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,...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
Studies of food and drink in archaeology are persistently focused on consumption and ingredient components (Parker Pearson 2003, 3-4). Notably, alcohol studies have often favoured identifying...Show moreStudies of food and drink in archaeology are persistently focused on consumption and ingredient components (Parker Pearson 2003, 3-4). Notably, alcohol studies have often favoured identifying ingredients as representative of a large and complex sociocultural system in producing such a visceral product (McGovern 2009, 42-46). This interpretation simplifies the technical complexities behind alcohol production, and marginalises the sociality of technology throughout. Where it has been argued this cannot be understood due to the perishable nature of alcoholic products in the archaeological record (Hayashida 2008), instead distinct ‘signatures’ on material surfaces may be observed that can infer methods, techniques, and practices involved in the dynamic process of alcohol production. The role that use-wear analysis can have in establishing the technical gestures within the alcohol production chaîne opératoire presents a promising solution to cope with such an issue when used in conjunction with other bodies of evidence. The physical impacts of fermentation upon material surfaces have been suggested as one possible signature that could be observed through use-wear analysis (Skibo 2015, 194). Due to the prominence of ceramics in the archaeological record, this has been largely taken as true in most scales and contexts based on ethnographic data (cf. Arthur 2002; 2003). In this thesis, an application of ceramic use-wear analysis for understanding technical gesture within alcohol production is explored. In order to establish this, a series of experiments was carried out modelled on the ceramic assemblage recovered from the Early Iron Age site of Heuneburg, southern Germany, to understand if such use-wear traces associated with the production of honey-wine could be plausible signatures for alcohol production. In turn, the implications of these for understanding alcohol production at the site were explored. Beyond assumptions on use and action, this methodology interprets traces as actions, motions, and technical gestures in the production of alcohol. Equally then, why technical gesture and attempts to observe it are such a vital aspect in researching the archaeology of alcohol is also discussed.Show less
