Dr. Tristram R. Kidder
Center for Archaeology
7041 Freret St.
862-3048
kidder@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
http://www.tulane.edu/~kidder/Anth%20461/ceramichome.htm
Return to T.R. Kidder's Home Page
Time: MW 3:00-4:15
Place: Room 109, Anthropology Building
Description:
Ceramic analysis is as much an art as a science. As such, I intend to show you some of the methods that are used in the analysis of pottery, and how they can and have been employed. I intend to equip you with enough information and practical experience to allow you to know what questions can and can't be asked of a given collection, and how to approach those questions from an analytical point of view. The nuances of ceramic analysis can only be transmitted in practice, not in lecture; a combination of classroom lectures and hands-on lab research will be used to introduce students to the fundamentals of ceramic production and technology, description, typology, classification, and analysis. In addition, students will be exposed to methods of thin sectioning and microscopic analysis, as well as drawing, photographing, and reproducing ceramic artifacts. The goal is to prepare students to undertake their own ceramic analyses, as well as to be able to evaluate the work of other archaeologists. To accomplish these goals the class will participate in an actual ceramic analysis using materials from the Bowie site (16LF17), Lafourche Parish, Louisiana.
Requirements: The emphasis of the course will be on hands-on analytical experience. Most classes will combine some formal lecture and a good deal of actual handling of ceramic artifacts from the Bowie site or other sites from the region. Students will also make and fire their own pottery as one means of understanding and appreciating the nature of ceramic production. During the semester, students will work alone or in pairs to complete a series of lab assignments. Each student is required to complete a weekly assignment consisting of drawing profiles and plan views of ten ceramic artifacts.
A section exclusively for Graduate students will meet regularly to discuss advanced readings. The schedule of these meetings and the assigned readings can be found by Clicking Here.
Readings: The texts for the course are Sinopoli’s Approaches to Archaeological Ceramics (Plenum 1991), and Orton et al., Pottery in Archaeology. Seven other texts are available on reserve at the library. They are P. Rice, Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook, O. Rye, Pottery Technology, A. Shepard, Ceramics for the Archaeologist., Adkins and Adkins, Archaeological Illustration, Grifiths, Drawing Archaeological Finds, and O'Brien and Lyman, Seriation, Stratigraphy, and Index Fossils. The first three books are detailed but introductory in scope and cover a wide range of subjects and subject matter. The two books on archaeological illustration are intended to provide practical aid for the illustration of ceramic artifacts. The O'Brien and Lyman book deals extensively with typology and the use of archaeological artifacts (including ceramics) for dating purposes. Additional selected readings may be assigned on a weekly basis and can be found in the Departmental Reserve (in folders next to the secretary’s desk). I have also provided a Glossary of Ceramic Terms. This glossary lists terms and definitions that you will encounter in your reading. It is a hypertext document so you can move among and between terms readily. A second, illustrated Ceramic Attribute Glossary is also available and should be consulted in tandem with the one I have produced. This glossary is focused on ceramics made and used in the pre-contact northeastern United States.
Grades: Grades for this class will be based on five lab assignments worth 12 % each (total of 60%), and a term paper or project worth 40% of the final grade. Information on each lab assignment, including due dates, can be found by Clicking Here. Students may do either a term paper or a research project. Complete information on the term paper/research project can be found by Clicking Here. The project consists of some kind of analysis (typology, thin sectioning, vessel shape analysis, etc.) of an existing ceramic collection or collections. The term paper would be a more traditional library research project. The term paper topic will be selected in consultation with the instructor and can be on any topic relevant to the course. There is no mandatory term paper length, although most will run between 15-25 pp. (double spaced, 1" margins, not including bibliography). Final written products should be double spaced, with 1" margins (maximum). Bibliographic style MUST conform to American Antiquity format. An on-line Style Guide is available. Click Here for further information on citation styles, proper grammar, and suggestions on how to write an effective term paper. A mandatory first draft of the project results or term paper is due on November 22, 2000, and the final draft is to handed in by noon, Wednesday, December 13, 2000. Failure to meet these deadlines will result in the paper being marked down a half letter grade for each day it is late (this process is cumulative).
Return to top of
syllabusSchedule of Classes:
Aug. 30 Introduction Sept. 4 Labor Day, No Class Sept. 6 Background Orton et al. Chs. 1-2 Sept. 11 Background & Problem Identification Orton et al. Ch. 10; Sinopoli pp.
9-32; Rice Ch. 1 Sept. 13 Ceramic Materials and
Properties Sinopoli pp. 33-42; Shepard Ch. II;
Rye Ch. 3 Sept. 18 Ceramic Materials and
Properties Rice Ch. 5; Rye Chs. 5-6 Sept. 20 Ceramic Materials and
Properties Orton et al. Chs. 5, 11 Sept. 25 Pottery Manufacturing I Rice Ch. 9 Sept. 27 Pottery Manufacturing II Oct. 2 Pottery Manufacturing III Oct. 4 Classification I O'Brien & Lyman '99: Ch. 2; Orton
et al. Ch. 6; Sinopoli Ch. 3 Oct. 9 Classification II Oct. 11 Classification III Oct. 16 Classification IV Orton et al. Ch. 14; Sinopoli pp.
75-81 Oct. 18 Yom Kipper, No Class (Assignment 3 Due on Oct.
20) Oct. 23 Chronology Building Oct. 25 Chronology Building O'Brien & Lyman '99: Ch.
3 Oct. 30 Chronology Building O'Brien & Lyman '99: Ch.
4 Nov. 1 Chronology Building (Assignment 4
Due) O'Brien & Lyman '99: Ch.
6 Nov. 6 Functional Analysis and Use Orton et al. Chs. 12, 17; Rice Ch.
7 Nov. 8 No Class, Southeastern
Archaeological Conference Nov. 13 Functional Analysis and Use Orton et al. Ch. 15; Sinopoli pp.
83-117; Rice Ch. 14 Nov. 15 Functional Analysis and Use Nov. 20 Ceramic Production and
Distribution Rice Ch. 8 Nov. 22 Ceramic Production and
Distribution Nov. 27 Ceramic Production and
Distribution Sinopoli Ch. 6-8 Nov. 29 Ceramic Production and Distribution
(Assignment 5 Due) Dec. 4 Class Projects Dec. 6 Class Projects
Assigned Readings
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syllabus
O'Brien, Michael J., and R. Lee Lyman
1999 Seriation, Stratigraphy, and Index Fossils: The Backbone of Archaeological Dating. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
Orton, Clive, Paul Tyers, and Alan Vince
1993 Pottery in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Rice, Prudence M.
1987 Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Rye, Owen S.
1981 Pottery Technology: Principals and Reconstruction. Manuals on Archaeology 4. Taraxacum, Washington, D. C.
Shepard, Anna O.
1956 Ceramics for the Archaeologist. Publication 609. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C.
Sinopoli, Carla M.
1991 Approaches to Archaeological Ceramics. Plenum Press, New York.