on nineteenth century ceramics reveals that it's strength is not in its ability to establish absolute dates for a site, but rather to create relative intrasite chronologies. This study uses ceramic assemblages excavated from several of the feature and outbuilding remnants at the Lanier site (12Je490) to assess and evaluate the MCD formula. Historical documentation allows hypothetical chronologies to be established for the site. The MCD formula is applied to several Lanier site contexts in order to demonstrate the formula's ability to establish relative intrasite chronologies for a nineteenth century site. / Department of Anthropology

The mixture of Late Woodland and Fort Ancient ceramics found on sites in central Indiana has presented a problem for archaeologists for over fifty years. This unique combination of ceramic traits has become known as the Oliver Phase. Materials recovered from the Bowen Site, (Dorwin 1971) have in the past been used to define this phase. Originally, the Bowen Site was believed to represent the excavation of an entire synchronically occupied prehistoric site. A reanalysis of the distribution of diagnostic ceramic attributes from the Bowen Site suggests multicomponent occupations resulting from diachronic settlement. Therefore, the full range of ceramic variation originally attributed to this phase needs to be reexamined in the light of this new information, and it's usefulness as a diagnostic assemblage should be carefully evaluated. / Department of Anthropology

Keramikos studijos – informatyvus šaltinis archeologiniams paminklams pažinti. Pasirinkta šio darbo tema apima Kernavės viduramžių apžiestą keramiką. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas – pasekti Kernavės keramikos raidą viduramžių Kernavės miesto ir vėliau čia egzistavusio miestelio chronologinėse ribose. Didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas XIII-XIV a. puodininkystės raidos tendencijoms stebėti, tuo tarpu miestelio keramika naudojama daugiau kaip lyginamoji medžiaga pokyčių stebėjimui ir išryškinimui. Tikslo įgyvendinimui tyrinėti technologiniai, morfologiniai, puošybiniai keramikos požymiai, stebėtas jų stabilumas ar kaita laike ir erdvėje, įvertinta šių požymių reikšmė. Didžiąją dalį nagrinėjamos Kernavės keramikos sudaro įvairių dydžių puodai, kurie sąlygiškai suskirstyti į funkcines grupes: mažus puodelius, puodus, puodynes, galėjusius atlikti maisto gamybos, pernešimo, saugojimo funkcijas. Specializuotų apžiestos keramikos indų sutinkama retai - dauguma jų priklauso miestelio laikotarpiui Technologinių gamybos požymių kaita aptariamu laikotarpiu nėra žymi. XIII-XIV a. pokyčiai dažniau pastebima ne diachroninėje, o erdvinėje plotmėje. Molio liesinimui dažniausiai naudotas grūstas granitas, sienelės formuotos iš volelių, o XIV a. ir iš juostų, apžiedžiant puodui buvo suteikiama forma ir/ar nulyginamas paviršius. XIV a. II p. keramikoje pastebima kiek spartesnė gamybinių požymių kaita – smulkėja priemaišos, puodai apžiedžiami intensyviau, sienelių storis tolygesnis, jos kruopščiau... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The subject of this study is medieval wheel-turned pottery of Kernavė. The main goal of this work is to observe the development of pottery of medieval town and later settlement of Kernavė. Particular attention is paid to the pottery making traditions in 13th-14th centuries. Pottery from the later settlement meanwhile is used mainly as the comparative material in order to observe some changes through time. Technological, morphological and ornamental properties of pottery were identified for the study of their significance and evolution through time and space. The majority of pottery under consideration can be attributed to the pots of different sizes. These pots were differentiated into several functional groups: small pots, pots and jars. All these groups could be used for a variety of purposes such as cooking, transportation or storage. The amount of single-purpose vessels is very small and even these few belong to the settlement which was established in the 15th century in the place of earlier town. The evolution of technological attributes of Kernavė’s pottery in the Middle-ages is quite gradual. It is especially characteristic to the pottery of the 13th-14th centuries when most of discrepancies in pottery are influenced mainly by the individual peculiarities of every potter but not by the chronological differences. Crushed granite is typically used as a temper, the intensity of turning varies from the subtle surface smoothing to the partial forming of vessel. However... [to full text]

