Can I read The Archaeological Present: Near Eastern Village Potters at Work on EtoBox?

The Archaeological Present: Near Eastern Village Potters at Work by Frederick R. Matson is a Arts and Humanities article available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Archaeological Present: Near Eastern Village Potters at Work about?

Potters working in villages today are rapidly diminishing in number, so an adequate record of their craft practices must be made now if the contemporary ceramic record is to serve archaeologists who must perforce place emphasis on the detailed study and interpretation of the durable ceramic artifacts of past cultures. Today compulsory schooling as well as more economically attractive job opportunities in other trades have caused potential apprentices to reject the potters' craft of their fathers. The methods still used by contemporary village potters in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern countries, mostly older people, are now being recorded and published with increasing frequency. A sampling of such reports is appended to this summary. Talking with the potters and their families can provide some understanding of the traditional and economic pressures influencing the shapes they produce, the clays and fuels used, kiln maintenance, variations in production through the year, and the ways in which the fired wares are distributed. The variety and number of vessels in use in village households and the frequency with which they are replaced can also provide archaeologists with useful inf

Who reads The Archaeological Present: Near Eastern Village Potters at Work?

Author

Frederick R. Matson

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published

1974

Language

EN

Field

Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)