Vlachos, Dimitrios (2009) Ceramics from Makriyalos II, northern Greece. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Abstract
Recent theoretical and methodological developments in pottery studies have altered the way archaeologists handle and interpret prehistoric pottery. The technology and use of pottery, and the symbolic and social meaning of pots, are considered as anthropological phenomena, the products of human action. Excavations at Late Neolithic Makriyalos offered the opportunity to explore several aspects of Neolithic society in Greece from a new perspective. This thesis explores the ceramic assemblage of the second phase of Makriyalos. The study is structured around the concept of the ceramic chalne operatoire in an attempt to move beyond the traditional concern with typology and chronology and towards an approach that foregrounds the producers and consumers of ceramics. Ceramics are studied in terms of their production, use, function, and discard and, as far as the available data permit, in terms of the spatial distribution and social contexts in which these activities took place. The choices made by potters at successive stages of ceramic production show that pottery from Makriyalos II exhibits a level of complexity and diversification in terms of ware, ceramic paste, surface finishing and firing conditions, directly linked, on the one hand, to practical considerations and, on the other hand, to cultural and social distinctions or contexts of use, consumption and discard. Spatial and contextual differences in a series of variables related to the ceramic material suggest differences in the intra-site organisation of space, some of which may plausibly be interpreted in terms of an opposition between smaller (perhaps `household') and larger ('interhousehold') scales of social activity.
Metadata
Awarding institution: | University of Sheffield |
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Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Archaeology (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Archaeology (Sheffield) |
Identification Number/EthosID: | uk.bl.ethos.531158 |
Depositing User: | EThOS Import Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2016 15:47 |
Last Modified: | 29 Apr 2016 15:47 |
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