UCLA

Archaeological ceramics are mostly used in dating archaeological layers, but this presupposes that they should be able to tell us how and why cultural continuity or change occurs. For my research, I focus on the standardization and variability of pottery because these concepts indicate causes for change, continuity and an understanding of learning patterns and mechanisms. I concretize the role of pottery workshops in continuity and change in an archaeological context and approach transmission through Bourdieu's 'habitus', focusing on the interactions between the individual and the group. The group represents a community of practice (e.g. a pottery workshop) transmitting a certain tradition through teaching and learning. Apprenticeship in these workshops conveys these traditions within a broader process of enculturation. The workshop and the individual potters within it have a recognizable signature, which can be traced metrically. Using an anthropological approach, I concentrate on modern-day pottery workshops in Egypt and India with long traditions in pottery manufacturing for four main reasons: Firstly, interacting with present day living and working potters allows me to to ask questions to understand the role of learning by potters, the identification of a producer's work and the influence of consumers on learning and processes of continuity and change. Secondly, it allows me to observe actions and processes within main stages of pottery manufacture relating to similar vessels. This in turn enables me to trace subtle micro-variables in the actions of present day production processes (such as body movements and specific gestures) using video footage as well as the traces these actions leave on vessels. Lastly, I conduct experiments to demonstrate that transfer of knowledge/skill/learning can be detected through archaeological ceramics by comparing measurable characteristics in ancient and modern pottery. For implementing reason, the variations in movements and gestures from the video recordings were color coded using Anvil (qualitative data analysis and research software) in order to discern the patterning associated with each stage in pottery production of similar vessels. Once coded, the data is subjected to quantitative analysis. The method outlined above allows me to demonstrate that individuals from one workshop follow similar actions and leave similar traces on vessels when compared to individuals from another workshop. It also enables me to differentiate between workshops manufacturing similar vessels by body movements and usage of space. There are a total of eight supplementary files relating to video annotation from workshops located in both Egypt and India (provided with the thesis).

I then transpose the method and understanding gained from the study of modern potters to the archaeological context. The essential component is that in both the present day and ancient conext, the study focuses on similar vessels. This is necessary to discern actions and processes that are a part of the chaîne opératoire through different approaches such as visual and chemical analysis, measurement of dimensions such as rim thickness, rim diameter and neck/wall thickness of vessels. This enables the definition of similarities and differences within and between pottery workshops to aid in understanding knowledge and transmission at ancient Karanis.

My research suggests that by adopting a research design tested in the present and applied to archaeological ceramics in the past, one can trace ancient communities of practice and interpret continuity or change in material culture as part of an ongoing learning tradition.