Archaeological ceramics are multifaceted objects that can be used in a number of ways. Chronology, function, and the economic organization of past societies have been the major ways of interpreting these artifacts in the past. In addition to these topics, there has been a resurgence of interest in other questions such as identity and migration, and ideology. These topics have been touched upon above, but because of their increased attention in recent years they require elaboration.
Identity and Migration
An oft-cited phrase is that pottery equals people. Archaeological ‘cultures’ in many areas of the world were defined on the basis of differences in ceramics. This equivalence has been strongly questioned in recent years because differences in identity are not always expressed through ceramics. Moreover, it is now recognized that identity is multidimensional and expressed in many ways - including gender, household affiliation, language group, village, and suprahousehold group membership - not just social group identity or ethnicity.
Previous interpretations of identity from ceramics largely have focused on the ‘active’ uses of style, especially decorative styles. Today, technological styles, or the many ways of making a pot, are used instead. These include attributes such as the way that vessels are built, the finishing or angle of the rim, and paint recipes. Some of these technological styles are the result of unconscious choices that potters make while they are engaged in the production process. Others are intentional choices, but it has been argued that unconscious choices may be a better way at getting at learning traditions or what has been called communities of practice.
The significance of these studies of technological styles for identity research is that they are not dependent upon the analysis of painted decoration. Even more importantly, these provide ways of linking people across the landscape and in addressing migration through ceramics. Migration has received a resurgence of interest and ceramics are a key way of interpreting the movement of people across the landscape.
Ritual and Ideology
Ceramic artifacts were used in ritual contexts and to convey aspects of ideology. A distinction between the two emphasizes how ceramic objects were used in ceremonial practices versus what they meant to those who used and viewed them. Ceramics were used in a variety of ritual contexts including containers to serve special food and drink, vessels to hold offerings, pipes for ceremonial smoking, censers for burning fragrances, and figurines as representations of the human body during curing and other ritual practices.
Form and context are two of the most important criteria for determining the ritual use of ceramics, especially when these can be combined. Another way in which ritual and ideology can be interpreted is through iconography. For example, many pots were decorated with images that show ceremonial scenes, represent supernatural beings, and/or depict animals, birds, and humans from oral histories. In many areas of the world ceramics were an important medium for expressing ideology, including such well-known producing areas as the Mimbres of the Southwest and the Moche in Andean South America.
See also: Archaeology Laboratory, Overview; Artifacts, Overview; Carbon-14 Dating; Chemical Analysis
Techniques; Classification and Typology; Conservation and Stabilization of Materials; Craft Specialization; Culture, Concept and Definitions; Dating Methods, Overview; Economic Archaeology; Ethnicity; Ethnoarchaeology; Exchange Systems; Experimental Archaeology; Food and Feasting, Social and Political Aspects; Geoarchaeology; Household Archaeology; Identity and Power; Image and Symbol; Individual, Archaeology of in Prehistory; Interdisciplinary Research; Interpretive Art and Archaeology; Luminescence Dating; Neutron Activation Analysis; Pottery Analysis: Chemical; Petrology and Thin-Section Analysis; Stylistic; Ritual, Religion, and Ideology; Seriation; Vitreous Materials Analysis.
World History
