Ancient ceramics

The ancient Maya created one of the most studied and best-known civilizations of the Americas. Nevertheless, Maya civilization is often considered either within a vacuum, by sub-region and according to modern political borders, or with reference to the most important urban civilizations of central Mexico. Seldom if ever are the Maya and their Central American neighbors of El Salvador and Honduras considered together, despite the fact that they engaged in mutually beneficial trade, intermarried, and sometimes made war on each other. The Maya and Their Central American Neighbors seeks to fill this lacuna by presenting original research on the archaeology of the whole of the Maya area (from Yucatan to the Maya highlands of Guatemala), western Honduras, and El Salvador.

With a focus on settlement pattern analyses, architectural studies, and ceramic analyses, this ground breaking book provides a broad view of this important relationship allowing readers to understand ancient perceptions about the natural and built environment, the role of power, the construction of historical narrative, trade and exchange, multiethnic interaction in pluralistic frontier zones, the origins of settled agricultural life, and the nature of systemic collapse.

Middle Kingdom Studies 9
280 pages, including 8 colour plates.
ISBN 9781906137656

This volume serves as a catalogue and handbook for the description for  Pan-Grave ceramics , and that considers the Pan-Grave tradition and its ceramic production within the broader socio-cultural framework of Ancient Egypt and Nubia during the mid-Second Millennium BC.

£60 - $120
Available from http://www.goldenhp.co.uk/mks.htm

Na području antičke luke u Zatonu kraj Nina pronađena je pri hidroarheološkim istraživanjima velika količina keramičkoga materijala, među kojim autor izdvaja i obrađuje dva zoomorfna reci-pijenta. Interdisciplinarnim radom autor nastoji objasniti simboliku ovdje obrađivanih zoomorfnih recipijenata. Komparativnim istraživanjima u vidu analogija upotpunjuje pregled i distribuciju ostalih zoomorfnih recipijenata maloazijske provenijencije pronađenih na prostoru antičke Liburnije. Također će u radu po prvi put biti naznačene poneke poje-dinosti izrazito dokumentacijske i tehničke naravi ovdje obrađi-vanih zoomorfnih recipijenata, poput dodjeljivanja inventarnoga broja, obrade arheološkoga materijala, kolorita i tonaliteta boje, dimenzija, zapremnine i drugih odrednica.

From  the  large  quantity  of  pottery  found  during  the  hydroar-
chaeological research in the ancient port of Zaton near Nin, the
author  singles  out  and  discusses  here  two  zoomorphic  recep-
tacles. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author endeav-
ors to explain the symbolism of the zoomorphic receptacles dis-
cussed here. In his comparative research, the author uses analo-
gies to complement the overview and distribution of the other
zoomorphic receptacles of the Asia Minor origin found on the
territory of the ancient Liburnia.
Also for the first time, the work provides details of how these
zoomorphic receptacles were documented (e.g. the way of as-
signing their inventory numbers) and some technical details (the
processing of the archaeological material, its colors and shades,
dimensions, capacity and other determinants).

Catalogo de los materiales arqueologicos recuperados del fardo 290, exhumado por Julio C. Tello a principios del siglo XX en la peninsula de Paracas, Ica. Este fardo correspondio a un individuo de alta jerarquia de la sociedad Paracas Necropolis [tildes omitidas].

The Achaea and Corinth regions of the northern Peloponnese are renowned for their rich archaeological record. Achaea is part of mainland Greece in the NorthWestern Peloponnese, whereas Corinth is in the NorthEastern Peloponnese. Since ancient times, ceramic production has played an important role in the local and regional social and economic evolution in both regions. Our aim is to identify and evaluate sources of clayey raw materials outcropping in the territory of the northern Peloponnese, potentially used for ceramic production during antiquity, by means of their compositional and technological properties. This was accomplished by the systematic sampling of clayey raw materials from a wide area spanning the Northern Peloponnese. In spite of the interregional chemical homogeneity recorded in their geochemical analysis in terms of major, minor, and trace elements, the data obtained led to their intra-regional compositional distinction into calcareous, calcareous-dolomitic, and siliceous clayey sediments. In addition, the presence of the clay minerals (illite, chlorite, smectite, mixed phases), their granulometry, and their bulk mineralogy all proved to considerably influence some of their performance characteristics, such as their plasticity. After a full characterization of the studied material, the clay deposits in all areas did not show significant differentiations, but they did need improvement to be suitable for the production of ceramic artifacts.

