Wear and Tear in Early Iron Age Europe, An experimental approach to use-wear analysis on selected assemblages of household ware pottery from the settlements Mont Lassois and the Heuneburg

Ceramics are among the most commonly found materials recovered from the archaeological record. Ceramic objects can provide a variety of information about the life of people in the past. Therefore, archaeologists have at their disposal a variety of (traditional) techniques to study pottery, in order to make inferences about the communities that used the pottery. Recently, analytical methods in the field of ceramic studies, such as residue analysis and microscopic use-wear analysis have developed. In this research, the applicability of use-wear analysis for ceramics is addressed. The methodology applied to this research integrates both use-wear analysis and experimental archaeology. The archaeological dataset consisted of ceramics from the Iron Age settlements of Mont Lassois and the Heuneburg and experimental vessels. The aim of this study was to create a reference collection for use-wear traces on ceramics and to study whether use-wear observed on the experimental vessels could be...Show moreCeramics are among the most commonly found materials recovered from the archaeological record. Ceramic objects can provide a variety of information about the life of people in the past. Therefore, archaeologists have at their disposal a variety of (traditional) techniques to study pottery, in order to make inferences about the communities that used the pottery. Recently, analytical methods in the field of ceramic studies, such as residue analysis and microscopic use-wear analysis have developed. In this research, the applicability of use-wear analysis for ceramics is addressed. The methodology applied to this research integrates both use-wear analysis and experimental archaeology. The archaeological dataset consisted of ceramics from the Iron Age settlements of Mont Lassois and the Heuneburg and experimental vessels. The aim of this study was to create a reference collection for use-wear traces on ceramics and to study whether use-wear observed on the experimental vessels could be related to traces on the archaeological ceramics, in order to infer about ceramic function in the past. Unlike other archaeological materials, use-wear analyses on ceramics has not been widely applied yet (Skibo 2015). Replicas of vessels from Mont Lassois and the Heuneburg have been created at the Material Culture Studies Laboratory at the University of Leiden. A series of experiments was carried out in order to replicate various domestic activities such as food preparation, the storing of pots and cooking. The use-wear traces created during the experiments as well as observed on the archaeological ceramics were analyzed by means of a stereomicroscope. Microscopic pictures were taken of the use-wear traces, and the vessels have been drawn to record the traces, in order to establish a vast reference collection. In order to get a better understanding of pottery use and the accumulation of wear on vessels, the use-wear traces on the experimental vessels were compared to the archaeological material from Mont Lassois and the Heuneburg. It was determined that similar use-wear traces could be observed both on the experimental as well as on the archaeological material. Use-wear analysis can provide more detailed information about the actual use of pottery in the past. Therefore, an important step in the chaîne opératoire, or life biography, of pottery can be studied. To conclude, in a multidisciplinary research use-wear analysis can greatly add to existing analytical methods, providing specific information on the handling of vessels and their corresponding gestures.Show less

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Wear and Tear in Early Iron Age Europe, An experimental approach to use-wear analysis on selected assemblages of household ware pottery from the settlements Mont Lassois and the Heuneburg