SAS Bulletin
Volume 20 Number 1/2 January /June 1997
Archaeological Ceramics
Charles C. Kolb, Associate Editor
Meetings
Archaeological Sciences 1997 Durham was convened
2-4 September 1997 at the Department of Archaeology, University of Durham,
South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. Conference information is available at
the URL: www.dur.ac.uk/Archaeology/confs/ArchSci97.html.
Six sessions were held: Technology, Materials Analysis and Provenance;
Biochemical Studies; Environmental Studies; Poster Session; Geoarchaeology;
and Chronological Studies. Based upon the preliminary program, among the
53 presentations were seven which concerned ceramic materials: ěAnalytical
Investigation of Thermic Changes of Medieval Ceramicsî (Yu. Ivachenko);
ěThe Characterisation of Degraded Milk Fats Found in Association with Archaeological
Potteryî (Stephanie N. Dudd, Lucinda M. Dudd, and Richard P. Evershed);
ěRetrieving Biomolecular Information from Organic Residues in Neolithic
Vessels: Complementary Investigations of Both Solvent Extractable and Insoluble
Polymeric Componentsî (Martine Regert, Stephanie N. Dudd, Pim F. van Bergen,
Pierre Petrequin, and Richard P. Evershed); ěProtein Screening of the Ancient
Potsherdî (O. E. Craig, M. Collins, R. Stacey, C. P. Heron, R. J. Sokol,
and K. Gelsthorpe); ěMicromorphology of Thin Sections of Medieval Pottery
from Kelso Abbeyî [poster] (Emrys Phillips, Katherine Eremin, and David
Caldwell); ěPrehistoric Pottery making of Japan Sea Basin (Space temporal
Context)î [poster] (Irina S. Zhushchikhovsksya); and ěLuminescence Dating
of Medieval Brick from Newcastle upon Tyneî (I. K. Bailiff and D. Holland).
The Joint Conference of the SPMA/SHA London (Society
for Post Medieval Archaeology/Society for Historical Archaeology) will
be held at the Museum of London and at the British Museum in London, England,
from 3-7 November 1997. This was the second 30th anniversary joint conference
(the initial SHA/SPMA Williamsburg Joint Conference was convened in Williamsburg,
Virginia, in April 1997). The London meeting featured 27 papers by British
and American speakers, two of which focus upon ceramic materials: ěRedwares,
Borderwares & Tinglazed Wares,î Beverley Nenk (British Museum), Jacqui
Pearce and Roy Stephenson (Museum of London Archaeological Service); and
ěExcavations at the Donyaat Potteries, Somerset,î Richard Coleman Smith
(Director, Sonyatt Research Group). Additional information about the conference,
registration and tour fees, and suggested hotels are available on the SHA
website: www.azstarnet.com/~sha/spma97.htm.
Questions may be directed to Geoff Eagan, SPMA SHA, MOLAS, Walker House,
87 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4AB, UK; FAX 44 -171- 410- 2201.
A conference, ěExplaining Archaeological Distribution:
Production and Consumption of Mycenaean and Greek Pottery (ca. 1600-500
B.C.)î will be held at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
from 8-9 November 1997. For additional information, contact: Vakgroep Mediterrane
Archeologie, c/o Dr. J. P. Crieland, V. Stissi, G. J. van Wijngaarden,
Oude Turfmarkt 129, 1012 GC Amsterdam, The Netherlands; telephone 31-20
-5252566; FAX 31- 20 -5252544, email: Med.Archeologie@let.uva.nl.
The Department of Scientific Research, The British
Museum, London, is the sponsor of a conference entitled ěCeramic Technology
and Productionî scheduled for 20-22 November 1997. The conference organizers,
Andrew Middleton and Ian Freestone, have issued a preliminary program that
includes nine sessions with 37 oral presentations and a poster session
with 50 participant. The sessions scheduled over the three days include:
ěThe Organisation of Productionî (Parts I and II, a total of nine papers),
ěRaw Materials and Resourcesî (Parts I and II, eight papers), ěInterpreting
Technological Processesî (Parts I and II, eight papers), ěTechnological
Innovation and Changeî (Parts I and II, eight papers), and ěSocial and
Cultural Factorsî (four papers). Thursday evening a reception and view
of the exhibition ěPottery in the Making,î demonstrations of pottery manufacture,
and a gallery talk by Ian Freestone are scheduled. The 37 presentations
include at least eight topical papers, six from Western Europe, five from
the Americas, five from East Asia, four from the Mediterranean/North Africa,
four from Sub Saharan Africa, three from the British Isles, and three from
Southwestern Asia. Among the 50 posters, 30 geographical/cultural areas
or topics are represented, with seven topical papers, seven from England,
and three from Greece among those being presented. A post conference summary
will appear in a subsequent column in the Bulletin. In addition to the
conference delegates, the number of attendees that can be accommodated
is extremely limited. The conference fee is 75.00 Pounds Sterling and must
be paid prior to 24 October 1997. Payment may be made by credit card (Visa,
Mastercard, Eurocard, JCB, etc.), Eurocheques, sterling cheques, or U.S.
