Pourquoi le décorer? Quelques observations sur le décor céramique en Afrique

Gosselain, Olivier

doi:10.1080/0067270x.2011.553356

Cited by 35 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This provides a more solid basis for interrogating past uses and interpretation of ceramic style (Huffman 1980(Huffman , 1989, and this paper may be regarded as some form of gendered chaîne opératoire (see, e.g., Lyons 2009). Gosselain (2011) problematizes the approach on the basis of ethnographic observations, and places decoration once again in the spotlight, examining it from a broader perspective.…”

Section: Conceptual Frame and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All the papers make use of data from present-day pottery manufacturing techniques and apprenticeship networks to understand the archaeological past. Gosselain (2011) revisits the question of why potters decorate their vessels (see David et al 1988;Haour et al 2010) and attempts to demonstrate aspects of social organization, and scale of social interaction, represented in the choice and adoption of different decorative types. Some archaeologists employ the chaîne opératoire approach (Fowler 2008), which assumes that potters' choices at every stage of pottery making are guided by social factors that potters learn as members of social networks or groups.…”

Section: Conceptual Frame and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ceramics, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography: Locating Meaning in Southern African Iron Age Ceramic Assemblages

Pikirayi

Lindahl

2013

Afr Archaeol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For ceramics to be relevant in the Southern African Iron Age, archaeologists must broaden their theoretical base to include social and other contexts when interpreting material culture items such as pottery. Pottery remains critical in understanding cultural dynamics in the region for the past two millennia, but current usage is narrow in scope. Using ethnohistorical data and archaeological examples from South Africa and Zimbabwe, we argue that pottery provides valuable information on the region's Iron Age, if archaeologists address the social meaning of ceramic assemblages. Ceramic production among rural communities provides the basis on which a wide range of social issues are discussed and used to critique pottery recovered from archaeology. Ethnography suggests that ceramic assemblages are context specific, and archaeologists are cautioned against making generic statements on the basis of similarities of vessel shape and decoration motif.Résumé Pour faire en sorte que la céramique contribue aux études de l'Âge du Fer en Afrique australe, l'interprétation archéologique doit prendre meileure mesure des différents contextes dans lesquels évolue la poterie. La poterie joue un rôle critique dans la compréhension des dynamiques culturelles de la région au cours des deux derniers millénaires, mais elle demeure limitée dans son usage. Sur la base de données ethnohistoriques et d'exemples archéologiques tirés d'Afrique du Sud et du Zimbabwe, nous soutenons que la poterie peut fournir des informations précieuses sur l'Âge de Fer régional si les archéologues s'attachent à examiner la signification sociale des assemblages céramiques. La production potière dans les communautés rurales nous permet de traiter un large éventail de questions sociales et de formuler une critique de la poterie issue de I. Pikirayi (*) Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0038, South Africa e-mail: innocent.pikirayi@up.ac.za A. Lindahl Laboratory for Ceramic Research, Department of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden e-mail: Anders.Lindahl@geol.lu.se 1 l'archéologie. Nos données ethnographiques suggèrent que les assemblages céramiques doivent être traités dans leur contexte propre, et mettent les archéologues en garde contre les explications générales sur la base de similarités morphologiques et décoratives.

show abstract

Section: Conceptual Frame and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Frame and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ceramics, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography: Locating Meaning in Southern African Iron Age Ceramic Assemblages

Pikirayi

Lindahl

2013

Afr Archaeol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Gosselain 2000Gosselain , 2011Haour 2011). Pottery styles tend to be conservative and changes might occur due to a multitude of reasons other than the arrival of newcomers.…”

Section: Convergences and Divergences Between Archaeological Data Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeological data and oral traditions from the Oku and Kovifem sites in northwest Cameroon

Oslisly

Saulieu

Nlend³

2014

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recent archaeology of Northwest Cameroon is undoubtedly the best documented in the country. However, results focus mainly on ancient cave sites and do not raise questions about the recent periods relevant to the history of chiefdoms, despite this being a particularly salient feature of the region. Preliminary work has now been done at Elak (the Oku chiefdom) and Kovifem (the Nso chiefdom), two symbolic centres, which share a number of elements. This work aims critically to compare archaeological data with oral traditions on the establishment and origins of these relatively modern chiefdoms.

