Unveiling the sign value of early potter's wheels based on a 3-D morphometric analysis of Late Chalcolithic vessels from the southern Levant. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Roux, Valentine; Harush, Ortal
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 45(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Potter's wheel -- Wheel-shaped bowls -- Late Chalcolithic -- Southern Levant -- 3-D Morphometric Analysis -- Sign-value objects; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103557
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Highlights: A 3-D morphometric approach was applied to 412 Late Chalcolithic V-shaped bowls from the southern Levant (169 rim fragments and 243 base fragments) The same approach was applied to 67 wheel-shaped bowls made under three experimental conditions. The archaeological results show a high variability in absolute dimensions and a low variability in profiles. Experimental data suggest that the roughouts were made by several hands, and the wheel shaping by one single hand. The tournette was loaded with a symbolic value transferred to the V-shaped bowls by their shaping on the wheel. Abstract: The sign value of the first potter's wheels used in the southern Levant (second half of the 5th mill. BC) is explored through the production modalities of V-shaped bowls, the main category of vessels shaped on the wheel at that time. To this end, a morphometric approach is applied to V-shaped bowls from four sites through numerical methods available in a Pottery 3-D software used to extract shape parameters. The results obtained highlight a high variability in absolute dimensions and a low variability in profiles. This apparent contradiction is discussed in light of the variability of bowls made under three experimental conditions. The baseline data obtained suggests that the roughouts of the archaeological bowls were made by several hands, while the shaping of the bowls on the wheel was done by a single hand. This disjunction in the production process supports the hypothesis that the earliest rotary instruments found in the southern Levant were loaded with symbolic meaning that was then transferred to the vessels when they were shaped on the wheel.