My most recent program of research examines the relationships between pottery production and identity in South Africa. The main objective of the project is to determine what factors influence the decisions of potters during the production process and how differences in production reflect the identity of potters.

The NCSP has two main research foci. The first concentrates on a comparative analysis of social and physical factors that influence the decisions made during the main stages of ceramic production. The second is to identify how these production techniques and strategies may be identified on finished vessels.

With an overarching interest in the material consequences of production, this project uses both conventional analytical techniques in ceramic analysis and a particularly innovative multi-component analytical method applied to the study of an ethnographic ceramic collection. Our study of ceramic style is interdisciplinary, utilizing techniques derived from archaeology, materials science, cognitive research, and economic geography. This work will continue from 2008 until 2012 and aims to improve our understanding of the relationships between the style of ceramics and identity.

Research Questions

I initiated the Thukela Ethnoarchaeology Project in 2002 to establish the feasibility of long-term investigations of modern pottery production systems in southern Africa, which now serve to guide future work around the following questions:

1. •Are the relationships between techniques that purposefully alter the visual and tactile characteristics of pottery primarily influenced by the economic situation of potters, their age, and the broad interaction networks through which their goods are consumed?
   

2. •How do the techniques and tools involved in clay preparation and firing reflect local or regional networks and the degree to which potters have access to them?
   

3. •How do fashioning techniques correspond to specific local and regional categories of identity, such as kinship, language, gender and class?
   

4. •How do he complexity of pottery design grammars correspond to local and regional categories of identity, such as ethnicity and language?
   

Research Team

Presently, our Research Team is comprised of faculty, archaeological professionals, graduate and post-graduate students that meet our immediate needs to achieve the project objectives. Although the field work component of the project was completed in 2010, there are a number of ongoing and future research opportunities based upon the results of this research. Please check under Opportunities if you are interested in joining the team.