Archaeological Ceramics

Discarded pottery outside the Monastery of St

Key ideas

1. objects are made of the natural material clay hardened by heat

2. common and valuable evidence for ancient human activity

3. especially valuable to archaeologists because they can be used to determine the date of a site

4. an expert in ancient pottery is called a ceramicist

With a partner, list the reasons why people

love to use clay.

Why do people love to use clay?

• widely available in the natural world

• easily workable – by hand (e.g. pinch pot, coil pot)

– by wheel

– in a mould

• when fired it is waterproof and very durable– reusable

• a creative medium (especially when combined with decoration, burnishing, glazes etc.)

The lifecycle of pottery

Manufacturing a pot

1. Raw materials –clay & water

2a. Hand making

2b. Wheel making

2c. Mould making

3. Firing

Using a pot

• Dolia: extremely large fixed or semi-fixed jars (400-300 l) employed for storage of wine, oil, grain

• Amphorae: portable jars/jugs (6-150 l) employed for packaging, distribution and post-distribution of food foodstuffs

Using a pot contd.

• Lamps: for lighting

• Cookwares: for cooking of food & drink

• Utilitarian wares: for preparing or storing various other substances (e.g. perfume, paint, urine & feces)

• Tablewares: for serving food & drink

Recycling a pot

• Building material

• Writing surface

• Burial container

Amphora burial, Tomb 42, Necropolis 06, Roman Sanisara, Spain

Pottery used as fill for Hippodrome, Roman Caesarea, Israel

Recovering a pot

Excavation & find recording

Washing

Sorting & studying

Reconstructing

Publishing

Relative dating using pots

• How did Flinders Petrie use his typology of Early Dynastic Period pots to help him date them?

• Look at to find out: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//naqadan/pottypes.html

Absolute dating using pots

• Thermoluminescence Dating can be used to give ceramics an absolute date.

• TL measures the accumulated radiation dose, of the time elapsed since material (e.g. ceramics) containing crystalline minerals were heated by measuring heat and light

• Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6NxycC7Lco

Anatomy of a Vessel