Muddy Marvels: An exploratory study into the production, perception &amp; value of early medieval handmade ceramics in Northern Gaul

Northern Gaul in Merovingian times (450-650 CE) is well known for its characteristic pottery assemblages in settlement- and burial sites consisting of wheel-thrown ceramics. Rooted in Roman traditions, these ceramics were produced in specialized potters workshops of which the majority was located along the rivers Rhine and Meuse. Another group of pottery, the handmade ceramics, however, are often given less attention. These handmade pots have often been perceived and described by archaeologists as rudimentary, poorly made and of low quality. In addition, they have been associated with Germanic culture. This is often followed by the assumption that this type of pottery is, in stark contrast to the wheel-thrown ceramics, made by unskilled potters, and therefore made locally on an occasional level in a household setting by woman and children. These claims are however based on modern assumptions only, since the production aspects of these handmade ceramics have hardly been studied....Show moreNorthern Gaul in Merovingian times (450-650 CE) is well known for its characteristic pottery assemblages in settlement- and burial sites consisting of wheel-thrown ceramics. Rooted in Roman traditions, these ceramics were produced in specialized potters workshops of which the majority was located along the rivers Rhine and Meuse. Another group of pottery, the handmade ceramics, however, are often given less attention. These handmade pots have often been perceived and described by archaeologists as rudimentary, poorly made and of low quality. In addition, they have been associated with Germanic culture. This is often followed by the assumption that this type of pottery is, in stark contrast to the wheel-thrown ceramics, made by unskilled potters, and therefore made locally on an occasional level in a household setting by woman and children. These claims are however based on modern assumptions only, since the production aspects of these handmade ceramics have hardly been studied. Furthermore, they show a strong bias that is rooted in our history with the industrial revolution and capitalism, and in value-associations and preconceptions regarding Roman and Germanic culture. The way archaeologists perceive and value these handmade ceramics should therefore not be mistaken for the perception and valuation of these ceramics by the early medieval societies that created and used them. By using an integrated chaîne opératoire approach that considers the technological, social and symbolic dimension of the production of ceramic vessels, this thesis attempts to gain insights on the production, perception and value of these handmade ceramics in the early medieval societies of Northern-Gaul. The ceramic assemblage of the recently excavated Merovingian cemetery of Nijmegen-Lentseveld (The Netherlands) was chosen as a case-study. At this site, roughly dating to the 6th century, an notably high concentration of handmade ceramics was found, together with well-known wheel-thrown vessels. This provided the unique opportunity to study both handmade and wheel-thrown ceramics together. A technological analysis, using a combination of macroscopic-, petrographic- and chemical techniques, was performed on the Lentseveld assemblage as well as on several local reference ceramics and clay samples. The results show that the production of the handmade ceramics found at the cemetery of Nijmegen-Lentseveld, was more complex than the assumed local household production. It is demonstrated that a large majority of the handmade ceramics from the site were made with a clay with very similar properties, that does not match with the clay samples collected in the vicinity of the site, nor with the known local ceramic productions. Although it was not possible to conclude with certainty whether the exact same clay source was used to create all ceramics and determine the location of such clay source, it can be concluded that the clay most likely was collected further away from the site and should be sought at a more regional level. The fact that there appears to be a consensus on the type of clay deemed suitable to create these ceramics and a similar or the same clay source was used for a large group of handmade ceramics, suggest the clay collection was rather well organized. This contradicts the previous assumptions of local household production whereby each household collects their own clay at a source near their house. The integrated chaîne opératoire approach used in this thesis has furthermore shown that production entails more than just technological actions, and also has a strong social and symbolic dimension. It uncovered the many material-, social – and imagined values that could have been associated with (the production of) handmade ceramics, such as the act of crafting itself, the transformation by fire and the value of materials. This shows that the perception and values attributed handmade ceramics by the early medieval societies of Northern Gaul who created and used them were mostly likely very different from negative perception and values projected onto these ceramics by archaeologists. This thesis therefore shows that there is a strong need for a re-evaluation and foremost a re-valuation of these handmade ceramics, and has taken the first step in doing so by taking a different approach to analysing them with the help of a case-study.Show less

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Muddy Marvels: An exploratory study into the production, perception & value of early medieval handmade ceramics in Northern Gaul