Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-gr6zb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T19:53:13.571Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experiments in Ceramic Technology: The Effects of Various Tempering Materials on Impact and Thermal-Shock Resistance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gordon Bronitsky  and
Robert Hamer
Gordon Bronitsky
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
Robert Hamer
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University—Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23284
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Prehistoric potters used a wide variety of materials as temper, or filler. Although temper selection has often been assumed to be the result of purely cultural factors, recent research indicates temper had technological functions as well. Impact and thermal-shock resistance data of a range of kinds, grades, and amounts of temper are presented. Test results indicate that the use of finely-ground tempers in general and burned shell temper in particular produce briquettes that are significantly more durable than briquettes incorporating other materials.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 89 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1986

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

References Cited

Adams, W. 1979 On the Argument from Ceramics to History: A Challenge Based on Evidence from Medieval Nubia. Current Anthropology 20(4): 727–744.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. 1971 Ethnomineralogy of Ticul, Yucatan, Potters: Etics and Emics. American Antiquity 36(1): 20–40.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. 1981 A Model for the Identification of Non-Local Ceramic Distribution: A View from the Present. In Production and Distribution: A Ceramic Viewpoint, edited by Howard, H. and Morris, E., pp. 32–44. B. A. R. International Series No. 120.Google Scholar
Barna, G. 1967 Plasticity of Clay Minerals. Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society 46: 1091–1093.Google Scholar
Bennett, M. 1974 Basic Ceramic Analysis. San Juan Valley Archaeological Project Technical Series No. 1. Eastern New Mexico University Contributions in Anthropology 6(1).Google Scholar
Bortz, S., and Burton, K. 1969 Analysis and Reviews of Mechanical Testing Procedures for Brittle Materials. In Structural Ceramics and Design, edited by Acquaviva, S. and Bortz, S., pp. 95–147. Gordon and Breach, New York.Google Scholar
Braun, D. 1978 Woodland Ceramic Technology and Chronological Implications, Western Illinois. Paper presented at Midwest Archaeological Conference, Bloomington, Indiana.Google Scholar
Braun, D. 1982 Radiographic Analysis of Temper in Ceramic Vessels: Goals and Initial Methods. Journal of Field Archaeology 9: 183–192.Google Scholar
Braun, D. 1983 Pots and Tools. In The Hammer Theory of Archaeological Research, edited by Keeneand, A. Moore, J., pp. 107–134. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Budworth, D. 1970 An Introduction to Ceramic Science. Pergamon, New York.Google Scholar
Colton, H. 1938 The Making of Hopi Pottery. Museum of Northern Arizona Notes 11(1): 6–11.Google Scholar
Colton, H. 1953 Potsherds. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No. 25. Flagstaff, Arizona.Google Scholar
Davidge, R. 1979 Mechanical Behavior of Ceramics. Cambridge University Press, London.Google Scholar
Davidge, R., and Tappin, G. 1967 Thermal Shock and Fracture in Ceramics. Transactions of the British Ceramic Society 66: 405–422.Google Scholar
Dinsdale, A., Camm, J., and Wilkinson, W. 1967 The Mechanical Strength of Ceramic Tableware. Transactions of the British Ceramic Society 66: 367–404.Google Scholar
Duma, G., and Lengyel, I. 1970 Mesocsat Pots Containing Red Blood Pigment. Acta Archaeologicae Scientiarium Hungaricae 22: 69–93.Google Scholar
Evans, A. 1975 Thermal Fracture in Ceramic Materials. Proceedings of the British Ceramic Society 25: 217–237.Google Scholar
Evans, C. 1955 A Ceramic Study of Virginia Archaeology. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 160. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Fewkes, V. 1944 Catawba Pottery-Making with Notes on Pamunkey Pottery-Making, Cherokee Pottery-Making, and Coiling. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 88: 69–124.Google Scholar
Folk, R. 1968 Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. Hemphill's, Austin, Texas.Google Scholar
Ford, R. I., Schroeder, A., and Peckham, S. L. 1972 Three Perspectives of Puebloan Prehistory. In New Perspectives on the Pueblos, edited by Ortiz, A., pp. 19–39. University of New Mexico.Google Scholar
Gifford, E. 1928 Pottery-Making in the Southwest. Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 23(8). University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Guthe, C. 1925 Pueblo Pottery Making, a Study of the Village of San Ildefonso. Papers of the Phillips Academy Southwestern Expedition No. 2. New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Hargrave, L. L. 1974 Type Determinants in Southwestern Ceramics and Some of Their Implications. Plateau 46(3): 76–95.Google Scholar
Hargrave, M., and Braun, D. 1981 Chronometry of Mechanical Performance Characteristics of Woodland Ceramics: Methods, Results and Applications. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of Society for American Archaeology, San Diego, California.Google Scholar
Hasselman, D. 1969 Unified Theory of Thermal Shock Fracture Initiation and Crack Propagation in Brittle Ceramics. Journal of the American Ceramic Society 52: 600–604.Google Scholar
