Regional Conflict, Ceramic Senescence, and Pawnee Raw Material Choice in the Late Contact Era

Here, we consider the last decades of ceramic manufacture among the Pawnee in the Central Great Plains, using petrographic analysis to explore raw material availability and use at the Kitkahahki Town site (14RP1). Historical documents reveal tremendous regional pressures and conflicts in the Kitkahahki Town area during its occupation in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries—processes that could have altered or restricted the movement of women outside village boundaries. Contact-era Pawnee pottery from Kitkahahki Town exhibits atypical paste textures, atypical inclusions, or both. At least one potter used atypical materials available immediately adjacent to the village, which suggests that ceramic raw material collection was at least occasionally adjusted to reduce risk. Petrographic analysis contributes to our understanding of Indigenous communities in colonial settings, particularly to questions of technological change and landscape use when both were intensely negotiated and rapidly changing.

SMALL-SCALE HOUSEHOLD CERAMIC PRODUCTION: NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF PLAIN AND DECORATED CERAMICS FROM PRE-AZTEC XALTOCAN, MEXICO

This study examines small-scale household ceramic production at the site of Xaltocan, Mexico, to understand the organization of household ceramic production prior to the development of the Aztec Empire. We examine utilitarian vessels and serving wares from an Early Postclassic (a.d. 900–1200) domestic context using neutron activation analysis (NAA). We also examine archaeological evidence for ceramic manufacture. The NAA data reveal that similar raw materials and paste recipes were used for both utilitarian and decorated wares, suggesting that households produced both plain and decorated pottery. We conclude that ceramic production was an intermittent activity that took place alongside other crafts and agriculture. By looking at ceramics within their contexts of use and production, we consider the practices and choices made by individual social units, which is crucial to interpreting broader Early Postclassic economic systems and the ways in which commoners influenced these systems.

The Mesolithic - Neolithic transition in the Upper Volga region resulted from the stone industry analyses

The paper deals with a phenomenon of neolithisation in the Upper Volga basin. The author studies the results of culture processes in the region based on: 1) the investigation of the stone assemblages from reference sites with non-ornamented ceramics or pottery with simple puncture impressions; 2) the tools types comparison over the final Mesolithic and initial Neolithic; 3) mapping of the non-ornamented/notch-ware pottery in European Russia. The transition to the Neolithic is associated with infiltrations of some puncture-ware pottery makers into the indigenous Mesolithic populations. It is most likely that the first vessels were imported into the region by migrants. The untraceable differences between the Final Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic stone industries may indicate a scarcely noticeable infiltration of newcomers from neighboring territories to the Upper Volga region. The manufacture tradition of the ceramics either non-ornamented or decorated by simple puncture impressions was formed in the regional culture environment. This event should be regarded as a particular transition time from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic. The later rise of the Neolithic was marked by shifts in the economy and by the local ceramic manufacture development accompanied by thin biface technique appearance in the stone assemblages. These changes give evidence of a transition to the Neolithic in the Upper Volga signalized by the progressive replacement of populations.

CERAMIC ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY IN HUÁNCITO, MICHOACÁN, MEXICO

This study deals with pottery production in Huáncito, a Tarascan or Purepecha community in Michoacán, Mexico. The information I have obtained by direct observation during a quarter-century of ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in this town allows me to generate hypotheses to aid in the interpretation of the archaeological record. The main goal of this study is to assist in the interpretation of the material record of ceramic production by means of ethnographic analogy. The observations conducted over a long period of time have given me an invaluable diachronic perspective for understanding many aspects of social change and cultural continuity, including patterns of ceramic manufacture, use, and discard, as well as the use of domestic space and the archaeological visibility of potting activities in the context of the households.

PEROVISKITAS LaSrNiO3 COMO CÁTODO PARA CÉLULAS A COMBUSTÍVEL DE ÓXIDO SÓLIDO (SOFC)

Due to high operating temperature of the fuel cell Solid Oxide (SOFC), only the noble metal or oxide electronic conductor can be used as the cathode material. The choice of electrode material depends on the target application, the specific ceramic electrolyte, the temperature range of desired operation, the electrochemical cell design and specific methods of ceramic manufacture. The aim of this paper is to present a literature review on the material used to compose a Fuel Cell Solid Oxide (SOFC) and operating it.

Ceramics, Foodways, and Consumption: Methods

Analysis of ceramics in archaeological contexts has provided a range of information regarding African history. Archaeologists have approached ceramics as a craft as well as an indicator of identity and status. The Africanist focus on the technological development of ceramic manufacture and production has taken several forms. The most notable are (1) the origins of ceramic production, (2) the spread and independent invention of this technology and regional styles through typological analysis, and (3) technological change related to the identity of the producers and consumers including changing dietary practices over time. The various arguments put forth for the first production and use of ceramics in different regions of the continent are connected to the exploitation of available resources such as fish as well as the rise of agricultural production. Following the appearance and technical history of ceramics in various regions of the continent, a focus on foodways and regional cuisine has placed ceramics at the forefront of interpretation.

Engineering soil properties of Bhaktapur pottery

Pottery is one of the historic occupations of people of Bhaktapur. The tradition has been handed over to many successors, and the culture is still alive. Pottery in Bhaktapur municipality is concentrated in two parts namely; Suryamadi and Pottery-Square. The pottery work is adopted by ethnic group Prajapati, only they produce ceramic products in Bhaktapur municipality. Potters collect soil from specific location of Bhaktapur; Kamalbinayak, Nangakhel, Sipadol, and Tathali, which is suitable soil for ceramic manufacture. The soil samples from pottery site Suryamadi and Pottery-Square were collected. Grain size analysis, liquid limit and plasticity limit were tested. From the analysis, the soil sample from Pottery-Square was found to be finer than that from Suryamadi. Clay content and moisture holding capacity of the Suryamadi pottery work are greater than that of Pottery-Square pottery work. It shows that the Suryamadi pottery work had high tendency to get cracks and crumbled.