dollar cheques (with an additional $5.00 to cover bank charges). For further
information about the conference please contact: Mrs. Mena Williams, Department
of Scientific Research, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B
3DG; Telephone +44 171 323 8279, FAX +44 171-323 -8276; email: M.Williams@british museum.ac.uk.
The eleventh annual symposium ěCeramic Ecology
1997: Current Research on Ceramics,î co-organized and co-chaired by
Charles C. Kolb and Louana M. Lackey, has been scheduled for the 96th Annual
Meeting of the American Anthropological Association and will be held on
Sunday, 23 November 1997 from 8:00-11:45 a.m. in the Jackson Room at the
Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Following an ěIntroductionî by Kolb there
are ten papers: ěA Chemical Analysis of Late Classic Pottery from the Northern
Maya Lowlands,î George J. Bey (Millsaps College); ěColor Development in
San Martin Orange Ceramics: Implications for Production, Exchange, and
Consumption,î James J. Sheehy (Pennsylvania State University); ěTradition
and Continuity of Ceramic Production and Utilization of Clay Sources in
the Vicinity of Santa Maria Atzompa from the Late Formative to the Present,î
Mary S. Thieme (Vanderbilt University) and Donald M. Thieme (University
of Georgia); ěPottery Use Life and Discard in the Lake Patzcuaro Region,
Michoacan, Mexico: A Preliminary Ethnoarchaeological Report,î Michael Shott
(Northern Iowa) and Eduardo Williams (Colegio de Michoacan, Mexico); ěFemale
Pottery Merchants in Korea: Gender, Status, and the Construction of Identity,î
Robert Sayers (National Endowment for the Humanities); ěPersistence of
Memory: The Mediterranean Slip Trailing Tradition,î Marcia Selsor (Montana
State University Billings); ěEarly Islamic Lead Glazes and Long Distance
Exchange,î Peter Grave (University of New England, NSW, Australia) and
Lisa Kealhofer (College of William and Mary); ěWhite Clay Smoking Pipes:
Provenance and a Critique of ëPipe Stem Datingí as a Technique Applied
to a Homogeneous Collection from Barcelona, New York,î Charles C. Kolb
(National Endowment for the Humanities); and ěSherds and Patches: Recent
Research in Ceramic Studies,î Louana M. Lackey (Maryland Institute College
of Art). The discussant is Christopher Pool (University of Kentucky). The
symposium series honors Fred Matson, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology
and Emeritus Professor of Ceramic Engineering at The Pennsylvania State
University, for his contributions to ceramic studies.
The 31st International Symposium on Archaeometry
will be held in Budapest, Hungary, 27 April-1 May 1998, organized by the
Hungarian National Museum and 15 other distinguished institutes of Hungarian
culture and sciences. The organizers are soliciting abstracts (oral presentations
and poster sessions) for four scientific sessions: 1) Biomaterials (osteology,
plant remains, residues, etc.); 2) Dating (organic and inorganic materials);
3) Field Archaeology (prospection and geoarchaeology); and 4) Technology
and Provenance of: a) metals, b) ceramics/glass, c) stone/ pigments/plaster.
Abstracts are due 1 November. Downloadable forms and further details are
available from their website: http://origo.hnm.hu/ametry98/homep1.html.
Contact: Katalin T. Biró, Hungarian National Museum, Department
of Information, H-1450 Budapest Pf. 124, Hungary; tel/fax 36-1-210-1338;
email H5852tbi@ella.hu.
