Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy

A house-shaped urn dating to the Early Iron Age from Central Italy was technologically assessed in order to establish the forming techniques necessary to produce it. This hypothesized forming sequence was then tested through the production of two experimental urns. It was found that there is a meani...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Caroline Jeffra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EXARC 2020-11-01
Series:EXARC Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10536
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849397213903454208
author Caroline Jeffra
author_facet Caroline Jeffra
author_sort Caroline Jeffra
collection DOAJ
description A house-shaped urn dating to the Early Iron Age from Central Italy was technologically assessed in order to establish the forming techniques necessary to produce it. This hypothesized forming sequence was then tested through the production of two experimental urns. It was found that there is a meaningful relationship between the clay texture choices, the forming techniques, and the overall morphology of the finished object. The implications of this relationship are explored based on the reality that such house urns were made relatively rarely and that they present unique, if recognizably architectural, morphology. It is established that by assessing such unique objects, significantly greater insights can be drawn than from examinations of trends in habitually-formed ceramic objects. Unique objects such as this house urn are opportunities to view a potter’s individual choices and strategies in forming, which necessarily draw on habitual practices but also require a large degree of problem-solving in order to resolve unique challenges.
format Article
id doaj-art-d4a86c90bde04b019132b784328b04bd
institution Kabale University
issn 2212-8956
language English
publishDate 2020-11-01
publisher EXARC
record_format Article
series EXARC Journal
spelling doaj-art-d4a86c90bde04b019132b784328b04bd2025-08-20T03:39:05ZengEXARCEXARC Journal2212-89562020-11-012020/4ark:/88735/10536Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central ItalyCaroline JeffraA house-shaped urn dating to the Early Iron Age from Central Italy was technologically assessed in order to establish the forming techniques necessary to produce it. This hypothesized forming sequence was then tested through the production of two experimental urns. It was found that there is a meaningful relationship between the clay texture choices, the forming techniques, and the overall morphology of the finished object. The implications of this relationship are explored based on the reality that such house urns were made relatively rarely and that they present unique, if recognizably architectural, morphology. It is established that by assessing such unique objects, significantly greater insights can be drawn than from examinations of trends in habitually-formed ceramic objects. Unique objects such as this house urn are opportunities to view a potter’s individual choices and strategies in forming, which necessarily draw on habitual practices but also require a large degree of problem-solving in order to resolve unique challenges.https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10536funeraryiron ageitalyclayceramics
spellingShingle Caroline Jeffra
Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy
EXARC Journal
funerary
iron age
italy
clay
ceramics
title Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy
title_full Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy
title_fullStr Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy
title_full_unstemmed Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy
title_short Crafting Beyond Habitual Practices: Assessing the Production of a House Urn from Iron Age Central Italy
title_sort crafting beyond habitual practices assessing the production of a house urn from iron age central italy
topic funerary
iron age
italy
clay
ceramics
url https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10536
work_keys_str_mv AT carolinejeffra craftingbeyondhabitualpracticesassessingtheproductionofahouseurnfromironagecentralitaly