TY - JOUR
T1 - Using provenance data to assess archaeological landscapes
T2 - An example from Calabria, Italy
AU - Michelaki, Konstantina-Eleni
AU - Hancock, Ronald G V
AU - Braun, Gregory V.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research would have not been possible without the support of a Canada Foundation for Innovation , a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-Standard Research Grant, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-Research Development Initiatives , an Arts Research Board and two McMaster Incentive Program Research Grants. We owe a lot to the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Calabria, the whole crew of the Bova Marina Archaeological Project, and the McMaster Nuclear Reactor. Eric Siu, Sam Craigie and Christine Sally, undergraduate students at McMaster University, helped with the creation, documentation and analysis of the test tiles. Ruth Siddall (University College London) and Kelin Whipple (Arizona State University) helped us make sense of the geology. Sean Bergin and Isaac Ullah, graduate students at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change made Fig. 1 . David Abbott and two anonymous reviewers gave us helpful comments that significantly improved this paper. We thank them all. Dr. Michelaki was on research leave from McMaster University and a Fitch Senior Visiting Fellow while part of this paper was prepared and benefited greatly from the resources of the Fitch Laboratory.
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Ceramic provenance studies have helped archaeologists examine trade and exchange in multiple scales, the organization of production, and even vessel function. Yet, they may go even further, to provide a venue for the examination of past people's perception of their landscape. To do so, a methodology is needed that links the choices prehistoric potters made, as reflected in their ceramics, with the choices their landscape could afford them, as reflected in the extent and distribution of local clays, and the physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics of these clays. Using the region of Bova Marina in southwestern Calabria as a case study, we have combined a raw materials survey with field and laboratory experiments, along with chemical and mineralogical analyses of the collected sediments to understand the distribution and the physical, chemical and mineralogical variability of locally available clays and provide baseline data against which prehistoric ceramic materials from the region may be compared. We show that the local sediments can be divided into three major units, based on their macroscopic, mineralogical and chemical characteristics, that correspond well with the major geological units outcropping in the study area. While two of these units have internally consistent properties, the third is variable.
AB - Ceramic provenance studies have helped archaeologists examine trade and exchange in multiple scales, the organization of production, and even vessel function. Yet, they may go even further, to provide a venue for the examination of past people's perception of their landscape. To do so, a methodology is needed that links the choices prehistoric potters made, as reflected in their ceramics, with the choices their landscape could afford them, as reflected in the extent and distribution of local clays, and the physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics of these clays. Using the region of Bova Marina in southwestern Calabria as a case study, we have combined a raw materials survey with field and laboratory experiments, along with chemical and mineralogical analyses of the collected sediments to understand the distribution and the physical, chemical and mineralogical variability of locally available clays and provide baseline data against which prehistoric ceramic materials from the region may be compared. We show that the local sediments can be divided into three major units, based on their macroscopic, mineralogical and chemical characteristics, that correspond well with the major geological units outcropping in the study area. While two of these units have internally consistent properties, the third is variable.
KW - Experimental projects
KW - Landscape
KW - Neutron activation analysis
KW - Optical microscopy
KW - Raw materials survey
KW - Southern Italy
KW - X-ray diffraction
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.034
DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.034
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:82155175656
SN - 0305-4403
VL - 39
SP - 234
EP - 246
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science
IS - 2
ER -