This article deals with the chronology of the fortifi cations of the Akhtanizovskaya 4 settlement during the
last period of its existence. The citadel was located on the cape in the north-western part of the Akhtanizovsky
fi rth. According to the surveys and aerial photography, the size of the fortifi ed area was about 108 by 112
meters. Instrumental for the dating of this edifi ce is a section of a moat discovered in 2012–2014. The moat
was fi lled right before the building of the citadel. Based on the fi nds (fragments of amphorae and glazed
ceramics, coins, terracotta fi gurines etc.) from the fi ll of the moat and from the stratum associated with the
destruction of the citadel walls, it is possible to assume that the citadel was built in the middle — third
quarter of the 1st century BC; it was most probably destroyed in the course of the internecine (the so-called
Polemon) war in the Bosporos, i.e. during the last 15 years of the 1st century BC.

A study of decorated Neolithic pottery samples from excavation site Plocnik, Serbia, was performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Investigated samples belong to the era of the Vinca culture which existed at the central Balkan region from mid VI until the first half of V millennium BCE. The mineralogical composition of pottery samples and comparison of investigated pottery with thermally treated local clay indicated firing temperature in the range from 600 to 800?C. Two different types of white pigments have been identified in white incrusted decorations: calcium carbonate and Bone White (composed of crushed bones). This is the first evidence of use of bones for decorations in Vinca culture pottery from excavation site Plocnik. In addition to this, it was revealed that the potters used the iron reduction technique for obtaining the black decorations.

Archaeometric analyses of three stove tiles from a Lucerne oven by Andreas Dolder and one tile from a Zurich stove attributed to Salomon Freudweiler show striking differences in their chemical composition. The latter stands out clearly from the previously examined tiles from the workshops in Freiburg and Winterthur. In Lucerne and Zurich, fatty marls were used, to which quartz-rich sands were added as artificial temper. The firing temperatures were around 1000oC for all tiles. All tiles were fired twice (first and glaze firing). The tin content of the glaze on the Zurich tile with its 19 wt.% SnO2 is quite similar to that of the Freiburg tiles (minimum 16 wt.%), but significantly higher than in the glazes of the Winterthur oven in Rüdlingen (13–16 wt.%) and in those of the Dolder stove investigated here (7–9% wt.%). Visibly, in the Lucerne manufactory, the expensive tin oxide was saved. In the glaze of the Zurich and one Lucerne stove tile, there are many large, angular to rounded quartz particles as a ground temper that is missing in another Lucerne tile. Andreas Dolder therefore used different glaze recipes. In this context, it can be asked which of these tiles could have come from another Lucerne stove. The coloring phase of the black in-glaze decoration of the Zurich stove tile is a complex crystalline iron-manganese-cobalt-copper pigment that has never been described before. It could be a synthetic product made by firing a naturally occurring Fe-Mn-ocher to which cobalt, nickel and copper have been added to deepen the color.

The article presents some preliminary research results of typological and technical- technological specifics of the Early Bronze Age ceramics from Tsaghkasar-1, located in Talin, Aragatsotn marz of Armenia. Main morphological types of ceramics from Trench (Tr.) I and II (excavated in 2005-2007) were sorted out and described. By its morphological specifics, the ceramics is associated with the typological compound of Early Bronze Age (EBA) I Elar-Aragats group (last quarter of IV millennium). The technological classification and specifics are also presented in this article, i.e. the type of clay matrix and inclusions, forming techniques (using fillets or ropes). The selected samples were also studied through microscopic petrographical analysis. The main kinds of inclusions in the clay mass are volcanic glass, plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, quartz, rarely hornblende and magnetite, which are typical for tuffs and volcanic glasses of this region. The ceramics was fired most probably between 600-700°C both in oxidizing and reducing atmosphere. By means of optical method, the type of clay was defined (hydromicaceous clay), which is typical for Aragats volcanic region. The comparison of the result of the clay sample analysis (petrographic) from the site territory proved this observation.