Hasselman, D. 1970 Thermal Stress Resistance Parameters for Brittle Refractory Ceramics: A Compendium. Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society 49(12): 1033–1037.Google Scholar
Holmes, W. 1903 Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States. Bureau of American Ethnology Twentieth Annual Report, pp. 1–234. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Jacobs, L. 1983 Notes About the Relation Between Filler and Clay, and Filler and Shrinkage, Respectively. Newsletter of the Department of Pottery Technology of the University of Leiden 1: 6–12.Google Scholar
Jones, J., and Berard, M. 1972 Ceramics: Industrial Processing and Testing. Iowa State University, Ames.Google Scholar
Kalsbeek, J. 1969 A Systematic Approach to the Study of the Iron Age Pottery. In Excavations at Tell Deir ‘Alia, edited by Franken, H., pp. 73–80. E. J. Brill, Leiden.Google Scholar
Kingery, W. 1955 Factors Affecting Thermal Stress Resistance of Ceramic Materials. Journal of the American Ceramic Society 38: 3–15.Google Scholar
Kingery, W. 1960 Introduction to Ceramics. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Kingery, W. 1963 Effects of Microstructure on the Properties of Ceramics. In The Physics and Chemistry of Ceramics, edited by Kingsberg, C., pp. 286–305. Gordon and Breach, New York.Google Scholar
Kirchner, H. 1979 Strengthening of Ceramics. Marcel Dekker, New York.Google Scholar
Lawn, B., and Wilshaw, T. 1975 Fracture of Brittle Solids. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mason, O. 1877 Anthropology News. American Naturalist 11(10): 624–627.Google Scholar
Matson, F. 1963 Some Aspects of Ceramic Technology. In Science in Archaeology, edited by Brothwell, D. and Higgs, E., pp. 489–498. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
Matson, F. 1981 Archaeological Ceramics and the Physical Sciences: Problem Definition and Results. Journal of Field Archaeology 8: 448–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newcomb, R. 1947 Ceramic Whitewares. Pitman, New York.Google Scholar
Pollard, G. 1894 The Pamunkey Indians of Virginia. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 17. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Rado, Paul 1969 An Introduction to the Technology of Pottery. Pergamon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Rao, C. R. 1971 Linear Statistical Inference and Its Applications. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Rice, P. 1981 Evolution of Specialized Pottery Production: A Trial Model. Current Anthropology 22(3): 219–227.Google Scholar
Robinson, G. 1968a Design of Clay Bodies for Controlled Microstructure. Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society 47: 477–480.Google Scholar
Robinson, G. 1968b Design of Clay Bodies for Controlled Microstructure Part II— Clay Aggregate Bodies. Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society 47: 548–553.Google Scholar
Rye, O. 1976 Keeping Your Temper Under Control: Materials and the Manufacture of Papuan Pottery. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 11(2): 106–137.Google Scholar
Rye, O. 1981 Pottery Technology: Principles and Reconstruction. Taraxacum Press, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
SAS Institute, Inc. 1982 SAS Users Guide: Statistics. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina. Pp. 39–84.Google Scholar
Searle, A., and Grimshaw, R. 1959 The Chemistry and Physics of Clays and Other Ceramic Materials. 3rd ed. Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Shepard, A. 1956 Ceramics for the Archaeologist. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 609. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Shepard, A. 1963 Beginnings of Ceramic Industrialization: An Example from the Oaxaca Valley. Carnegie Institution of Washington Notes from a Ceramic Laboratory No. 2. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Smith, C. 1977 The Science of Engineering Materials. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Speck, F. 1925 The Rappahannock Indians of Virginia. Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation Notes and Monographs 5(3).Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V. 1979 Prehistoric Pottery from Moundville, Alabama— Some Technological Findings. Lecture delivered at National Bureau of Standards, August 14, 1979.Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V. 1981 A Possible Technological Explanation for the Distinction Between Coarse and Fine Shell-Tempered Ceramics in Mississippian Assemblages. Paper presented at Annual Meeting, Society for American Archaeology, San Diego, California.Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V. 1982a Ceramics, Chronology and Community Patterns: An Archaeological Study at Moundville. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V. 1982b Technological Studies of Prehistoric Pottery from Alabama: Physical Properties and Vessel Function. Paper presented at Wenner-Green symposium, “Multidimensional Approaches to the Study of Ancient Ceramics. ” Lhee, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Stern, T. 1951 Pamunkey Pottery Making. Southern Indian Studies, vol. 3.Google Scholar
Weaver, E. 1963 Technological Analysis of Prehistoric Lower Mississippian Ceramic Materials: A Preliminary Report. American Antiquity 29: 49–56.Google Scholar
Wendorf, F., and Reed, E. 1955 An Alternative Reconstruction of Northern Rio Grande Prehistory. El Palacio 62: 131–173.Google Scholar
Wentworth, C. 1933 Fundamental Limits to the Sizes of Clastic Grains. Science 77: 633–634.Google Scholar
Windes, T. 1977 Typology and Technology of Anasazi Ceramics. In Settlement and Subsistence Along the Lower Chaco River: The CGP Survey, edited by Reher, C., pp. 279–369. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar