Ceramic Petrography: The Interpretation of Archaeological Pottery & Related Artefacts in Thin Section


Book Description

Thin section ceramic petrography is a versatile interdisciplinary analytical tool for the characterization and interpretation of archaeological pottery. Using over 200 photomicrographs of thin sections from a diverse range of artefacts, time periods and geographic regions, this provides comprehensive guidelines for their study within archaeology.




Thin Section Petrography, Geochemistry and Scanning Electron Microscopy of Archaeological Ceramics


Book Description

Using over 400 colour figures of a diverse range of artefact types and archaeological periods from 50 countries worldwide, this book outlines the mineralogical, chemical and microstructural composition of ancient ceramics and provides comprehensive guidelines for their scientific study within archaeology.




The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia


Book Description

The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia is a landmark study in the evolution of early metallurgy in the Balkans. It demonstrates that far from being a rare and elite practice, the earliest metallurgy in the world was a common and communal craft activity.




Subsistence Strategies and Craft Production at the Ancient Egyptian Ramesside Fort of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham


Book Description

Drawing on more than 20 years of archaeological study and investigation at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham by a team from the University of Liverpool (led by Professor Steven Snape), this book paints a nuanced picture of daily life not only at this liminal military site, but also in Ramesside Egypt more broadly. Constructed during the reign of Ramesses II, the fortified settlement was situated 300 kilometres west of Alexandria and represents the furthest western outpost of the Egyptian New Kingdom empire. Excavations in Area K of the fortress have uncovered extensive evidence for the living arrangements, minor industries, food production and daily life of the fort's inhabitants. This previously unpublished material forms the bedrock of this volume, which focuses on analysing the various subsistence and craft production strategies that were conducted alongside each other in this area, from baking, brewing and butchery to lithics working, bone-carving and weaving. These traces of the activities of the soldiers and their families shed new light on what life was like at this military installation and for ordinary Egyptians more widely, shifting away from a focus on elite social groups. The archaeological evidence covered in this book prompts a re-evaluation of the realities of the relationship between Egyptians and Libyans at the close of the Late Bronze Age. The purpose of the fortress' construction was primarily defensive, however the surviving material points to co-operation by means of collaborative farming and trading, and provides a direct counterpoint to the more belligerent contemporary royal monumental inscriptions describing Egypto-Libyan relations.




Mediterranean Connections


Book Description

Mediterranean Connections focuses on the origin and development of maritime transport containers from the Early Bronze through early Iron Age periods (ca. 3200–700 BC). Analysis of this category of objects broadens our understanding of ancient Mediterranean interregional connections, including the role that shipwrecks, seafaring, and coastal communities played in interaction and exchange. These containers have often been the subject of specific and detailed pottery studies, but have seldom been examined in the context of connectivity and trade in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. This broad study: considers the likely origins of these types of vessels; traces their development and spread throughout the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean as archetypal organic bulk cargo containers; discusses the wider impact on Mediterranean connections, transport and trade over a period of 2,500 years covering the Bronze and early Iron Ages. Classical and Near Eastern archaeologists and historians, as well as maritime archaeologists, will find this extensively researched volume an important addition to their library.




The 2006 Season at Tall al-‘Umayri and Subsequent Studies


Book Description

This volume is the tenth in a series of technical seasonal reports on the excavations of Tall al-ʿUmayri, Jordan, part of the Madaba Plains Project. It covers artifactual finds and related research from excavation fields active during the 2006 season: Field A, the western citadel with Early Iron Age domestic structures; Field B, the western defenses and northwestern domestic quarters showcasing a rare Late Bronze Age temple/palace complex; Field H, the southwestern acropolis boasting a Late Iron I courtyard sanctuary; and Field L, the southern edge with Iron I remains, limited Late Iron II architecture, and the now fully exposed area of a Late Hellenistic agricultural complex. This volume includes an important synthesis of the long-term data on repeating cycles of abatement and intensification of settlement population patterns, and the chapters are supplemented by an article on sherds with incised marks and another on coins found at ʿUmayri in 2006. In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume include Robert D. Bates, David R. Berge, John W. Betlyon, Kent V. Bramlett, David C. Hopkins, and Gloria A. London.




Materiality, Techniques and Society in Pottery Production


Book Description

Daniel Albero Santacreu presents a wide overview of certain aspects of the pottery analysis and summarizes most of the methodological and theoretical information currently applied in archaeology in order to develop wide and deep analysis of ceramic pastes. The book provides an adequate framework for understanding the way pottery production is organised and clarifies the meaning and role of the pottery in archaeological and traditional societies. The goal of this book is to encourage reflection, especially by those researchers who face the analysis of ceramics for the first time, by providing a background for the generation of their own research and to formulate their own questions depending on their concerns and interests. The three-part structure of the book allows readers to move easily from the analysis of the reality and ceramic material culture to the world of the ideas and theories and to develop a dialogue between data and their interpretation. Daniel Albero Santacreu is a Lecturer Assistant in the University of the Balearic Islands, member of the Research Group Arqueo UIB and the Ceramic Petrology Group. He has carried out the analysis of ceramics from several prehistoric societies placed in the Western Mediterranean, as well as the study of handmade pottery from contemporary ethnic groups in Northeast Ghana.




Excavations at Tall Jawa, Jordan


Book Description

In Excavations at Tall Jawa, Jordan: Vol. 3, The Iron Age Pottery, Michèle Daviau presents a detailed typology of the Iron Age pottery, studying formal changes, fabric composition, forming techniques, painted designs and surface treatment.




Defining Spaces in Iron Age Northumberland


Book Description

The Iron Age settlements excavated by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd at Morley Hill and Lower Callerton lie within the rich later prehistoric landscape of the Northumberland coastal plain. This monograph presents the results of the excavation, specialist analyses and provides a key dataset upon which to discuss regionally and nationally important later prehistoric research themes. The excavations at Morley Hill and Lower Callerton offer two large-scale new datasets to compare within the corpus of enclosed Iron Age settlement sites across the region, allowing for an increased understanding of settlement patterns, architectural forms and farming practices. These include settlement development, longevity and tempo; the relationship between lowland and upland sites; settlement organization and identity; roundhouse architecture and the impact of contact with the Roman world. At Morley Hill, work revealed two later Iron Age settlements defined by rectilinear enclosures surrounding groups of roundhouses with evidence for earlier phases of activity. The settlements at Morley Hill are comparable to many such distinctive settlements identified across the region and explored in recent years largely through developer-funded excavations. Lower Callerton represents a less explored form of extensive settlement with the excavation revealing evidence of earlier prehistoric activity overlain by a large Iron Age enclosure with over 53 structures, multiple sub-enclosures and boundaries. Comprehensive Bayesian modeling at Lower Callerton has provided a robust chronological framework indicating complex and continual settlement development from the middle Iron Age. The implications of this in terms of wider settlement development, tempo and longevity are explored. While the monograph focuses on the Iron Age, the identification and influence of earlier prehistoric activity is also explored. The discussion is again enhanced by the program of radiocarbon dating and isotopic analysis of cereal grains from Neolithic pits at Lower Callerton.