dr. sc. Andreja Kudelić
EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY – POTTERY PRODUCTION PERSPECTIVE
Institute of archaeology
[email protected] Zagreb CROATIA
Methodology and Archaeometry 2015 2 – 4. December 2015. Zagreb
Abstract Experimental archaeology serves as one of the most practical methods of archaeological
Procurement and preparation of raw materials
OPERATIONAL SEQUENCE OF POTTERY PRODUCTION
interpretation which in addition also aids in understanding of pottery making practices. Experiment in archaeology has beed used in this region for many years, however, the Selection of the clay mixture
publications on the topic are extremely rare.
The course of experimental research on pottery production technology of the Bronze Age will
Building vessel Selection of building techniques
be presented in this study. The research has been systematically carried out since 2012, and although it research is still ongoing, preliminary results of certain segments of production will be presented. The research subject is pottery from the Bronze Age settlements and
archaeological records which can be related to the potter's activity. The Bronze Age site
Surface treatment and decoration
Selection of surface treatment method
Kurilovec-Belinščica is particularly significant for these studies. The research objective is to Drying
Selection of decorating techniques
Firing
Selection of firing method
determine the composition and properties of the clay, preparation of temper, and to identify forming techniques, surface treatments, vessels forms and decorations. According to the
whole operational sequence (the stages performed by the potter), firing techniques as a particularly demanding segment of the research were also tested. Several functional aspects of certain vessel forms and clay mixture from which they were made were also tested. Entire series of experiments were required in order to gain reliable results of such research. An
overview of current research and several preliminary results will be presented according to the conducted research.
Selection of firing atmosphere
Temperature
Type of analysis and approach Objectives Typological classification and statistical analysis
•
easier orientation during processing material and forming typology of the vessels
Chronological - typological analysis
•
set ceramic material in the spatial and temporal context at the level of cultural groups
Macroscopic analysis
•
Archaeometry - type of analysis
• •
determine the composition and type of clay pastes and to determine pottery production techniques and methods of final processing vessels determine firing methods 182 samples of pottery analysed by digital microscope determine composition and origin of the raw materials and temper 54 samples of pottery 8 samples of clayey material
Experimental archaeology
•
Production technology and use
Ethnoarchaeology
•
ethnographic analogies
• • Archaeometry
•
Mineralogical analysis: . X-ray diffraction (XRD) . Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) Petrographic analysis: . Thin section optical microscopy Thermal analysis: . differential scanning calorimetry - DSC . thermogravimetry – TG Grain size analysis: . wett sieving . sedimentation analysis (sedigraph) Chemical analysis . .
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES)
CLAY PASTE analysis
GROG
Organic temper
99% of the samples contains grog
Technological characteristics of temper •
it will in general improve the workability and plasticity of the clay
•
use of this type of temper results in a relatively high thermal stress resistance
PROCUREMENT OF POTENTIAL RAW MATERIALS
< 500 m < 1000 m
< 4000 m
(distance between the collected raw material location and archaeological site)
Podravina
Turopolje (Mraclin brickyard)
CLAY PASTE - experiments
Objectives •
to test, identify and quantify the amount
of temper •
to determine preparation methods,
•
to determine the type and amount of organic temper
•
to determine which clay paste corresponds to a paste that was used for pottery making in the Bronze Age
Making GROG
•
During grinding ceramic to make grog a large amount of powder is created (sieving was necessary).
•
From large amount of pottery fragments a surprisingly small amount of grog
was made. •
Amount of pottery required to produce sufficient amounts of grog for making one vessel.
•
These are important indicators when it comes to assessing the amount of the
ceramic waste in the household / settlement as well as the use of ceramic waste. •
... a potential answer to the question: where are the other parts of the vessel.
Organic temper
BUILDING TECHNIQUES
OPEN FIRING
Experiment of process and function
variations of above ground structure (width and position of the combustion chamber, the position of the chimney and blowhole ) time spent on the construction of the kiln the amount of material needed for building the kiln Firing conditions (temperature and heating rate) The amount of fuel Kiln efficiency
Firing conditions 800
700 600 500
°C
400 300 200
100 0
0:00 0:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:30 7:00 7:30 7:45 8:00
2.paljenje 16
170 280 260 270 370 360 350 400 440 450 540 570 620 730 600 300 250
1.paljenje 35
150 200 180 180 240 260 370 450 530 510 600 650 660 680 730 600 300
3. peć
320 430 430 425 470 520 640 680
30
Process of creating archaeological record
Kurilovec-Belinščica site – pit 14
Ruins of the second kiln structure
After cleanin ruins of the second kiln After third kiln structure (autum 2015) structure
Concluding thoughts
using experiments in archeology allows us a better understanding of the material we are studying
practical experiences allows us to open a new questions and to answer on some of the questions
the test or experiment will provide a positive or negative result
experiment is repetition
results of the experimental studies can be expected after a hard work and
long time
