Kent D. Fowler

Acoustic perceptions of vessel fitness in southern Africa

The acoustic properties of objects found in archaeological contexts have seen little attention because they are seldom found intact. Nevertheless, sound is quality of objects that is of tremendous significance during both their manufacture and use. In this article, the authors examine how the acoustic properties of ceramic vessels influence the perception of their fitness for use. Grounded in how sound cues correlate to visual, tactile and olfactory measures of vessel fitness in an ethnographic context, they focus on detecting perceptible sonic differences between damaged and undamaged vessels produced by Zulu and Swazi potters in southern Africa. The article demonstrates how sound is a key quality of vessel ‘strength’ that both potters and clientele use to gauge functional and social suitability. We show that studies of fabric characteristics, such as fissures and voids, in addition to fabric composition provide a means to infer the acoustic properties of archaeological pottery and evaluate the significance of sound in past valuations of vessel fitness. Archaeological discussions of materiality can explore how social valuations of vessel fitness are accessible through studies of the functional properties of ceramics that consider human sensory experience.

The human element: discerning the effects of potter’s behavior on the chemical composition of ceramics

It has long been known that the natural variability in clays, the resources chosen by potters, and the techniques used in manufacturing all affect the chemical composition of finished pottery objects. Understanding these effects is important in pottery provenience research because it cannot be assumed that the chemical composition of the pottery is the same as the raw materials used to produce it. There are, however, few studies devoted to monitoring the effects of potter’s practices on the chemical composition of finished products relative to the raw materials used in manufacturing them. In this study, we investigate the effects that procurement strategies and processing techniques have on the chemical composition of vessels made by Zulu potters in South Africa relative to the raw materials they use in manufacturing them. Our comparative analyses included clays used for potting, sediments, pastes, finished vessels, and building clays from five communities of potters. Our results show that the effects of different procurement strategies and processing methods range from negligible (there is a close geochemical match to resources) to profound (making it exceedingly difficult to discern the geological origin of raw materials). We argue that such analyses of ethnographic materials provide insights into explaining why pottery composition varies locally, regionally, and amongst functional types of vessels; the appropriateness of certain research designs, analytical methods, and statistical analyses; and how the petrographic and geochemical study of ethnographic pottery collections should be a primary and not ancillary effort in pottery provenience research.