Bodies of Clay: On Prehistoric Humanised Pottery

Schwarzberg, Heiner; Becker, Valeska

doi:10.4000/acost.2004

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…What is also surprising is the fact that these artefacts are non-utilitarian and that they predate by around 8000 years the first utilitarian ceramics discovered in southern China [79]. Anthropomorphic representations in ceramics were extremely diverse until the European Neolithic period [80], and they could be considered as transitional, with utilitarian forms containing either reminiscences of anthropomorphic parts or stylistic decorations with an identity character [81]. This is also what archaeology points out when it uses ceramic decoration as a cultural identifier.…”

Section: Epistemic Object: Mind and Clay In Co-constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Creative Anthropology” as a Unit for Knowing: Epistemic Object and Experimental System in Research-Creation “in” Clay

Potvin

2024

Humans

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This essay takes advantage of the current context of superdiversity to define a form of hybrid heuristics between North American anthropology and research-creation “in” the arts. In an attempt to alleviate the epistemological disaster described by Gregory Bateson as the loss of the unity of the biosphere and humanity, I position myself within a nomothetic perspective of Boasian anthropology and a postqualitative approach to research-creation. My research-creation proposes clay as an epistemic object and develops a creative methodology in the form of an experimental system that borrows from the following two types of change observable in living organisms: static and schismatic changes. The artistic activities, presented as two heuristic cycles, seek to broaden the self-reflexivity inherent in the use of clay by human groups. They provoke decentring leading to a loss of control where a new identity has to be defined. This reveals itself in terms of system thinking as the reconstruction of a new reality that is defined neither entirely by my artistic practice nor entirely by my theoretical framework derived from anthropology. It is a “place of passage” between both. It is a new identity that can be defined by the “change of change” that I call “creative anthropology”. This transdisciplinary approach introduces a “second glance” into anthropological research and opens up breaches through research-creation. It works to develop new narratives and test posthumanism in the field of my artistic practice.

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Section: Epistemic Object: Mind and Clay In Co-constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Creative Anthropology” as a Unit for Knowing: Epistemic Object and Experimental System in Research-Creation “in” Clay

Potvin

2024

Humans

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“…The emergence of fired clay human-shaped pots is undoubtedly a technological breakthrough and a clear evolution of the artistic conception of human communities and that of the social development of humankind. This type of object is generally considered part of the spectrum of figural art in prehistoric communities (Schwarzberg, Becker 2017). It represents a particular category of vessels, undoubtedly different from 'everyday pottery' (Opris et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Object and Subject

Opriș¹,

Manea

Lechintan

et al. 2022

Doc. praeh.

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The current paper aims to reveal the potential of combining multiple approaches (techno-functional analysis, experimental archaeology, and X-ray Computed Tomography) when it comes to studying unique earthenware artefacts, such as the prehistoric human-shaped pot discovered within the tell settlement from Sultana-Malu Rosu (Romania), that belongs to the Kodjadermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI civilization (KGK VI) which thrived during the 5th millennium BC. This human-shaped pot, also known as ‘The Goddess of Sultana’, is an emblematic artefact that fascinates with its shape, gestures, and decoration. It was apparently made from a standard clay paste recipe and using basic forming techniques, with little care for the internal surface. This vessel also has several hidden cracks and some manipulation traces on its backside. In order to explore its relevance, our approach to this particular human-shaped pot included the use of archaeological data in correlation with other techniques in order to decipher the manufacturing process for such vessels, the possible way of using them, but also the meanings that they might have had for past human communities.

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Bodies of Clay: On Prehistoric Humanised Pottery

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

“Creative Anthropology” as a Unit for Knowing: Epistemic Object and Experimental System in Research-Creation “in” Clay

“Creative Anthropology” as a Unit for Knowing: Epistemic Object and Experimental System in Research-Creation “in” Clay

Between Object and Subject

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