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13 - Garamantian Ceramic Technology

Change and Exchange in a Trans-Saharan Perspective

from Part V - Handmade Pottery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Maria Carmela Gatto
Edited by
C. N. Duckworth ,
A. Cuénod  and
D. J. Mattingly
C. N. Duckworth
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
A. Cuénod
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
D. J. Mattingly
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
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Summary

Studies of ceramics in North Africa often favour the analysis of wheel-made over handmade pottery. However, the handmade ceramics are particularly important if we attempt to explore technological transfers within the trans-Saharan region. This chapter presents the ceramic evidence of the Wadi al-Ajal and the Wadi Tanzzuft, two areas of the Libyan Sahara, in order to define the technological characteristics of Garamantian handmade pottery between the first millennium BC and the first millennium AD. After a discussion of the raw materials, shapes and decorations of the pots, the chronological and geographical variations within the Garamantian assemblage are presented. These traits are then compared to pottery from other sites across the Sahara, including some of earlier dates. Finally, drawing on workshop discussions with experts in pottery from across Saharan and West African sites, an attempt is made to analyse the potential transfer of certain traits in a Trans-Saharan perspective, as well as the social context of this transfer. An important result is the identification in Garamantian pottery of roulette decoration, not previously observed so far north. Although connections might be traced between the Sahara and the Sahel from the late pastoral period, experts remain cautious as to their exact nature.

Keywords

Garamanteshandmade potteryceramicsstyleroulette decoration
Type
Chapter
Information
Mobile Technologies in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond , pp. 453 - 484
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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