Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T21:05:04.873Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pottery Firing Structures in the Early Mediterranean: Micromorphological Evidence and Archaeological Data from Middle Neolithic Kouphovouno (Southern Greece)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2017

Christèle Ballut ,
Josette Renard ,
William G. Cavanagh  and
Raphaël Orgeolet
Christèle Ballut
Affiliation:
CNRS, Universities of Paris I and X, France
Josette Renard
Affiliation:
University of Montpellier III, France
William G. Cavanagh
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham, UK
Raphaël Orgeolet
Affiliation:
Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Ministry of Culture & Communication, LAMPEA, Aix-en-Provence, France
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Excavations at Kouphovouno (Laconia, Greece) have revealed burnt deposits associated with firing structures. The ‘millefeuille’ (vanilla slice) observed was composed of alternating layers of burnt red aggregates and white carbonate. Their description, micromorphological study, and contrast with a more standard structure of the Middle Neolithic allow us to interpret the layers as belonging to a structure for firing pottery: a covered clamp. This study has clarified its method of construction, operation, and use within a domestic context. After heating and cooking, the production of pottery and lime was one of the pyrotechnological activities most consumptive of energy among Neolithic communities, yet direct evidence for firing installations has been elusive. A new approach to the problem of locating pottery firing sites is presented here. The firing of pottery seems the most likely use for this type of structure, though the production of lime is also discussed.

Les fouilles du site de Kouphovouno (Laconie, Grèce) ont révélé des dépôts brûlés associés à des structures de combustion. Le ‘millefeuille’ observé était composé d’une alternance de couches rouges brûlées et blanches carbonatées. Sa description archéologique, son analyse micromorphologique et sa comparaison avec une structure plus classique du Néolithique Moyen nous conduisent à l’interpréter comme un dispositif de cuisson de la céramique en meule chapée. Son étude nous a permis de préciser ses modalités constructives, son fonctionnement et son utilisation en contexte domestique. Bien que la production de céramique et de chaux ait laissé peu de traces directes, cette activité pyrotechnologique est sans doute celle qui, après le chauffage et la cuisson alimentaire, a consommé le plus d’énergie chez les communautés néolithiques. Nous proposons ici une nouvelle approche pour identifier des structures de cuisson céramique. Mais si la cuisson céramique semble l’usage le plus probable pour le type de structure que nous décrivons, nous discutons également la production de chaux.

Ausgrabungen in Kouphovouno in Lakonien (Griechenland) haben verbrannte Schichten in Zusammenhang mit einer Brennstruktur entdeckt. Die Schichten, die wie in einem “Blätterteig” aufgeschichtet waren, waren alternierend rot gebrannte Aggregate und weiße Karbonate. Die Beschreibung ihrer Eigenschaften, mikromorphologische Untersuchung, sowie ein Vergleich mit einer üblicheren Struktur des Mittelneolithikums ermöglicht es, diese Schichten als Teil einer Brennstruktur zu deuten. Es handelt sich um einen Meiler. Unsere Analyse hat seine Bauweise, seinen Betrieb und seinen Gebrauch im Rahmen einer Siedlung verdeutlicht. Neben Heizen und Kochen ist die Herstellung von Keramik und Kalk die pyrotechnische Tätigkeit, die bei den neolithischen Gemeinschaften am meisten Energie verbrauchte. Jedoch gibt es sehr wenige direkte Beweise, dass es solche Einrichtungen gab. Die Frage der Identifizierung von solchen Brennstätten wird hier neu angesprochen. Das Brennen von Keramik ist die wahrscheinlichste Deutung für diesen Typ von Struktur, obschon die Herstellung von Kalk auch in Betracht gezogen wurde. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

