Event Title
Iron Age Ceramic Technology : A Petrographic Approach
Presentation Type
Oral and/or Visual Presentation
Presenter Major(s)
Anthropology
Mentor Information
Melissa Morison
Department
Classics
Location
Kirkhof Center 2266
Start Date
11-4-2012 3:30 PM
Keywords
Culture, Historical Perspectives, World Perspective
Abstract
What are the cultural consequences of migration and resettlement? As the Iron Age Empire of Urartu expanded, representatives of conquered groups were forced to move and to live together at the capital city of Ayanis. After a population movement like this, change in production of objects that express identity and status (e.g., ceramic vessels) can be an important indicator of cultural change resulting from enforced migration. Did the immigrant groups at Ayanis continue to produce vessels using their own traditional methods, or change their techniques as a result of close contact with other cultural groups? To answer this, pottery and clay samples from Ayanis and other Urartian sites were analyzed. Petrographic study (including both qualitative observation and point-counting) provided evidence for differential patterning in clay resource exploitation. Distinct fabric groups suggest continuity of regional production traditions even following compulsory migration to the capital city.
Iron Age Ceramic Technology : A Petrographic Approach
Kirkhof Center 2266
What are the cultural consequences of migration and resettlement? As the Iron Age Empire of Urartu expanded, representatives of conquered groups were forced to move and to live together at the capital city of Ayanis. After a population movement like this, change in production of objects that express identity and status (e.g., ceramic vessels) can be an important indicator of cultural change resulting from enforced migration. Did the immigrant groups at Ayanis continue to produce vessels using their own traditional methods, or change their techniques as a result of close contact with other cultural groups? To answer this, pottery and clay samples from Ayanis and other Urartian sites were analyzed. Petrographic study (including both qualitative observation and point-counting) provided evidence for differential patterning in clay resource exploitation. Distinct fabric groups suggest continuity of regional production traditions even following compulsory migration to the capital city.