Indigenous Ceramics

Analysis Laboratory (ICAL)

 
 

The transformation of clay objects into ceramics began some 30,000 years ago and revolutionized the expression of personal and group identity (sculpture and personal adornments), storage (basket and pit linings), warfare (sling projectiles), cooking technology (containers, ovens), economics (transportation and counting tokens) and architecture (plaster, bricks, tiles). For archaeologists, ceramics offer an abundant and durable class of material culture that can provide a unique window into the lives of past peoples and cultures by examining the tremendous variability in ceramic production, distribution and use.

 

Overview  

The ICAL is dedicated to the study of non-industrial ceramic technology worldwide. The research projects undertaken in ICAL investigate the mechanical, thermal, chemical and sensory properties of ceramics in order to better understand the role of ceramics in the social, political, economic, ritual, and daily practices of human societies. The lab is based upon the principle of ‘convergence,’ which merges tools and methods from multiple disciplines, such as geology, biological sciences, materials sciences, visual arts, and music acoustics. The lab shares space and equipment with BDIAL, a laboratory established to support advanced digital imaging techniques for anthropological data. With local partners in Geological Sciences, the School of Art, the Faculty of Music, and at Brandon University, research at ICAL combines conventional ceramic analysis with petrography, digital microscopy, radiology, 3D scanning, acoustic analysis, and geochemistry.

  Current projects at ICAL include research on:

  1. •ethnoarchaeological research on ceramic production in South Africa and Swaziland examining links between styles of production and group identity;

  2. •social and physical factors influencing the transformation of clay properties during production;

  3. •social interaction spheres and resource areas used by modern and ancient potters in southern Africa;

  4. •the former contents of vessels from Southern Africa Iron Age (AD 250-1800s) farming communities;

  5. •the acoustic properties of ceramic vessels and drums in southern Africa;

  6. •changes in production technology of Bronze Age ceramics from Israel;

  7. •the production technology of pre-contact ceramics from Manitoba.