Archaeological approaches to social boundaries are currently emphasizing the dynamic nature of processes thought which individuals construct, maintain, and negotiate their identity. Although the integration of such concepts has led to a more accurate reconstruction of past social boundaries, it has also revealed a need for more sophisticated ways of interpreting material culture. This paper is a step in that direction. Focusing on pottery chaines operatoires and addressing questions about the salience and scale of particular behaviors, I seek to develop general propositions regarding the relationships between technological styles and aspects of social identity. To that end, I compare African pottery techniques at a subcontinental level and see whether there are recurrent patterns in their distribution and whether these can be related to specific social boundaries or historical processes of group formation.

Materializing Identities: An African Perspective

Recently several anthropological and sociological studies have interpreted technologies as cultural choices that are determined as much by local perceptions and the social context as any material constraints or purely functional criteria. Using the example of ceramic technology we consider how materials science studies can contribute to and benefit from this understanding of technology as a social construct. Although we acknowledge some potential difficulties, it is our contention that both materials scientists and archaeologists have gained much and have much to gain by cooperating together to study ancient technologies, and that the concept of 'technological choices' can facilitate a wider consideration of the factors shaping technological developments.

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The challenge of ‘technological choices’for materials science approaches in archaeology*

The study of the life cycle of pottery, from the selection of raw materials and the production stage through distribution and use to ultimate discard, can make a valuable contribution to archaeological research The aim of the present paper is to provide a summary and critical assessment of the particular contribution of the physical sciences to the reconstruction and interpretation of this life cycle, in large part through the presentation of selected case studies The topics covered include the reconstruction of the technology used in pottery production, through a combination of microscopy, radiography, and chemical analysis; the investigation of the extent of craft specialization and the organization of pottery production; the reconstruction of pottery distribution from its production center, using thin-section petrography and chemical analysis, and the interpretation of these data in terms of exchange and trade; the reconstruction of the consumption stage or uses to which pottery was put, from the study of surface wear, organic residues, and performance characteristics; and a discussion of the reasons for the introduction of pottery and for the different technological choices made in pottery production Throughout, the importance of considering the overall environmental, technological, economic, sociopolitical, cultural–ideological and historical context in which the pottery was produced, distributed, and consumed is emphasized The paper is concerned, almost-exclusively, with unglazed earthenware spanning prehistory through to circa 1500 AD

Pottery Production, Distribution, and Consumption—The Contribution of the Physical Sciences

This reference contains almost 6000 entries dealing with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the USA and Europe. It aims to bring together knowledge of many disparate fields in one place and to legitimize the study of other cultures' science. No superiority is claimed for other cultures, rather the aim is a mutual exchange of ideas. There are inter-cultural articles on a broad range of topics, such as mathematics and astronomy; philosophical articles on concepts and ideas related to the study of non-Western science, such as rationality, objectivity and method, religion and science, East and West, and magic and science; and more factual ones on topics such as China and the Islamic world, where individual scientists are known to us. Readers can compare disciplines across cultures (Chinese mathematics, trigonometry, maps, medicine, geography etc), and cultures across disciplines (for example, Islamic, Chinese, Indo-Malay, African, and native American astronomy). The entries are arranged alphabetically, with many cross-references, and bibliographies enable readers to move on to the scholarly literature.

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

Contents
1. The archaeology of ‘two cultures’; 2. Science as culture: creating interpretative networks; 3. Archaeology observed; 4. Materials, science and material culture: practice and narrative; 5. Material culture and materials science: a biography of things; 6. A biography of ceramics in Neolithic Orkney; 7. Making people and things in the Neolithic: pots, food and history; 8. Before and after science.

Archaeological Theory and Scientific Practice

Previous studies have illustrated the symbolic prominence of pottery making in sub-Saharan Africa. In many parts of the continent, the craft is explicitly connected to a series of other production activities and parts of the technical process often serve as a metaphor for explaining aspects of the human experience and to structure certain rituals. Barley goes as far as to speak of a ‘potting model’, one of many ways available to a culture to think about itself. It remains to be known, however, why African people specifically chose pottery making as a way to act upon/explain the world and why the activity is connected to specific realms of the human experience throughout the continent. Also, one may wonder whether potters’ behaviour could in turn be influenced by metaphors, with steps of the chaine operatoire becoming the locus of a symbolic discourse. In an effort to answer these questions, I attempted a systematic comparison of prohibitions and rituals connected to pottery in 102 sub-Saharan societies.

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In Pots We trust: The Processing of Clay and Symbols in sub-Saharan Africa

Social and Technical Identity in a Clay Cristal Ball

Mother Bella was not a Bella: Inherited and transformed traditions in Southwestern Niger

Starting with an example illustrating the complexity and variability of behaviours related to clay selection and processing, this paper explores the mechanisms underlying the spatial and temporal variations of technical traditions pertaining to these steps of the manufacturing process. Using a large databank on pottery in sub-Saharan Africa, our aim is to follow-up on Dean Arnolds work on pottery paste variation and their social significance. The paper is divided in three parts. In the first one, we examine the diversity of technical practices as regards raw material selection and processing. The aim is to give an overview of the tools, techniques and recipes observed throughout Africa. In the second part, we examine the strategies developed by potters at these two levels of the manufacturing process: Why and how are specific clay sources selected? Why are clays processed in specific ways? The idea is to examine potters’ knowledge from the inside, in order to understand their choices. In the third part, we consider the dynamics and distribution of technical traditions pertaining to clay selection and processing. Here, we want to explore how behaviour are reproduced through space and time and to which extent they may be altered by individual potters.

Olivier Gosselain

Papers

Materializing Identities: An African Perspective

In Pots We trust: The Processing of Clay and Symbols in sub-Saharan Africa

Social and Technical Identity in a Clay Cristal Ball

Mother Bella was not a Bella: Inherited and transformed traditions in Southwestern Niger

The source: Clay selection and processing practices in Sub-Saharan Africa