This thesis is a study of pottery in the museum world. Throughout the study, questions along the lines of how, why and what we exhibit are brought up and answered. The study is done through observations and interviews with seven different museums, four of which are located in Sweden and three in Italy. The author has also used museological literature and theories in order to strengthen the essay and show that the issues brought up in the observations are known since before in the field, but still exist in the museums today.The exhibiting of pottery comes with several issues, such as overcrowding of displays, requirements of pre-knowledge from the visitors, aesthetical problems with broken, coarse or fine pottery and epistemological prob-lems. Epistemology is a subject that seems to be partly ignored in the observed museums, despite it being general knowledge that fewer visitors will read the text the longer it is. Other epistemological problems that are brought up are the issues of text placement, vocabulary and actual mediated information. These problems are brought up throughout the essay and explained, with a smaller section that discusses possible improvements to them, which have been brought up by researchers in the field.In interviews with curators of the museums, thoughts about what the visitors see and understand compared to what the museums want them the see are presented. Also their views on the possibilities of interaction with pottery as a mediator and whether they focus primarily on aesthetics or learning in the exhibitions are shown. This essay is not meant to be a decider between what is right or wrong concerning the exhibiting of pottery, but could be used as a stepping-stone towards such studies. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies. / Den här uppsatsen är en studie av krukor i museivärlden. Genomgående i studien kommer frågor som hur, varför och vad vi ställer ut tas upp och besvaras. Studien har gjorts genom observationer och intervjuer med sju olika museer, fyra belägna i Sverige och tre i Italien. Författaren har också använt sig av museologisk litteratur och museologiska teorier för att stärka uppsatsen och visa att de problem som tagits upp i observationerna är kända sedan tidigare inom fältet, men trots det existerar i museer idag.Utställande av krukor medför flera problem, såsom överfulla montrar, krav på förkunskaper hos besökarna, estetiska problem med trasig, bruks- eller finkeramik samt epistemologiska problem. Epistemologi verkar vara ett ämne som delvis ignoreras i de observerade museerna, trots att det är allmänt känt att färre besökare kommer att läsa texten ju längre den är. Andra epistemologiska problem som behandlas är sådana som textplacering, vokabu-lär och faktiskt förmedlad kunskap. Dessa problem tas upp och förklaras i uppsatsen med en mindre sektion som diskuterar möjliga förbättringar av dem, baserat på idéer från forskare inom fältet.I intervjuerna med curatorer från museerna presenteras deras tankar om vad besökarna ser och förstår jäm-fört med vad museerna vill att de ska förstå. Också deras syn på möjligheterna av interaktion genom krukor och huruvida de fokuserar främst på det estetiska eller pedagogiska i utställningarna visas. Den här uppsatsen är inte menad att skilja mellan rätt och fel vid utställandet av krukor, men kan användas som ett avstamp mot sådana studier. Det här är en två-årig masteruppsats i Arkiv-, Biblioteks- och Museivetenskap.

Samples from nearly 800 Bronze Age pottery sherds from Euboea, Eastern Boeotia and Eastern Thessaly were analysed together with 9 raw clays from the same areas. The-analysis was carried out in an attempt to identify areas of pottery manufacture, to discover the origin of specific groups of pottery, to relate pottery to, raw clays and to see how far pottery compositions can be associated with, and predicted by, geology. The work was done on the same lines as earlier studies at the Oxford Laboratory and at the British School at Athens. The main analytical technique used was therefore optical emission spectroscopy. Some 25% of the total number of sherds were also analysed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry so that the results obtained by the two techniques could be compared. The interpretation of the results was facilitated by the use of, computer program packages for cluster and discriminant analysis. Both optical emission and atomic absorption analysis resulted in broadly similar groupings although the absolute concentrations were not directly comparable. The groupings obtained after atomic absorption analysis had the narrower concentration ranges. Nine elements were measured by both techniques but in atomic absorption potassium was added and proved; useful as an additional discriminant. Six composition groups were distinguished from the data. One of them was identified as Euboean, 2 as Boeotian and 3 as coming from different regions of Thessaly. The greatest movement of pottery within these areas was from Euboea to Thessaly. No composition group which originated from outside these regions was identified. Six of the 9 raw clays were associated with the prevailing composition group in the area from which they came. It was not possible to predict trends in pottery composition by examination of the local geology.