Transcript Ceramics and Sherds

Ceramics and Sherds
Kimberley Connors
www.archeducation.org
Archaeology
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Material Culture
Data Recording
Field Methodology
Chemical analysis
Specialization
Experimental
Artifacts – Ceramic Pottery
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Clay deposits
10,000 years ago
Artifact Most frequently found
Skeumorph – mimics original material
Different vessels for different purposes
Firing: baking pottery in a kiln
Kiln: oven where pottery is baked at very
high temps
Ceramics at work
Shapes & Whole Vessels
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Pithoi
Amphora
Amphoriskos
Krater
Jugs
Juglets
Lamps
Etc.
Amphora
The amphora was a two-handled vase
used for storage and transport.
Krater
The word krater means "mixing-bowl," and
the vase was used for mixing wine with
water.
Kylix
This drinking-cup is sometimes called the
"symposium-vase," since it appears often
in vase-representations of symposia
Kantharos
This type of drinking-cup is often seen held
by Dionysus in representations on vases.
Pithoi
Large Storage vessel
What were these pots used for?
Sherds
• Sherds vs. Shards
• Diagnostics: sherds used for analysis
• Typologies: How was it made and what
was it used for?
(Shapes Decorations Fabric)
• Chronology: When was it made?
• Petrography: Where was it made?
Ceramics
• Only the diagnostics pieces are keep
• First washed and left to dry.
• Keep in separate bags corresponding to a
specific square and locus on a site
• Separate wares: fine ware vs. course ware
• Typed as to piece: rim, base, collar, etc.
• Reconstruct the diagnostics pieces.
Diagnostics
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Handles
Rims
Collars
Bases
Body
Potter’s marks
Uruk Period
Sherd Count
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Handles
Rims
Collars
Bases
Body
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Ceramics: The technical term for true pottery 10k years old. Pottery as pots
Pottery: Mixture of clay, water and a temper
Skeuomorph: A thing that mimics another in clay
Sherds Broken pottery pieces
• Reconstruct
• Technological and compositional studies
• Functional analyses
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Classifications or Typologies
Intuitive: one person, one site or collection - morphological
Type-variety: the diagnostics (fabric, decoration, or surface) in a certain
area
– Quantitative : patterned correlations of dimensional measurements max diam.,
total height, , etc, see Cesnola web site
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Physical properties
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Levigated (inclusions),
Petrographic slides hardness, texture, fabric, luster, porosity, carrying capacity,
Treatment, decoration and surface
Surface, finish or decoration – burnished, incised, combed, color
• We have 16 in our 8th
grade and 13 in our >
7th grade. The 7th
grade studies: pre history,
the Mesopotamians,
Egyptians, Harappans,
Phoenicians, two ancient
Chinese cultures,
Hebrews, Olmecs, Maya,
and Aztecs. They should
be into Mesopotamia by
the time you see them.
• 8th graders study by
heart, but I can tell you
they study: the Greeks,
Islamic culture.
• Basically, I take the
students from pre-history
up to the Greeks (I often
start Greece) and the 8th
grade teachers take the
students from the Greeks
to the Renaissance.