Children Playing and Learning: Crafting Ceramics in Ancient Indor Khera
Summary (1 min read)
JAYA MENON AND SUPRIYA VARMA
- Several years ago when the authors were writing chapters for ancient Indian history school textbooks, a colleague asked if there was any archaeological evidence on children that could be included in these chapters.
- The first section will discuss some of the archaeological work that has been done on children as learners in craft.
- In the second section, the authors will sketch out the excavations in a particular part of the mound of Indor Khera where deposits from between 200 b.c. and a.d. 300 were exposed.
- While the role of children in ceramic manufacturing, stone tool knapping and weaving has been studied, relatively much more work has been done in relation to ceramics.
- Similarly, the products of novices may di¤er in shape from those usually manufactured.
Chronology
- The authors were able to date the deposits in these trenches on the basis of pottery and coins.
- Also excavated from this square were two terracotta stamps used for decorating pottery.
- Out of a total of seven copper coins recovered, three coins are datable to the Kushana period, three are entirely unreadable, while the last is a square punchmarked coin.
- From the same subsquare and depth was found a coin with part of the dotted flan still visible but the rest was unclear.
- Thus, on the basis of all the evidence taken together, the authors have dated the deposits in this excavated northwestern area of Indor Khera from about 200 b.c. to a.d. 300.
Structures
- Walls in all cases were oriented in the cardinal directions.
- Walls/structures of two phases were found in B1a.
- About 70 cm south of these projecting courses of baked bricks is another baked brick alignment of header bricks (Wall 15) extending eastward into Wall 13 found in B1a.
- Two parallel north–south walls (Walls 8 and 9), 300 cm apart, extended southward from this east–west wall, perhaps forming a room.
Terracotta Finds
- As mentioned above, artifacts found within a room of asian perspectives .
- Aspects such as miniature size of products, deficiencies in manufacture (such as inexpert preparation of clay or formation of vessels and objects), and simplicity of techniques may indicate children’s activities.
- Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 15.
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Citations
74 citations
Cites background from "Children Playing and Learning: Craf..."
...Hence, the evidence from Hellenic Greece and ancient India points to children engaging in activities comprising increasingly mature approximations of modelled tasks (Gott, 1989)....
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...For instance, when referring to learning to make pottery in India (Menon & Varma, 2010), Japan (Singleton, 1989) or China (Barbieri-Low, 2007; Ebrey, 1996; Ledderose, 2000), localized family and community settings where the sites of this learning....
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...(Lodge, 1947, p. 18) In ancient India, similar practices seemingly occurred with pottery production (Menon & Varma, 2010)....
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56 citations
Cites background from "Children Playing and Learning: Craf..."
...Historical and anthropological accounts consistently propose that much of the locus for this learning resides within those positioned as learners and that this is how human development has always largely occurred (e.g. Menon & Varma, 2010)....
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48 citations
35 citations
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References
284 citations
187 citations
"Children Playing and Learning: Craf..." refers background in this paper
...Asian Perspectives, Vol. 49, No. 1 ( 2011 by the University of Hawai‘i Press. pigments (Baxter 2005 : 47–48; Park 1998, 2006)....
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...It has also been reiterated that small objects that do not have larger size counterparts should not be categorized as miniatures (Baxter 2005)....
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...For fuller reviews, see Ardren 2006, Baxter 2005, Baxter 2008, and Kamp 2001a. 2....
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...…raising practices, socialization into adult roles, learning, children at work, and the meaning of childhood (Ardren 2006; Ardren and Hutson 2006; Baxter 2005, 2006, 2008; Kamp 2001a, 2001b, 2002, 2006; Kamp et al. 1999; Park 1998, 2006; Smith 2006).1 Often, miniature objects are associated with…...
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...The term ‘‘miniature’’ itself has been debated, with one definition being ‘‘a smaller version of another object differentiated only by size and often the resulting lack of a commensurate function with the larger object’’ (Baxter 2005 : 47)....
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103 citations
"Children Playing and Learning: Craf..." refers background in this paper
...Her study involved an experimental work conducted on individuals of di¤erent ages to investigate the relationship between ridge breadth and age (Kamp 2001b; Kamp et al. 1999)....
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...Thus, the kind of analysis undertaken by Kamp (2001b) and Kamp et al. (1999) is not possible at least so far as the miniature vessels recovered at Indor Khera are concerned....
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...…children at work, and the meaning of childhood (Ardren 2006; Ardren and Hutson 2006; Baxter 2005, 2006, 2008; Kamp 2001a, 2001b, 2002, 2006; Kamp et al. 1999; Park 1998, 2006; Smith 2006).1 Often, miniature objects are associated with children as toys, which may or may not always be valid....