Twenty-one glazed red stoneware objects, with gilded or gold-painted decor from different collections (Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France; Art Institute of Chicago, USA; a private collection) attributed to 18 th century Böttger, Meissen (Saxony) have been analyzed with a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) and portable or fixed Raman microspectrometer in laboratory/museum/collector rooms. Analysis was aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the technology of production of the gilding and black glaze, to augment what is known from the limited literature. Three different techniques to obtain a golden décor emerged as a result of this study: i) a true gilding with gold, ii) gold with mercury, and iii) an alloy of copper and zinc.

In the Vaud region of the 18th century, the manufacture of the then highly valued tiled stoves was concentrated in three important centers: Yverdon, Lausanne and Vevey. The Pavid and Ingold (Yverdon), the Pollien (Lausanne) and the Küchly and Zimmermann (Vevey) worked in these factories for several generations. A wide-ranging scientific (archaeometric) analytical program was aimed to the question of whether the previous historical and stylistic attributions are supported by scientific results and whether the ceramic bodies and the glazes clearly differ from center to center and from potter to potter or not. For this purpose, intact and broken stove tiles from the three centers were sampled from public and private collections. The present article should be understood as an introduction to the archaeometric publication. On the basis of 24 tiled stoves, which serve as model examples, the attribution criteria and the temporal classification of the sampled tiles are documented in it.

In this paper, the author discuses about the challenges
and perspectives of archaeometric analysis on the
Hellenistic ware on the East Adriatic based on hitherto
published analysis. Diversity of Hellenistic types of
ware – in shapes, colour of coatings and decorations
– show differences in technological process, that can
be understood through analysis in both archaeological
and archaeometric methods. The archaeometry
increasingly plays an important role in the study of
archaeological artefacts, and it is necessary to stress
out the importance of the integrated archaeological
– archaeometric methodological approach. The
author will propose, on the examples of Hellenistic
ware production on East Adriatic coast, how to integrate
archaeological and archaeometric analysis in
researches and studies on ancient pottery production.

It is rather difficult for a modern-day researcher to understand the rationale behind the molding or incorporation of two crustaceans into a rather odd-shaped ceramic vessel. We can gain some insight into the meaning of such compositions through the use of an ancient depicted sign language system.

Min er al ogy of the ce ramic slags from the Bronze Age fu ner ary site at Lãpuº (NW Ro ma nia) Volker HOECK, Corina IONESCU, Carola METZNER-NEBELSICK and Louis D. NEBELSICK Hoeck V., Ionescu C., Metzner-Nebelsick C. and Nebelsick L.D. (2012) -Min er al ogy of the ce ramic slags from the Bronze Age fu ner ary site at Lãpuº (NW Ro ma nia). Geol. Quart., 56 (4): 649-664, doi: gq.1047

This Mayan mixture of realistic imagery and gesture signs created a beautiful ceramic figurine. A great deal of information was compressed through the ancient depicted signing system. In order to avoid a lengthy and dry explanation of the figurine's meaning, the  signs were converted into color coded and visual illustrations. This is a revision of a previous paper of the same name that has been deprecated.  7-18-21

One of the most debated issues in the Archaeology of the Palestinian Iron Age is the relationship between the cultural traditions known as “Midianite” and “Edomite”, which existed in the Negev and Southern Jordan through all the Iron Age. According to most interpretations, there exists a great similarity between the painted pottery of both cultures. Nevertheless, it remains an unsolved fact the long span of time that separated both ceramics. This paper argues that the historical concept of “cultural stratum” provides a framework for the understanding of cultural continuities through long periods. In this respect, it is suggested that both the Midianite and Edomite traditions belonged to a same stratum, which would explain the likenesses of the decorative patterns of their ceramics.

