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The Standardization Hypothesis and Ceramic Mass Production: Technological, Compositional, and Metric Indexes of Craft Specialization at Tell Leilan, Syria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

M. James Blackman ,
Gil J. Stein  and
Pamela B. Vandiver
M. James Blackman
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
Gil J. Stein
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
Pamela B. Vandiver
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
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Abstract

Archaeologists often use measurements of standardization in ceramics as evidence for specialized craft production. Analysis of fine-ware bowl kiln wasters from the urban center of Leilan, Syria (ca. 2300 B.C.) provides a rare opportunity to test the standardization hypothesis against the archaeological record of a single production event. Scanning-electron microscopy, xeroradiography, neutron activation, and metric analyses of the wasters show extreme uniformity in manufacturing technology, chemical composition, and vessel dimensions. However, when contrasted with sherds of the same bowl type from other contexts at Leilan, a higher degree of compositional and metric variability is observed. This "cumulative blurring" effect stems from the use of long-lived types from multiple workshops. Although "cumulative blurring" increases sample variability, it does not obscure the overall homogeneity of these ceramics. Our results suggest that standardization can be a reliable index of craft specialization only under conditions of close spatial and chronological control over the archaeological record.

Resumen

Resumen

Los arqueólogos usan a menudo medidas de estandarización cerámica como evidencia de producción artesanal especializada. El análisis de desechos de horno correspondientes a cuencos de pasta fina provenientes del centro urbano de Leilan, Siria (ca. 2300 A.C.) ofrece la rara oportunidad deponer a prueba la hipótesis de estandarización utilizando el registro arqueológico de un evento de producción. La microscopía electrónica de barrido, la xerorradiografía, la activación de neutrones, y los análisis métricos de los desechos muestran una extrema uniformidad en las técnicas de manufactura, la composición química y las dimensiones de las vasijas. Sin embargo, cuando se los contrasta con tiestos del mismo tipo de cuenco procedentes de otros contextos en Leilan, se observa un mayor grado de variabilidad composicional. Este efecto de "obscurecimiento acumulativo" es consecuencia del uso de tipos de larga duración procedentes de diferentes talleres. Aun cuando el "obscurecimiento acumulativo" aumenta la variabilidad de las muestras, no obscurece la homogeneidad general de esta cerámica. Nuestros resultados sugieren que la estandarización puede ser un índice confiable de especialización artesanal solamente bajo condiciones de estrecha proximidad espacial y control cronológico sobre el registro arqueológico

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , January 1993 , pp. 60 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1993

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