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Calculating ceramic vessel volume: an assessment of methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2013

Erin Christine Rodriguez  and
Christine A. Hastorf
Erin Christine Rodriguez
Affiliation:
*Anthropology Department, University of California, Berkeley, 232 Kroeber Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3710, USA (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
Christine A. Hastorf
Affiliation:
*Anthropology Department, University of California, Berkeley, 232 Kroeber Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3710, USA (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
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Abstract

Calculating the volume of ceramic vessels found whole or in fragments on archaeological sites is a key analytical endeavour that can have implications for economic and social activity, including storage and feasting. Established methods for estimating volumes are mostly based on the assumption that vessel shapes approximate to a circular form in plan-view. This new study shows that such an assumption may not be warranted and that methods that assume circularity produce less accurate volumetric estimates than approaches which accept that a less regular elliptical shape may be closer to reality. Statistical analysis allows the accuracy of the different methods to be compared and evaluated.

Keywords

ceramic vesselsvolume estimationgeometric methodstacked cylinder methodcircular vesselsellipsoidal vesselsstatistical analysis
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 87 , Issue 338 , December 2013 , pp. 1182 - 1190
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2013

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