Thе paper is dеvotеd to thе rеstoratiоn of arсhaеologiсal сеramiсs from thе еxcavations of thе Nеolithiс sеttlemеnt of Mеntеsh-Tеpе in thе wеst of Azеrbaijan. Thе sеttlеmеnt of Меntеs-tеpе is a unique plaсе сovеring thе pеriоds from Nеolithiс to Еarly Bronzе and сontaining a riсh arсhaеologiсal matеrial of diffеrеnt agеs, whiсh is still a subjесt to study.  Rеstoration of thе arсhеologiсal сеramiсs оf Mеntеsh-tеpе madе it possiblе to idеntify сultural rеlationships with thе еastеrn regions and to traсе thе influеnсе of Northеrn Mеsopotamia on thе dеvеlopmеnt of loсal innovatiоns in pottеry produсtion. Thе paper disсussеs thе issuеs of intеrprеtation of сeramiсs, thе gеneral proсеss of rеstoration and providеs сonсlusions basеd on thе rеsults of thе rеstoratiоn сonduсtеd.

1) For this work, 69 stove tiles were examined for their chemical, microscopic and mineralogical composition. Depending on the type of glaze, the tiles belong to two types: (A) Transparent, colorless alkali-lead glaze on slip, with underglaze brush decoration; (B) White, opaque and tin-containing faïence glaze. These tiles can be decorated with inglaze colors.
2) The oven tiles from Yverdon testify to a development over time, starting with the exclusive use of glaze technique A by Benjamin Pavid, through the simultaneous use of both techniques by Jean-Albert Pavid, to the exclusive use of glaze technique B by Jakob Ingold. A similar development can be seen for Vevey, where the older stove tiles from Balthazar Küchly all belong to glaze type A and the youngest from Jean-Ulrich Küchly exclusively to type B. On the other hand, all Lausanne tiles from the 18th century are of the glaze type B. The Yverdon-based potters were active before those from Vevey and Lausanne, the latter only being attested from around 1735. Based on the fact that glaze technique B is more expensive than glaze technique A because of the use of tin, one can imagine that this development was driven by financial reasons. Lausanne customers in the second quarter of the 18th century were so well off that they could afford faïence ovens, unlike those in the smaller towns such as Yverdon and Vevey, whose financial resources only allowed this later.
3) The potters did not use any special clay pastes for the two types of tile or glaze, as evidenced by comparable CaO contents.
4) The stove tiles of the three production sites form very different chemical groups. Eight of 69 tiles analyzed (= 12%) do not chemically agree with their stylistic assignment. The production of Balthazar Küchly from Vevey differs chemically from that of the younger Jean-Ulrich Küchly from the same place, which indicates the use of two recipes respectively two different clay pastes. The tiles of the individual potter in Lausanne or in Yverdon, on the other hand, cannot be distinguished due to their chemical composition, which can be explained by the long use of a traditional clay paste in both sites.
5) The stove tiles examined differ greatly from a chemical point of view from those of other manufacturers, such as Fribourg.
6) The 61 specimens, with a stylistic and chemical accordance, form a new Swiss reference group called “18th century stove tiles from the canton of Vaud”.
7) The manufactories of Lausanne and Vevey very likely found their raw materials in the Quaternary moraine deposits of the Rhone glacier, those of Yverdon in the weathered loams of Aquitanian marls from the molasse. The potters in Lausanne used raw materials with few non-plastic inclusions, which were not processed any further. In contrast, the stove tiles from Vevey and Yverdon show much more non-plastic inclusions. This is interpreted as a purposely addition of a silty to sandy grain fraction (temper). In Lausanne and Yverdon, marbled tiles with very different textures and chemical compositions testify that the factories didn’t mix well two raw materials, one of them already tempered.
8) The stove tiles were fired twice (first and glaze firing) The estimated firing temperatures of type B stove tiles are higher than those of type A.
9) A tile by Jean-Ulrich Küchly is exceptional because of the use of a marly engobe for a type AB tile. This could most likely indicate a test with a low-CaO ceramic body.
10) A new type of engobe was identified for the first time in Switzerland for the examined type B oven tiles, which consists of a mixture of chalk (or slaked lime) & kaolinitic clay & quartz sand or ground quartz.

The main focus of this paper is on a Cucuteni Female Figurine and a Cucuteni Dual Vessel. An ancient depicted sign language is used to translate the artifacts as well as making comparisons to African and Nazca artifacts.  We learn not only the meaning of the Cucuteni cosmological depictions, but also how widespread the use of depicted signing was and how it supported a dominant cosmology that was based in an understanding of the water cycle.