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...We have found the studies by Kamp (2001a, 2001b) and Kamp et al. (1999) to be particularly useful in identifying novices in ceramic manufacture at Indor Khera and which need to be discussed in some detail. menon and varma . children playing and learning 87 A reasonable assertion has been made that…...
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70 citations
"Children Playing and Learning: Craf..." refers background or methods in this paper
...This could well be the case with a craft working area wherein we may find vessels of di¤erent sizes that may represent learning stages within the ceramic craft (Kamp 2001b)....
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...Kamp (2001b) has pointed out that certain errors may be age related, such as inexpert workmanship, inadequate sealing of coils, and asymmetry of designs....
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...It is possible that children as young as two to five years old could start the learning process (Kamp 2001a : 13)....
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...Thus, the kind of analysis undertaken by Kamp (2001b) and Kamp et al. (1999) is not possible at least so far as the miniature vessels recovered at Indor Khera are concerned....
[...]
...Her study involved an experimental work conducted on individuals of di¤erent ages to investigate the relationship between ridge breadth and age (Kamp 2001b; Kamp et al. 1999)....
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64 citations
Related Papers (5)
Frequently Asked Questions (17)
Q2. What criteria were used to distinguish full-size, small size, and miniature vessels?
As far as ceramics are concerned, size variation was used as one criterion to distinguish three categories of full-size, small size, and miniature vessels.
Q3. What are some of the ways that children have been made visible by archaeologists?
Some of the ways that children have been made visible by archaeologists is through representation, bioarchaeological data, and the identification of some miniature objects as toys.
Q4. What is the common technique used by children to shape ceramics?
The majority of vessels are hand-modeled using the pinching technique, which is well known as one of the simplest techniques of shaping ceramics and one used by children beginning to learn the craft.
Q5. What is the main focus of ethnographic studies in South Asia?
Several ethnographic studies in South Asia focusing on ceramic production at the household level concentrate on the male crafter with women and children performing the subordinate but necessary tasks such as clay procurement and preparation, decorating finished vessels, and so forth.
Q6. How many rim diameters of bowls are there?
The rim diameters of bowls, derived by averaging the length and breadth measurements, range from a maximum of 37.6 mm to a minimum of 16.6 mm.
Q7. What is the way to study children in archaeology?
spring 201086children as novice craftersOne of the promising areas for studying children in archaeology has been through craft working.
Q8. What is the role of the potter’s family in the production of ceramics?
When most ceramic production, for example, takes place within the house, one sees the involvement of the potter’s family, including women and young children, who help with the decoration of unglazed ware and other tasks such as preparing clay, carrying, and shifting vessels at various stages of the manufacturing process (Kamp 2002 : 28; Rye and Evans 1990 : 168).
Q9. According to Gupta (1996 : 22), copper punch-marked coins are found?
According to Gupta (1996 : 22), copper punch-marked coins are found from the post-Mauryan period from the Magadh-Anga, Mathura, and Mewar regions.
Q10. How does Kamp show that the surface area of the finger expands?
Kamp shows that with age, because the surface area of the finger expands, this can be measured through ridge breadth measurements, defined as ‘‘the width of a single ridge and valley pair.’’
Q11. What is the role of children in the production of ceramics?
the molding of ceramic figurines is a technology that would have permitted crafters of various ages, including children, to participate in their production (Lopiparo 2006 : 169).
Q12. Who wrote Children in Action: Perspectives on the Archaeology of Childhood?
Dominant discourses; lived experiences: Studying the archaeology of children and childhood, in Children in Action: Perspectives on the Archaeology of Childhood: 115–122, ed. J. E. Baxter.
Q13. Who wrote Children in Action: Perspectives on the Archaeology of Childhood?
Dominant discourses; lived experiences: Studying the archaeology of children and childhood, in Children in Action: Perspectives on the Archaeology of Childhood: 115–122, ed. J. E. Baxter.
Q14. What is the reason for the use of the wheel?
A specific case study on apprenticeship in ceramic manufacture focusing on the stages by which small boys began to use the wheel for making ceramics found that boys began learning between the ages of eight and eleven, due to the physiological reason of being able to reach the center of the wheel by then.
Q15. What was the layout of the area under the present village?
As the area under the present village was not going to be excavated, only the unoccupied parts of the site were gridded on a 10 10 m grid.
Q16. How many lumps were found that represent the initial stages of making vessels and objects?
spring 2010106As mentioned earlier, 19 lumps were found that have been suggested to represent initial stages of making vessels and objects.
Q17. How many courses of bricks were found in the western wall of the subsquare?
Of these, the western wall, Wall 8, 224 cm in length, extended south to the end of the subsquare, while of the eastern wall (Wall 9), only three bricks were extant.