The Transmission of Technical Knowledge in the Production of Ancient Mediterranean Pottery. Proceedings of the International Conference at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Athens, 23rd-25th November 2012

Edited by Walter Gauß, Gudrun Klebinder-Gauß & Constance von Rüden

City: Wien

Year: 2015

Publisher: Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut

Series: ÖAI Sonderschriften Band 54

Description: Hardback, 368 p., numerous colour figures, 21.5×30.2 cm

Abstract

The current volume unites theoretical, anthropological, and archaeological approaches to knowledge transmission. The case studies cover various periods and regions from the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, from the Bronze Age to the Roman period, from the Levant in the east to the western Mediterranean and the Celtic north, but also from today’s central Niger. The contributions discuss not only various aspects of pottery techniques, such as raw material preparation, shaping, and firing techniques, but also the phenomenon of moving potters and aspects of skill and knowledge acquisition.

The papers are presented in five sections. The first section, “Skill and Learning Networks” provides insights into the theoretical discussion on the issue of knowledge acquisition. Moving or dislocated potters play a crucial role in the transmission of technical knowledge. This issue is central to the contributions of the second section “Making Pots in a Transcultural Perspective: The Impact of Moving Potters on the Transmission of Technical Knowledge”. Some of the contributions in this part also address questions of learning and knowledge transmission. The third section “Technical Change in Social Context” comprises case studies where the transmission of knowledge and the adoption of new techniques can be set in context with socioeconomic conditions and other environmental developments. The case studies in the fourth section “Technical Choices as Social Choices” deal with the impact of social conditions on the potter’s decision to use – or not to use – a specific technique. The final section, “The Art of Firing: Kiln Technology and Firing Practise”, addresses aspects important for the transmission of this specific knowledge.READ THE ARTICLE

Contents

Introduction [7-15]
Walter Gauß, Gudrun Klebinder-Gauß & Constance von Rüden
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Skill and Learning Networks

Potting Skill and Learning Networks in Bronze Age Crete [17-34]
Ina Berg
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Approaching Ancient Techniques. From Technology to Bodily Learning and Skill [35-49]
Constance von Rüden
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Making Pots in a Transcultural Perspective: The Impa ct of Moving Potters on the Transmission of Technical Knowledge

In the Footsteps of the Philistine Potters. Tracking the Dissemination of Technical Knowledge in the Production of Twelfth Century B.C. Aegean-Style Pottery to the Coastal Southern Levant [51-61]
Ann E. Killebrew
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Mobility in the Bronze Age Aegean: The Case of Aeginetan Potters [63-75]
Bartłomiej Lis, Štěpan Rückl & Maria Choleva
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An Aeginetan Potters’ Workshop in Athens? [77-95]
Gudrun Klebinder-Gauß & Sara Strack
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Winners, Losers, and Survivors of Roman Imperialism. A Case Study from the Northern Peloponnese [97-113]
Conor P. Trainor & Peter J. Stone
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The Italo-Mycenaean Connection. Some Considerations on the Technological Transfer in the Field of Pottery Production [115-138]
Elisabetta Borgna & Sara T. Levi
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Technological Innovations in Pottery. Examples from Celtic >Princely< Sites (6^th to 5^th Century B.C.) in Continental Europe [139-163]
Ines Balzer
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Technical Change in Social Context

The Spreading of the Potter’s Wheel in the Ancient Mediterranean. A Social Context-Dependent Phenomenon [165-182]
Valentine Roux & Caroline Jeffra
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Pottery Production during the Third and Second Millennium B.C. in Western Syria. The Development of Ceramic Technology as a Result of the Rise of Qatna as a Regional Capital [183-206]
Marco Iamoni
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Ceramic Technology in Rapid Transition. The Evidence from Settlement Deposits of the Shaft Grave Era at Tsoungiza (Corinthia) [207-223]
Jeremy B. Rutter
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Some Reflections on Ceramic Technology Transfer at Bronze Age Kastri on Kythera, Kolonna on Aegina, and Lema in the Argolid [225-237]
Michael Lindblom, Walter Gauß & Evangelia Kiriatzi
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Wheelmade Pottery and Socioeconomic Changes in Indigenous Mediterranean Gaul Societies during the Early Iron Age [239-255]
Anne–Marie Curé
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Between Transfer and Interaction: Phoenician Pottery Technology on the Iberian Peninsula [257-276]
Dirk Paul Mielke
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Technical Choices as Social Choices

Roads, Markets, Migrants. The Historical Trajectory of a Male Hausa Pottery Tradition in Southern Niger [277-296]
Olivier Gosselain
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Production and Ceramic Technology at the Late Bronze Age Site of Alassa-Pano Mandilaris (Cyprus-Kouris Valley). First Things First: Understanding the Nature of the Raw Material(s) and Other Source(s) [297-310]
Ariane Jacobs, Christina Makarona, Karin Nys & Philippe Claeys
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The Production and Distribution of Early Greek-Style Cooking Wares in Areas of Cultural Contact: The Case of Southern Italy and Sicily [311-332]
Alessandro Quercia
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The Art of Firing: Kiln Technology and Firing Practise

Kiln Construction and Use in Greece. Communicating Technical Knowledge [333-349]
Ian Whitbread & David Dawson

A Closer Look at Updraft Pottery Kiln Constructions Based on Middle Helladic to Iron Age Examples in the Aegean [351-365]
Susanne Prillwitz & Anno Hein
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Addresses of Contributors [367-368]