Tracking Proto-Porcelain Production and Consumption in the Dongjiang Valley of Bronze Age Lingnan

During the Early-Middle Bronze Age, a new package of technological knowledge, including high-fired ‘proto-porcelain’ products and specialized ‘dragon’ kilns, entered Lingnan in South China from neighbouring cultures. This enabled the first local production of proto-porcelain in Bronze Age communities of Guangdong province that later became concentrated in ceramic workshops in the Dongjiang valley. Through a holistic approach towards ceramic production and consumption that integrates elements of functionalist and social perspectives, this study will explore the technological and socio-political conditions underlying the value creation and consequent social usage of proto-porcelain. It will be argued that proto-porcelain was a suitable medium for the simultaneous expression of different social roles that might have included its use as serving ware in community rituals as well as its involvement in politico-economic strategies of elite groups.

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Volcanic Grinding Tools in Ustica Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy): Local Production vs. Import of Morgantina-Type Millstones in the Hellenistic-Roman Period

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min10050389 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 389

Author(s):

Patrizia Santi ◽

Franco Foresta Martin ◽

Francesca Spatafora ◽

Sandro de Vita ◽

Alberto Renzulli

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Major And Trace Elements ◽

Alkaline Basalt ◽

Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

Local Production ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Southern Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Geochemical Analyses

This archaeometric study was focused on 28 grey to dark-grey lava artifacts found in Ustica Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) and referable to different grinding tools: saddle querns, rotary Morgantina-type millstones, rotary hand-mills and one small mortar. Mineralogy, petrography and bulk rock geochemical analyses emphasized that most of the grinding artifacts belonged to the Na-Alkaline series of Ustica, mainly basalts, hawaiites and mugearites. Nevertheless, some millstone samples did not match major and trace elements of Ustica lavas, in particular, one high-TiO2 Na-Alkaline basalt from Pantelleria Island, some tholeiitic/transitional basalts from the Iblei Mountains and one Calcalkaline basaltic andesite, most likely from the Aeolian Archipelago. The Hellenistic–Roman re-colonisation of Ustica Island, after ca. one millennium of nearly complete abandonment, was testified by the import of the non-local Morgantina-type rotary millstones, very widespread in the Mediterranean area from 4th–3rd century BC. This import of millstones represented, for the Ustica inhabitants, a real breakthrough for developing a local production of grinding artifacts on the basis of the new rotary technique which was much more efficient than that of the archaic saddle querns, largely used in the Middle Bronze Age. The results are also discussed in the framework of the overall volcanic millstone trade in the Mediterranean area and the different milling technology in antiquity.

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Chalcolithic and Middle Bronze Age obsidian industries at Karmir Sar: A mountain view on the lithic economies of the Southern Caucasus

Journal of Lithic Studies ◽

10.2218/jls.2520 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Christoph Purschwitz

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Raw Materials ◽

High Ratio ◽

Raw Material ◽

Primary Data ◽

Secondary Source ◽

Multiple Use ◽

Production Environment ◽

Production And Consumption ◽

Middle Bronze Age

The high-altitude site of Karmir Sar is located around 2850 m a.s.l. on the southern slopes of Mt. Aragats (Armenia). Numerous stone structures (including vishaps, cromlechs, stone enclosures) are found all over the 40 ha-sized meadow, out of which three vishaps, four cromlechs and one circular stone structure have been investigated since 2012. According to 14C-dates, pottery and diagnostic lithic artefacts, human presence at Karmir Sar started as early as the Chalcolithic Period and continued (with gaps) until modern times; whereby the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and the Medieval era represent the most intensive periods of occupation. This contribution presents primary data on the typology and technology of 1129 chipped lithic artefacts that have been excavated in four trenches at Karmir Sar (operations KS A, KS C, KS D, and KS E). This study of the lithic industries of Karmir Sar will be embedded within the framework of lithic economy, which considers lithic artefacts as part of a comprehensive interaction between lithic production and consumption. The lithic economy includes strategies of raw material procurement, blanks production and its transformation into tools, tool use, as well as the circulation of raw materials or products. Due to multiple use episodes and a general lack of clear stratigraphical horizons, the assemblages of Karmir Sar are not suitable to define the lithic industry for specific periods (such as the Chalcolithic or MBA periods). However, the data allows for general conclusions on lithic production and consumption at Karmir Sar, which appears to be quite similar during both periods. The Chalcolithic and MBA lithic economies at Karmir Sar are characterized by an ad hoc tool production environment, which well matches the needs of semi-mobile herder societies. The majority of raw materials appear to be procured from secondary source areas (such as riverbeds) which is indicated by a high ratio of battered and rolled surfaces. Tools are predominantly produced on-site, and according to daily demands by simple flake core technology. This allowed for a flexible, spontaneous blank and tool production without being dependent on specialized blade producers.

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Different Shades of Grey Minyan: Dissecting an “Iconic” Ceramic Class of Middle Bronze Age, Mainland Greece

Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica - Natural Sciences in Archaeology ◽

10.24916/iansa.2021.2.8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol XII (2) ◽

pp. 217-233

Author(s):

Anthi Balitsari ◽

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Significant Variation ◽

Main Subject ◽

Production And Consumption ◽

Consumption Practices ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Middle Helladic

The Middle Helladic Grey Minyan ware is usually assigned with archetypical features, including the systematic use of the potter’s wheel. However, because of the significant variation observed, terms such as “True Grey Minyan” and “Imitations of Grey Minyan” were commonly applied in order to emphasise the differences, which, nonetheless were never systematically analysed. The main subject of the present paper is to highlight the differences existing in the potting traditions of Grey Minyan in two nearby regions, namely the Argolid and Attica, which seem to belong to different cultural spheres, given the divergence observed especially in the shape repertoire. The identification of different production and consumption practices is obviously related to different cultural phenomena, as evidenced through (a) the production of similar wheel-fashioned and hand-built Grey Minyan shapes in Attica, and (b) the introduction of foreign potting traditions, namely wheel-fashioned Grey Minyan pots, which are completely alien to the local, handmade ceramics of the Argolid.

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