show abstract

“…La Arqueología peninsular ha recurrido a la decoración cerámica casi exclusivamente para diagnosticar atribuciones cronotipológicas, pese a la numerosa y creciente bibliografía generada desde los años 1980 por la etnoarqueología anglófona y francófona (David et al, 1988;Deal, 1998;Gelbert, 2003;Gosselain, 2011;Pikirayi y Lindahl, 2013). A pesar de ese notable desarrollo disciplinar, la ornamentación de las vasijas se ha relacionado de forma unívoca y simplista con la cosmología (David et al, 1988) o sólo ha contemplado su dimensión simbólica (Deal, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…A pesar de ese notable desarrollo disciplinar, la ornamentación de las vasijas se ha relacionado de forma unívoca y simplista con la cosmología (David et al, 1988) o sólo ha contemplado su dimensión simbólica (Deal, 1998). Por contra, la ornamentación apenas se ha analizado como expresión cultural resultante de múltiples factores que intervienen en las interacciones sociales a muy diversas escalas (Gosselain, 2011) ni ha recibido suficiente reflexión como práctica social en sí misma (Robb y Michelaki, 2012: 164). Ello se debe en parte a que la ornamentación externa de la alfarería, fetichizada por los arqueólogos, en realidad pudo constituir un aspecto más de su variabilidad formal y tecnológica, no necesariamente significativo en términos simbólicos para sus artesanas 2 y usuarios (Dietler y Herbich, 1989: 157-158;Holsfield, 2009: 52).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Emulación decorativa y cerámicas ancestrales. Posibles fuentes de inspiración de las alfareras meseteñas de la Edad del Bronce

González¹

2015

Zephyrvs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

) LXXVI, julio-diciembre; [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56] Resumen: Este artículo explora las semejanzas decorativas entre las cerámicas neolíticas y calcolíticas y la alfarería de estilo Cogotas i. Un enfoque diacrónico que arranca del Neolítico antiguo permite rastrear una serie de motivos y técnicas ornamentales recurrentes a lo largo de la Prehistoria reciente meseteña: similares temas geométricos, el empleo del boquique, la excisión y la incrustación de pasta blanca. Se valoran diversas opciones para comprender tales analogías: mera casualidad, invención independiente, perduración transcultural de procedimientos artesanales. La hipótesis más plausible considera que las artesanas del ii milenio a. C. reintrodujeron tales decisiones tecnológicas conscientes de su otredad. Con ellas elaboraron un código simbólico plasmado en la vajilla, cuya transmisión y reproducción fidedigna fueron de gran importancia. Las alfareras se inspiraron en cerámicas de su pasado, prototipos que pudieron entender como realidades ancestrales, esotéricas o míticas. Semejante decisión cultural resulta coherente con su manipulación habitual de reliquias y cosas extemporáneas o exóticas. Los modos de vida de aquellas gentes facilitaron el encuentro con restos pretéritos, tanto la remoción del suelo -para cultivar y cavar hoyos-en los mismos entornos que ocuparon sus predecesores, como la visita y alteración de viejos túmulos, cuevas y recintos fosados.Palabras clave: Decoración cerámica; imitación; transmisión artesanal; Neolítico; Campaniforme; Cogotas i; Meseta.Abstract: This paper explores decorative resemblances between Neolithic and Chalcolithic ceramics and pottery in the Cogotas i style -Later Bronze Age-. A diachronic approach from the Early Neolithic allows tracking a series of recurring ornamental motifs and techniques throughout later prehistory: comparable geometric themes, the deployment of stab-and-drag -Boquique-and excision techniques and smearing of white inlays. In order to account for such analogies, a suite of options is assessed: mere coincidence, independent innovation, trans-cultural endurance of craftwork procedures. The most likely hypothesis considers a revival of such technological decisions by potters in the second millennium bc; they did so fully aware of their alien character. Such pottery features were used to elaborate a symbolic code displayed on vessels, whose transmission and faithful reproduction were of crucial importance. Ancient potsherds were used as prototypes by potters, and might have been understood as part of ancestral, esoteric or mythical realities. Such cultural preference is consistent with the habitual handling of relics and anachronistic or exotic things. The lifestyles of these people facilitated their encountering of remains from their past, either removing soil (to cultivate and pit-digging) on

show abstract

Pourquoi le décorer? Quelques observations sur le décor céramique en Afrique

Abstract: To cite this Article Gosselain, Olivier P.(2011) 'Pourquoi le décorer? Quelques observations sur le décor céramique en

Cited by 35 publications

References 18 publications

Ceramics, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography: Locating Meaning in Southern African Iron Age Ceramic Assemblages

Ceramics, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography: Locating Meaning in Southern African Iron Age Ceramic Assemblages

Archaeological data and oral traditions from the Oku and Kovifem sites in northwest Cameroon

Emulación decorativa y cerámicas ancestrales. Posibles fuentes de inspiración de las alfareras meseteñas de la Edad del Bronce

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About