NeolithicGreececovered clampearth constructionmicromorphologyNéolithiqueGrècefour temporaire couvertconstruction en terremicromorphologieNeolithikumGriechenlandgedeckter MeilerErdbauMikromorphologie
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 2017 , pp. 98 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agumba, M. & Abbott, V. 1996. How to Build, Use, and Maintain a Better Bonfire Kiln. Nairobi: Intermediate Technology Kenya.Google Scholar
Aidona, E., Polymeris, G. & Kyparissi-Apostolika, N. 2014. Middle Neolithic Period: New Archaeomagnetic and Thermoluminescence Data from a Pottery Kiln at Magoula Imvrou Pigadi, SW Thessaly, Greece. Paper presented at the Castle Meeting, New Trends on Paleo, Rock, and Environmental Magnetism, Évora 2014.Google Scholar
Angle, M. & Dottarelli, R. 1989. Ethnoarchaeology at Uslu (Elazig): A Preliminary Report on Contemporary Manufacture in Eastern Anatolia VII. Arastirma Sonuçlari Toplantisi, 2: 467–79.Google Scholar
Arnold, P.J. 1990. The Organization of Refuse Disposal and Ceramic Production within Contemporary Mexican Houselots. American Anthropologist, 92: 915–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boaretto, E., Wu, X., Yuan, J., Bar-Yosef, O., Chu, V., Pan, Y., Liu, K., Cohen, D., Jiao, T., Li, S., Gu, H., Goldberg, P. & Weiner, S. 2009. Radiocarbon Dating of Charcoal and Bone Collagen Associated with Early Pottery at Yuchanyan Cave, Hunan Province, China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 106(24): 9595–600.Google Scholar
Bookidis, N., Hansen, J., Snyder, L. & Goldberg, P. 1999. Dining in the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth. Hesperia, 68: 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brochier, J.L. 1994. Etude de la sédimentation anthropique. La stratégie des ethnofaciès sédimentaires en milieu de constructions de terre. Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, 118: 619–45.Google Scholar
Bullock, P., Féderoff, N., Jongerius, A., Stoops, G. & Tursina, T. 1985. Handbook for Soil Thin Section Description. Wolverhampton: Waine Research Publications.Google Scholar
Cavanagh, W., Mee, C. & Renard, J. 2004. Sparta before Sparta: Kouphovouno 1999–2000: Report on the Intensive Survey. Annual of the British School at Athens, 99: 49–128.Google Scholar
Cavanagh, W., Mee, C. & Renard, J. 2007. Excavations at Kouphovouno, Laconia. Results from the 2001 and 2002 Seasons. Annual of the British School at Athens, 102: 11–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cessford, C. 2007. Level Pre-X II.E-A and Levels Xil and Xl, Spaces 181, 199, and 198. In: Hodder, I., ed. Excavating Çatalhöyük: South, North, and KOPAL Area Reports from the 1995–99 Seasons. British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara Monograph. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, pp. 59–102.Google Scholar
Çilingiroğlu, Ç. 2012. The Neolithic Pottery of Ulucak in Aegean Turkey: Organization of Production, Interregional Comparisons, and Relative Chronology. British Archaeological Reports International Series 2426. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Costin, C.L. 2000. The Use of Ethnoarchaeology for the Archaeological Study of Ceramic Production. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 7: 377–403.Google Scholar
Courty, M.A., Goldberg, P. & MacPhail, R. 1989. Soils and Micromorphology in Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Crane, H. 1988. Traditional Pottery Making in the Sardis Region of Western Turkey. Muqarnas, 5: 9–20.Google Scholar
Germain-Vallée, C., Prévost-Dermarkar, S. & Lespez, L. 2011. Stratégies de prélèvement et de mise en œuvre de la « terre à bâtir » des structures de combustion néolithiques du site de Dikili Tash (Grèce) à partir d'une étude micromorphologique. ArcheoSciences, 35: 41–63.Google Scholar
Gimbutas, M., Winn, S. & Shimabuku, S. 1989. Achilleion: A Neolithic Settlement in Central Greece, 6400–5600 BC. Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California.Google Scholar
Goren, Y. & Goring-Morris, A.N. 2008. Early Pyrotechnology in the Near East: Experimental Lime Plaster Production at the PPNB Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel. Geoarchaeology, 23: 779–98.Google Scholar
Gosselain, O.P. 1992. Bonfire of the Enquiries. Pottery Firing Temperatures in Archaeology: What For? Journal of Archaeological Science, 19: 243–59.Google Scholar
Gourdin, W.H. & Kingery, W.D. 1975. The Beginnings of Pyrotechnology: Neolithic and Egyptian Lime Plaster. Journal of Field Archaeology, 2: 133–50.Google Scholar
Hansen Streily, A. 2000. Early Pottery Kilns in the Middle East. Paleorient, 26: 69–81.Google Scholar
Hermann, K. & van Egmond, B. 1997. Stabilisation à la chaux. Bulletin du ciment, 65: 3–11.Google Scholar
Hourani, F. 2003. Les matériaux de construction en terre à Khirokitia (Chypre): Origines, techniques de préparation et emplois. In: Guillaud, H., de Chazelles, H.C.A. & Klein, A., eds. Echanges transdisciplinaires sur les constructions en terre crue, 1. Table Ronde de Montpellier. Montpellier: Editions de l'Espérou, pp. 161–68.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E., Rasse, M., Lespez, L., Neuman, K., Fahmy, A., Ballouche, A., Ozainne, S., Maggetti, M., Tribolo, Ch. & Soriano, S. 2009. The Emergence of Pottery in Africa during the 10th Millennium cal BC: New Evidence from Ounjougou (Mali). Antiquity, 83: 905–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karkanas, P. 2006. Late Neolithic Household Activities in Marginal Areas: The Micromorphological Evidence from the Kouveleiki Caves, Peloponnese, Greece. Journal of Archaeological Science, 33: 1628–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karkanas, P. 2007. Identification of Lime Plaster in Prehistory Using Petrographic Methods: A Review and Reconsideration of the Data on the Basis of Experimental and Case Studies. Geoarchaeology, 22: 775–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karkanas, P. & Efstratiou, N. 2009. Floor Sequences in Neolithic Makri, Greece: Micromorphology Reveals Cycles of Renovation. Antiquity, 83: 955–67.Google Scholar