The 14th International Congress of Anthropological
and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) will be hosted by The College of
William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, from 26 July-1 August 1998. The
IUAES theme is ěThe 21st Century: The Century of Anthropology.î Twenty two
symposia have been organized and announced; archaeological materials will
be included in a ěSymposium on Museums and Cultural Heritage.î This symposium
will be chaired by Dr. Mohan K. Gautam, Kern Institute, University of Leiden,
Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. Telephone: 31-71-272-620, fax:
31-71-273-118, email: gautam@rullet.leidenuniv.nl.
The deadline for the receipt of abstracts is 15 October 1997. For information
about the programs, contact: Dr. Tokomo Hamada, 14th Congress Executive
Secretary and Program Chair, Department of Anthropology, The College of
William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795. Telephone: 757/221-1060,
fax 757/221-1066, email: thamad@facstaff.wm.edu
. Other inquiries should be directed to Ms. Oriana Casadei, The 14th
Congress Logistics Coordinator, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg,
VA 23187-8795. Telephone: 757/221-1870, fax 757/221-1734, email: oxcasa@facstaff.wm.edu
Newsletters
ACRO Update: Quarterly Newsletter of the Asian Ceramic
Research Organization, edited by Chuimei Ho, has a new, preferred, mailing
address: ACRO, P.O. Box 595, Chicago, IL 606090-0595. Fax: 773/296-6298.
The latest issue, May 1997(1), has just been mailed to subscribers.
Jim Corbin, editor of La Tinaja A Newsletter of
Archaeological Ceramics, has a new e-mail address: JCORBIN@SFASU.EDU
Volume 10(1) has been mailed and 10(2) is in press.
Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts
A very important finding aid, Cumulative Index to AATA Volumes 11-25, has
just been published by the Getty Trust. This two volume subject and author
index covers 15 years of Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (1974-1988)
and includes approximately 29,000 abstracts. Volume One, 1174 pages (ISBN:
0-89236-407-6), and Volume Two, 1234 pages (ISBN: 0-89236-408- 4), are
sold as a set to individuals for $70.00 or to institutions for $135.00
(plus postage and handling). For additional information, please contact:
Getty Trust Publications, P.O. Box 49659, Los Angeles, CA 90049-0659. Telephone:
800/223-3431 or 818/778-6943, fax: 818/779-0051.
AIA Awards
In December 1996 the Archaeological Institute of America presented the
16th Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology to W.
David Kingery, Regents Professor of Anthropology and Materials Science
and Engineering at the University of Arizona. This award, which also celebrated
his seventieth birthday, was made in recognition of his ěpathbreaking studies
in the history of ceramics and his notable contributions as a writer and
an editor to our understanding of technological innovation and the social
context of technology in the past.î He was recognized for his many articles,
book chapters, and books, including Ceramic Masterpieces (1986), co authored
with Pamela Vandiver, History from Things (1993), co edited with Steven
Lubar, and Learning from Things (1996). Professor Kingery has also edited
six volumes to date in the series Ceramics and Civilization, published
by the American Ceramic Society. He is currently editing the seventh volume
in the series entitled History and Prehistory of Ceramic Kilns which documents
a symposium on this subject, co organized by Kingery and Prudence Rice,
which was held at the annual meeting of the American Ceramic Society in
Indianapolis in 1996. <The
full text of the award>
The Archaeological Institute of America Fellowships Committee awarded
the 1997-1998 Harriet and Leon Pomerance Fellowship to Robert Angus K.
Smith, a doctoral candidate at Bryn Mawr College, for ěRegionalism and
Pottery in Late Minoan III A B Crete.î
P. Roger S. Moorey was the recipient of the Archaeological Institute
of Americaís James R. Wiseman Book Award for 1996 for his volume Ancient
Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1994). The book is a revision and emendation of Mooreyís
1985 publication, Materials and Manufacture in Ancient Mesopotamia: The
Evidence of Archaeology and Art (Oxford: British Archaeological Reports
International Series 237). The text of the Book Award notes that this 1994
magnum opus takes its place beside Alfred Lucasís Ancient Egyptian Materials
and Industries (in its 4th and last edition, 1962, with J.R. Harris) as
ěone of the most useful and long lasting reference works....î Mooreyís
newest volume is an essential resource on Southwest Asian clays and ceramic
technologies, as well as other raw materials forms of material culture,
including residues, for the period 8000-300 B.C.E.
I look forward to receiving information from you for the next issue
of the SAS Bulletin.
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