A study of decorated Neolithic pottery samples from excavation site Plocnik, Serbia, was performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Investigated samples belong to the era of the Vinca culture which existed at the central Balkan region from mid VI until the first half of V millennium BCE. The mineralogical composition of pottery samples and comparison of investigated pottery with thermally treated local clay indicated firing temperature in the range from 600 to 800?C. Two different types of white pigments have been identified in white incrusted decorations: calcium carbonate and Bone White (composed of crushed bones). This is the first evidence of use of bones for decorations in Vinca culture pottery from excavation site Plocnik. In addition to this, it was revealed that the potters used the iron reduction technique for obtaining the black decorations.

A study of decorated Neolithic pottery samples from excavation site Plocnik, Serbia, was performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Investigated samples belong to the era of the Vinca culture which existed at the central Balkan region from mid VI until the first half of V millennium BCE. The mineralogical composition of pottery samples and comparison of investigated pottery with thermally treated local clay indicated firing temperature in the range from 600 to 800?C. Two different types of white pigments have been identified in white incrusted decorations: calcium carbonate and Bone White (composed of crushed bones). This is the first evidence of use of bones for decorations in Vinca culture pottery from excavation site Plocnik. In addition to this, it was revealed that the potters used the iron reduction technique for obtaining the black decorations.

A study of decorated Neolithic pottery samples from excavation site Plocnik, Serbia, was performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Investigated samples belong to the era of the Vinca culture which existed at the central Balkan region from mid VI until the first half of V millennium BCE. The mineralogical composition of pottery samples and comparison of investigated pottery with thermally treated local clay indicated firing temperature in the range from 600 to 800?C. Two different types of white pigments have been identified in white incrusted decorations: calcium carbonate and Bone White (composed of crushed bones). This is the first evidence of use of bones for decorations in Vinca culture pottery from excavation site Plocnik. In addition to this, it was revealed that the potters used the iron reduction technique for obtaining the black decorations.

Bowls, cooking pots, and other seemingly common vessels tell a long story of ethnic boundaries, social hierarchies, and class camaraderie, but they also reveal shared ritual values across different ethnic communities in ancient Edom (and later Idumaea), and their ancient Judaean (and later Jewish) counterparts in the Negev.

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The structural features of ancient ceramic fragments dating from various historical ages of ancient cultural groups inhabiting the territory of modern Kazakhstan were studied using optical microscopy, neutron diffraction, neutron tomography, and Raman spectroscopy methods. Fragments of ancient pottery were selected from the collection of ancient remains from archaeological excavations near Zaysan district of East Kazakhstan region, Republic of Kazakhstan. The phase analysis of the studied ceramics fragments was performed. Phases of feldspar, quartz and mica as additional additives for the manufacture of ancient pottery were observed. Minor phases of graphite, anatase, and calcite were detected. Structural features and spatial distribution of components inside the volume of ceramic fragments were studied. In some pottery fragments, organic additives, possibly of vegetable origin, were found. According to the obtained structural data, the specific features of ceramic manufacturing, as well as the processes of temperature annealing of pottery pieces are discussed.

Exploring the integration of ancient ceramics into the discourse of art history, this paper queries which works in clay are classified as art or craft and probes what such classification might obscure.

The life-size Qin dynasty terracotta warriors and Etruscan ceramic sarcophagi are presented and viewed without hesitation as art. Greek vases hold a place in the canon of ancient art, but their ceramic nature is overshadowed by their surface decoration – it is vase painting, not vases, that art historians predominantly discuss. Undecorated baked earth vessels are relegated to the archaeological, not visual, record. Then there are terracotta figurines, which, whether crudely or delicately rendered, tend to be quantified as “artifacts,” while objects of similar design and scale in metal, stone, and ivory are much more likely to undergo visual analysis as “sculpture.”

In the consideration of ancient ceramics, the dichotomy of “art”/“craft” runs parallel to distinctions of “objet”/“artifact” and “art historical”/“archaeological.” Certainly not all things fashioned from clay were intended as art. However, perhaps because they are made of non-luxury material (although the clay was often expertly levigated), ancient ceramic artworks are especially susceptible to being misclassified within or falling through the cracks of the art/craft dichotomy.