Karkanas, P. & Stratouli, G. 2008. Neolithic Lime Plastered Floors in Drakaina Cave. Annual of the British School at Athens, 103: 27–41.Google Scholar
Kingery, D., Vandiver, P. & Prickett, M. 1988. The Beginnings of Pyrotechnology Part II: Production and Use of Lime and Gypsum Plaster in the Near East. Journal of Field Archaeology, 15: 219–44.Google Scholar
Kramer, C. 1985. Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 14: 77–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyparissi-Apostolika, N. 2012. Indications of the Presence of Middle Neolithic Pottery Kilns at Magoula Imvrou Pigadi, SW Thessaly, Greece. Documenta Praehistorica, 39: 433–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livingstone-Smith, P.O. 2001. Bonfire II: The Return of Pottery Firing Temperatures. Journal of Archaeological Science, 28: 991–1003.Google Scholar
London, G. 1989. Past Present: The Village Potters of Cyprus. The Biblical Archaeologist, 52: 219–29.Google Scholar
Loughlin, T. 2010. Technological Choice in Middle Neolithic Ceramics from the Peloponnese, Greece. (unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Liverpool).Google Scholar
Malamidou, D. 2007. Kryoneri: A Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlement in the Lower Strymon Valley. In: Todorova, H., Stefanovich, M. & Ivanov, G., eds. The Struma/Strymon River Valley in Prehistory. Proceedings of the International Symposium ‘Strymon Praehistoricus’, Kjustendil-Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) and Serres-Amphipolis (Greece), 2004. In the Steps of James Harvey Gaul, vol. 2. Sofia: Gerda Henkel Stiftung, pp. 297–308.Google Scholar
Mee, C. 2007. The Production and Consumption of Pottery in the Neolithic Peloponnese. In: Mee, C. & Renard, J., eds. Cooking up the Past: Food and Culinary Practices in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp. 200–24.Google Scholar
Mee, C., Cavanagh, W. & Renard, J. 2014. The Middle–Late Neolithic Transition at Kouphovouno. Annual of the British School at Athens, 109: 65–95.Google Scholar
Miller, H. 1997. Pottery Firing Structures (Kilns) of the Indus Civilization during the Third Millenium B.C. In: Rice, P. & Kingery, D., eds. Prehistory and History of Ceramic Kilns. Westerville (OH): The American Ceramic Society, pp. 41–71.Google Scholar
Moorey, R. 1994. Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Material Evidence. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Perlès, C. 2001. The Early Neolithic in Greece: The First Farming Communities in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Petrova, N.Y. 2012. A Technological Study of Hassuna Culture Ceramics (Yarim Tepe I Settlement). Documenta Praehistorica, 39: 75–82.Google Scholar
Renard, J. 1989. Le site néolithique et helladique ancien de Kouphovouno (Laconie). Fouilles de O.-W. von Vacano 1941. Aegaeum 4. Liège: Université de l'Etat à Liège.Google Scholar
Rice, P.M. 1987. Pots and Potters: Current Approaches in Ceramic Archaeology. Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California.Google Scholar
Rivals, F., Gardeisen, A. & Cantuel, J. 2011. Domestic and Wild Ungulate Dietary Traits at Kouphovouno (Sparta, Greece): Implications for Livestock Management and Palaeoenvironment in the Neolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38: 528–37.Google Scholar
Roy, C. 2008. Making African Pots. Photograph available on Saharan Vibe <http://saharanvibe.blogspot.fr/2008/12/making-african-pots.html> [accessed 19 May 2016].+[accessed+19+May+2016].>Google Scholar
Souvatzi, S. 2008. A Social Archaeology of Household in Neolithic Greece: An Anthropological Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thér, R. 2004. Experimental Pottery Firing in Closed Firing Devices from the Neolithic-Hallstatt Period in Central Europe. euroREA, 1: 35–82.Google Scholar
Thér, R. & Gregor, M. 2011. Experimental Reconstruction of the Pottery Firing Process of Late Bronze Age Pottery from North-Eastern Bohemia. In: Scarcella, S., ed. Archaeological Ceramics: A Review of Current Research. British Archaeological Reports International Series 2193. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 128–42.Google Scholar
van As, A., Jacobs, L. & Nieuwenhuyse, O.P. 2004. Early Pottery from Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad II, Syria. Journal of Pottery Studies, 20: 97–110.Google Scholar
Vitelli, K.D. 1993. Franchthi Neolithic Pottery, Volume 1: Classification and Ceramic Phases 1 and 2. Excavations at Franchthi Cave, Greece. Bloomington & Indianopolis: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Vitelli, K.D. 1997. Inferring Firing Procedures from Sherds: Early Greek Kilns. In: Rice, P. & Kingery, D., eds. Prehistory and History of Ceramic Kilns. Westerville (OH): The American Ceramic Society, pp. 21–40.Google Scholar
Vitelli, K.D. 2007. Lerna, a Preclassical Site in the Argolid V: The Neolithic Pottery from Lerna. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.Google Scholar
Yiouni, P. 1996. The Early Neolithic Pottery. In: Wardle, K., ed. Nea Nikomedeia I. London: British School at Athens, pp. 55–209.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ballut supplementary material

Table 1

Download Ballut supplementary material(File)
File 20.2 KB