Grasping the ungraspable.: Laying the foundations for an archaeologist's assessment tool for potters' skill using a sensorily informed craftsperson's perspective.

Large-scale archaeological narratives about past societies have been, and are being, constructed based on ceramics researchers’ knowledge of skill in pottery manufacture. However, potters’ skill assessments largely depend on (own or copied) researchers’ assumptions on how to retrace skilful pottery manufacture in final vessels. While called for by various archaeologists over the last three decades, an archaeological skill assessment framework involving a potters’ perspective is still lacking. Ideally, such an analytical tool combines the how and the what in craft actions, balancing universal applicability and adjustability, workability for skill-assessing researchers, and truthfulness to potters’ (sub-)conscious sensory experience and considerations in manufacture. Building on Maikel Kuijpers’ craftsperson’s perspective and my grandfather’s academic interest in skill in craft, the main aim of this thesis was to lay the foundations for a sensorily informed framework in wheel-thrown...Show moreLarge-scale archaeological narratives about past societies have been, and are being, constructed based on ceramics researchers’ knowledge of skill in pottery manufacture. However, potters’ skill assessments largely depend on (own or copied) researchers’ assumptions on how to retrace skilful pottery manufacture in final vessels. While called for by various archaeologists over the last three decades, an archaeological skill assessment framework involving a potters’ perspective is still lacking. Ideally, such an analytical tool combines the how and the what in craft actions, balancing universal applicability and adjustability, workability for skill-assessing researchers, and truthfulness to potters’ (sub-)conscious sensory experience and considerations in manufacture. Building on Maikel Kuijpers’ craftsperson’s perspective and my grandfather’s academic interest in skill in craft, the main aim of this thesis was to lay the foundations for a sensorily informed framework in wheel-thrown pottery manufacture, pioneering in translating Kuijpers’ ideas to another craft. For each step in the production process or chaîne opératoire, a differentiation in relevant sensory input ranges or perceptive categories can be created. This research is rooted in philosophical thought on 4E cognition and Malafouris’ Material Engagement Theory. Sub-questions explore 1) previous archaeological skill research in pottery manufacture, 2) the perspective of actual potters on (their) skill, 3) skill visibility during crafting and in the final object, and 4) the application of Kuijpers’ framework to wheel-thrown pottery manufacture. Since the framework draws on empirical research and (embodied) knowledge of the craftsperson, the methodology of this research was twofold: a mostly quantitative literature review on previous archaeological skill research in pottery manufacture, and attaining potters’ insights through interviews, demonstrations, and observation. The literature review demonstrated fragmentation and a lack of a shared direction. Furthermore, a fundamental epistemological challenge for empirical, results-oriented researchers hindered moving towards the non-empirical, process-oriented view adhered to by potters and arts, craft, and design (practitioner-)researchers alike. As a result, archaeologists systematically overlooked specific potters’ points of attention in the manufacturing process, likely because ‘faulty’ vessels are started over, rather than fired, and some features are polished away. For the field dominating research group led by Enora Gandon, theorization on ideal vessel symmetry might have caused overlooking of inter-vessel standardization as a marker of skill completely, strongly contradicting potters’ insights on skill visibility. In conclusion, capturing potters’ skill in an archaeological craftsperson’s perspective is possible, if a diachronological or four-dimensional, more process-oriented view on pottery manufacture can be constructed, in which material outcomes flow from general flaw directions, rather than studied as decontextualized features. Though highly challenging, such research endeavours are necessary in fundamentally advancing our understanding of potters’ skill, as is the need for interdisciplinary research therein. However, (fully) capturing a first-hand, inherently ephemeral, (sub-)conscious experience in craft in a strictly empirical framework remains an unattainable scholarly ideal. Crucial foundations for a uniting framework must be derived from the lived experience of both practitioner-researchers and craftspeople, which could additionally benefit potentially lacking archaeologists’ appreciation for the ‘humble’ potters’ craft. Outside of craft or even outside of archaeology, frameworks based on sensory experience might prove highly valuable for those designing, maintaining, standardizing / diversifying, or restoring spaces, objects, and digital and / or object interfaces, as well as to those studying human perception in general.Show less

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Grasping the ungraspable. Laying the foundations for an archaeologist's assessment tool for potters' skill using a sensorily informed craftsperson's perspective.