Evidence for a single clay/temper source for the manufacture of Middle and Late Helladic Aeginetan pottery from Asine, Greece

Abstract

In an effort to further characterize the Middle and Late Helladic pottery industry on Aegina, we have analyzed amphibole in 23 sherds imported to the coastal settlement of Asine. The sherds derive from vessels of different classes and shapes and range in age from MH I-II to LH IIIB-IIIC Early. All sherds come from vessels that carry manufacturing marks, and their amphiboles have compositions that are incompatible with those of Methana, Poros, and Melos. Twenty of the sherds have amphiboles that are identical in composition and overlap a narrow range of amphibole compositions found in specific lava flows on the northern portion of Aegina. Given that the dacites across Aegina contain amphiboles with a wide range in compositions, we suggest that the narrow range of amphibole compositions in the sherds indicates that they were derived from either a specific clay source on the island, located in a stream system southeast of the prehistoric settlement at Kolonna, or that the potters used a specific temper source along the same stream system. Multiple clay or temper sources would have produced sherds with a broader range of amphibole compositions reflecting the diversity of amphibole compositions found on Aegina. One sherd has amphibole compositions indicative of an additional Aeginetan component that is not found in the other sherds. Two sherds have amphiboles with compositions that do not match any known reference amphiboles for Aegina, Methana, Poros, or Melos. These may have been derived from still unsampled dacites on Aegina or have been manufactured from materials located outside the Saronic Gulf.

Using neutron activation analysis to identify scales of interaction at Kinet Höyük, Turkey

“…lithics from an obsidian source), the ''provenance postulate'' has proven highly effective (Ericson and Glascock, 2004;Glascock, 2002;Summerhayes et al, 1998;Tykot, 2002;Wilson and Pollard, 2001). But for ceramic provenance studies the definition of the geographic extent and geological context of clay beds used in antiquity remains a major challenge (Dorais et al, 2004;Schwedt and Mommsen, 2004). To identify local production at Kinet, we adopt a sampling strategy that targets sediments representing the geochemical range and diversity of the site catchment.…”

Pottery production, regional exchange, and state collapse during the Middle Horizon (A.D.500–1000): LA-ICP-MS analyses of Tiwanaku pottery in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

“…Using the ''Criterion of Abundance'' those ceramics that are chemically distinct from the majority are assumed to be imports (Bishop et al 1982: 300-301). However, several studies have sought to empirically connect finished ceramic vessels with the area in which they were produced by attempting to locate clays and compare their chemical signatures with those of archaeological ceramics (Adan-Bayewitz and Perlman 1985; Bartlett et al 2000;Dorais et al 2004;Hein et al 2004;Neff et al 1992;Phillips and Morgenstein 2002;Sharratt et al 2009;Sherriff et al 2002;Strazicich 1998;Vaughn and Neff 2004). Such comparisons are not straightforward.…”

Ceramic production during the Middle Horizon: Wari and Tiwanaku clay procurement in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

“…Several studies have gone beyond identifying chemical differences in ceramics, to attempt to locate the source of the clays used to produce those vessels (Adan-Bayewitz & Perlman, 1985;Bartlett, Neff, & McAnany, 2000;Dorais, Lindblom, & Shriner, 2004;Hein, Mommsen, & Zender, 2004;Neff et al, 1992;Phillips & Morgenstein, 2002;Sherriff et al, 2002;Strazicich, 1998;Vaughn & Neff, 2004). Potters frequently use sources close to roads, rivers, and residential areas, and clay sources exploited by individual potters are often quite small (Livingstone-Smith, 2000).…”