Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T07:27:15.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Use of Indentation Testing to Obtain Precise Hardness Measurements from Prehistoric Pottery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Arleyn W. Simon  and
William A. Coghlan
Arleyn W. Simon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
William A. Coghlan
Affiliation:
Department Chemical, Bio, and Materials Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Archaeologists have sought to assess prehistoric pottery production by using hardness as an indicator of the relation between ceramic materials and firing temperature. Yet hardness testing commonly has been limited to a scratch test, which is imprecise and lacks the precision necessary to investigate these relations. Recent research has developed the application of indentation hardness testing for prehistoric ceramics. A sample of low-fired plainware pottery from the Shoofly Village Ruin in Arizona was used as a test case. Results indicate the technique produces continuous scale measurements which are precise and useful for the investigation of intraassemblage variations. The method overcomes many limitations of the traditional scratch test and may be used for either prehistoric or experimental ceramic samples. Indentation hardness testing provides the precision needed to more fully examine the complex relations between hardness and other ceramic attributes.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , January 1989 , pp. 107 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1989

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

Arnold, D. E. 1985 Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Braun, D. P. 1983 Pots as Tools. In Archaeological Hammers and Theories, edited by Moore, J. and Keene, A., pp. 107–134. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronitsky, G. 1986a The Use of Materials Science Techniques in the Study of Pottery Construction and Use. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 9, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 209–276. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bronitsky, G. 1986b Compressive Testing of Ceramics : A Southwestern Example. The Kiva 51(2) : 85—98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronitsky, G., and Hamer, R. 1986 Experiments in Ceramic Technology : The Effects of Various Tempering Materials on Impact and Thermal-Shock Resistance. American Antiquity 51 : 89–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duennwald, G. 1986 A Preliminary Analysis of Plainware Ceramics from Shoofly Village, Arizona. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Flinn, R. A., and Trojan, P. K. 1981 Engineering Materials and Their Applications. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.Google Scholar
Grimshaw, R. W. 1971 The Chemistry and Physics of Clays and Allied Ceramic Materials. 4th ed. Wiley-Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Hally, D. J. 1986 The Identification of Vessel Function : A Case Study from Northwest Georgia. American Antiquity 51 : 267–295.Google Scholar
Heimann, R. B. 1982 Firing Technologies and Their Possible Assessment by Modern Analytical Methods. In Archaeological Ceramics, edited by Olin, J. S. and Franklin, A. D., pp. 89–96. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Kehl, G. L. 1949. The Principles of Metallographic Laboratory Practice. 3rd ed. McGraw Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Kingery, W. D. 1982 Plausible Inferences from Ceramic Artifacts. In Archaeological Ceramics, edited by Olin, J. S. and Franklin, A. D., pp. 37–46. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Lawn, B. R., and Marshall, D. B. 1979 Hardness, Toughness, and Brittleness : An Indentation Analysis. Journal of the American Ceramic Society 62 : 347–350.Google Scholar
Leet, L. D., and Judson, S. 1965 Physical Geology. 3rd ed. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Maggetti, M. 1982 Phase Analysis and Its Significance for Technology and Origins. In Archaeological Ceramics, edited by Olin, J. S. and Franklin, A. D., pp. 121–133. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Matson, F. R. 1971 The Study of Temperatures Used in Firing Ancient Mesopotamian Pottery. In Science and Archaeology, edited by Brill, R., pp. 65–79. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Neter, J., Wasserman, W., and Kutner, M. H. 1985 Applied Linear Statistical Models, Regression, Analysis of Variance, and Experimental Design. 2nd ed. Richard, D. Irwin, Homewood, Illinois.Google Scholar
Ott, L. 1984 An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis. 2nd ed. Duxbury, Boston.Google Scholar
Redman, C. L. 1985 Preliminary Report : Investigations at Shoofly Village Ruins, 1984 Season. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe. Draft manuscript submitted to Tonto National Forest and State Historic Preservation Office, Phoenix.Google Scholar
Rice, P. 1984 Change and Conservatism in Pottery-Producing Systems. In The Many Dimensions of Pottery, Ceramics in Archaeology and Anthropology, edited by van der Leeuw, S. E. and Pritchard, A. C., pp. 231–288. Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Rye, O. 1981 Pottery Technology. Taraxacum, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Rye, O. 1976 Keeping Your Temper Under Control : Materials and the Manufacture of Papuan Pottery. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceana 11 (2) : 106–137.Google Scholar
SAS Institute, Inc. 1985 SAS User's Guide : Statistics. Version 5 ed. SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1956 Ceramics for the Archaeologist. Publication 609. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Slovacek, C. 1968 Experiments in Aboriginal Ceramics. Oklahoma Anthropological Society Bulletin 16 : 125–150.Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V. 1983 Ceramics, Chronology, and Community Patterns : An Archaeological Study at Moundville. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Stimmel, C. Heimann, R. B., and Hancock, R. G. V. 1982 Indian Pottery from the Mississippi Valley : Coping with Bad Raw Materials. In Archaeological Ceramics, edited by Olin, J. S. and Franklin, A. D., pp. 219–228. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Van Vlack, L. H. 1980 Elements of Materials Science and Engineering. 4th ed. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar