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Strength Testing Archaeological Ceramics: A New Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark A. Neupert
Mark A. Neupert*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona, Laboratory of Traditional Technology, Department of Anthropology, Tucson, AZ 85721
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Abstract

The measurement of ceramic strength is an important source of evidence for assessing any pottery technology. However, the adoption of strength testing within comprehensive ceramic analyses in archaeology has been hindered by the absence of a reliable format for testing archaeological specimens. This paper presents results of research undertaken to develop the ball-on-three-ball test, which measures the tensile strength of archaeological, ethnographic, and experimental ceramics in biaxial flexure. Laboratory experiments demonstrate that the test produces reliable and accurate results largely unaffected by the irregularities of sherd-shaped specimens. In an example from the prehistoric Southwest, strength tests are used to investigate technological change in the Cibola White Ware sequence and the role of strength in the formation of archaeological assemblages. It is suggested that the development of a versatile, dependable technique can help to move strength testing out of experimental laboratories and into mainstream ceramic analyses.

Resumen

Resumen

La medida de resistencia de materiales cerámicos es una importante fuente de evidencia para evaluar cualquier tecnología cerámica. Sin embargo, la adopción de pruebas de resistencia dentro de un análisis cerámico comprensivo en arqueología ha sido impedida por la ausencia de un formato confiable para analizar especímenes arqueológicos. Este artículo presenta los rssultados de una investigación realizada para desarrollar la prueba de bola-sobre-tres-bolas, la cual mide la resistencia tensora de cerámica arqueológica, etnográfica y experimental en flexión biáxica. Experimentos de laboratorio demuestran que esta prueba produce resultados confiables y acertados que no son afectados por las irregularidades de especímenes curvos como son los fragmentos cerámicos. En un ejemplo de la prehistoria del suroeste norteamericano, pruebas de resistencia son utilizadas para investigar cambios tecnológicos en la secuencia de la cerámica blanca Cíbola y el rol de la resistencia en la formación de conjuntos arqueológicos. Se sugiere que el desarrollo de una técnica versátil y confiable puede contribuir a movilizar las pruebas de resistencia del campo experimental al campo del análisis cerámico de rutina.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , October 1994 , pp. 709 - 723
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1994

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