Description
Book SynopsisCeramic petrography, the microscopic examination of the mineral content and structure within ceramic thin sections, reveals the origin and movement of pottery and sheds light on the technology of the artifact. Although used by archaeologists since the 1930s, ceramic petrography has been uncommon until recently.
Integrative Approaches in Ceramic Petrography highlights new results from this field and incorporates it prominently within current archaeological work.
Thirteen papers cover a broad spectrum of regional and temporal contexts. Case studies provide practicalexamples by combining petrography with scientific, ethnographic, and experimental methods. The varied usesof ceramic petrography and the insights it has generated illustrate the significance of this method for understandingpast societies.The volume’s conclusion provides an astute overview of the field.
Trade Review“Advances the field by providing an anthology of different methodologies and different geographical areas.”
—Leslie G. Cecil, associate professor of Anthropology, Stephen F. Austin State University
“This groundbreaking volume with 15 contributions by 28 authors demonstrates the resurgence of ceramic petrographic analysis. Diverse essays geographically span the American Southwest to northern China, and 5,000 BCE-19th century CE. The introduction and final chapter summarize the status of current research. Essential, authoritative and compelling, this anthology emphasizes methodologies and new investigations elucidating broader anthropological questions.”
—Charles C. Kolb, artifact identification consultant for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for the National Museum of Afghanistan
